Minnesota’s fraud debacle demands elected watchdogs in every state
Why resist verification?
The March 4 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing laid bare a simple truth: When states ditch independent financial oversight, taxpayers get robbed blind. Fraud is the invisible tax worsening the affordability crisis, hitting our groceries, mortgages, and our children’s future.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Attorney General Keith Ellison perhaps started to realize this during their Oversight Committee testimony when they finally admitted their state’s social services programs — flush with federal dollars — have been a playground for fraudsters. Billions looted from programs meant for children, people with disabilities, and struggling families. That stolen money fuels the inflation, squeezing family budgets nationwide.
Walz and Ellison’s testimony was a master class in deflection, but the facts cut through the fog.
‘THIRD-PARTY’ AUDITOR INVESTIGATING MINNESOTA FRAUD RECEIVED MILLIONS IN STATE MEDICAID FUNDS
Federal prosecutors peg the damage at up to $9 billion across Minnesota’s high-risk programs since 2018. Scams like Feeding Our Future alone siphoned off $250 million in fake child nutrition claims. Phantom meals turned into mansions, Mercedes, and maybe even wires to terrorists such as Al Shabaab. Then there’s the day care rackets and autism therapy ghosts billing millions for services never rendered. Housing stabilization funds? Over $100 million vanished into thin air for “helping” the homeless who never saw a dime.
These spending issues didn’t come out of nowhere. Whistleblowers waved red flags for years, and Minnesota Department of Human Services employees begged for action. Instead, the governor’s crew kept the checks flowing, ignored the alarms, and hid behind lawyers. Oversight Committee member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) hammered Walz on restarting payments to Feeding Our Future fraudsters, even after a court clarified no such order existed. “Somebody’s lying,” Jordan pressed. “Either you’re lying, or the court’s lying. Which one?” Walz blamed attorneys. Pure politics.
This is outrageous, and Minnesotans deserve answers. An elected treasurer would’ve had every incentive to slam the brakes on improper payments. A true auditor, answerable to voters, would’ve sniffed out the rot early. Instead, Minnesota scrapped its elected treasurer back in 1998, scattering duties to bureaucrats who don’t face the ballot box. No wonder fraud exploded.
Thankfully, there are better models to follow. The State Financial Officers Foundation’s …
Why resist verification?
The March 4 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing laid bare a simple truth: When states ditch independent financial oversight, taxpayers get robbed blind. Fraud is the invisible tax worsening the affordability crisis, hitting our groceries, mortgages, and our children’s future.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Attorney General Keith Ellison perhaps started to realize this during their Oversight Committee testimony when they finally admitted their state’s social services programs — flush with federal dollars — have been a playground for fraudsters. Billions looted from programs meant for children, people with disabilities, and struggling families. That stolen money fuels the inflation, squeezing family budgets nationwide.
Walz and Ellison’s testimony was a master class in deflection, but the facts cut through the fog.
‘THIRD-PARTY’ AUDITOR INVESTIGATING MINNESOTA FRAUD RECEIVED MILLIONS IN STATE MEDICAID FUNDS
Federal prosecutors peg the damage at up to $9 billion across Minnesota’s high-risk programs since 2018. Scams like Feeding Our Future alone siphoned off $250 million in fake child nutrition claims. Phantom meals turned into mansions, Mercedes, and maybe even wires to terrorists such as Al Shabaab. Then there’s the day care rackets and autism therapy ghosts billing millions for services never rendered. Housing stabilization funds? Over $100 million vanished into thin air for “helping” the homeless who never saw a dime.
These spending issues didn’t come out of nowhere. Whistleblowers waved red flags for years, and Minnesota Department of Human Services employees begged for action. Instead, the governor’s crew kept the checks flowing, ignored the alarms, and hid behind lawyers. Oversight Committee member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) hammered Walz on restarting payments to Feeding Our Future fraudsters, even after a court clarified no such order existed. “Somebody’s lying,” Jordan pressed. “Either you’re lying, or the court’s lying. Which one?” Walz blamed attorneys. Pure politics.
This is outrageous, and Minnesotans deserve answers. An elected treasurer would’ve had every incentive to slam the brakes on improper payments. A true auditor, answerable to voters, would’ve sniffed out the rot early. Instead, Minnesota scrapped its elected treasurer back in 1998, scattering duties to bureaucrats who don’t face the ballot box. No wonder fraud exploded.
Thankfully, there are better models to follow. The State Financial Officers Foundation’s …
Minnesota’s fraud debacle demands elected watchdogs in every state
Why resist verification?
The March 4 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing laid bare a simple truth: When states ditch independent financial oversight, taxpayers get robbed blind. Fraud is the invisible tax worsening the affordability crisis, hitting our groceries, mortgages, and our children’s future.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Attorney General Keith Ellison perhaps started to realize this during their Oversight Committee testimony when they finally admitted their state’s social services programs — flush with federal dollars — have been a playground for fraudsters. Billions looted from programs meant for children, people with disabilities, and struggling families. That stolen money fuels the inflation, squeezing family budgets nationwide.
Walz and Ellison’s testimony was a master class in deflection, but the facts cut through the fog.
‘THIRD-PARTY’ AUDITOR INVESTIGATING MINNESOTA FRAUD RECEIVED MILLIONS IN STATE MEDICAID FUNDS
Federal prosecutors peg the damage at up to $9 billion across Minnesota’s high-risk programs since 2018. Scams like Feeding Our Future alone siphoned off $250 million in fake child nutrition claims. Phantom meals turned into mansions, Mercedes, and maybe even wires to terrorists such as Al Shabaab. Then there’s the day care rackets and autism therapy ghosts billing millions for services never rendered. Housing stabilization funds? Over $100 million vanished into thin air for “helping” the homeless who never saw a dime.
These spending issues didn’t come out of nowhere. Whistleblowers waved red flags for years, and Minnesota Department of Human Services employees begged for action. Instead, the governor’s crew kept the checks flowing, ignored the alarms, and hid behind lawyers. Oversight Committee member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) hammered Walz on restarting payments to Feeding Our Future fraudsters, even after a court clarified no such order existed. “Somebody’s lying,” Jordan pressed. “Either you’re lying, or the court’s lying. Which one?” Walz blamed attorneys. Pure politics.
This is outrageous, and Minnesotans deserve answers. An elected treasurer would’ve had every incentive to slam the brakes on improper payments. A true auditor, answerable to voters, would’ve sniffed out the rot early. Instead, Minnesota scrapped its elected treasurer back in 1998, scattering duties to bureaucrats who don’t face the ballot box. No wonder fraud exploded.
Thankfully, there are better models to follow. The State Financial Officers Foundation’s …
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