Tag: taxes

What to Know About Rising SNAP Fraud Claims

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has raised significant fraud concerns, according to the Department of Agriculture, which administers the program. 

In a recent interview with Fox News, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins called the food stamps program “broken and corrupt.”

This assessment came more than a month into the government shutdown that threatened to cut off SNAP benefits entirely. 

Rollins noted “massive fraud” uncovered by her agency and said she believes benefits should be reevaluated. 

Here’s what we know about fraud in the SNAP program. 

How SNAP Is Supposed to Work

Established in 1939, the SNAP program, also known as food stamps, is a federal nutrition assistance program that supplements the grocery budgets of low-income Americans.

It is administered at the federal level by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and at the local level by state agencies that interface with applicants.

SNAP is the largest federal nutrition program in the United States, which served around 41.7 million people and cost the government nearly $100 billion in 2024.

More than 261,000 stores participate in the program, which allows eligible individuals to purchase certain foods with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. 

The amount of funds added to the card depends on the household’s financial situation and the number of dependents.

According to the USDA, in 2024, the average benefit per person was approximately $187 per month, and just over 12 percent of Americans received SNAP benefits.

Unlike other nutrition programs, such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) or child-targeted nutrition programs, SNAP is not limited to a specific group. 

As of 2023, adults aged 18 to 59 accounted for nearly 42 percent of participants, while children aged 17 and under accounted for about 39 percent. Adults aged 60 and above accounted for 19.5 percent of the program. 

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Sam Altman Denies OpenAI Needs A Government Bailout: He Just Wants Massive Government Subsidies

About one month ago, when the Mag 7 stocks were screaming higher every day without a care in the world, and before the masses had even considered who would fund the trillions in future capex needs once the organic cash flow topped out – something we had just discussed in “AI Is Now A Debt Bubble Too, Quietly Surpassing All Banks To Become The Largest Sector In The Market” in which we explained why attention would very soon turn to AI companies issuing gargantuan amounts of debt (something we first discussed in July, long before anyone was considering this issue) as has now become the case – we decided to move even further beyond the curve and said that not even the debt would be the gating factor for the AI revolution-cum-arms race, but rather access to energy. That’s because at some point – somewhere around the time companies realized they would no longer be able to rely on either equity or debt capital markets – the US government itself, if it wanted to win the AI war with China where the state directly subsidizes local data centers and AI figures, would have to step in and provide the required capital. 

Specifically, we said that “The money is not the problem: AI is the new global arms race, and capex will eventually be funded by governments (US and China). If you want to know why gold/silver/bitcoin is soaring, it’s the “debasement” to fund the AI arms race.”

Even Elon Musk decided to respond to that particular observation. 

And since it had become the norm, we thought it would take the market the usual 6-9 months to catch up to what we – and our readers – were already considering, especially since there still was ample “dry powder” capital among the hyperscalers to delay the rather unpleasant conversation of who would fund what once the money was gone, or so we thought. 

Because this time it took less than a month.

What happened, as the market learned the hard way this week, is that OpenAI’s CFO Sarah Friar, with all the finesse of a bull in a China data center, slammed the growing market skepticism that AI would cure cancer, slice bread and lead to universal utopia, and said “I don’t think there’s enough exuberance about AI, when I think about the actual practical implications and what it can do for individuals.” 

Her comments came in response to a podcast in which her boss Sam Altman participated, and where he was grotesquely – in a Jeff Skilling sort of way – defensive when billionaire Brad Gerstner asked how a company with $13BN in revenue can afford $1.4T in commitments. Altman’s reply? “If you want to sell your shares, I’ll find you a buyer.” 

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Map Shows 14 States Offering Health Coverage To Undocumented Migrants

Part of President Donald Trump‘s budget legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” will seek to punish the 14 states that currently offer health coverage to people in the U.S. regardless of immigration status, including undocumented migrants.

The 14 states, most of which are Democratic-led, would see the federal Medicaid matching rate for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expansion in their states cut from 90 percent to 80 percent, ramping up how much they would have to pay to run their service.

Why It Matters

Immigrants without legal status typically do not qualify for federal benefits, however, more than a dozen states offer various forms of health coverage to undocumented migrants.

While advocates of such services argue these programs promote public health, reduce long-term costs, and align with moral obligations to care for vulnerable populations, critics contend that such efforts strain budgets and could incentivize illegal immigration.

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Supreme Court Issues Emergency Order Temporarily Blocking Full SNAP Payments

The Supreme Court has issued an emergency order blocking SNAP funding amid the ongoing Schumer Shutdown.

Here’s more from the Associated Press:

The Supreme Court on Friday granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to temporarily block a court order to fully fund SNAP food aid payments amid the government shutdown, even though residents in some states already have received the funds.

A judge had given the Republican administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But the administration asked an appeals court to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund, and instead allow it to continue with planned partial SNAP payments for the month.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the ruling, putting a temporary stay on an earlier order issued by a Rhode Island judge that required the Trump administration to disburse the full SNAP payment amount in the month of November.

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Senator Rand Paul OBJECTS TWICE to Senator John Kennedy’s Proposal to STOP Congressional Pay During Schumer Shutdown

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) objected twice to Senator John Kennedy’s (R-LA) proposals that would have blocked members of Congress from receiving pay during the ongoing government shutdown, legislation Kennedy says is necessary to make lawmakers feel the same pain as the Americans affected by Washington’s dysfunction.

Kennedy introduced his “No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act”, calling for an immediate halt to congressional pay during the shutdown and the elimination of back pay once government funding is restored.

Kennedy argued that his proposal is both simple and fair, emphasizing that federal employees like air traffic controllers, military service members, and staffers are already suffering without pay. His bill, he said, would ensure lawmakers are not shielded from the same financial consequences.

Kennedy asked for unanimous consent to immediately pass his bill, but Rand Paul was quick to object.

Paul, reserving the right to object, said the focus should be on re-opening government and paying those who are working, not punishing members of Congress.

Paul argued that withholding pay from lawmakers distracts from the larger problem of bureaucratic dysfunction and the unfair treatment of federal workers who are continuing their duties during the shutdown.

He even proposed an alternative, the Shutdown Prevention and Pay Workers Act, which would ensure essential government workers, including the military, are paid during any future shutdowns.

Kennedy rejected Paul’s amendment, accusing him of derailing a bill that could actually pass both chambers and be signed into law.

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Vance Blasts Court Order to Fund SNAP as ‘Absurd’

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday slammed a federal court ruling requiring the Trump administration to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for November, calling the decision “absurd” and an overreach during a government shutdown.

“It’s an absurd ruling because you have a federal judge effectively telling us what we have to do in the middle of a Democrat government shutdown,” Vance said during a roundtable with Central Asian leaders at the White House.

Vance said the administration wants to restore full funding once Democrats agree to reopen the government, but argued that the court should not dictate how the administration prioritizes spending during a shutdown.

“What we’d like to do is for the Democrats to open up the government, of course,” he said.

“Then we can fund SNAP, and we can also do a lot of other good things for the American people.

“But in the midst of a shutdown, we can’t have a federal court telling the president how he has to triage the situation,” Vance said.

U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ruled earlier Thursday that the administration’s plan to issue partial payments failed to comply with his earlier order.

The Justice Department said it will appeal the ruling, leaving the fate of SNAP benefits for millions of Americans uncertain.

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Trump Admin Must Fully Fund Food Stamps for November: Judge

The Trump administration must pay the approximately $9 billion to fully fund food stamps for November, a federal judge ruled on Nov. 6.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must pay states the money by Nov. 7 to distribute to the approximately 42 million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants, according to an oral order from Judge John McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.

“People have gone without for too long. Not making payments to them for even another day is simply unacceptable,” McConnell said.

USDA officials had declined to fund SNAP amid the government shutdown, arguing that they could not use contingency money or revenue from tariffs. McConnell, in response to a lawsuit, recently said that the administration could either partially fund November benefits with contingency money or fully fund benefits for the month with that money and the tariff revenue.

“If the Government does want to use its discretion to use funds available to make a full payment of SNAP benefits for November 6, then it must expeditiously resolve the administrative and clerical burdens it described in its papers … but under no circumstances shall the partial payments be made later than Wednesday, November 5,” McConnell wrote in a temporary restraining order on Nov. 1.

The government chose to partially fund the November benefits using the contingency fund, which it said contained $4.6 billion. The government stated that it would not use the tariff revenue, or Section 32 funds, because if it were to, then child nutrition programs funded by that revenue might eventually run out of money.

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SNAP Recipients Will Receive More Food Stamps Than Initially Estimated: Filings

Food stamp recipients will receive up to 65 percent of their normal benefits in November, Trump administration officials said in court filings on Nov. 5.

That’s an increase from up to 50 percent that was outlined in previous filings, as well as a memorandum sent to states.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in the Nov. 4 memorandum that it was reducing the maximum benefit households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can receive to 50 percent of the current maximum allotment.

“Since that time, USDA performed further analysis and determined that the maximum allotments need only be reduced by 35%, instead of 50%, to deplete the SNAP contingency fund, and has issued a revised memorandum and allotment tables to State agencies,” Patrick Penn, a USDA deputy undersecretary, told the federal court in Rhode Island.

The revised memo, distributed on Nov. 5, said that maximum benefits will be 65 percent of the typical maximum benefits.

Trump administration lawyers in a separate filing described what happened as an error and said it worked to issue accurate information as soon as the error was discovered.

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Norway to Send $7 Billion to Ukraine – Everyone is Sending Funds Ahead of 2026

Norway is providing Ukraine with an additional $7 billion in 2026, or an astounding 1.23% of GDP. Norwegian Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik invited Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to participate for the first time in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) meeting. The two sides signed a memorandum to establish joint defense manufacturing in Ukraine, and a subsequent memorandum to establish unified quality standards for such products.

Norway is building defense industry links with Ukraine and positioning itself as a major player in the European/NATO frameworks. Norway gave Ukraine the green light for free trade back in April 2025. The Norwegian government already poured $15 billion into Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022, but nothing among governments is charity.

All European leaders believe Ukraine has a chance of winning this war, with those at the top believing it will provide them with access to the riches of Russia. Governments are broken beyond repair. The belief in Brussels if that sovereign debt defaults could be avoided through raiding Russia and profiting on the ongoing war.

Norway’s long-term Nansen Support Programme framework envisages providing a total of 275 billion kroner (about $27 billion) in aid to Ukraine for the period 2023-2030. The nation believes it can rebuild Ukraine through green initiatives, collaborating with Nordic Environmental Finance Corporation (Nefco) to provide Ukraine 25.5 million euros in green infrastructure projects. Nefco had already been operating in Ukraine for 20 years, but managed to mobilize 400 million euros since 2022 for, or through, Ukraine.

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Carbon taxes and Digital ID systems in 50 countries by 2028: Albo has signed up with UN

Two months ago, just before the UN gathered in New York, I warned you that a decisive moment was coming.

That moment is now.

The moment the globalists move from plans on paper to control in practice—unless we stop it.

On my long flight to Doha, Qatar, I couldn’t shake one thought: how fast things have escalated. In just a few short weeks, the agenda has accelerated at breakneck speed… and it’s nothing short of chilling.

  •  In the UK, digital IDs are now being pushed to access employment.
  • In Vietnam, millions of bank accounts were frozen overnight for failing to comply with new “social responsibility” regulations.
  • The UN is calling for a global carbon tax to pump massive amounts of tax money into its Socialist and Globalists coffers … YOUR tax money to control YOUR economy and decisions
  • The plan call for imposing digital ID systems in 50 countries by 2028—tracking people from birth to death. Your right to travel or work could be canceled with the click of a button.
  • The EU continues pushing forward with its programmable “Digital Euro,”—where access to your own money could be restricted by unaccountable bureaucrats because of an action or statement.

This is no longer a theory. It’s already underway, touching finance, work, and speech, and targeting every corner of our lives.

In just hours, the UN will open its World Summit for Social Development—where they intend to lock in Agenda 2030 as the world’s official roadmap. Not mere guidelines, but binding frameworks pushed into national laws, school curriculums, funding programs, and more. All funded with buckets of your tax money.

Let me be clear: this summit isn’t about development. It’s about centralizing control.

They’re assembling the machinery of a global system—one that dictates how you live, what you can buy, where you can travel, even what you’re allowed to say or believe.

This is where it all comes together …censorship, digital surveillance, control over farmers, families, faith, finance … you name it!

But here’s what they didn’t count on: you and thousands like you speaking up—right now.

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