The Lexington Herald-Leader continues to shine light on stunning examples of personal raiding of governmental funds. This time it reports on Kentucky state legislators spending $45,000 for coffee, , and Kentucky state legislators spending $2.4 million on out of state travel.
The article on out-of-state travel reports that:
“You have some people who push the limits,” said (State Senate Majority Leader David ) Williams, who outspent all but two lawmakers on out-of-state travel to destinations such as Ireland, Turkey and Bonita Springs, Fla.
There is no justification for adding tens of millions each year in legislative spending while state employees are pooling their money to pay for their own coffee to make themselves able to work more and harder, with fewer and fewer staff, and larger and larger workloads.
This while health care for poor children is cut. While students are denied college educations because of underfunded universities. While unemployment benefits for those without jobs are running out. The last time examples this egregious were blithely justified, it was with the much more straightforward “Let them eat cake” during the reign of Louis XVI. Will Kentucky ever reach that point, of saying enough is enough?
