The LG-IG Oversight Debate: Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate Xay Khamsyvoravong

the day your show newsmaker line sponsored by c_c_x_ apply side before we get into the arguments and i think they are important uh. why did you bite on this it had been a lot because people are really frustrated right now and they want real results and so when you see ticket cap proposals like this put out there that kind of rip off the cruddy strategies that we've seen fail in washington and try and implement them here at the local level under the guise of making government better and reality it's not going to prove to do anything better that's a complete to service i think if you want to talk about transparent in accountability you want to take a good idea generally speaking like the inspector general you have an obligation to do it right to see it through to make sure that we're actually implementing that in a way that's going to deliver for people right now because people are feeling in enormous amount of pain it's a bit of a long with something like this that doesn't have the real substance actually fixed things is a complete to service in its cheap politics uh. the the pain thing got my entire broadcast career and it's constituent is observing the news every new cycle you know people who are seeking office for you know a new opportunity or try to unsee it in common to always talking about the pain the pain the pain i'm not suggesting that this is not a painful time with the president who knows what he's going to do every seven minutes uh. gas prices through the roof no doubt uh. but other than that what specific pain are you referencing when you talk to folks right now whether they're dealing with the watching to bridge losing access to their health insurance and i didn't go to a doctor if they do have health insurance because he's got such a shortage that's real pain that people are feeling every day the pain that people are going to feel if their jobs get impacted by a i like nearly thirty thousand projected to in the next five years and they can't retrain the new profession right the pain that people are feeling right now dealing with the fact of of inflation and trying to figure out how does it get through the end of the week that's real pain the real issues that people understandably very angry about and so the status quo isn't working and we need a change but we need real change what we don't need a proposal that we've seen failed the federal level get brought down here at the local level instead of doing things the right way and so we're gonna do things like work on improving the transparency in the good government practices that we have here in the state we've got to do it the right way we can't cut corners we can't take shortcuts and we certainly can't flush in more politics into the problem solving that quite frankly has a little bit of the solution for people here locally right well that's a very articulate answer how come you can't just say you know what people are pretty dumb when it comes to ideas like this they bite it hookliding sinker and i'm just trying to fight the idea that it's even possible i mean it's like i gotta tell you sometimes i just think about you your polish is so is so uh. well applied be careful you can talk right past people because really what this this isn't this this whole thing about pain and the inspector general and no general often is is a republican who's looking to be a disruptor he's looking to the grab onto an idea that has been dangling out there even out some democrats are buying into the idea that the rather be the inspector general including a lien of folks who is running for governor against the incumbent uh. her explanation of the inspector general is not forthcoming i don't think she even knows what the hell it does or what it would do so i'd i would be careful if if you're suggesting that people's pain is focused on government fraud i think people's pain is focused on the gas pump right now uh. so anyway just that that's not a criticism is an observation uh. and maybe you want to take note of that what is your position on an inspector general in general you're saying it's a decent idea got to be done the right way are you making a part of your platform are you going to try to convince the general assembly from your lieutenant governor spot that there ought to be a constitutional position for a statutory position for inspector general if we do it the right way where it actually has a vestigatory powers where it is actually separate of politics as much as it can be doing things like making sure the term goes beyond that of the concurrent terms of elected officials that may have been put on the selection itself then yes i'd support that my primary focus though is not being redundant the existing worth is being done either in the office of the auditor general right or the office of internal audit by focus is more where we can start building solutions on the problems that we have that we're facing right now all right so i don't think there's any identification of places where government isn't efficient enough for government uh. where there's fraud and waste but we've got to be folks in working actually start fixing something but the idea itself is a good one right the idea of it inspector general if it's done right is a good thing but what we can't do is we can't take the same approach that we saw down and washington taken up here right where you had a president come in decide you know what i don't like this existing inspector general process i have fire a bunch of them and then create his own version of that in doge that we saw week nothing but absolute chaos on the federal government So the whole thing-- - Hold on. