Public Interest Podcast

Tim Roemer, former Ambassador to India, former Congressman from Indiana, and a former member of the 9/11 Commission, speaks about the insidious influence of money in politics, about free trade, security, and respect through civic discourse.

 

Ambassador Tim Roemer discusses his vision of the American dream on Public Interest Podcast #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

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Mark Shriver, President of Save the Children Action Network, former Maryland state delegate, and biographical author, speaks the importance of early childhood education and development, of his work providing a voice to those without a seat at the political table, and of his ethos of daily gratitude for all that has been given to him.

Mark Shriver shares a message of humility, spurning legacy to favor taking in God's gifts to all of us each day. - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

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Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, speaks on his efforts to curb climate change by investing in renewable energy and by reducing our dependence upon fossil fuels.

 

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Ted Wheeler, Mayor of Portland, Oregon, speaks about his work caring for the vulnerable in their search for affordable housing, healthcare, and financial security has led to increased economic security for the citizens of Portland. 

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U.S. Senator Ben Cardin [D-MD] speaks to his time advancing the public interest through elected office both within terms of actual policies that he has enacted and in terms of the anecdotal impact that he has had on citizens' lives. He demonstrates his thoughtful approach to governance as he elaborates upon his struggles with moral issues, ethics, and balances between security and liberty.

Senator Ben Cardin reveals his strategy for ameliorating the North Korean nuclear threat through the use of a "Diplomatic Surge" #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

This is the one hundred and fifty-first episode of Public Interest Podcast with Peter Franchot, Democratic Comptroller of the State of Maryland, member of the Board of Public Works, former Delegate representing District 20 in Montgomery County, former Capitol Hill staffer, attorney, former Democratic nominee for Congress, former delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2008, 2012, 2016, and U.S. Army veteran. Franchot, a self-styled fiscal watchdog and warrior for the public interest, speaks about elected office as a noble profession in which empathy, compromise, and independence are virtues that he hopes will reverberate across society, generating a future generation of public servants.

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PETER FRANCHOT is the Comptroller of the State of Maryland. Peter is also a

member of the Board of Public Works. He's a former Democratic delegate

representing District 20 in Montgomery County, Maryland, is a former Capitol

Hill staffer, an attorney, and a veteran of the United States Army. He's a

former delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2003, 2012, and again

in 2016, and is also a former Democratic nominee for the United States

Congress.

Franchot: I have been a warrior for

public interest issues all my life. I think my mother taught me always to stand

up the police and in school and I always felt much better when I was sticking

up for some of the kids that were not good athletes, so that is the genesis of

my altruism that I've carried forward in my public career.

Now

that I'm Comptroller I find that every day I am working in the public interest

primarily by helping individuals who are in financial situations that are

difficult and complicated but also in being available as a state elected

official.

Cooper: After college you enlisted

in the United States Army, which is associated with more politically conservative

individuals, yet you made a career out of serving as a liberal elected official.

How did you end up in the Army with such liberal views?

Franchot: Well I actually didn't

finish college. I was at Amherst College and halfway through my sophomore year

I dropped out to go to New Hampshire to work on the “Clean with Gene” campaign

with Gene McCarthy who was running in the 1968 Democratic Primary on an

anti-Vietnam War platform.

Ironically,

while organizing college campuses against the war for Gene McCarthy, I got a

draft notice saying: “Dear Sir, You no longer are protected by your college

involvement and you are to report for the draft law,” which was a shock to me.

Cooper: You left college to join a

political campaign because of the anti-Vietnam war platform of those campaigns.

And by virtue of your civic activism you actually ended up getting embroiled in

the war.

Franchot: My parents actually said I

was pretty clueless that I didn't realize I was giving up my student deferment

but such as it is it actually in retrospect proved to be a tremendous

experience. I was drafted for two years. I spent 21 months not 24 months

because I was allowed to get out early to return to college. But the Army was a

great experience for me not in the sense that I enjoyed it but I was put on a

troop train in New York City and sent down to Fort Jackson, South Carolina with

the other draftees, who were a different group of people than those with whom I

was previously associated in my life.

Cooper: Despite your experience in

the Army, you’ve never seemed to use your experience and your status as a veteran

to your political advantage as have others, most notably former Lt. Governor

Anthony Brown in his 2014 bid for Governor. Why?

