Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Marino said he is willing to consider raising taxes if necessary to balance the federal budget, but only after Congress comes up with "a serious plan" to cut spending and reduce the size of the federal government.
"We don't have a taxing problem, we have a spending problem," Mr. Marino told the Times-Tribune editorial board Thursday, repeating a phrase he uses often. "We're $16 trillion in debt, and it's about time we started running this government efficiently like we run our homes and probably like you run your business here."
The 60-year-old first-term congressman from Lycoming County said "everything's on the table" when it comes to a deficit deal, but he would start by targeting the departments of Education and Energy, because neither has accomplished their missions.
"They're just not functioning," he said.
His goal is to downsize the government by 25 percent, meaning the 3-million-person federal workforce would be reduced through attrition by 750,000, excluding the military and law enforcement, he said. Attrition means not hiring replacements when someone leaves a job.
He did not rule out defense cuts, though he said defense, law enforcement and Social Security would be on the bottom of his list of cuts.
"It's all on the table, and we have to prioritize it," he said.
Mr. Marino said he's tired of President Barack Obama complaining about inheriting so much debt from President George W. Bush.
"The $16 trillion in debt accumulated over the last 50 years, and there's enough blame to go around for both sides," he said. "We have to stop worrying about getting re-elected. We have to stop worrying about getting power or keeping power and doing what's right for the American people."
Mr. Marino promised he would focus his efforts on reducing the debt, saving Medicare and not raising taxes on the middle class.
An advocate of repealing Mr. Obama's health care reform law, Mr. Marino called for reforms to end frivolous lawsuits that drive up medical costs, wider use of electronic health records and allowing health insurance companies to offer insurance across state lines.
Mr. Marino, who has signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge against raising taxes, said he would not be bound by it, but repeated he would only raise taxes if major spending cuts are made.
"Even though I signed something doesn't mean I don't have an open mind for future discussion," he said.
He praised the Simpson-Bowles commission's plan for reducing the deficit, though he was unfamiliar with the major detail that called for a combination of raising taxes and spending cuts.
"I don't know the details you're raising," he said. "Simpson-Bowles, a lot of it was good, but the president didn't want to have anything to do with it."
Mr. Marino said he is "passionate" about reining in deficits.
"I'm very afraid of where this country is headed financially," he said. "I would certainly be willing to sit down with an open mind and discuss it (a tax increase), but not on the middle class."
Mr. Marino said his decisions won't be bound by political ambitions because he will serve no more than six terms.
"I'm a term-limit guy, and I don't have any ambitions for rising through the ranks at my age," he said.
Mr. Marino said the biggest surprise of his first term is the partisanship in Congress.
"I worked out in the mornings with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and in the exercise room and the weight room, we talk about everything but politics, believe it or not," he said. "It's a very cordial family group. ... But then as soon as we get on the floor or we get into hearings or we get into meetings, the vitriol is nauseating. ... It just seems to turn from a Dr. Jekyll to a Mr. Hyde. And I don't know if it's because of the cameras, because of the audience. I don't know if it's trying to make one side feel more important, but the lack of respect is unbelievable."
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@ timesshamrock.com