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I do want you to address John Lufflin's specific idea, 'cause that was your motive today, and by the way, I agree with you. I saw what you wrote. I saw what he presented, and I think you nailed it. But I have to tell you, you sound so half-assed on this thing. So answer the question directly. Are you gonna advocate for Inspector General, or are you just gonna say, well, if someone else does, I won't fight it? - I'll advocate for it, absolutely. - Well, is it part of your-- if I went to your website today, what I see, amongst the things that I want to do is introduce the idea of Inspector General. Do I find it in your stuff? - No, in the hierarchy of importance of what people care about right now, the Inspector General, what might be something that people probably speaking think is popular and like the idea of, in the hierarchy of things that are impacting their life on a day-to-day basis, they're much more focused on somebody who's gonna find solutions right now, and that's where my focus is. Finding solutions on things like the shortages that we have in primary care, finding solutions on things like we have in tradespeople, to actually ensure that we can build the things that we need here, and making sure we're ready for the big shifts that are gonna be coming on the horizon with the implementation of things like AI. Finding fraud and waste and abuse is always a noble cause in government. I will always support efforts for better government and more transparency, but not the expense of actually delivering on the basic bottom line for households right now. - Yeah, okay. So is there a level of fraud, waste, abuse, and inefficiency that you're concerned about? - Absolutely. And you see it every day. - Right, so what is your answer to that? - I know I get it doesn't top your list, but what do you have an answer for that? - You've always got to be working towards better efficiency. You've always got to be working your route out front, and when you find it, you should do what we've done here in the past, which is you call in law enforcement. And you say, "Hey, guys, I think we have a problem here." Or you call the auditor general and say, "I think we've got a waste situation. We've got to get to the bottom of it." Government has those tools right now, and they would certainly be heightened, but we need to be doing it in an apolitical way, so it's not just being used as a political football. - The argument that people who support Inspector General use is that the auditor general is hired and reports to the general assembly. I'm not suggesting the auditor general is not capable and we don't have a president of saying, "Hey, by the way, we're misspending here," but they're not generally investigators. They are their CPAs, and they're looking at that data. And if it's thrown out, then they say, "Oh my goodness, oh my god, yeah, well, this was a miscalculation," but they're not, they're not budget police. The Inspector General is a budget police operation. I just want to be clear, so I don't misrepresent your thoughts on this, as to whether you think that the fraud, waste of use, and inefficiency, and government is at the level needed for a budget police response. - Yes. - But it's not a priority for you to introduce it as a platform. Okay. - No. - The Hammer Alley Podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. - Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. - Whenever happened to Hammer Alley? - How did they go from top of the rock? - I'm looking for a music video. - They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley, ever heard of them? - To rock bottom. - Dude, I was born in 1987. - Oh, I can't believe he's doing this. - Hammer Alley. - Following, listen on your favorite platform. - Well, I'll leave it there for that, but I do think you have a criticism of Mr. Laughlin's plan that I think you should be able to articulate here. So, the candidate, the Democratic candidate, responding to the Republicans' idea on Inspector General working inside Lieutenant Governor's office, writes in his press release today, "What General Laughlin announced is not what I'm talking about in terms of a press operation." You say it establishes a self-described, aggressive investigative operation inside a partisan political office, risking turning oversight into political weaponry instead of an independent watchdog. Rhode Islanders deserve accountability, routine and facts and public service, not campaign press releases, podcasts, and headlining chasing. We've seen this tactic with Trump's failed doge, which brought chaos and disruption without producing meaningful results from middle and working-class families. We don't need Rhode Island's version of Washington's failed experiments. Elaborate if you can plainly. - We have a process right now to create something like a new Inspector General. and similarly in Washington they had a process. us to create better oversight throughout fraud, waste, and abuse. And what they did looks remarkably similar to what's being proposed here, which is a political partisan office that went out and arbitrarily made cuts to cause enormous pain in chaos that we're going to be paying for for decades. We don't need a version of that here at the local level. And the proposal is put forth by the Republican candidate for the Senate Governor John Loffen is exactly that. And we have to call it out for what it is right now, which is not putting forth the version of the Inspector General's Office that we had all hoped for and supported in the past. But a cheap version that mimics what Washington is doing right now that's failed. Yeah, I have to listen. I follow your instinct on this, but I think your presentation here is incorrect. Doge had the power of executive authority. He's talking about running the sucker out of the lieutenant governor's office. In the authority would be as Dean Wormer would suggest, 0.0. I don't know why you're not doing that. Laffen at this versus making such a complicated response to it. There's no juice here. That's the tiki-tap version, right? I don't see the difference between what he's proposing and the good work that folks like Tim White do or Jim Hummel or you and your show, right? It's just a taxpayer-funded version of that. And we should just be honest about what that is. You want to be serious about going after investigating fraud, waste, and abuse. Let's do it the right way. Let's make sure it has the right