Tag: taxes

Vice President JD Vance Says White House Anti-Fraud Task Force Has Identified Tens of Billions in Fraud – At Least $135 billion Stolen Since COVID

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday spoke at an anti-fraud roundtable with state attorneys general and White House officials, where he told reporters that his team has identified staggering amounts of fraud totaling tens of billions of dollars.

Vance, the Chairman of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, the Task Force Vice Chair, held a roundtable on Tuesday with over a dozen State Attorneys General to discuss the Trump Administration’s nationwide crackdown on federal benefits fraud.

After brief remarks from Vance, Ferguson, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Division Collin McDonald, they held a private meeting with the attorneys general.

Vance opened his remarks by highlighting the work his team has accomplished to date.

“We exposed billions of dollars in benefits that had been stolen from the American people,” he said, revealing the following:

  • Over $22 billion in fraudulent small business loans
  • More than $1.3 billion in fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements
  • $6.3 billion in suspected fraudulent government contracts
  • $60 million in student aid fraud

He further told reporters that $135 billion has been stolen since the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

Keep reading

California Dem Governor Candidate Xavier Becerra Wants Free Healthcare for Illegals, Boasts About Jobs They Take From Americans

Xavier Becerra, the former Obama Biden lackey who is running for governor of California as a Democrat, wants the state to continue to provide free healthcare for illegals. Big surprise, right?

He confirmed this during a recent appearance on CNN.

The remarkable thing about the segment is that he admitted that illegals take jobs away from Americans, not just in farming, but in construction, healthcare and more.

You can tell from the smug look on his face that he thought he was being so clever about this.

Breitbart News reported:

Host Elex Michaelson said that Hilton “says he wants to take the undocumented off of healthcare rolls. Why do you want to keep them on there, and how much is that going to cost the state?”

Becerra answered, “He looks at them as people who don’t have documents. I look at them as hard workers. I look at them as people like my parents. I am the son of immigrants. To me, I want you to build, help me build California. If you’re working hard, I want you to have healthcare. I guess Steve Hilton doesn’t care if they work really hard. He looks at their status, and that’s about it.”

Michaelson then said, “Well, he says that they broke the law. And he says that he immigrated here legally and that spending money to give somebody healthcare is incentivizing bad behavior.”

Becerra responded, “He doesn’t seem to mind that the price of food is a little lower because these are the folks that are picking the crops. He doesn’t seem to mind that the places that you can buy to live in are places that these folks built. He doesn’t seem to mind that they’re the folks that are taking care of probably one of his relatives, probably taking care of his yards. He seems to mind that they don’t have documents, but he doesn’t seem to mind that they do so much of the work in California.”

Keep reading

Mamdani’s ‘Balanced Budget’ Is an Accounting Atrocity

In mid-May, after extending the executive deadline, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released his $124.7 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Executive Budget. 

After warning that NYC faces a budget crisis of “historic magnitude” in late April, Mamdani now assures the 8.5 million residents of the Big Apple that the city is on “firm financial footing” after he “balanced the budget” “without raising property taxes” or “slashing services.”

While it is certainly true that Mamdani did not slash services or raise property taxes even higher than they already are, it is ludicrous for him to declare that NYC’s budget is sound and sustainable.

Aside from Mamdani’s smoke-and-mirrors budget summary, the harsh reality is that the Big Apple is bankrupt. 

According to NYC Comptroller Mark Levine, the “$2.2 billion budget shortfall for FY2026 and projected $10.4 billion gap for FY2027… is the first time since the Great Recession that the City faces a budget shortfall of this magnitude.”

Based on Mamdani’s “balanced budget,” the FY 2026 and FY 2027 deficits are no longer a concern. 

Much of the gap has been taken care of by what Mamdani calls a “partnership with Albany.” New Yorkers outside of the Big Apple call it a bailout.

“Thanks to Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the City secured an additional $4 billion in state support and actions to help stabilize the budget,” Mamdani bluntly put it.

However, Albany could not supply enough money to make the short-term math work.

Thus, Mamdani’s balanced budget relies upon accounting gimmicks and “new tax revenue.”

Keep reading

How Gavin Newsom Subsidized the Migrant Invasion

Former President Joe Biden’s administration oversaw an unprecedented wave of migration across the southwestern border of the United States. Migrants convoyed in “caravans” in hopes of overwhelming border authorities. Cartels trafficked drugs and people in droves. At some points, American authorities estimated that more than 130,000 people were crossing into the U.S. each month; arrivals came not just from Latin America but every corner of the earth.

