By Rep. Joni Jenkins
Special to NKyTribune
We’ve seen the headlines; they absconded with all that bourbon. Over $100,000 worth was confiscated in just one location. The so-called bourbon heist went on for years, with the distillers none the wiser of it taking place. This entire production has led to nine indictments.
This is Kentucky; we know our bourbon and are rightly alarmed when dishonest people target our signature product. But bourbon distilleries aren’t the only place trust has been taken advantage of.
Another group has been trading our trust for dollars too. We trust our elected representatives in Congress to act in the best interest of folks here at home. Each day in the state legislature I’m working for the benefit of my constituents; I expect my federal counterparts to do the same, but many aren’t.
Our tax dollars are being treated like all that stolen bourbon in the halls of Congress. Congress is irresponsibly guzzling our tax dollars – they’re underhandedly tucking it away into a slush fund.
For years they’ve been dodging the restrictions of the Budget Control Act’s spending caps. This year $90 billion is set to be portioned out from the regular budget, where it ought to be, and instead be discreetly placed in the war spending slush fund, the ambiguously named Overseas Contingency Operations account.
That money is supposed to be here at home – educating our children, maintaining our roads and bridges, taking care of our veterans, but it’s not. This war slush fund has been the Pentagon’s budget gimmick for over a decade, allowing the Pentagon to spend more on things even if they are not related to operations overseas.
Keep in mind that $90 billion is well above what is needed for operations in Afghanistan, to fight the Islamic State, or to counter other emergencies. And by the way, that $90 billion makes the war slush fund more than any other federal agency except the Department of Defense.
Of course we all want strong national security and the very best for our men and women serving in the military and their families, but that money is going to weapons and programs that are not accountable and are not part of sound security strategy.
The money being siphoned into this slush fund is as illegal as that bourbon heist. The budget caps are the law of the land, and this slush fund is taking away from programs we need at home for education, jobs, and veterans – just to name a few.
You don’t waste good bourbon, and you don’t waste the tax dollars of hard-working Americans. It’s time for Congress to get the priorities straight, for our security and our nation’s future.
Joni Jenkins of Shively, is a Kentucky State Representative, representing District 44, part of Jefferson County, and is Chair of the House Budget Review Subcommittee on Human Services. Jenkins is Chair of the Southern Legislative Conference Human Services and Public Safety Committee and is the Kentucky State Director for Women Legislators’ Lobby (WiLL), a program of Women’s Action for New Directions.