I didn't have the kind of long-term career that Lt. Governor Anthony Brown had;

I was just a very ordinary cog in a very big machine. But I will say that the

machine the military proved to be enormously beneficial to me as an individual

and I would recommend the military as a terrific stabilizing force for young

people who are looking for direction in life.

Cooper: So running off that idea,

Peter I'd like to ask your opinion on a matter that you don't have jurisdiction

over as a comptroller but that you might have theoretically had jurisdiction

over the course of your 20 years representing the People's Republic of Takoma

Park in the Maryland House of Delegates.

As

you know, many nations in Western Europe and perhaps in other parts of the

world have service requirements for their youth. Military conscription is

something that's widespread around the world and that clearly led to your experiences

in the U.S. Army. My question is do you think that there ought to be either mandatory

requirements or guaranteed opportunities for all youth between certain ages to

either join the military or perform some other form of civil public service?

Franchot: I generally support that

concept. I think it should be mandatory that every young person puts at least a

year of their lives towards some constructive public purpose by serving in the

military, teaching in a school, or being involved in some other fashion in

supporting our infrastructure. And I would like to see veterans included in

some leadership capacity. I don't suggest that everybody has to go through boot

camp, but I do think it's an opportunity to install some structure, discipline,

and to give a sense of purpose to some young people's lives, [which is] particularly

important now [since] the economy is changing in front of our eyes [under the

influence of] globalization and modernization using technology. [As a result] a

lot of jobs are being eliminated, which is causing a tremendous amount of

dislocation in the country and around the world. I think that a mandatory one

or two year program for young people where they are involved in some kind of

public interest activity would give them the chance to learn about the new

economy rather than the old one.

Cooper: And the one thing that kids

lack when they leave high school or college is professional experience and perhaps

one of the greatest obstacles to finding entry-level employment is a lack of professional

experience. A mandatory service project will give them the opportunity to do

the give back to a state that has given them so much. This service experience

will complement a free public education by providing youth with an opportunity

to gain real on-the-job experience that will make them more marketable in the

new economy.

To finance this national effort [taxes could be levied on industries composing

the new economy] or it could be some kind of national or state equivalent of

war bonds where you ask people to participate.

But the key is that such a program would include every person between 18

and 25. That would provide youth with one to two years of skill-building while

teaching them how to show up on time for a job and demonstrating what it takes

to hold a job in the private sector.

I think it's more imperative now because this whole job situation is

changing. Driverless cars [may replace] taxi cab drivers and it may be possible

for robot [drones] to deliver food at a restaurant. I know it's a little bit

far-fetched but we're in the process of replacing people in the workforce with

machines. So we have to come up with new jobs and new ways of employing people,

especially young people. And so I think you're onto something there with the

mandatory service requirement but the jury's still out on how to pay for it, how

it's structured, and what exactly a job of the future will look like.

Cooper: So I’d like to transition

back to the topic of you being Comptroller. We've just been discussing how to

find jobs, gain job experience, and how to pay for it. But once someone has a

job, they pay income taxes and the Comptroller collects those revenues. So I'd

like to ask you to define the role of the Comptroller?

The Comptroller of the State of Maryland is a statewide elected position,

which makes it somewhat unique since many other states do not have elected

comptrollers; instead most states have appointed budget officers. [The role

Comptroller of Maryland] was established in 1851 to oversee the finances of the

state. The state was in bankruptcy because the bank and the Treasury made all

sorts of unwise investments and so they created in the state constitution the

position of comptroller. I'm the chief fiscal officer of the state according to

the Constitution. As [Maryland’s] fiscal steward I 1) collect all taxes, 2) process

3.2 million tax returns each year, 3) am heavily involved in issuing tax

refunds, and 4) am responsible for fighting tax fraud, which is an emerging

problem. Those are the core responsibilities of the office.

I'm additionally

a member of the Board of Public Works (BPW) which is an extremely powerful entity

in Maryland and is unique in the country as a three person panel that also

includes the governor and the state treasurer. [The governor and I] happen to

come from different parties. He's a Republican and I'm a Democrat. The

Treasurer is elected by the legislature. This panel approves 9-10 billion

dollars in state contracts every year. We meet every two weeks and it's an

enormous kind of clearing house of taxpayer funding for different contracts.