powers. And let's make sure it's purely politically independent. So it just doesn't turn into something else that's creating a side show right now. We've got it on the way because it's actually trying to fix things. John Loughlin, rather press release to your press release today. And reportedly, he's not going to respond to us. His press release stands on its own. And I don't know whether that's he. I'm not going to Dan York for the whole campaign thing or not, but that's his problem. He can deal with himself on that. I'm going to read what he writes. And we'll see if you have the right simple answer in response. Because I know I do. He wrote this. The Inspector General I am proposing would report directly and independently to the people of Rhode Island through transparent public reporting, regular public updates, and full investigative autonomy, free from data day control by the Lieutenant Governor's office. The dotted line to the Lieutenant Governor reflects only a limited administrative and budgetary relationship. The Inspector General would utilize the existing Lieutenant Governor Office budget and resources for hiring, payroll, and basic support services without comp, without compromising independence. Your response to that is? That is a bunch of government and goblet guk that sounds just like the status quo that people are so frustrated about right now. He follows this. The structure deliberately avoids a solid line command relationship. Ensuring the Inspector General cannot be directed delayed or influenced in audit investigations or findings. But mirror is proven federal models where Inspector General's maintained dual accountability to the executive for operations and to legislative bodies and public for results while preserving the objectivity essential for credible oversight. This design delivers real independence without creating a new costly bureaucracy. Your response to that? You can't have it both ways. You can't say that the current version of auditors and executive branch and the legislative branch aren't politically independent. But hey, we're going to use the same structure and create another government office. But wait, wait, wait. There's going to be different than the other two branches of government that are doing this. It's the same thing. It's completely contradictory. It's very, very frustrating to listen to this because it's just political nonsense. Well, you know what? Forgive me if I sound like I'm tutoring here, but that's a much better answer. The truth of the matter is that those three paragraphs, all, there's a jersey phrase. It's not unique to New Jersey, but it's a jersey phrase. It goes like this, you blanked up, you trusted me. Think about Donald Trump with an Inspector General. By the way, the same party that Mr. Loughlin is operating in. There is no, this institutional respect thing has been blown to bits by the leader of the Republican Party on a national level. And what this three paragraphs thing says with, it's very, very articulate when he wrote here. What it says is, I'm better. Trust me. I'm going to give you an Inspector General and I'll never, never get in his way. Which is, oh, wait a second. What if the Inspector General chooses up his entire budget and doesn't deliver anything? Will he fire him or her? And what interval and what evaluation and when if the Inspector General is a runaway train on the opposite side of the spectrum and is busting everybody's balls to kingdom common, slowing down government to the point where nobody can get anything done because the public relations on this whole thing has gotten the way of just doing the people's business. Will John Loughlin step in and say, oh, my God, I created a monster. Either way, it's his discretion, stupid. And so yeah, you can simplify your response even more because you're right. This is the most fascinating dumb idea I've ever seen. It's the most articulate pile of just dung that I've ever seen. It doesn't work. You can't be the God of integrity and you can't take your office and redirect it in such a way that you have completely redesigned even though it's a pretty loose definition. What the damn office is constitutionally instructed to do. I think you got to make your argument simple. You'll have a field day with this one because he's all in, brother. If you win this primary, this is fertile ground. You could chew this up and spit this out, but you got to be simpler with it. You can't match complication with complication. Just tell the people, this doesn't work. It's a line of baloney. It's a fantasy. All he's saying is, I'm the arbiter of what you should trust. Period. Anyway, how's the primary season going? The primary season is going great, Dan. We're hitting every corner of the state that will have us. We're having a great time getting out there meeting a lot of the good folks in the party, the folks are voters. It's a blast. Campanning is fun. If you don't enjoy campaigning, you shouldn't be in this business because it does. We're having a blast getting out there. I appreciate you jumping on. I think your press release was an interesting response. By the way, I think you are smart to be responding to John Loughlin, because just as an observer of the politics, you can't let the sole Republican make a runaway train establish a brand of reform when the mechanism for such is complete baloney and get buried inside your own democratic primary only to be way behind on the argument should you win the primary. I think that was probably your instinct when you put this thing out. I don't want to put words in your mouth. Thank you Dan. I think it's smart thing to do. All right, Dan, thank you. The Hammer Alley Podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Modestly speaking, in 1987, we knew Hammer Alley was better than deaf leopard, white lion, glass tiger, John Cougar, and other artists named after wild cats. How did they go from top of the rock to rock bottom? That band of one battle of the band's Hammer Alley is as current as a bowling alley. Have you been in one of those likely? Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.