The Somali Fraud Scandal Should Help Republicans in Minnesota Win Back the Governor’s Mansion.
In 2020 states were given money by the Federal government in order to provide them some relief during the Covid pandemic. And then in 2021, after the pandemic was over, the Biden administration, with the vote of Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, and all the other House Democrats, voted to give states even more Covid money. This bit of economic malpractice gave us the high inflation that we are still feeling today. Ironically Democrats now have discovered the issue of “affordability”.
Massive amounts of money went out the door with the expectation that governors would make sure that the money was properly and judiciously spent. And of course, states are also given Medicaid money, and like the Covid relief, they have the obligation to manage the money and root out fraud and make sure that it is also properly spent.
We are now learning, or at least the media is now focusing on, the story that one of the largest fraud cases in our nation’s history took place in Minnesota. Fraud so bad that political leaders in the state, starting with the governor and attorney general, should be removed from office.
There were a number of scams that took place in Minnesota. People set up phony groups and promised everything from helping autistic children to helping people get into affordable housing, but all the money went into their pockets.
One example, there was a group called, “Feeding our Future”, and their claim was that they were using Covid relief money, the state gave them, to feed needy children. Sounds like a worthy program. They even provided a schedule to the state government of where they would go to distribute meals. The thing is no one in the state government ever went to check it out. The state just gave them money. No real questions asked. No follow up.
How did all this fraud take place? Why didn’t the state detect this sooner? Well, it deals with politics.
Tim Walz is the Democratic Governor of Minnesota, and he plans to run for reelection next year. I would point out that since the state adopted a rule in 1962 that allows Governors to serve a third term, no one actually has yet. Tim Walz hopes to be the first Minnesota Governor to win a 3rd term next year, but his mismanagement of Federal money should sink his chances.
In his last reelection, and even in his race for Vice President last year, Walz touted his ability to run a competent state government. Now that is out the window.
According to the news there was a Somali fraud ring in the state, which stole Covid funds and Medicaid money to the tune of at least 1 billion dollars and maybe as high as 8 billion. So far 61 people have been convicted in Minnesota, and 87 people have been charged, and of those 87 people 79 are immigrants from Somalia. 79 is more than a few bad apples. The fraud was widespread throughout the community.
The Somali population in Minnesota has mostly settled in Minneapolis. They have become a powerful voting bloc, much like the Irish in Boston in the early 20th century. So powerful that they have elected Ilhan Omar, one of their own, to Congress. There is no way she could win in any other district in America.
They have political power, because of their numbers and add to that the fact that they are immigrants, always a plus for Democrats and the media. And there is a racial component, since they are non-white, it is no wonder that Walz didn’t want to investigate the charges of fraud. He didn’t want to be seen as picking on the Somali community.
Why did so many Somalis go to Minnesota? It was probably the generous welfare system that attracted them – at least that is probably a more plausible reason than the beautiful Minnesota weather.
When it comes to state welfare spending Minnesota is more generous than every other state except Massachusetts. Many on the left tell us that immigrants built the country and continue to add improvements and innovations. Maybe so. I think that the Norwegians who founded Minnesota built a generous welfare system, and the Somalis who came in after them learned how to take full advantage of it.
How can Walz survive having this scandal on his watch? The most benign explanation would be that Governor Tim Walz is just incompetent, and therefore he didn’t notice the billions of dollars being fraudulently handed out. That alone should cost him his job, but it is even worse than that. There is evidence that Walz looked the other way and that is probably because he needed the Somali endorsement and vote. He also may have feared charges of racism if he appeared to go after the fraud being perpetrated by Somalis.
Walz is up for reelection next year, and the rock-solid support of the Somali community may secure him the Democratic nomination, but it alone won’t be enough to reelect him.
If Republicans nominate a good candidate (sorry not Mike Lindell) then they should beat him.
David is the author of two books: Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale.
Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé: Shephard, David: 9781892538802: Amazon.com: Books
9 comments
Why do you work for ICE?
Because I made C’s and D’s in high school. the big kids bullied me, and the girls ignored me.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-citizen-arrested-by-ice-in-minneapolis-because-he-looks-somali/ar-AA1S9C1O
US citizen arrested by ICE in Minneapolis because he ‘looks Somali’
Story by Olivia Ireland
American man was dragged out of a restaurant, forcibly arrested, and detained for two hours by masked federal immigration officers, according to reports.
…
Due to Mubashir’s refusal to have his picture taken, he was in the car for almost an hour. The agents also tried to take his fingerprints; however, their machine was not working.
Mubashir said the officers drove him to the ICE detention facility at Fort Snelling, a 17-minute drive from where he was arrested. He claimed the officers were lost and did not know their surroundings.
“They kept going back on the same highway. I told them, ‘are you guys lost?; they said, ‘this is our first time taking someone in’. They had their maps out and everything and they were trying to intimidate me,” he said.
Once they arrived, the officers kept him outside until he agreed to have his face scanned; however, like the first machine, the second machine was not working, so he was brought inside.
Meanwhile, DHS Secty Kristi Noem has ordered $200 million in new aircraft and she’s wearing a $56,000 Rolex.
Your schtick of constantly trying to divert attention from the abysmal actions of your Democrat Party in every post that points out how bad they are has gotten old.
Huh?
Instead of immigrants from “shithole countries” President Trump wants to know why we don’t now get any from Denmark, Norway, or Sweden.
Because the people in those countries have universal healthcare, paid leave, free college, gun control, and their President is not a raving loon.
Why would they want to come here?
Walz did EXACTLY what the Democrat Party is built to do. I call it “bleed and feed.” Taking money from the public coffers and giving it to your political friends is the “prime directive” of the Democrat Party. It is the reason that Party exists. The level of graft in our entire political system is enormous. You think Walz “should be done”. I think Walz will be rewarded. In fact, he was so well known for his ability to perpetrate fraud, it likely endeared him to Democrats who put him up as the failed VP.
A question for the author: Are you really as stupid as the stuff you write?
Oh, wait — I see — “does lobbying and consulting work in Richmond.” I guess it beats working for a living.
I am taking this opportunity to announce that today I will turn myself in to the FBI.
Earlier this week the blonde airheaded bimbo who thinks she is the Attorney General of the US declared “antifa” to be a terrorist organization.
As we all know, “antifa” stands for “Anti Fascist.” Which I am. So I will report today to the FBI HQ in DC where I will turn myself in as being against fascism in any form.
It became obvious that the Minnesota governor is not too swuft, when he spoke and esp. the way he acted, notwithstanding his record of poor leadership. Another bigger question is how did all those Somalians get to vote so soon after arriving in this country?
Walz colluded with the Somali thieves. You don’t have billions just mistakenly going out the door in a state like Minnesota. This is very much like the big guy Joe B getting his 10%. I have been to Minnesota and it is a great state with many great people. Unfortunately, there is a toxic empathy streak amongst the ancestors of those who originally settle in that state. It is hard to be conservative because you quickly get called uncaring or racist.