Cooper: You mentioned that you sit

on the BPW and you alluded to the fact that you sit on the Board with the

governor and the Treasurer, the Treasurer being Nancy Kopp, a Democrat, alongside

you, a Democratic Comptroller, with both of you being joined by Republican Governor

Larry Hogan. You previously mentioned that in the House of Delegates you

represented a very liberal, progressive, somewhat socialist-leaning constituency

in the Takoma Park and Silver Spring area of Montgomery County. Since Governor Hogan

was elected in 2014 you and he have come, at least in the public eye, to have

quite a personal friendship and furthermore you seem to have forged a

successful working relationship together.

Your relationship is especially striking when juxtaposed

to the tenuous and slightly acrimonious relationship between the legislature

and Governor Hogan and when juxtaposed to your previous stances while a part of

the legislature under the previous Republican Governor, Bob Ehrlich. To many it

would seem that your views have evolved into more moderate positions. Could you

elaborate on the gradual evolution of your political identity and how that

occurred within the confines of realpolitik requiring you to work across party

lines on the BPW?

[As] Comptroller I have some independence from the political machine

to which I ordinarily [would] have had allegiance [as a legislator]. [I hold] a

statewide [elected] office [and voters] expect someone who [holds this office

to be] fiscally moderate and independent of normal political machinations. [That

of course comes with caveats;] if you become someone who is harmful to and

opposed to your own party's values [then] I suppose you might be subject to

defeat in a primary election.

But

I follow two truths. One truth that I hold very strongly is that [in elected

office I must always be] working in the public interest, as [being] an elected

official is a noble profession. And the second truth [that] I follow is that

there's nothing wrong with bipartisanship. And so during my tenure as Comptroller

I have actively tried to drop the partisanship except when it gets around

election time. I have tried to be independent, which I guess is the word that I

would use to describe myself.

And

since the election of Governor Hogan two years ago, yes, [he and I have] formed

a friendship but it's mostly around moderate fiscal policies where we have a

strategic partnership on the Board of Public Works. I think it's single-handedly

been a relationship that has resulted in the fiscal house of the State of

Maryland being put into much better shape. I don't want to take too much credit

for doing things on the Board of Public Works, but on things such as state

procurement we have significantly reduced single-bidder procurement awards.

This is that important because [without this reform] the incumbent vendor [generally

wins state contracts], taxpayers [have no sense of whether or not] they're

getting a good deal, [and] there's no transparency, there's no competition, and

there's no accountability.

So

together, Governor Hogan and I significantly cut down on the number of single

bidder contracts and that's good for the State of Maryland. Unfortunately it

often gets mischaracterized as sleeping with the enemy. [I’ve been focusing on]

getting results [that benefit] the people and I think [that] it's [been] well

received by the public. [And I’ve been] elected three times and each time I've

gotten more votes than anyone else in that election. And I'm now going to be on

the ballot again in 2018.

I'd like to ask about your work as comptroller where you try to

identify and penalize tax cheats, reduce cigarette smuggling, and the illegal sale

of alcohol and fuel. As Comptroller, you’re fond of claiming that you're

closing corporate tax loopholes and of characterizing yourself as a fiscally

responsible, independent fiscal watchdog. However these were not the manner in

which you characterized yourself when you campaigned for or worked within the

House of Delegates. Given those differences, how has it come to pass that you

decided to run for comptroller against the incumbent former Governor of

Maryland, William Donald Schaefer?

Well let me be really honest and say that the iconic former Mayor of

Baltimore, Governor of Maryland, and two-term Comptroller didn't very much like

me running against him and, ironically, I ran against him on a [platform] that

I was a real Democrat and that he wasn't because he had gotten so close to President

George H.W. Bush and other national Republicans.

I

have moved to the center on fiscal issues because of the nature of the job. The

expert briefings that I receive on economic issues have caused me to come more

in the center on fiscal issues. And have been very well received by the voters

not just around the state but frankly also in District 20, my old liberal

district, [proving] that it is a myth that liberal Democrats are somehow not concerned

about fiscal matters; they are and they're very concerned about their own

budgets, their own small businesses, and about fiscal matters in politics. [However]

the state Democratic Party does not focus on [fiscal responsibility] and

instead focus on issues that are very important like discrimination and gun

control, which are issues that I've worked on, but those are more cultural

issues than they are economic issues. And so that's the reason that I've moved

to the center on fiscal issues but I remain an absolutely rock solid Democrat my

entire life.

