Tag: taxes

USA’s Somali refugee programme is a costly hoax

Somali ‘refugees’ across America recently celebrated Somalia’s ‘independence,’ leading some to wonder why they don’t simply go back to their own country that they claim to love so much.

But not only aren’t the Somalis who came to America as refugees while fleeing a fake ‘genocide’ and using fake family reunification claims in the 90s not leaving (though they frequently make return trips back home to buy property and run for office in their own home country) but more Somalis continue arriving and claiming refugee status from the country they love so much.

In 2024, Somalis were responsible for nearly 5% of refugee claims and while the Trump administration has cracked down on the refugee fraud machine, Europe has seen a flood of Somali ‘refugees’ with 38,000 Somali refugee applications filed between 2023 and 2025.

This is at odds with the regular expressions of pride in Somalia from elected officials like Rep. Ilhan Omar who hail their country as one of the greatest in the world, and also demand that the United States, which they regularly belittle and insult, continue admitting Somali refugees.

When the Trump administration began to unwind the TPS (Temporary Protected Status) that kept Somali illegals from being deported, Somalis and their political allies launched a furious campaign to explain why a status usually used for a country that has experienced a major disaster should still apply to Somalia 35 years after the original civil war that triggered it.

The 2,471 Somalis being protected from deportation by TPS and the 1,383 Somalis with pending TPS applications.could not be sent back to Somalia, we’re told, because it’s so awful.

The Minnesota State House delegation for Minneapolis, which has done more to celebrate the glory of Somalia’s independence than any other place in America, issued a revealing condemnation of the end of TPS. “TPS for Somalia was first designated in 1991 due to ongoing civil conflict and extraordinary conditions and has been continuously extended for more than three decades.”

The statement by, among others, Somali politicians Rep. Mohamud Noor and Rep. Anquam Mahamoud, did not actually directly state that Somalia was a disaster area, but only indirectly referenced that “conditions in designated countries meet clear statutory standards related to conflict and instability.” Is Somalia “unstable” and in a state of “conflict”? They don’t say.

Attorney General Keith X. Ellison and 15 other state attorney generals filed an amicus in the Somali lawsuit against terminating their 35-year-old ‘Temporary Protected Status’ because “civil war has raged in Somalia for the ensuing thirty five years, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, child soldiers, extrajudicial killings, sexual and gender-based violence.”

While Somalia’s government has been fighting Al-Shabab, its own local Jihadist movement, the Somalia colonist population in America is a major source of funds for the Al Qaeda linked group, and there have been relatively few civilian casualties from the fighting with civilian deaths accounting for only 2% of the casualties in 2025 (and Islamic terrorist groups often misrepresent Jihadists as civilians, so the numbers are likely lower still) and on par with some of the deaths due to Islamic terrorism suffered by western countries and Israel in particularly bad years.

100 civilians dying in terrorist battles among a population of 20 million is not a basis for a national state of emergency or a finding that no Somali Muslim can live safely in Somalia.

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Big Tab: OMB says fraud losses ‘in the hundreds of billions’ annually

The Biden administration called the government’s only estimate of annual fraud losses “not plausible.” Now, the Trump administration says fraud costs taxpayers hundreds of billions annually.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated in April 2024 that the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud. It was the first and only government-wide estimate of its kind, representing 3% to 7% of average federal obligations.

The estimated losses work out to between $1,431 and $3,200 for each of the nation’s estimated 162.8 million individual income tax filers, according to IRS data.

The wide range reflects different risks over the five-year period the estimate covers. GAO used a Monte Carlo simulation to account for uncertainty in fraud data, including fraud that goes undetected, noting that higher-risk environments such as pandemic-era spending are associated with estimates at the upper end of the range.

The Biden administration rejected the estimate. Jason Miller, then the deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, said in April 2024 that the estimate was “not plausible” and would “create confusion and promote misleading generalizations that have no factual connection to specific federal programs.”

The Trump administration has taken a different view. An OMB spokesman told The Center Square that while “it’s hard to know the exact figure, annual losses to fraud have been enormous, certainly numbering in the hundreds of billions.”

But none of GAO’s three recommendations has been fully implemented. As of March 2026, OMB had no update on two recommendations aimed at improving fraud-related data collection. A third recommendation, directed at the Treasury Department, also remains open.

Rebecca Shea, director of GAO’s forensic audits and investigative service, told The Center Square that the agency has no plans to update the spending-side estimate, in part because GAO recommended Treasury develop an approach for doing so going forward.

