Liberty & Prosperity Blog

Jim Nobles, the former legislative auditor of Minnesota, is one of the most well-respected public servants in Minnesota history. When Mr. Nobles speaks on the subject of public integrity, people listen. On Monday, the Minnesota Star Tribune published Mr. Nobles op-ed. This morning, Alpha News published this article based on Mr. Nobles' op-ed. The line that IMMEDIATELY jumped out at me was when Mr. Nobles is quoted as saying "Rather than debate and criticize the U.S. Attorney, the governor should give the people of Minnesota an honest explanation of why fraud was allowed to grow under his administration, and he should apologize for his administration’s negligence . " Jim Nobles is a calm, often understated man. For him to say that Gov. Walz "should apologize for his adminitration's negligence" is an eruption of Vesuvial proportions for Mr. Nobles. Recently, Gov. Walz has tried attacking Republicans for not giving him the authority to go after grifters (my w...

Tim Walz is in a predictable and predicted predicament. He didn't pay attention to the Medicaid fraud happening throughout the Twin Cities. Gov. Walz didn't pay attention to the growing crisis because paying attention would've required seeing Somalis committing crimes. That's something Gov. Walz couldn't afford to pay attention to. The stakes would've been totally unacceptable. Tim Walz's predicament started when Nick Shirley committed the unacceptable offense of reporting what was happening. A century ago, these things happened frequently. At the time, these offenses were called acts of journalism. Tim Walz's problem is that he tried responding to Nick Shirley's act of journalism. According to RedState's Nick Arama, Tim Walz "put out a statement on X on Tuesday, hoping to stem the tide of fury over the problem. I don't think this is going to work. And you'll never guess who he tried to deflect to/blame for not taking fraud seriousl...

Just 6 months ago, more or less, what I knew about the Tim Walz-Keith Ellison-Somali fraud scandal, I knew because of Bill Glahn. The things I knew, I knew because of Bill's comprehensive research. The thing I learned about Bill is that there aren't any holes in his research. When Bill first dug into the Feeding Our Futures grift (my terminology, not Bill's), those paying attention learned who the players were (mostly Somalis and Aimee Bock), the amount of $$ initially involved and the nature of the grift. By the time that the trial verdict was announced, Minnesotans wee shocked with the audacity of the grifters. Speaking of the trial, that's when we learned that Joseph Thompson (as he was called then) was a skilled prosecutor nobody should've messed with. Thanks to the Feeding Our Futures investigation and trial, e learned about the Medicaid fraud scandal. Included in THAT scandal was the Housing Stabilization Services, aka HSS scandal, the fraud arisng from the A...

This weekend, Tim Walz's character flaws, which are legion, came shining through in bright, shining colors. That's because Nick Shirley shined a white-hot spotlight on the Walz-Somali criminal enterprise. Shirley took a tour of the Somali industrial-scale fraud complex. In this video , Rep. Walter Hudson provides his expert commentary while taking a virtual ride-along with Shirley. Rep. Hudson is a member of the House Fraud and Oversight Committee. Tim Walz, Minnesota's DFL governor, is pushing back against what's highly visible on Nick Shirley's 42 minute video. Gov. Walz's spokesperson is quoted as saying "The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed." First, Gov. Walz doesn't need "more authority to take aggressive action...

What has Minnesota's Department of Human Services gotten right this year? Perhaps, it's better phrased ' Has Minnesota's Department of Human Services gotten ANYTHING right? That becomes a legitimate question after reading this KSTP article . KSTP reported "The Minnesota Department of Human Services repeatedly reported incorrect information about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to the federal government, 5 INVESTIGATES has uncovered. The state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families, which took over administration of SNAP in 2024, then continued to rely on that flawed data to answer questions about one of the state’s largest public assistance programs." The Department of Human Services is part of the Walz administration at the moment. The base word for administration is administer. The definition of administer is "to manage (affairs, a government, etc.); have executive charge of." It's obvious that the Walz administrati...

