Tag: taxes

In echoes of Minneapolis, whistleblower says Maine company bilked Medicaid dollars

Ahealth services contractor in Maine founded by a Somali immigrant is now accused by a whistleblower of defrauding the state’s Medicaid program, raising concerns in Congress that fraud in government programs is more widespread than previously known.

The recent charges from last month connected to a $1 billion fraud ring among Somali immigrants in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have focused renewed attention from lawmakers on rooting out fraud in federally-funded programs across the country. 

Just days after the Minnesota fraud ring surfaced in the national conversation, a whistleblower who worked for a health services contractor in Maine came forward in a public interview and alleged the company, Gateway Community Services, defrauded the state’s Medicaid program for years. 

The company was founded by Abdullahi Ali, a Somali-American who also ran for office, a position equivalent to governor, in a Somali state. At the time, he was serving as Gateway’s executive director. 

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, says that he plans to probe the cases in both Minnesota and Maine to determine whether similar fraud using public dollars exists elsewhere. He believes there is a high chance his committee will find more.  

“This does appear that it’s a very organized scheme in multiple states with groups of Somalis,” Comer said in an interview with NewsNation, which first aired the whistleblower’s allegations. “I would go out on a limb and say this is happening in other states with other social programs with other groups,” Comer said.

Keep reading

Arkansas will become first state to end PBS affiliation

Arkansas’ statewide public television network will end its affiliation with PBS starting in July 2026, the Arkansas Educational Television Commission announced this week.

The station, formerly known as Arkansas PBS, will also rebrand as Arkansas TV.

The commission cited a $2.5 million reduction in annual federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the cost of PBS membership fees as factors in its decision. A news release announcing the move called the dues “simply not feasible.”

Programming is expected to remain largely unchanged through June 30, 2026. After that date, the network plans to introduce locally produced programming, including children’s, food and history series currently in development, as well as “favorites from the last 60 years.”

“Public television in Arkansas is not going away,” Executive Director and CEO Carlton Wing said in the release. “In fact, we invite you to join our vision for an increased focus on local programming, continuing to safeguard Arkansans in times of emergency and supporting our K-12 educators and students. … We are confident that we can secure ongoing and increased support from individual donors, foundation partners and corporate sponsors who see the value in investing in new local programming that serves our state.”

PBS content will continue to be accessible to Arkansas residents through other platforms, Arkansas TV said.

In response to the announcement, a PBS spokesperson told Nexstar’s KNWA that Arkansas TV’s decision to end membership “is a blow to Arkansans who will lose free, over-the-air access to quality PBS programming they know and love.”

The spokesperson cited a June 2025 YouGov survey, which PBS said showed strong support for the network in the state. According to the company, the survey found a majority of survey participants opposed limiting funding for PBS and agreed that its programming was beneficial for children and the community.

Keep reading

What The Top 1% Richest Americans Pay In Taxes Across The US

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, uses IRS data from 2022 analyzed by SmartAsset to show how much the richest people contribute to income tax revenue.

The table below includes each state’s share of income taxes paid by the top 1% and the total amount of income tax they paid.

Wyoming leads the nation, with the top 1% paying 54.67% of all state income taxes.

Florida and Nevada follow closely, both surpassing the 50% threshold.

These states attract high-income individuals in part due to tax-friendly policies and large concentrations of wealthy households.

Keep reading

Newsom’s ‘National Model’ For Homeless Wracked By Fraud

Gov. Gavin Newsom has made reducing the homelessness crisis in California a top priority, saying the scale of the state’s efforts is “unprecedented” and calling for the continued expansion of his signature effort – Project Homekey – that has already cost $3.75 billion. 

But in a state with more than 181,000 homeless individuals, or about one-third of the U.S. total, Homekey has been marred by failures and scandals, including a lack of government oversight and accountability as well as a federal investigation into allegations of fraud in Los Angeles. 

Newsom, who appears to be preparing for a presidential bid in 2028, could make Homekey, which he calls a “national model,” a talking point in his campaign. The state claims the program has created almost 16,000 permanent housing units that will serve over 175,000 people. But since the state doesn’t track outcomes – whether people placed in housing saw their lives improve or if they returned to the streets – the program’s effectiveness is unclear, according to a critical 2024 state auditor’s report. 

