Tag: taxes

Trump Treasury Blocks $175 Million In Federal Payments To Dead Recipients

The Treasury Department blocked $175 million in federal payments from going to deceased recipients in fiscal year 2026 as the Trump administration expanded efforts to prevent fraud and improper government spending.

Treasury screened more than 1.1 billion federal payments totaling approximately $3.7 trillion during the fiscal year, identifying and returning about 13,500 payments that otherwise would have gone to people listed as deceased, according to the department.

The results represent another step in President Donald Trump’s push to tighten safeguards around taxpayer money. Access to Treasury’s “Do Not Pay” system expanded from roughly 4 percent of federal programs at the end of fiscal 2025 to 99 percent in fiscal 2026.

“Treasury continues to transform how the federal government protects taxpayer dollars by using better data, stronger controls, and advanced technology to stop fraud and improper payments before money goes out the door,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The administration’s efforts received praise from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who spent years pushing legislation giving Treasury permanent access to Social Security death records.

“Unless you were playing Frisbee in the quad during Econ 101, you know the federal government shouldn’t be sending taxpayer money to dead people,” Kennedy said.

Congress advanced legislation to permanently authorize the Social Security Administration to share its full Death Master File with Treasury’s Do Not Pay system, giving federal agencies more complete death information when determining eligibility for payments.

Treasury has also added safeguards to verify bank account ownership and Taxpayer Identification Numbers associated with federal payments. Those capabilities became fully operational Sept. 30, allowing Treasury to flag payments that fail verification before the money leaves government coffers.

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Report: Federal Govt Spent $26.5 Billion on NGOs for Illegal Migrants

A new report finds that the U.S. government doled out 1,272 awards to pay for programs costing $26.5 billion to encourage and welcome illegal migration.

The site DataRepublican.com has gotten down into the financial weeds with a review of spending on migrant resettlement and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) awards through January of 2025.

The site also noted there are 217 contracts worth $5.2 billion that are still active.

The active contracts include $3.4 billion to care for unaccompanied children who are already in the system. An additional $544 million is going to aid states with migrants who are already here and in the system, and $1.2 billion is being spent on other ORR grants that have already been granted.

One other program costing five million dollars has been forced to remain active by a court order.

The Trump administration has also canceled 63 awards, worth a total of $186 million.

In September, the White House outlined nearly $1 billion in wasted tax dollars spent on migrants.

The White House recently launched a new initiative to eliminate wasteful and harmful spending and pledged to “cut wasteful and harmful government spending that does not benefit American citizens.”

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Yes, The Public Education System Is Broken

I have been in education for a long time. My first teaching job came two weeks after my younger nephew was born. His birthday is next week, and he’ll be 29. Take out the five years when I was working in retail and going to graduate school, and I’ve been a teacher for 24 years. There is not enough money in the world to tempt me back into public education. I’d rather stay poor, thank you. I keep hearing about a teacher shortage. That’s incorrect. There’s not a teacher shortage; there’s a people willing to be treated like dirt shortage. Why? How did public education come to this sad state? Jonathan Turley’s opinion piece in The Hill speaks to the problem and nails it right to the wall.

His opinion piece titled “The Blue-State Model for Education has Failed, and the Public has Caught On” states early on that one of the reasons the public schools have gone down the drain is because of the teachers’ unions. Early in the article, Turley states, “New polling shows that K-12 education has now reached a record low in the number of people who are even “somewhat satisfied” with the state of education in the U.S.” He then talks about the “education cartel,” a self-sustaining, self-perpetuating alliance between unions and politicians. The cartel has rendered families and students irrelevant.

How is that possible? people ask. Without the students, there is no school system. It doesn’t matter to the cartel. As long as the money keeps coming, which it does through dues, the cartel continues to operate. Personally, I have very little experience with the teachers’ unions. I joined the American Federation of Teachers briefly so I could get some legal help regarding the principal at the high school where I taught. I was a second-year teacher, and he had determined that I needed to go. He was black, and I was white. The AFT pointed me to the union steward at my high school, a government teacher who was also one of the basketball coaches. He told me that there was nothing the principal could do to force me from the building. I had to leave on my own. I’m a stubborn soul, so I was determined that the principal was going to leave first. He did, two years later.