I wish things were different but they aren't. I wish that the media wouldn't consistently get their predictions wrong about President Trump's economy but that's how it's going. That's their problem. I'm mentioning this because it's the subject of Stephen Moore's latest op-ed . In the op-ed, Moore writes "Even more surprising than the blockbuster 4.3% economic growth rate recorded in the third quarter of 2025 was the fact that some 90% of the nation’s professional economists got it all wrong. These economic whiz-kids’ faulty forecast comes on the heels of their predictions last week that inflation was going to be above 3%. Instead, the actual number was 2.7%." Then, to add insult to injury, Moore wrote "Welcome to the gang that can’t shoot straight." Ouchi. That's gotta sting. Moore continued, writing "But this groupthink pessimism was widespread this time last year as well, after Trump won election a second time. Yet the ...

This week has brought out the DFL's biggest panderers. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan tried pandering this week. Suffice it to say that she took it too far. Alpha News reported that "Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan praised Somali migrants in the state during a visit to a market in a video posted on YouTube Thursday." Then Alpha quotes her as saying "Salam Alaikum. My name’s Peggy Flanagan. I am the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, and I’m really honored and humbled to be here with all of you today. I am incredibly clear that the Somali community is part of the fabric of the state of Minnesota. I think about my friendship with Nimco. We’ve been friends for almost 25 years and when I think of being part of Minnesota and growing up here, the Somali community has always been a part of my Minnesota." The thing is that she took things too far. Alpha News reported "Flanagan, who wore a hijab, a head covering worn by some Muslim women, during her visit to the market, held a mic...

It didn't take long for Amy Klobuchar to admit that she's a socialist . In her tweet from this morning, she wrote that "Government must work for people. That means more housing, health and child care as well as more accountability and less chaos and high costs." What that really means is more government interference, more inflation joined at the hip with bigger deficits and more irresponsible spending. Let's be clear. I'm not opposed to a state-run child care program as long as it isn't run by the DFL. That's my worst nightmare. When Sen. Klobuchar talks about health care, that's the Democrats' code for massive subsidies for insurance companies. If you thought it meant fixing the UNAffordable Care Act, you're mistaken. Sen. Klobuchar will hold onto the UNAffordable Care Act until her dying breath. Sen. Klobuchar is a 'treat-the-symptoms' type of politician. She isn't a 'fix-the-problem' type of politician. Fixing probl...

There's no doubt that something transformative is happening in Minnesota literally as we're speaking. Earlier this week, 98 mayor of cities across Minnesota signed onto Jackson Purfeerst's stinging rebuke of a letter to Gov. Walz and the legislature, though I think the letter was mostly directed at the DFL Trifecta legislature of 2023-24 than to the GOP. According to the letter , "property tax increases 'stem directly from state policies, mandates, and cost shifts that leave cities with no choice but to pass these burdens onto homeowners and businesses.'" What the letter is is a call to return to capitalism and growth. It specifically cites Minnesota's anemic GDP and job growth. This isn't a call to tinker around the edges a little. When he was interviewed on Fox , J. Andrew Mullin, Wayzata's mayor, talked about macro economics, suggesting he needed a more dynamic economy that would take pressure off people's property tax bill. These DFL l...

If you want to watch an evisceration of a politician on live TV, watch Hugh Hewitt's total evisceration of Tim Wal . This is a total mismatch. Anyone thinking that Tim Walz has the mental capacity to match wits with Hugh Hewitt is living in Wonderland. Hugh told Molly Line that hearing Tim Walz's excuses sounded like "Watching Governor Walz dance, since he first started to get questions about this story, has been amusing because it's the old, it's not my dog. It didn't bite you. Besides, you kicked it first. And every time, it's really a different excuse every time it goes in front of the cameras. It was Covid. We had no guardrails. We lacked a toolkit. President Trump is exaggerating. The acting U.S. attorney, who's, by the way, a career federal prosecutor until October, is making it worse than it really is. We're going to fix it. Just don't believe them. Pay no attention. Right now, Molly, it's a story that is growing faster -- and this wi...