She also said the Department of Government Efficiency’s claimed savings of $215 billion, tracked on the agency’s public savings log known as the wall of receipts, and GAO’s fraud estimate are not measuring the same thing.

“From what is available on the wall of receipts, their savings estimates are based on a wider range of activities than fraud,” Shea said. “For example, DOGE’s website also notes savings from asset sales, contract and lease cancellations and renegotiations, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings and workforce reduction.”

David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general and chairman of the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation, a nonprofit focused on limiting federal spending and debt, echoed that assessment.

“DOGE tried to do work to deal with that, but they didn’t do what needs to be done,” Walker told The Center Square. “They didn’t do it the right way, and they grossly overstated how much money they quote unquote saved.”

Walker said that contract and grant cancellations do not automatically translate to savings.

“Just because you cancel a contract or a grant doesn’t mean you’ve saved the money, because only Congress can cut spending,” he said.

Daniel Kowalski, a former Trump administration OMB official and director of the Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, was more blunt.

“DOGE was not focused on fraud as much as it was focused on efficiency,” he told The Center Square. “It was the Department of Government Efficiency and not the Department of Fraud Elimination. I don’t think there’s a way to map DOGE onto the GAO fraud report.”

Kowalski said the GAO estimate is credible.

“It’s the best number available,” he said. “I would not be surprised if the fraud number was closer to the high end of the GAO estimate – 7% of program costs or $500 billion-plus a year.”

Walker said two root causes drive the problem.

“We have inadequate internal controls before the money goes out, because once the money goes out, you’re probably not going to get it back,” he said.

Walker singled out self-certification as a particular vulnerability.

“Fraudsters have no problem saying that they’re qualified for something, even though they know they’re not,” he said. “You shouldn’t be able to self-certify. That’s ridiculous.”

Kowalski said organized crime has moved aggressively to exploit those weaknesses.

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Waste Of The Day: Stolen Education Grants

Topline: A North Dakota woman was convicted last month of five counts of theft for stealing $131,000 in state grants meant for after-school programs.

Key facts: Faith Dixon, 47, was one of the top recipients of $2 million that the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction awarded in October 2021 for its Out of School Time program to support children impacted by school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her nonprofit, Faith4Hope, instead sent the funds to her then-husband’s food stand, her brother’s music and production company and her sister-in-law’s dance studio, according to court documents reviewed by InForum.

Dixon’s lawyers claimed she disbursed the money in “good faith” to help children, despite the conflicts of interest. But assistant attorney general Jeremy Ensrud showed some of the funds were spent on Dixon’s own “day-to-day living expenses.”

Dixon’s ex-husband pleaded guilty to theft last year. He admitted the grants to his food stand were not spent on providing culinary classes to children, as he promised the state.

Dixon’s other family members truly did spend their grants on helping children, Ensrud told InForum.

Last October, Dixon took a plea deal that would have sent her to prison for only 4 to 11 months, but she backed out because she had received “bad legal advice.” Now, she will serve 4 to 10 years.

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DSA Democrat Running for Governor of Wisconsin Wants Taxpayer Funded Gender Transition Care for Children

Francesca Hong is another DSA Democrat who is running for governor of the state of Wisconsin and she wants taxpayers to fund gender transition care for children.

As we have pointed out repeatedly, the left absolutely refuses to let go of this issue. They are determined to continue pushing the trans agenda, even for minors. They do not care what the public thinks about it, they are full steam ahead.

Would the people of Wisconsin actually endorse this position and put this person in the role of governor?

Breitbart News reports:

Socialist Candidate Francesca Hong Wants Taxpayer-Funded Gender Transition Care for Kids

Democrat gubernatorial candidate and State Rep. Francesca Hong said she supports using public funding to expand gender-affirming care, including for transgender youth.

During a January appearance on the Take 2 Podcast, Hong called for expanding access to gender-affirming care, saying Wisconsin should invest in clinics that provide the treatment, including for transgender youth.

“We have to look at expanding health care, especially gender-affirming care. And right now, when our hospitals are under threat of providing gender-affirming care, which hospitals have paused right now,” Hong said. “We have to make sure that communities are coming together to stand up for trans rights. Look at ways that we can invest in clinics to still provide that care, and be vocal about uplifting trans joy, and defending trans lives.”

Hong also added elected officials should continue defending transgender youth and resist pressure to back away from supporting transgender rights.

“It’s important that elected officials not cave to the pressures of not standing up for trans folks,” she said.

Like the rest of her communist DSA comrades, Hong also wants to stop immigration enforcement.

