Thursday, May 28, 2026

Government Taxpayer Fraud and Corruption, Part 1: Minnesota Fraudster Gets 40 Years In Prison, Social Security Fraud, Student Loan Fraud and More

 We are going to  spend a lot of discussion time in the coming posts to review the massive amount of criminal fraud that has infected government programs for many, many years.  The outstanding investigations recently done,  and still being  done, by independent journalist,  Nick Shirley,has started a cascading identification of the numerous fraud instances at all  levels of government  across the country.


It is unbelievable how many billions of  dollars have been wasted and are currently being wasted and siphoned off by all types  of criminal activities. And while it is amazing how much taxpayer wealth has been wasted and lost, possibly even more amazing is the reality that through the decades the political class and the government  entities they overlook were unable or unwilling to stop the fraud.


1)Let’s start where Nick Shirley’s  investigations of fraud first hit the fan, up in Minnesota:


  • Feeding  Our Future was a fraud infested  charity up in Minnesota that was supposed to feed kids during the covid pandemic.

  • The executive director of the  charity,  Aimee Bock, was recently sentenced to over 40 years in prison for overseeing the stealing of almost $250 million of government  money that was supposed  to feed kids.

  • The Department  of  Justice named Bock  as the  “mastermind” of the fraud operation after  she was convicted.

  • She allegedly was said to have  created dozens of fake  shell companies  to  enroll in her food program that were then  used to launder taxpayer money.

  • According to the U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick: “The defendants falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which they fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds. That money did not go to feed kids. Instead, it was used to fund their lavish lifestyles. Today’s verdict sends a message to the community that fraud against the government will not be tolerated.”

  • In addition to the prison  sentence, Bock  was ordered  to pay back $243 million.

  • In  addition  to Bock, a whopping 60 people have already pleaded guilty or have been  convicted  for their parts  in the  fraud and 80 people have  already been charged in connection with the  criminal operation.


Horrible lack of humanity,  they were supposed to be  feeding kids and ended up stealing  almost a  quarter billion dollars. And this might just be the  beginning of   the fraud that might still be coming in Minnesota. The DOJ has recently announced that they have issued 15 new  indictments relative  to  a potential scam in Minnesota that may have stolen another $90 million via the Medicaid program.


$340 million in just two instances in one state. Unreal.


2)The Trump administration  via  the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans  to launch an AI effort to review the annual audits of government program across  the country:


  • If problems are found  within the audits review then the Trump administration may withhold billions of dollars in  Federal government funding from any states that fail to stop  the corruption and theft.

  • The AI audits  will cover not only Federal government programs but also universities and  grant  recipients  that  get more than $1 million in Federal dollars.

  • Given  that HHS  pays out $2  TRILLION, the potential  for fraud is  sky high.

  • Gustav Chiarello  of the  HHS Department stated that there could be upwards of $100 billion to  $200 billion in wasteful or fraud spending every year.

  • Since there are 161 million  Federal income tax filers every year, if the fraud is $200 billion that comes  out to a cost  of over $1,200 a year per taxpayer,  $1,200 that could be spent for the  benefit  of their families and themselves, not  an  insignificant  amount.

  • This effort is  all legal since it is allowed under the 1984 Single Audit Act.

  • Chiarello pointed out that Minnesota failed the 2024 audit which found  that  Minnesota  authorities  failed  to meet Federal reporting requirements on where Federal money was being  spent which probably explains why the Feeding our Future and  who  knows what other fraud was going on unattended by government  oversight.


The good news is that the Federal government  is FINALLY getting its act together  to protect taxpayer wealth. The bad news is who knows how  many billions/trillions  of taxpayer dollars have been stolen over the years which numerous Presidential administrations did nothing to stop.


3)Vice President JD Vance was named by Trump as the overseer of the Federal government's attempt  to clean up fraud in government  programs. He recently  traveled to Maine  in support of  that assignment:


  • His quote at a rally supporting the cleaning  out of fraud and corruption:“But here’s the thing, my friends, because you all work hard, because you all pay your taxes, because you do things the right way, it is time to have leadership in Washington that treats you the right way and protects those hard earned tax dollars.” 