First off, here's wishing you Christians the merriest of Christmases. May this season of revelations bring great joy to you. Next, to the Jewish people, God's chosen people, may this season of lights bring you great joy and new understanding of our Lord. Each year at Christmastime, I turn to Luke ch. 2 to read the Christmas story. I ALWAYS read the Christmas story of Luke Ch. 2 in the King James Version, aka KJV, because it uses "the King's English." On such a royal night when Christ left Heaven to live amongst us (Immanuel, God with us), it's only fitting that we read the greatest story ever told in the version that uses the King's English. The Christ's Story Luke Ch. 2, KJV The Birth of Christ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it wa...

I'd love to meet Jackson Purfeerst, Crosslake's mayor, sometime. He sounds like a guy who isn't afraid to take on difficult fights. Mayor Purfeerst wrote a letter that's turned into an indictment of Tim Walz's and the DFL Trifecta's budget. Alpha News reported "Crosslake Mayor Jackson Purfeerst released a video and letter signed by 98 Minnesota mayors Monday morning urging state leaders to 'course-correct' and 'stop taxing our families, seniors, and businesses out of Minnesota.'" Alpha News then quoted Mayor Purfeerst as saying "What makes this moment historic is that a letter of this nature has never been done before. This coalition of 98 mayors represents roughly 541,000 Minnesotans from both metro communities and Greater Minnesota. That measure of agreement is extraordinarily rare and should not be taken lightly. Over the past several weeks, mayors across Minnesota have been having the same difficult conversations about budgets...

Saying that Minnesota is a state in turmoil is understatement. Alpha News is reporting that "Crosslake Mayor Jackson Purfeerst released a video and letter signed by 98 Minnesota mayors Monday morning urging state leaders to 'course-correct' and 'stop taxing our families, seniors, and businesses out of Minnesota.'" Further, it reported "What makes this moment historic is that a letter of this nature has never been done before,' said Purfeerst. 'This coalition of 98 mayors represents roughly 541,000 Minnesotans from both metro communities and Greater Minnesota. That measure of agreement is extraordinarily rare and should not be taken lightly.'" The average size of these cities and towns is 5,500. Crosslake's population is 2,412 as of 2024. More important is the fact that cities of all categories are included in this letter. This isn't just a report. Potentially, it's a report of a future populist uprising. Further, this uprisi...

Predictably, Tim Walz has started a spin offensive about the fraud scandal gripping Minnesota. The question now is whether the spin is more offensive than spin. Last Thursday and Friday, Gov. Walz and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson held competing press availabilities. On Thursday, Thompson said "The fraud is not small. It isn’t isolated. The magnitude cannot be overstated." Thompson also called the fraud "industrial-scale fraud." It isn't surprising that Gov. Walz felt the need to fight back, saying "You’re seeing a weaponization. We’ll continue to fix (the fraud). They’re going to continue to come up with numbers that don’t have it there, and it’s sensationalized. I don’t expect anything different from this administration." Minnesota Reformer is reporting "State Medicaid Director John Connolly told reporters that the Department of Human Services has evidence that substantiates fraud totaling tens of millions in these programs to date, not ...

On Friday, Tim Walz, Minnnesota's DFL governor, held this press availability about Minnesota's "industrial-scale fraud" crisis. In one part of the availability, Gov. Walz said "Nobody...nobody in the legislature on the GOP side is interested in solving this. My God, it would be the worst thing in the world for them if we were to solve this thing early like we're doing." This is what I'd consider a big shiny distraction or deflection. First, intentionally built into Gov. Walz's statement is the inference that Minnesota's "industrial-scale fraud" is getting fixed. That's fiction. It isn't reality. Next, also built into the statement is the illusion that a legislative solution is required. Back eons ago, Joe Biden emphatically insisted that fixing the border required comprehensive immigration reform. A month after President Trump took office and after he started enforcing this nation's immigrations laws, the border invasi...

During Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson's Thursday press availability, he coined a phrase that might be written on Tim Walz's tombstone. During his press availability, Thompson said that Minnesota had become home of "industrial-scale fraud." I've credited KARE11's Lou Raguse and A.J. Lagoe for their reporting on the fraud story. Frankly, they've earned it. Bill Glahn of both Powerlineblog and the Center for the American Experiment has done exemplary work, too. After examining their work on the fraud issue, I need to add Minnesota Reformer to the list, too. After reading this article , I realize more scrutiny needs to be paid to the work independent journalists have done on the Minnesota fraud issue. The thikg I enjoy about blogs (I mean this sincerely) is that they aren't bashful about shameless self-promotion. That's what Minnesota Reformer did when they wrote "As is so often the case, the dark clouds were visible during Walz’s 15-month h...

Recently, several pieces have been written on whether we should change our strategy towards Russia. By now, it's apparent that President Trump's efforts have run into the brick wall known as Vladimir Putin. Further, it's apparent that President Trump needs to change his strategy. Tinkering around the edges isn't productive. Bold, decisive moves are required . What's required is a strong shot of Ronald Reagan . Specifically, I'm referring to President Reagan being asked what his strategy was towards the Soviets. Reagan confidently replied "Here's my strategy on the Cold War: we win, they lose." President Trump's strategy isn't geared towards winning. President Trump's strategy appears to be to work on a strategy where both sides 'win'. President Putin has played that like a Stradivarius. The turning point in the Cold War, in my estimation, came when President Reagan installed Pershing II missiles into western Europe. Ted Kennedy...

Each week, I watch Almanac and @Issue so you don't have to (said with more than a little sarcasm.) This week, one of the opening guests on Almanac was U of M Professor Larry Jacobs. Here's that interview: I still don't know what Jacobs meant when he said "this is the speech he usually gives to the base of his party." Most of President Trump's rally speeches are long, rambling speeches that usually are stream-of-consciousness speeches. I'm betting that Prof. Jacobs doesn't watch many of President Trump's speeches. President Trump's speech, which I watched live from beginning-to-end, was short, to-the-point and filled wtih statistics to bolster his arguments: This transcript will bear that out. For instance, his claim that prices are coming down fast was strengthened when he said "The price of a Thanksgiving turkey was down 33% compared to the Biden last year." Democrats' only argument is that the people aren't feeling like it...

For months, it seemed like the total amount of fraud committed in Minnesota was $1,000,000,000. To say that I was skeptical is understatement. Earlier this morning, I wrote this article questioning Rep. Angie Craig's statement that Gov. Tim Walz had aggressively pursued fraudsters. I remained skeptical. Then I spotted this article . That's when I said that, in terms of Minnesota fraud, the sky's the limit. According to Alpha News's article, "Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said he thinks a 'significant portion' of $18 billion spent on 14 state-run Medicaid programs could be fraudulent. Asked to elaborate on what a 'significant portion' meant, Thompson said 'half or more.'" Like I said, I knew that $1,000,000,000 figure was definitely low. While I don't have proof of the $9,000,000,000, I'm willing to trust "Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson." If anyone's gonna know, he's my go-to guy. Further, like wi...

It's still early in the primary season but Angie Craig is praising Tim Walz for his handling of Minnesota's fraud scandals. Recently, Rep. Craig said "I think the governor is taking and his team are taking an aggressive approach to crack down on fraud in Minnesota. They’re prosecuting and putting the folks who are perpetrating the crime in jail." That's pretty stunning stuff to hear about Tim Walz's fraud prevention efforts. First, the vast majority of fraudstersare being dealt with by the federal government. Most of the grifters don't deal with the state government. So much for the governor's administration "taking an aggressive approach" in cracking down against the grifters. Next, if Gov. Walz's administration is taking an aggressive approach to fraud, why didn't we hear about it until 5 years after the grift started? Angie Craig is a cookie-cutter progressive. Trusting her is foolish. Craig's political courage isn't exact...