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First $1 Billion, Now $50 Million: Khanna Says Wealth Tax “Must Not Stop At Billionaires”

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) – fresh off endorsing California’s November ballot measure to seize 5% of billionaire wealth – published a Substack essay Wednesday titled, no really, “Why I Support a Billionaire Wealth Tax.”

He makes it roughly a dozen paragraphs before explaining that it isn’t one.

“The tax should not stop at billionaires, it must reach centimillionaires,” Khanna writes, before spelling out exactly what that means: every fortune of $50 million and up, hit with a 2% federal levy on wealth above that line – every year, forever, on top of everything else you already pay. The vehicle is Elizabeth Warren’s Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, which Khanna notes he has cosponsored every single year it’s been introduced.

And before anyone reaches for the estate planner: Khanna wants the levy to pierce irrevocable trusts, with the tax billed to the grantor who set them up – because parking a fortune in a trust, in his telling, shouldn’t take it off the government’s books.

Former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky summed up the reveal in eight words: “Just like that, no longer a billionaires tax.“

Pirate Wires’ Mike Solana was less diplomatic, characterizing the scheme as an annual asset seizure in which the government tallies everything you own and demands a cut on top of your existing tax bill – now openly targeting anyone worth $50 million. His prediction for where the ratchet stops: “this ends with your 401k.”

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Wind and Solar Finally Meet the Taxpayer’s Breaking Point

A family paying the electric bill doesn’t care how noble a subsidy sounds in Washington. They care whether the lights stay on, the furnace runs, the air conditioner works, and the bill leaves enough money for groceries.

President Donald Trump’s tax law set July 4, 2026, as the deadline ending federal tax credit subsidies for new wind and solar projects not already under construction. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright called the deadline the end of roughly 35 years of federal support for wind and solar, and he noted that in 2025 they comprised about 3% of total U.S. primary energy consumption. From Just the News:

The Working Families Tax Cuts, a signature piece of President Trump’s tax legislation signed a year ago, set Saturday as the deadline for federal tax credit subsidies on any new solar or wind projects not currently under construction.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright touted the subsidy deadline and criticized solar and wind energy projects in a video posted to social media Thursday.

“The wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine,” Wright said. “They drive up the system costs and increase Americans’ electricity prices.”

From 2010 to 2023, solar and wind energy projects received more than $141 billion in government subsidies combined, according to an analysis by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The projects received more in government subsidies than any other energy source in the United States, the group reported.

“Beyond their direct costs, subsidies are causing artificially low or negative wholesale prices, scarcity prices during periods of high demand and low wind and solar generation, inefficient use of existing assets, and increased transmission costs,” Brent Bennett, a researcher at the Texas foundation wrote.

The original argument for subsidies was patience. Give the industry help, let technology improve, then let the market decide. After decades of federal support, taxpayers were still being asked to finance energy sources that need backup, transmission buildouts, land, materials, and favorable rules to compete.

Patience became a policy shift; policy drift becomes a bill the public never really got to vote on.

The White House executive order signed July 7, 2025, said federal policy would rapidly eliminate market distortions and taxpayer costs tied to green energy subsidies. The order directed the Treasury Department to strictly enforce the termination of clean electricity production and investment tax credits under sections 45Y and 48E for wind and solar facilities. 

It also directed the Interior Department to review policies that favor wind and solar over dispatchable energy sources.

A Just the News report placed the cost in plain sight. Wind and solar subsidies were estimated at more than $141 billion from 2010 to 2023, more than any other energy source. Before the cuts, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the two programs would increase the federal deficit by $308 billion from 2026 through 2035.

Those figures should settle the basic question. Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to bankroll electricity that still struggles when demand peaks and weather refuses to cooperate. America needs power that can run steel mills, hospitals, data centers, farms, factories, and homes without asking families to pray for sunshine or a breeze.

Wind and solar have a role where they make sense. Let them compete; let investors risk their own money; let customers decide what they want to buy.

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Unfair! University of California, Riverside Grant Funding Favors Illegal Aliens Over Americans

According to a report from Campus Reform, the University of California, Riverside’s Undocumented Student Programs offers up to $9,000 annually through its Butterfly Project Fellowship to “DREAMers, students from mixed-status families, and undocu allies,” while a comparable graduate research grant for U.S. citizen graduate students provides up to $4,000 per year.”

This program rewards lawbreakers while punishing American citizens, something which is entirely unfair.

“According to fellowship materials reviewed by Campus Reform, the Butterfly Project Fellowship provides up to $9,000 annually to illegal alien graduate students, with awards disbursed through the Financial Aid Office.”