At the height of this drama, some border states sought to stop the wave of illegal immigration on their own. Texas dispatched thousands of National Guard soldiers and spun razor-wire barriers across the desert. Arizona sent construction cranes to stack hundreds of shipping containers into a makeshift border wall near Yuma. Then-Arizona Governor Doug Ducey called it a “border crisis.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott called it an “invasion.”

California, on the other hand, welcomed the flood. In this City Journal investigation, we have traced the money and can reveal that Governor Gavin Newsom has granted approximately $1 billion to an army of nonprofits that has encouraged unchecked numbers of migrants to enter the country, fought deportation orders in the courts, and led street protests against ICE. These groups often operate under the guise of “humanitarianism” or “immigration justice,” but many, as we have uncovered, are in fact left-wing activist groups that use propaganda, lawfare, and street protests to transform America’s demographics and build political power for California Democrats—all on the public dime.

This is the story of how Gavin Newsom subsidized the illegal invasion and turned a wave of desperate people into pawns in his political game.

Keep reading

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada Reportedly Reject NATO Plans for Extra Funding for Ukraine

NATO’s Rutte knows the proposal is dead.

We’ve come to a point where even the most ardent supporters of the Kiev regime are starting to wonder just how much more money they will have to sink into their unwinnable war effort.

Yesterday, a report arose that Britain, France and other countries have sunk the chances for a proposal that would have NATO allies spend 0.25 percent of GDP on military aid for Ukraine.

The Telegraph reported:

“Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary-general, this week conceded his plan wouldn’t be taken forward because it didn’t have sufficient support. ‘I don’t think this one will be proposed’, he told reporters, without naming the opponents.

But now The Telegraph can reveal that the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada blocked the idea when it was floated in discussions for how to boost support for Kyiv.”

Keep reading

Rep. Brandon Gill Vows Accountability as Oversight Committee Task Force Launches Investigation into BILLIONS of Dollars in Ohio Medicaid Fraud

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) announced last week that his team on the House Oversight Committee is going to tear a newly uncovered Ohio-based Medicaid fraud scheme down “piece by piece.” 

Gill was tapped this month to chair the Oversight Committee’s new Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, where he’s planning to uncover billions of dollars in fraud.

“Hundreds of millions of dollars of your tax money is being wasted in an Ohio Medicaid scheme that we’re uncovering on the House Oversight Committee. We believe this scheme stretches into the billions of dollars,” Gill said in a clip shared on X on Friday. “The Ohio Medicaid Agency had years to figure this out. A reporter did it in just a couple months, and we’re building on their work.”

“We’re saving you taxpayer dollars, and we’re ending fraud on my task force at the House Oversight Committee,” he added.

“Fraudsters stole hundreds of millions of your tax dollars through an Ohio Medicaid scandal. My GOP Oversight Task Force is pulling this scheme apart piece by piece,” Gill wrote on X.

Keep reading

Ohio Officials Who Excluded Christian Group From Foster Care System Forced to Pay Massive Sum

Officials in Montgomery County, Ohio, agreed to a more than $120,000 settlement after reversing a decision to exclude a Christian organization from the foster care system.

Gracehaven, which assists young people rescued from sex trafficking, filed a lawsuit in 2024 accusing the county of barring them from “a public program and benefit for which it is otherwise qualified.”

The decision was “based solely on the ministry’s commitment to hire only employees who share and adhere to its religious beliefs,” according to a May 12 release from the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Montgomery County had previously contracted with Gracehaven for years, reimbursing the ministry with public funds in exchange for their care services.

But they “suddenly decided to exclude” Gracehaven after the organization “told county officials that it was not waiving or surrendering its constitutionally protected freedom to employ those who share its faith.”

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio ruled last year that Gracehaven could not be excluded from the foster care program because of its policy to only hire employees aligned on faith.

Keep reading

Hawaii To Pay Up After Trying to Criminalize Political Memes

Hawaii has agreed to pay $118,237.47 in attorney’s fees and costs to The Babylon Bee and local activist Dawn O’Brien, closing the books on a failed attempt to make some political satire a criminal act.

The state chose not to appeal a January ruling that struck down its so-called deepfake law, Act 191, as facially unconstitutional. It tried to ban speech. It lost. Now, taxpayers are covering the bill.

The settlement comes with an unusual wrinkle. Hawaii can’t actually pay yet. The agreement is contingent on the state legislature appropriating the funds during its next session, which runs from January to May 2027. If the legislature doesn’t approve the money by September 1, 2027, the Bee and O’Brien retain the right to file a formal motion for attorney’s fees, meaning the case would reopen and the final number could climb.

Act 191, signed by Governor Josh Green in July 2024, banned the distribution of “materially deceptive media” during election seasons if it risked “harming the reputation or electoral prospects of a candidate” or “changing the voting behavior of voters.”