I'd like to ask you a final question Peter, which is to speak to the

taxpayers of the State of Maryland and explain why being a politician is a

noble profession. Elaborate upon how you have managed to become independent, act

in accordance with what you believe is in the best interest of the public, and why

you've been motivated to serve the public interest for the past three decades.

Well I enjoy the opportunity to make a difference. And I'm very

honored and very privileged to have been the comptroller for the last 10 years.

It's a large statewide office and there are very few of them in Maryland. [Being

comptroller] gives me an opportunity to do the right thing for people and I'm

grateful to the voters for letting me do that.

Recently

we helped an elderly woman in western Maryland who we found had fallen way

behind on her taxes and she owed quite a sum of money in back taxes. We put her

on a payment plan, which I believe [came out to] five dollars every other week.

And my staff came to me and said, “Sir with all due respect, the woman is going

to have to live to be 142 to pay off all of her back taxes.” And I said that's

fine. I understand that but we're not here to make her life miserable. She

doesn't feel right about falling behind on her taxes but we're not going to [extract]

a pound of flesh from her because she didn't have very much money. We're simply

going to put her on a payment plan that she can afford. It's that ability to

inject myself into situations where the bureaucracy might otherwise be harsher than

I would be where I can supply some of the empathy that I value so highly. [Regarding

your question about whether] politics is a noble profession, [my answer is]

absolutely, and it's harder than you think.

Now

what happened recently in politics [with the 2016 Presidential election] is a

little troubling to me because the hyper partisans on either side have [taken]

control of their [respective] parties. [While] I do not believe that Donald

Trump should be President of the United States because he is a reckless, impulsive,

volatile, and frankly a dangerous individual, I do not believe that his

followers should be punished, confronted, orshouted at by [the Democratic

Party].

[Instead]

we need to get [Trump] supporters and Hillary Clinton supporters together and

have them talk more to each other so that we don't end up having neighbors

hating neighbors because of who they support politically. And I am positive that

I can play a positive force in urging people to fight the emotions of the day and

to try to be rational, level headed, and empathetic. And I've already indicated

my opinion that no one should be treated with disdain or hatred simply because

they are Republican; we can either support or oppose the President and still

interact with your neighbors and friends. I hope to play a calming role [in the

current political environment].

That has been Peter Franchot, the Comptroller of the State of

Maryland who speaks about a noble tradition of public service through elected

office or otherwise, from his time on the front lines as a campaigner, as an

advocate for environmental issues alongside Ralph Nader, and who speaks about

the importance of having empathy for those with whom one differs. He calls for

greater civility and respect in the national dialogue as together turn to face the

many challenges facing our great nation. Peter is a man who is willing to be

pragmatic when it comes to advancing the public interest and he's willing to

put aside any sort of reservation he may have with another's approach to the

public interest and find compromise because, for Peter, as we've heard before

with other interviewees half a loaf is better than no loaf at all. And making

sure that everyone gets a fair shake and that we humanize the political process,

for example by enabling a woman of limited means to feel like she is

responsible and she's being fair and that she's being treated fairly by the

state. Peter is someone who seeks to raise the path of public service to

something of a noble calling and that is why he touts the benefits of

bipartisanship and empathy as he recounts his lifelong path of public service.

Professor Roman Yampolskiy, Founding Director of the University of Louisville's Cybersecurity Laboratory, explains how artificial intelligence (AI) will soon surpass humans as the dominant form of intelligence on Earth, in effect becoming the world's first inorganic species. His new take on "intelligent design" takes us beyond Charles Darwin's wildest dreams as evolution becomes a conscious choice by an entity that is quickly on its way towards gaining consciousness. According to Yampolskiy, our society is rapidly approaching a convergence of science fiction and science.

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This is the one hundred and thirty-sixth episode of Public Interest Podcast with Dr. Zach Kaufman, Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and former U.S. Supreme Court Fellow, who speaks about genocide as the 'crime of crimes' and his research into war crimes tribunals and his work in the legal profession as a means of preventing these atrocities from recurring.

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Elizabeth Bradley, President of Vassar College and Founder of the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute, speaks about the need for liberal arts institutions to promote diversity, inclusivity, and interdisciplinary learning among the student body.

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David Trone, owner and co-founder of Total Wine & More and two-time Democratic candidate for Maryland's 8th and 6th Congressional Districts, speaks about entrepreneurship, business, his history of philanthropic giving to the ACLU, and his progressive priorities for Maryland.

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