There shouldn’t be incentives at American academic institutions for foreign nationals who break our laws, and the fact that there are is an outrage that rewards lawlessness.

Recipients of this insane “fellowship” are also given the opportunity to attend college and “Undocumented Student Programs events while continuing to advance their graduate research.”

“A comparable funding opportunity for American citizens available through UCR is the Dissertation Research Grant, administered by the university’s Graduate Division. The grant provides up to $2,000 per application during both the fall and spring quarters, allowing recipients to receive up to $4,000 annually.”

That’s a considerably lower amount than what illegal aliens get and shows a disparity.

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90,000 Haitians live in Massachusetts and only 10,000 are working…

Even though the Supreme Court has put out some disastrous duds, they’ve also handed President Trump major victories as well. They cleared the way for his team to end Temporary Protected Status for tens of thousands of Haitian migrants. What does TPS mean, exactly? Well, in short, when a foreigner is on TPS, they don’t have to work, and there’s no risk of being deported.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) does not require you to work. Instead, it gives eligible individuals the legal permission to work in the U.S. and protects them from deportation. TPS does not require you to hold a job; it simply provides the legal right to work if you choose to.

So, if they’re not holding down a job, they’re collecting welfare and mooching off the American taxpayer.

The good news is that President Trump can now begin deporting them.

Of course, the reaction from the left came in fast and furious style. The same crowd that exploded with outrage when President Trump called Haiti a “shithole” country years ago, flooding social media with beautiful beach photos and travel brochures, is now arguing that sending migrants back would be a death sentence because Haiti is simply too dangerous.

Western Lensmen:

Jan 2018. Democrats and the media were apoplectic over Trump’s “shithole” comments, and were engaged in a campaign to defend Haiti.

Here, Anderson Cooper explains to Conan what an “amazing,” “incredible” and “culturally rich” place it is, and how he loves to spend his weekends and vacation time there.

Conan then went to Haiti and posed for the infamous “beautiful country” photo while sipping a drink out of a coconut.

Now, Dems and the media are telling you it would mean suffering or death for anyone to be sent back there.

Their narrative is wholly dependent on what is deemed to be politically useful at any given time.

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Inside Ottawa’s mansion spending spree

On Tuesday’s episode of The Ezra Levant Show, Ezra sat down with Franco Terrazzano of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation to dig into what Terrazzano calls the “dumbest piece of prevailing wisdom in Ottawa”: the idea that politicians are too cheap to renovate their own mansions.

According to Terrazzano, the National Capital Commission spent $135 million over 16 years maintaining and renovating official residences, or roughly $8.5 million annually. Despite this, the agency has requested an additional $175 million over 10 years, plus $26 million every year ongoing, to restore all six properties.

Terrazzano pointed to a string of expenditures he described as wasteful, including $8 million for a barn at Rideau Hall, $140,000 spent designing a staircase that was never built, and more than $700,000 renovating a kitchen at Harrington Lake.

The conversation also touched on the ongoing Centre Block renovation on Parliament Hill, which the NCC now estimates will cost between $4.5 billion and $5 billion.

Ezra and Terrazzano discussed how some journalists appear to advocate for lavish spending on behalf of the prime minister, from private jet upgrades to the multi-million dollar renovation of 24 Sussex Drive, while taxpayers are left footing the bill.

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European Taxpayers Spend 3.9B Euros on Drones for Ukraine

The European Union just sent another €3.9 billion to Ukraine to buy drones. This is not humanitarian aid. This is war financing. Reuters reported that the latest transfer is part of the EU’s new €90 billion loan program designed to keep Kyiv funded through 2026 and 2027. The money is being directed toward Ukraine’s drone procurement, meaning European taxpayers are now openly financing the weapons system that has become central to this war.

Do not let anyone pretend Europe is a neutral party. The EU Council itself says support for Ukraine has reached €211.3 billion since the war began. That figure includes military, financial, humanitarian, and refugee-related support. Now Brussels is adding a €90 billion loan on top of that to cover Ukraine’s budget and defense needs for the next two years. This is not charity. This is Europe admitting it intends to keep the war going because Ukraine cannot finance it on its own.

The EU sent nearly €2.8 billion earlier in June, Reuters reported another €3.2 billion tranche under the broader loan structure, and now another €3.9 billion is being pushed out for drones. Ukraine’s reconstruction costs are estimated at $588 billion over the next decade, while Kyiv is signing more than 160 recovery agreements worth over €10 billion. Europe is no longer merely supporting Ukraine. It is building the financial architecture for a permanent war economy.

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