The only escape for satirists was to slap joke-killing disclaimers on their content, disclaimers that had to appear throughout the entirety of a video and be printed in letters as large as any other text on screen. Violations carried fines, civil lawsuits, and jail time.

The law didn’t require anyone to actually be harmed or deceived. It punished speech based on a speculative “risk” of harm, a standard so vague that the person posting had no reliable way to know whether they were complying. US District Judge Shanlyn Park found that the law “muddies the line between compliance and noncompliance by forcing speakers to base their conduct on their own risk assessment, rather than on clear, objective standards.”

She noted the law created an “inherently subjective assessment for enforcement agencies” that “could conceivably lead to discretionary and targeted enforcement that discriminates based on viewpoint.”

Hawaii argued the law was needed to protect election integrity. Park acknowledged that interest but found the state couldn’t show it had chosen the least restrictive means.

Hawaii’s own expert agreed that digital literacy education would work, objecting only that it “would require a larger investment of resources” compared to a ban. Park cited the Supreme Court: “The First Amendment does not permit the State to sacrifice speech for efficiency.”

ADF legal counsel Mathew Hoffmann said: “Hawaii’s war against political memes and satire has come to an end, thankfully. The First Amendment doesn’t allow any state to choose what political speech is acceptable and censor speech in the name of ‘misinformation.’ That censorship is both undemocratic and unnecessary.”

Hawaii follows California, which lost a similar fight against the Bee. Minnesota’s version is still being litigated before the full 8th Circuit.

Keep reading

Federal Judge Dismisses Prohibitionist Lawsuit Challenging Medicare CBD Program

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit led by Smart Approaches to Marijuana challenging the Trump administration’s Medicare-linked CBD program, finding the plaintiffs failed to show they had standing to bring the case.

Judge Trevor N. McFadden, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, dismissed the case Friday, finding that SAM, MMJ International Holdings, its subsidiaries and the other plaintiffs failed to meet the basic requirement needed to sue in federal court.

SAM and its allies had asked the court to halt a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services program connected to hemp-derived CBD access for certain Medicare patients. The challenge had been placed on an expedited track after the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint and again asked for emergency court intervention.

“Each claims an injury too abstract or too remote to open the courtroom doors,” McFadden wrote.

Rather than weighing the broader legal claims raised in the lawsuit, McFadden said the case could not proceed because the plaintiffs did not establish Article III standing.

“At the outset, the Court notes that it need not tackle the bulk of questions that Plaintiffs raise in their motions,” McFadden wrote. “That is because Plaintiffs’ case suffers from a fatal flaw: the failure to establish Article III standing to bring their claims. The Court addresses only this jurisdictional hole and will dismiss the entire suit and deny Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction as moot.”

Because of that finding, the court did not rule on whether the plaintiffs were entitled to a preliminary injunction. McFadden instead concluded that the alleged harms outlined by the plaintiffs were not concrete enough to keep the lawsuit alive.

The case was brought by SAM, allied prohibitionist organizations, individual activists and MMJ International Holdings, a cannabis-focused biopharmaceutical company. The plaintiffs claimed the program raised legal and public health concerns, but McFadden found their alleged injuries were too distant from the policy to support federal jurisdiction.

The decision is a major loss for opponents of the Medicare-linked CBD policy, which has drawn attention as President Donald Trump’s administration moves to expand medical marijuana and cannabidiol (CBD) research and access.

Keep reading

US said to fire more interceptors to protect Israel in latest Iran war than Israel did

The US reportedly used up more than half of its inventory of THAAD anti-missile interceptors while defending Israel from Iranian attacks during the recent war.

According to The Washington Post on Thursday, the United States used over 200 THAAD interceptors to shoot down missiles bound for Israel. It also launched more than 100 SM-3 and SM-6 interceptors to defend Israel, which itself used fewer than 100 Arrow interceptors and around 90 from the David Sling’s system, the report said, quoting Defense Department data.

Overall, the report said, the US “expended far more advanced interceptors to protect Israel than Israeli forces did.”

A US official told the newspaper that if fighting renews with Iran, the US will likely need to use even more interceptors defending Israel because Israel has sent some of its missile defense batteries for maintenance.

“Israel is not capable of fighting and winning wars on its own, but nobody actually knows this, because they never see the back end,” said a US official quoted in the report.

The Pentagon denied to The Washington Post that there is any issue of burden sharing with Israel, saying, “Ballistic missile interceptors are just one tool in a vast network of systems and capabilities.”

The Israeli Embassy in Washington said in response that “the US has no other partner with the military willingness, readiness, shared interests and capabilities of Israel.”

Keep reading