Last night, President Trump delivered one of the best speeches of his presidency. It was a speech that's likely got Larry Kudlow smiling ear-to-ear . In Kudlow's pre-speech riff yesterday, Kudlow implored President Trump to "look forward more than backward." Then Kudlow explained what he wanted to see by saying "What do I mean by that? He has a fabulous list of achievements in his first year. Most notably, closing the border and stopping illegal immigration. Passage of the one big, beautiful bill, with its pro-growth supply side tax cuts, deregulation, drill, baby, drill, as well as other elements. This was a major achievement." Obviously, that's more of a backward glance since they're a list of accomplishments. What was Kudlow hoping to hear last night? Kudlow explained, saying "predicting a fabulously optimistic economic outlook. And leave just one quarter for the first year achievements. If people disagree with me on this, including major Tru...

Apparently, Keith Ellison wants to get slapped around by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ellison either didn't understand the part about the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause or he's attempting to intimidate Sheriff Kyle Burton. It isn't likely he'll do either. According to this Alpha News article , "A local sheriff is pushing back after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison published a formal legal opinion which says Minnesota sheriffs do not have unilateral authority to enter into 287(g) agreements with the federal government." Actually, Keith, they do have that authority. That's because the authority comes from the U.S. Constitution. State attorneys general have no say in the matter because of this thing called Separation of Powers. That's in the U.S. Constitution, too. That's why this official-sounding opinion is just another example of DFL lawfare. It isn't anchored in the right constitution. Since immigration and naturaliza...

Chuck Grassley has once again put himself in the middle of one of Washington, DC's biggest messes. According to this NY Post article , " The FBI did not believe agents had probable cause to raid President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 — but former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice approved the search anyway , according to newly released records. This is what lawfare looks like. The FBI objected strenuously to invading Mar-a-Lago, at one point saying "We haven’t generated any new facts, but keep being given draft after draft after draft. Absent a witness coming forward with recent information about classified on site, at what point is it fair to table this?" Call me crazy but I think the Biden DOJ, led by Merrick Garland, should've tabled things before it got to that point. Further, it's appalling to rewatch the tactics used in the FBI's invasion of Mar-a-Lago.This is a debate this nation should've had before the invasion. Frankly...

If you didn't know that Tim Walz, the DFL governor of Minnesota, was worried about the various fraud schemes, you figured it out when he named Tim O'Malley as his fraud czar. In announcing O'Malley's hiring, Walz said that he just fixes things. Imagine how difficult it must've been to be a reporter trying their best not to laugh when Walz said that. Imagine trying not to laugh after Gov. Walz said that he just fixes these things and after he's appointed a fraud czar . That's just part of it. According to this article , "The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a review into how Minnesota used billions of dollars in federal social service funding, requesting detailed records from Gov. Tim Walz’s administration and other state entities after reports raised questions about whether portions of the money were misused, according to letters first obtained by the New York Post." If I was betting, I'd be betting that HHS is tryin...

Tom Homan has had enough of the legacy media's BS about how inhumane the Trump administration is about the U.S.-Mexico border. Based on his statements in the Oval Office, he didn't pull punches. He left no doubt, saying that President Trump has done the most of the 6 presidents he's worked for. For those wondering, Homan's worked for Reagan, Bush the Elder, Clinton, Bush 43, Obama, Trump and Biden. That's actually 7 presidents but who's counting? If you're counting Biden, perhaps the most accurate count is 6 1/4. But I digress. The carnage done daily during the Biden administration is gigantic. Homan's lengthy, detailed rant: "We get attacked for being inhumane...it's all CRAP. 31% of women who make that journey with the cartels get sexually assaulted. They get raped...children too. Sex trafficking? Historic highs with the open border. Fentanyl? historic highs. Known suspected terrorists that crossed the border? Record highs. What happened under...