“[Our budget] is bloated with homeless spending, a bottomless pit and taxpayer boondoggle that doubles down on failure year after year,” the Republican-turned-Democrat Los Angeles Councilwoman Traci Park said at a meeting in May. “Hundreds of millions of dollars on bridge homes and Homekeys and interim housing sites, and no one can even tell us which ones are operational.”

What is clear is that homelessness in California has skyrocketed in the five years Homekey has been in place, growing by more than 20%, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. That’s an increase of some 36,000 people between 2019 and 2024.

Homekey has been touted by officials as a more cost-effective way to house the homeless. By hiring developers to convert excess motel and hotel rooms and other existing structures into permanent housing, the costs are two to three times lower than building new units, according to the auditor’s report.

Keep reading

Tim Walz Blames White Men For Widespread Fraud in Somali Community

Minnesota Governor and failed Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz blamed white men for the widespread fraud in the Somali community.

It was recently revealed that Walz and the Democrats allowed a $1 billion heist to take place largely through the Somali community in Minnesota.

The massive scandal happened on Tim Walz’s watch. The GOP-led Oversight Committee is conducting an investigation into the Somali fraud ring.

Some reports suggest the fraud may have exceeded $8 billion.

A reporter asked Walz about the rampant fraud in the Somali community.

“Do you want to hear more from the members – the leaders of the Somali community to say we need to look at ourselves and hold ourselves accountable..” the reporter said.

Walz shifted the blame to white men and said the Somalians are the secondary victims.

“It’s not law abiding citizens. If that were the case, there’s a lot of white men who should be holding a lot of white men accountable for the crimes they have committed,” Walz said.

“I think what you’re seeing here is they’re secondary victims in this…by signing them up and they say well I had no idea I was in this program,” Walz said.

“Each community’s got this in their own midst, but to blame them and say that they should have been responsible for stopping it, I think that’s a pretty hard reach,” he said.

“But no, I think this idea that the Somali community is to blame for this because they didn’t do more. I think that’s how we got into this,” he said.

The Somalians are the victims here.

Keep reading

Whistleblower Sounds Alarm on Somali Scam in Another State

A whistleblower is sounding the alarm on alleged fraud perpetrated by some in Ohio’s Somali community.

During an appearance on Fox News, attorney Mehek Cooke suggested that there is “massive fraud” in Ohio’s Medicaid home care system tied to a small group of scammers in the Somali community in Columbus. 

Cooke explained, “the problem today is not the community…it’s actually the criminals within the Somalian community that have exploited Ohio’s Medicaid program because we have a system rigth now.”

She pointed out how the perpetrators target elderly people, coaching them to claim they have serious health or memory problems. They collaborate with medical professionals to get them approved for in-home care services — funded by taxpayers. Some doctors are allegedly “getting kickbacks, which means that if they rubber-stamp this, once that individual or that provider starts getting funding throught hes tate of Ohio, they get a kickback.”

Cooke detailed an entire organized operation built around the scheme. The group uses “door knockers” who canvas neighborhoods to recruit seniors and families into the program. Once these individuals are signed up, the perpetrators bill the state for unnecessary services, or services that are never providded at all. This is a practice known as “ghost billing.”

Even further, many of those involved in the scam are not going along with it willingly, according to Cooke. She said those who refuse “have been excommunicated from a lot of these activities and a lot of even patient care.” However, these individuals feel a duty “to expose this” because the scammers are stealing money meant for those who genuinely need it. 

Keep reading

Trump Education Department Announces They’ve Found More Than a BILLION in Student Aid Fraud

The Trump Education Department has been focusing on identifying student loan fraud and they have a lot to show for their efforts. They just announced that they have uncovered more than a billion dollars in fraud.

Trump’s Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, may be the last cabinet official of her kind if Trump has his way. Like many Republicans going all the way back to Ronald Reagan, Trump wants to do away with the department completely.

McMahon and Trump have successfully done away with a number of horrible Bide-era policies on student loans and financial aid, which has helped them to identify all of this fraud.

