'Have we seen this movie before?'

On Jan. 14, the New York Times reported that “President Obama on Friday announced an aggressive campaign to shrink the size of the federal government, a proposal less notable for its goal — the fight against bloat that has been embraced by every modern-day president — than for the political challenge it poses to a hostile Congress.”

This paragraph is an easy rewrite with the state of New York in mind. Change “President Obama” to “Gov. Andrew Cuomo,” “federal” to “state” government, “president” to “governor” and “Congress” to “state Legislature” and you’re off and running. Needless to say, both governments are dealing with “bloat” and in anticipation of where I’m headed, trying to shrink whatever needs shrinking.

Obama’s plan, with an upcoming election in mind, is to gain congressional approval to fold the Small Business Administration and five other trade and business agencies into a single agency that would replace the Commerce Department. He estimates $3 billion in savings (over 10 years) in a $3.7 trillion budget.

Cuomo’s approach, dating back to last January, addresses spending and efficiency concerns through the establishment a new commission that will provide independent guidance to address budgetary challenges, and result in the reduction of at least 20 percent of the number of existing agencies and authorities.

In retrospect, the president’s plan is really nothing more than a miniaturized version of what he tried to accomplish on Feb. 18, 2010 when, using an Executive Order, he created a bi-partisan National Commission for Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (co-chaired by Erskine Bowles, President Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff, and former Sen. Alan Simpson) to study how to trim $4 trillion from the deficit. Their findings were released 11 months later only to be dead-ended because of the lack of a “supermajority” of votes. Obama quickly realized his base of support had evaporated and abandoned ship faster than the captain of the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia.

Just a month ago, the Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission issued its first major report and I’ve reviewed it in detail. Unfortunately, the report lacks the specificity needed to truly transform New York state into any semblance of a mean and lean operating machine. Of particular concern, it makes no attempt to put to use the trove of information readily available from past audit reviews, which is basic to any valued assessment. The New York State Public Employees Federation, representing some 55,000 professional employees, has joined the criticism stating the report “lacks detail.”

In dealing with the pros and cons I’ve cited, there is a common thread. When things get down to the nitty-gritty, reality trumps intent. The problems found on both levels of government have been festering for years. The federal government’s debt is about to be increased by another $1.2 trillion. Cuomo’s current budget, submitted last week to the Legislature, projects a need for $132 billion to fund operations, approximately the same amount required in the prior fiscal period.

Bowles said it best: “It’s clear. The arithmetic is easy. The fiscal path we are on is not sustainable.”

Go figure! We’ve seen this movie before.