Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins Speaks to the Topeka Rotary Club

Posted by Gregory Hill

Representative Lynn Jenkins believes that the size of government spending is growing out of control. Few would probably disagree with her assessment, particularly given the gloomy scenery she painted with respect to the spending on discretionary items she says represents “ninety-nine percent of what Congress argues about.” But now, given the projected costs of non-discretionary items such as Medicare and Social Security, pretty much everything is on the table.

“It’s becoming increasingly obvious that we can no longer ignore what makes up sixty-percent of the budget,” Jenkins said. “But nobody seems to talk about these things because when you do, historically you have been fired and sent home. We are running a test case this Congress to see if we can talk about them and make some changes to get our nation back on sound financial footing.”

Jenkins was the speaker at the Topeka Downtown Rotary on Thursday, before leaving for a ground-breaking at Fort Riley.

Jenkins explained that once defense, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the interest on the debt is paid, there is nothing left given the current revenues through taxes.

“We could eliminate our entire discretionary spending and still not have enough money to pay our bills,” Jenkins said. “What is concerning is that there was a time in the early 1970’s when we owned our own debt. Over time that picture has changed. Now foreign holdings of our debt make up about fifty-percent. China owns thirty-percent of our debt.”

To watch Jenkins entire presentation, click this link or watch below. (video may not appear in your email. Click here to watch)