Was the advice I got worth the annual membership? Absolutely. But that was twenty years ago. I dropped my membership the next year. Today, I wouldn’t join any teachers’ union because at their very core, they are about representing the teachers, not the students. The unions protect every teacher, even the teachers who have no business being anywhere near a classroom. In the states where teachers are required to join a union, the power is tenfold over the states that give teachers a choice, the right-to-work states.

In states where union membership is required, even if the teacher is able to quit the union, the union will still take a deduction from the teacher’s paycheck unless the teacher stands up and says “No.” In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus vs. AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) said that taking dues from non-union members was a violation of the First Amendment. This had an effect on union membership, which dropped by 10% after the ruling. However, the unions are not letting the decision slow them down. One year after the Janus ruling, a full 52% of teachers surveyed did not know they could leave the union without paying a fee. We are now eight years after the Janus decision, and the deep blue Democrat states with powerful teachers’ unions are working to make it easy to join a union but very hard to leave.

Aren’t unions supposed to protect workers and allow them to negotiate on a level playing field with their bosses? During the time of the Robber Barons in the early 1900s, yes. Today, most unions serve no purpose other than to enrich their heads. Both the head of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) make six figures. The head of the Chicago Teachers Union makes six figures. Their salaries come from dues. Fewer dues-paying members, lower salaries. If the unions actually promoted better teaching and better practices, I would have no problem with them, but they don’t. The problem? Money. As long as the money keeps flowing to the unions, they can do whatever they want.

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2SLGBTQIA+ Activists Demand a WHOPPING $450 MILLION in Taxpayer Funding from Canadian Government to Expand LGBTQ Agenda

A coalition of more than 40 LGBTQ advocacy organizations descended on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, demanding that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government commit a staggering $450 million ($350 million US) in taxpayer funding over the next five years to expand the country’s federal LGBTQ action plan.

That’s $450 million in Canadian dollars, equivalent to roughly $325 million in U.S. currency, that activists want Ottawa to commit to their expanding programs and initiatives.

According to NOW Toronto, approximately 45 LGBTQ, human rights, feminist, and labor organizations participated in what organizers described as the largest-ever Queer Day of Action on Parliament Hill on October 6.

Organizers branded the lobby day the largest-ever “Queer day” on the Hill. The money would renew and expand the federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan before it expires in March 2027. That plan was launched by Justin Trudeau in August 2022 with $100 million over five years, about $70 million US, a massive 350% increase over the original allocation.

The day was organized by Queer Momentum, Rainbow Railroad, Egale Canada, Pride at Work Canada, Fierté Canada Pride, and Dignity Network Canada, with more than 40 allied groups in tow, according to a CNW release from the Society of Queer Momentum.

Delegates spent the day in meetings with MPs, senators, and ministers’ offices, then closed with a reception in the Senate co-hosted by the Canadian Pride Caucus. NOW Toronto reported the coalition’s line as “double down, not back down.”

The coalition also wants Canada to expand its international LGBTQ advocacy programs.

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Florida Man Convicted of Billing Medicare $15 Million for Blood Tests Patients Never Wanted

A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida has convicted a Florida man who was the vice president of a testing laboratory and owned and operated a separate marketing company for his role in a fraud scheme that took advantage of patients who wanted COVID-19 tests during the pandemic and were instead given additional blood tests they did not want or need, for which Medicare was billed over $15 million.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Joseph Rodriguez, 58, of Coral Springs, perpetrated a scheme that exploited elderly patients at residential country clubs in the West Palm Beach area who were desperate for COVID-19 nasal swab and blood antibody tests. 