  • Keith Soncerling, the Acting Labor Secretary, was with Vance and had this  to  say: “Since the Task Force began, we’ve already uncovered widespread fraud and are aggressively preventing it from ever happening again. So here’s some examples. We found that nearly 29 billion went to the same social security numbers across multiple states.  Oh, hold on, I got better ones. 139 million got sent to dead people.” 

  • The Daily Caller  reported  that the  anti-fraud task force  has  identified  almost $6.3 billion in  government  contracts being sent to possibly sham companies.

  • Almost 400 letters  have ben  sent  to these possibly fraud companies  to investigate if they are legitimate receivers  of taxpayer  dollars.


4)But the Trump  administration  is  not  just going after Medicaid and  Medicare fraudsters:


  • The administration via the Department of Education has  blocked about $600 million  in corrupt  student loan applications  in the past month according to  Daily Caller reporting.

  • This blockage of fraud happened just since April  26th when the Department  of Education  launched a new risk assessment tool on April 26th.

  • The tool identified  300,000 fraudulent student loan  applications  worth about $60 million.

  • The Department  is also  demanding colleges  across the  country  also  screen applications for fraud.


It  appears  that fraud is everywhere. It is like going on an  easter egg hunt where the eggs are not hidden, they just lay about in plain sight.  And it is only now where those eggs  of fraud  are being  picked up, prosecuted, and  prevented.


Okay, our  first fraud discussion: A Federal government  taskforce under the Vice president is already making progress, the first in what is hopefully many  prosecutions of fraud  has  given one Minnesota fraudster  40 years in prison, and fraud is everywhere, from the Department of Education to the Social Security Administration To Medicaid and beyond.


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If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to help the cause:


https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom



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Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

Saturday, May 23, 2026

The Race To Bankruptcy Court: Florida Kicks Illinois's Financial Butt and California Has Mega Budget Problems

Let’s return to one of the hottest topics we have been covering over the past few years, coverage that has intensified recently: which major city or state government will get to bankruptcy court first? Our primary cities it he race to bankruptcy include New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and newcomer, Seattle. The state governments that we think are soon heading into bankruptcy include New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California with Washington state a newcomer to the race.

Before reviewing the latest news and seeing which state or city is making the best progress towards government bankruptcy, let’s review how these cities and states got themselves into this financial death spiral position to begin with:

  • A government entity keeps expanding its budget, eventually putting pressure on the tax revenue stream it receives.
  • At some point, rather than cut government spending or make its programs more efficient financially, the politicians in charge raise taxes to meet the ever growing government expenditures.
  • The raising of taxes causes some residents and businesses to leave the city or state for less tax burdensome areas, reducing the tax base and reducing the revenue stream.
  • Rather than cut expenses and become more efficient to match the reduced tax revenue stream, politicians in the above cities or states raise the tax burden even more.
  • This causes more residents and businesses to flee the city or state, further reducing the tax base and tax revenue stream.
  • At some point politicians panic and raise taxes more and start cutting vital government services (e.g. police, fire, education) in order to try and balance government spending against the shrinking tax base and revenue stream.
  • The reduction in quality of government services in particular and quality of life in general drives more residents and businesses out of the area.
  • Eventually, the expenses, costs and financial liabilities outstrip the reduced tax stream and bankruptcy occurs.
Okay that’s the process, now lets check the progress some of the above listed government entities are making to achieve this bankruptcy goal against this process:


1)The following statistics come from a tweet by the Rush Limbaugh News account so judge their accuracy accordingly. However, other data sources verify these general trends and realities. The format is positioned as a “scoreboard:”


Florida under Governor Ron Desantis:

  • Lowest crime rate in the state in 50 years.
  • #1 in state economic growth three years in a row.
  • $10 billion in tax relief since 2019.
  • Paid down 50% of existing state government debt.
  • 3.7 million new businesses created.
  • Working to eliminate or significantly reduce residential and business property taxes
Illinois under Governor JB Pritzker:

  • $145 billion in pension debt, highest in the country.
  • $3.2 pending budget deficit in 2026.
  • Budget deficit is predicted to grow to $5.2 billion by 2029.
  • Oversaw $5.2 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefit payments.
  • Ranked 50th out of 50 states for financial transparency.
  • 7 straight years of illegal financial reporting delays
The tweet summed up the difference between a state in a robust growth mode and a state racing towards bankruptcy court: “DeSantis asks: how do we put more money in your pocket?? Pritzker asks: how do we balance our books? That's the difference between a conservative and a Democrat.”