The Education Department released this statement:

U.S. Department of Education Prevents More Than $1 Billion in Federal Student Aid Fraud This Year, Additional Crackdowns Expected in 2026

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) today announced that it has prevented $1 billion in Federal student aid fraud since January 2025. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration implemented enhanced fraud controls governing how institutions of higher education distribute financial assistance, including mandatory identity verification for certain first-time student applicants. This effort has halted more than $1 billion in attempted financial aid theft by fraudsters, including coordinated international fraud rings and AI bots pretending to be students.

The Biden Administration’s decision to require identity verification from less than one percent of students created a prime opportunity for fraudsters to exploit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) process and steal taxpayer funds. Colleges and universities across the country reported being under siege by highly sophisticated fraud rings and requested the Trump Administration for help.

“American citizens have to present an ID to purchase a ticket to travel or to rent a car – it’s only right that they should present an ID to access tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to fund their education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “From day one, the Trump Administration has been committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government. As a result, $1 billion in taxpayer funds will now support students pursuing the American dream, rather than falling into the hands of criminals. Merry Christmas, taxpayers!”

Keep reading

Pelosi to Exit Congress with One of the Largest Pensions on Record

Members of Congress become eligible for a pension after at least five years of service, and the benefit calculation  depends on when they were first elected. Lawmakers first elected in 1984 or later are covered under FERS, and those who entered Congress before 2013 qualify for a higher accrual rate than members elected afterward.

Pelosi began her service in the House of Representatives in June 1987 after winning a special election to fill a vacancy. By the end of the 119th Congress on January 3, 2027, she will have served more than 39 years. Her pension is calculated based on her three highest-earning years of salary, which includes her time as Speaker of the House at $223,500 per year, compared to $174,000 for rank-and-file members. The estimated pension figure—which excludes any spousal set-aside that reduces the member pension so the surviving spouse can collect partial payments—reflects one of the most substantial benefits available to any current or former member of Congress in FERS.

Keep reading

Taxpayers Asked To Fund A Hospital Takeover They’re Not Allowed To See

When Connecticut lawmakers pushed the UConn Health hospital acquisition bill through the November special session — without a public hearing — it was clear transparency was not the priority.  

Now UConn Health, the state-run hospital system preparing to spend roughly half a billion taxpayer dollars acquiring Waterbury Hospital, has taken that secrecy a step further. Under the legislation rushed through the November special session — which authorizes UConn Health not just to purchase Waterbury Hospital but potentially to acquire additional struggling hospitals in the future — the financial stakes extend far beyond a single transaction. Yet in its Certificate of Need filing, UConn has asked state regulators to seal its cost and market impact review (CMIR) — the central analysis used to evaluate how the deal would affect prices, competition, access, and the financial risks taxpayers may ultimately assume.

The legislature avoided public scrutiny when passing the legislation. UConn Health is now avoiding scrutiny on the financials themselves. 

According to its filing, UConn Health plans to invest $195 million in Waterbury Hospital over the next two years, including $13 million paid directly to Prospect Medical Holdings, the California based, bankrupt for-profit chain that allowed the hospital to deteriorate. But the upfront investment represents only a small portion of the true cost. The bulk will come from $390 million in UConn 2000 bonds, state-backed debt. Once interest is included, taxpayers will ultimately shoulder roughly $500 million. 

The financial risk is not theoretical. It falls squarely on Connecticut residents. 

Keep reading

Canada spent nearly $1M killing ostriches, but full cost remains hidden

The federal government has now admitted that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the RCMP spent over $900,000 on the agency’s mission to slaughter more than 300 healthy ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C.

The numbers were revealed through an order paper question filed by Conservative MP Scott Anderson after months of stonewalling from Ottawa.

Despite Anderson pointedly requesting a complete accounting of all federal dollars spent, the amount the CFIA and RCMP did disclose is merely a glimpse into what was likely millions of tax dollars spent on lengthy court battles to avoid testing the birds to prove their health, and a nearly 50-day occupation of the farm with RCMP deployed at full force.

Nevertheless, for the farmers whose livelihoods and the healthy prehistoric creatures that were wiped out in the kill mission, the totals that have been revealed only add salt to the wounds.

The CFIA alone admits to $444,000, including $9,000 on feed that the farmers would have been happy to provide had they not been barred from caring for their birds weeks before the “cull.”

More than $72,000 was spent on portable toilets and hand-wash stations, and over $32,000 on unspecified “specialized equipment.”

It also paid $100,000 for private security at three of its offices.

Keep reading