“The defendant took advantage of patients desperate for COVID-19 tests at the height of the pandemic to bill Medicare for unnecessary blood tests,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Such egregious conduct in the face of a global pandemic cannot stand and will be prosecuted. The Fraud Division remains committed to holding the perpetrators of such schemes accountable.”

When those patients signed up to receive just swab and antibody tests at drive-through testing events at their residence clubs organized by Rodriguez through his marketing company, Phoenix Health, they were, in addition to the COVID-19 tests they wanted, subjected to tens or even hundreds of unnecessary blood tests that they did not want or need, and that no doctor ordered as required. These tests, which ranged from hormone tests to heavy metal tests for arsenic, mercury, and cadmium, were then billed to Medicare as if they were medically necessary and ordered by a treating physician.

“This case highlights a troubling scheme that took advantage of vulnerable patients who sought COVID‑19 testing during a national public health crisis, only to be subjected to additional and unnecessary blood tests intended to increase profits,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda L. Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “By placing personal gain above the well‑being of elderly individuals, the defendant violated their trust and threatened the integrity of our health care system. HHS‑OIG remains steadfast in its mission to protect public health and ensure that individuals who abuse federal health care programs and the people they serve are held fully accountable.”

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CAIR Scandal: Which Islamist Groups Received Biden Administration Funding?

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is reviewing whether the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) misused federal grants intended for Afghan refugees. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the review on June 9, 2026. It covers CAIR National and its California and Washington affiliates.

The review followed an April 27 letter from Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and 13 other House Republicans urging HHS to suspend CAIR and begin debarment proceedings to bar it from federal grants government-wide. Under federal regulations, debarment generally lasts no more than three years, though the debarring official may impose a longer period if circumstances warrant.

CAIR describes itself as the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. Concerns about the group stem largely from the federal prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation, a Texas charity accused of funneling more than $12 million to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. In 2008, five former officials were convicted on 108 counts.

Prosecutors named CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator. U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis denied its request to remove its name from the list. In a July 2009 order, he wrote that the government had produced “ample evidence” establishing CAIR’s associations with the Holy Land Foundation, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and Hamas. Ghassan Elashi, a CAIR-Texas figure, was among those convicted and was sentenced to 65 years for financing terrorism.

In April 2009, the FBI said it had suspended formal contacts with CAIR and would not treat it as a liaison partner until it could resolve whether the group or its executives remained connected to Hamas. CAIR denies any ties to terrorism.

CAIR is not the only Islamist organization to receive HHS funding. A July 2026 Middle East Forum audit identified 14 organizations it describes as Islamist or terror-linked that received $79 million in HHS funding since 2010. According to the audit, 87 percent, about $68.5 million, was awarded between 2022 and 2025. Federal award records show that at least eight received funding during the Biden administration, while four foreign recipients received money through awards signed before 2021. Each of the 14 groups is examined below.

CAIR chapters received about $42.2 million in HHS-funded Afghan resettlement grants through state agencies and private organizations since July 2022. This included $40.7 million for CAIR-California and about $1.5 million for chapters in Washington and Oklahoma.

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DNC Sues Trump Administration Alleging Illegal Propaganda Campaign

The Democratic National Committee sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, accusing it of using taxpayer funding to craft political advertisements ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The DNC filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that millions of dollars were spent on what amounts to government propaganda, according to the Associated Press.

The DNC complaint also claimed that Trump personally directed the ads and wants the court to declare them illegal.

This comes despite Trump saying on Monday that he would pay for future ads using his super PAC, adding that they are a “positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.”

The ads began airing in September and are estimated to have cost $12 million so far.

DNC Chair Ken Martin said this is Trump’s “last-ditch attempt to save Republicans in November.”

“Americans deserve better than to have their hard-earned tax dollars used for Trump’s illegal schemes,” he declared.

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Trump visits Baltimore County, showcasing $3.7B investment led by Anduril Industries to strengthen U.S. naval fleet

In a major defense manufacturing expansion, President Donald Trump visited Sparrows Point in Baltimore County, Maryland, on Tuesday to showcase a $3.7 billion investment led by defense technology firm Anduril Industries, aimed at strengthening the nation’s naval fleet.

The public-private initiative centers on establishing a state-of-the-art “software-defined” manufacturing facility, known as Arsenal-2, on the historic grounds of the former Bethlehem Steel site at Tradepoint Atlantic.

The new complex is designed to bolster submarine production by deploying advanced digital assembly tools, modern manufacturing automation and high-tech software workflows — alongside skilled industrial labor.

The high-tech shipyard will focus primarily on fabricating key structural assemblies and gating hardware for the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarines, specifically targeting critical bottlenecks in the production of Virginia-class vessels.

Administration officials highlighted that producing complex components — such as torpedo tube assemblies and pressure hull segments — at the Baltimore site will relieve existing capacity constraints across defense supply chains, effectively providing up to nine million hours of annual labor capacity and boosting nationwide Virginia-class submarine production by an estimated 15%.

The facility will scale gradually, beginning with vital submersion-safe structural components before expanding toward more complex sub-assemblies as quality standards are met.

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Former Senior CIA Officer Pleads GUILTY to $194 MILLION Taxpayer Heist — Fake Classified Programs, 298 Gold Bars, Florida Luxury Homes, Rolexes

A former senior CIA officer who held a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance pleaded guilty Tuesday to a scheme that prosecutors say drained approximately $194 million from the federal government, money he converted into gold bars, Florida luxury properties, Rolex watches, and high-end cars.

David J. Rush, 49, of Ashburn, Virginia, admitted the fraud in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Justice Department said he fraudulently obtained approximately $193,590,400 by misusing his senior executive-level position and inventing fictitious government authorities, including a fabricated Special Access Program, to pull U.S. funds for his own use.

According to the Department of Justice, Rush reached that trusted post in part by lying about his education and military experience. Once inside, he used the clearance and the authority that came with it to move money that never belonged to him.

The scheme split into two tracks that prosecutors described as the same overarching fraud. Rush directed approximately $145 million in wire transfers that he used to buy luxury real estate, watches, and at least one car. Separately, he obtained gold bars at an approximate cost to the government of $46 million.

Court filings reported by CBS News say he invented a fake classified program to steer the real-estate money through a front company and a holding company he controlled, then bought properties in Palm Beach and Hobe Sound, Florida, that he intended to resell for profit. He also fabricated a separate purported sensitive government activity to justify the gold.

The FBI search of his Virginia home on May 19 recovered 298 gold bars, approximately $2,106,550 in cash, €104,795, and numerous luxury watches.

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Zohran Mamdani Administration Signs Multimillion Dollar Contracts With Vendors for ‘Gender-Affirming’ Care for Minors

The administration of Zohran Mamdani in New York City has just signed contracts worth upwards of $9 million with vendors who will provide ‘gender-affirming care’ to minors, including puberty-blocking drugs.

This issue seriously hurt Democrats in 2024, and they clearly do not care. They simply refuse to let go of it, no matter what the public thinks.

Their activist base won’t allow them to move on.

The New York Post reports:

The Mamdani administration is entering into two contracts totaling $8.9 million to provide “gender-affirming” sex reassignment care to transgender patients under the age of 18.

The move backs a policy the federal Department of Justice has challenged as medically dangerous and illegal.

The city Department of Health identified two vendors — Callen-Lorde and Nonprofit Organization for Philanthropic Initiatives — to provide the services in contracts that run from 2027-29.

“This includes the prescription and administration of puberty-blockers and hormone replacement therapy to all minor patients for whom such services are medically necessary based on the prevailing standards of care,” the DOH said in a public notice.

“Services will be performed by qualified medical providers with current New York State licensure, and will be provided consistent with state laws governing parental consent.”

Critics blasted Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s team, claiming they are trying to circumvent the federal ban on gender care services for minors.

“They’re making an ideological decision instead of a medical decision,” said state Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar.

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