Note: The tweet did not mention that Florida does not have a state income tax while Illinois has a state income tax north of 4% and Florida does not have an estate tax while Illinois does, more reason why residents are fleeing Illinois.


2)Let’s head out to California and see how that state’s budget and fiscal woes are coming along:

  • Governor Gavin Newsom recently bragged that the state government budget had been balanced and there was “zero structural deficit through July 2028."
  • Sounds good but smart people looked at the state's economic situation and said things are not that rosy.
  • According to Rachel Ehler of the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO): “Despite these booming revenues, the state’s underlying fiscal condition, in our assessment, is not sound. We continue to have a structural deficit.”
  • She claims that structural budget deficits still exist for the next two fiscal years.
  • She went on: “Really, the only way the budget proposal before you is balanced is by relying on reserves.”
  • In other words, the budget is balanced only because money had to be taken out of basically a rainy day fund, a fund that will deplete at some point in time.The real budget deficit could be as high as $16.9 billion according to the LAO.
  • And these budget deficits are still around despite record revenue growth, i.e. state government expenses are growing faster than robust revenue growth.
  • The California Budget and Policy Center chimed in with the opinion that structural budget deficits are still going to come true "without additional action.”
The bottom line is that the California state budget situation either has to see massive cuts in spending or more taxation. In either case, less government spending or more taxation or both, businesses and residents will continue to leave under these conditions, taking their tax base and economic power  with them.

3)As we have discussed, one of the most inane tax ideas that might happen in California, is a one time 5% tax on the wealth of billionaires living in the state. This tax is supposed to be one time and generate $100 billion.

Also, as we have discussed, billionaires have already started to leave the state for more tax friendly states like Texas and Florida, states that not only do not have a state income tax but also have absolutely no plans to tax wealth. These fleeing California billionaires are not only taking the theoretical wealth tax revenue with them but are also taking any current taxes they are paying the state government, a double whammy to the state budget.

The National Taxpayers Union Foundation recently had some interesting, and distressing views, on the California wealth tax:
  • The Foundation analysis noted that billionaires have already left the state in anticipation of a wealth tax including Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks.
  • It is estimated that fleeing billionaires have already taken $700 billion of wealth out of state and a hefty amount of now missing state income tax.
  • The analysis estimated that before the exodus is down, a trillion may have left the state.
  • But apparently the $100 billion upside wealth tax revenue was based on the number of billionaires and their wealth before the exodus began so the $100 billion estimate might already be way too high.
  • The proposed wealth tax is currently expected to be retroactive, i.e. anyone living in the state as of January 1, 2026, would be subjected to the tax even if they moved before the tax was enacted into law.
  • However, the Foundation points out that this maneuver is likely to be viewed as a violation of the Due Process tenet in the Constitution so that even if a billionaire leaves after the January 1, 2026 deadline the state of California probably has no way to go get them.
  • The Foundation analysis pointed out that California, according to IRS data, lost a net 1.6 million residents over the past few years, taking about $12.7 billion of state and local tax revenue with them so the exodus is well underway and does not include just billionaires.
  • As we have proposed, the state government of California is in a financial death spiral: the state politicians refuse to axe government programs or make them more efficient, they are raiding rainy day funds to balance the short term budget, and they do not understand that the state is losing residents and businesses because of higher and higher taxes and lower and lower quality of life.
  • The Foundation's analysis summed up the feeble financial situation in the state quite nicely: “Seventeenth-century French finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert is supposed to have defined taxation as “the art of plucking the goose so as to obtain the greatest amount of feathers with the least amount of hissing.” Thus far, this proposed tax [wealth tax] is succeeding in maximizing only the hissing, with no feathers at all to show for it.”
That will do it for today: life is good in Florida, life is going south so to speak in Illinois, and California has some serious financial problems that a rainy day fund can keep under wraps for just a little while.


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If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to

help the cause:


https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom



**********************


Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at: