[tomder55]

It is scary for many reasons to think how close Tim Walz came to being a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
Quick what is the 1st thing that comes to mind when speaking of Somalia ? Failed State? Pirates? Black Hawk Down?

' "temporary" 'Protected Status '(TPS) was granted to Somali migrants in 1991 . It continues today. Supposedly there are 705 Somalis here under the program after it has been renewed 27 times by subsequent Presidents .

Temporary Protected Status (TPS): Fact Sheet - National Immigration Forum

But the population of Somalis in Minnesota alone is over 80,000 .Many of them arrived as refugees . They have woven into the fabric of the state . Ilhan Omar a SQUAD member is a Rep from the state.

DHS Sec Kristi Noem said the program was never meant to be an asylum program.

'It Was Never Meant To Be An Asylum Program': Kristi Noem Promises To Evaluate TPS Program

But here we are .

Federal prosecutors say Minnesota is facing one of the largest welfare-fraud waves in U.S. history—schemes so widespread and lucrative that some of the stolen money may have ended up in the hands of Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization operating in Somalia.

According to a recent report in City Journal, former federal counterterrorism officials believe portions of the money stolen from Minnesota’s Medicaid and social-service programs were routed overseas through informal cash-transfer networks known as hawalas. Once the funds reached Somalia, investigators say, Al-Shabaab routinely took a share—regardless of the sender’s intentions.



The allegation, described by one former investigator as a “yes, absolutely” scenario, adds a national-security dimension to a widening series of criminal cases already rattling the state.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota has charged dozens of defendants across multiple schemes, including housing-assistance fraud, pandemic child-nutrition fraud, and millions of dollars in false billing for autism therapy. Collectively, prosecutors estimate taxpayers have lost billions.

Federal investigators warn Minnesota welfare fraud may have helped fund Al-Shabaab

Couldn't see that one coming . </sarc>

Somalis set up shell companies and plundered off of the very generous welfare programs of the State .59 people have been convicted in those schemes so far with the investigation still ongoing.

In one scheme prosecutors say providers recruited children in Minneapolis’s Somali community, falsely certifying them as qualifying for autism treatment and paying their parents kickbacks for their cooperation.

District of Minnesota | First Defendant Charged in Autism Fraud Scheme | United States Department of Justice


For Tim Walz ;who is seeking a 3rd term as Guv;the Somali diaspora is a key voting block. Small corruption could be overlooked ;especially while Clueless Joe's monopoly money was flowing during covid. . But when you are talking $billions it becomes real money that gets noticed. But Walz has an excuse . He blames Trump
Tim Walz fires back at Trump accusation of 'incompetence,' dodges on responsibility for fraud in Minnesota

[tomder55]

Why didn’t Minnesota authorities crack down sooner on the blatant theft? Reportedly they were afraid of offending the Somali community, which constitutes a solid voting bloc for Walz and his Democrat colleagues. As one local politician put it, "If you don’t win the Somali community, you can’t win Minneapolis. And if you don’t win Minneapolis, you can’t win the state. End of story."

LIZ PEEK: Shocking welfare scam in Minnesota exposes a sprawling fraud empire | Fox News

[tomder55]

Milton Friedman once observed that if you are going to have a welfare system ,the best most efficient way to do it is to just hand the recipient a check and eliminate the massive bureaucracy that supports it .

If You Really Want to Help the Poor, Remember Milton Friedman: News Article - Independent Institute

$1 billion theft in a state that has 5.8 million people . Extrapolate that nationwide.

This is a major indictment of the whole national welfare system more so than the immigration of Somalis . Corruption this extensive could not have gone on for as long as it did without wink and nod and payoff to the political leaders of the state.

Kimberly Strassel's editorial sums it up better than I can.

The Minnesota story—in which Somali fraudsters bilked taxpayers out of more than $1 billion—has many ugly story lines to choose from. It’s a parable of failed assimilation and the need for policies that heat the melting pot. It’s another warning of identity politics, of fraudsters using “minority-owned” status to cash in and crying “racism” to evade scrutiny. It’s a scandal of politicians who looked the other way, more eager to win votes than to enforce the law.
President Trump has for his part sought to co-opt the story for his own priority: immigration. He’s raged about ungrateful Somali immigrants, paused immigration applications from 19 countries, and ramped up immigration enforcement operations in the Minneapolis area. This might excite the base, but it’s diverting attention from a far better policy opportunity.
Because at root, this is a story of broken welfare. Of a federal government that shovels more than $1 trillion annually into more than 80 major “antipoverty” programs (and countless minor ones)—a system too complex to ensure even basic integrity. And of a state that preened as a model of social welfare, its own lavish benefits drawing many immigrants, and invited a plundering.

The Lesson of Minnesota’s Fraud - WSJ

Minnesota Repub lawmakers are accusing major players in the state of getting bribe payoffs to look the other way from just one of the programs that ripped off Covid funds.
Minnesota Democratic lawmakers received over $50K in campaign cash from Feeding Our Future fraudsters | New York Post

Among those accused are State AG Keith Ellison and Rep Ilhan Omar .
A juror in the case was dismissed when a bag containing $120 thousand with a note promising more if she voted to acquit .

Juror in fraud case has $120,000 bribe delivered to her door | New York Post

Strassel argues that the Repubs should seize the moment to offer real alternatives to a broken system that skims $trillions of American's money

This is a moment. Republicans might be shouting from the rooftops that Minnesota proves how right they were to have included in their tax-reform bill a slate of antifraud reforms to Medicaid and food stamps. But they might also seize on this scandal to take the fraud argument much further. To explain that this is no longer a situation that can be corrected with more due diligence. It is the size and scope of the morass that is enabling fraud.......Why not reimagine government? All around us is evidence the current structure is failing, and past the date of fixing. Americans know it, and will reward a party that admits it and offers a reset.

[tomder55]

I can make it simple for you, boiling down years of reporting:Corruption is the story. The whole story. Arranging it, hiding it, banking the profits, and directing large shares of the untraceable funds to black projects in the military and intel worlds.By far the richest form of corruption is health care and social services fraud. Beats narcotics, beats human trafficking. "Politics" is a sideshow -- the distraction that allows the robbers into the bank and keeps people looking in all the wrong directions.

Walter Kirn on X: "I can make it simple for you, boiling down years of reporting: Corruption is the story. The whole story. Arranging it, hiding it, banking the profits, and directing large shares of the untraceable funds to black projects in the military and intel worlds. By far the richest form" / X