Liberty & Prosperity Blog

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...

According to this Outkick article , former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya is considering running for Minnesota's soon-to-be open U.S. Senate seat. According to the article, "Michele Tafoya, the former NFL sideline reporter turned political analyst, is considering a run for the United States Senate in her current home state of Minnesota, OutKick has learned. Sources familiar with the situation say she is expected to make a final decision in early 2026." If she runs, she'd be matched against either Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan or Rep. Angie Craig. Both DFL candidates have significant liabilities that might prevent them from winning a statewide election. Lt. Gov. Flanagan is a lunatic. There's nothing moderate about her. Rep. Craig isn't a mooderate, either. She's just better at portraying herself as a moderate. Both support subsidizing gigantic health insurance companies that drive inflation and hurt consumers. Neither supports health insurance policies tha...

I'm not the first person that's questioned Ilhan Omar's citizenship status so I don't claim to have any special expertise in the matter. However, after reading this article , I'm inclined to give this story a second chance. According to the article, "AJ Kern, who ran for Congress herself, joined Liz Collin on her podcast to talk about the shocking details in documents related to Rep. Omar’s personal history and immigration status." I've known John and A.J. Kern for more years than any of us would care to admit. It isn't a stretch to say that they're very good researchers. The article continues, saying "Rep. Omar has repeatedly 'claimed that she became a citizen at the age of 17,' Kern explained. However, based on public records, Kern said it seems as though Rep. Omar 'was actually 18 in the year 2000, when her father became eligible to apply for citizenship.'" That's a bit worrisome. To get citizenship though a par...

Friday, Minnesota DFL Gov. Tim Walz appointed Tim O'Malley to be Minnesota's Fraud Czar after months of Medicaid fraud went undetected. Now that his re-election is imperiled, Gov. Walz is paying attention to the situation. Investigative reporters like Powerline's Bill Glahn, Lou Reguse and A.J. Lagoe of KARE11 and Eric Challoux of KSTP have been uncovering fraud story after fraud story for months. Interim U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson has been prosecuting cases for 2 years. Just now, Gov. Walz has paid attention to fraud? Unfortunately, that's just the start of Minneapolis's bad news . The Epoch Times is reporting that "More than 400 illegal immigrants have been arrested in Minnesota by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of Operation Metro Surge, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on Dec. 12." The article continues, saying "Operation Metro Surge targets the 'worst of the worst' illegal immigrants who h...

Once in awhile, a headline just gets you laughing. The title of this article is "Walz creates new ‘fraud prevention program,’ says ‘I just fix these things’ amid widening scandal." What a joke. This doesn't have anything to do with reality. Gov. Walz still hasn't fixed the fraud problem, mostly because he's afraid of the Somali vote. The notion that Tim Walz fixes things is laughable. Gov. Walz breaks things. What does Tim Walz have to say about the 480 whistleblowers from Minnesota's Department of Human Services. They insist that Gov. Walz retaliated against them when they blew the whistle on the Medicaid fraud scandal. These employees created a Twitter account, then reported on the Medicaid fraud. While Gov. Walz assumed the role of good guy in public, he retaliated against the employees privately. These accusations were public once they were posted through Twitter. Making this that much more interesting is a recorded quote from Jodi Harpstead: Ms. Harpstea...

It's predictable that WCCO-TV, the CBS station in Minneapolis, MN, wouldn't investigate the Somali/Medicaid fraud fiasco. Amongst Minnesota conservatives, WCCO is known as part of the DFL's protectorate. The joke is that the next time that WCCO does a hard-hitting investigation of the DFL, aka Democrat-Farmer-Laborer Party, it'll be the first hard-hitting investigation of the DFL. Therefore, the necessity for CBS National doing the investigative report . The investigatve report starts by saying "Luxury cars, private villas and overseas wire transfers: CBS News obtained dozens of files and photos that reveal how Minnesota fraudsters blew through hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars as part of one of the biggest COVID-era fraud schemes." Gently omitted from the report is that most of the grifters are Somalis. The report continues, saying "The files document a spending spree in which defendants, many of Somali descent, took taxpayer money meant to feed ...

It's apparent that Peggy Flanagan doesn't have the temperament to be a senator. According to this rep[orting , "Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan initially slammed President Donald Trump for off-color remarks about Minnesota’s Somali community, telling CNN he wants to "distract" the public from cost-of-living increases." Then she went off the deep end, saying "Trump chose the Laken Riley Act as the first bill of his administration for one reason: He wanted to legitimize his mass deportation agenda ." Hint to Lt. Gov. Flanagan: President Trump doesn't need anything to legitimize deportations, mass or otherwise. That's because it's federal law. Hint II: you don't have to legitimize enforcing the law. Lt. Gov. Flanagan wasn't finished losing it. After that, Lt. Gov. Flanagan lost it, criticizing Angie Craig, her primary opponent for the soon-to-be open U.S. Senate seat, saying "Respectfully, Congresswoman, you voted with Republicans to ...

One thing that's apparent with Minnesota's Medicaid/Feeding Our Future grift is that Tim Walz has plenty to hide. Rep. Brad Finstad, the chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture, is hot on Tim Walz's trail. Rep. Finstad introduced "the SNAP Data Transparency and Oversight Act on Tuesday. His legislation would require states to provide beneficiary-level SNAP data to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) when requested, or risk the withholding of federal funding for the program." What is Gov. Walz trying to hide? Is Gov. Walz trying to hide the extent of Gov. Walz's/the DFL's corruption? It's definitely bigger than was thought when first discovered. Further, "Finstad was joined by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., in sending a letter to Gov. Tim Walz outlining concerns regarding the state’s administration of SNAP, and highlighting 'recent failures to improve program i...

In November of 2017, Somalis joined with CAIR-MN in calling then-St. Cloud City Councilman Jeff Johnson "a racist, an Islamophobe and xenophobe." Further, they made threats against Jeff to the point that he required police protection. I find it rather ironic that Minneapolis Somalis are playing the racist card . According to the article, Minneapolis Councilman Jamal Osman, who is of Somali descent, told ABC News that "This is not the America that I imagine. What we're seeing is not just politics; it's dangerous." Tell that to Jeff Johnson. When then-Councilman Jeff proposed a pause in primary refugee resettlement to St. Cloud, CAIR-MN's Jaylani Hussein joined with #Unite Cloud's Nathalie Ringsmuth in criticizing then-Councilman Jeff, calling Jeff virtually every name in the book and likely a couple other names that aren't in any books. Jodi Harpstead, then the head of Lutheran Social Services, charged him after a rather tense City Coundil meeting...

The Trump administration is apparently tired of the Walz administration slow-walking their way through Minnesota's Medicaid fraud fiasco. It's apparent because Dr. Oz, "the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is demanding Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz take a more 'aggressive approach' in confronting fraud or risk losing federal Medicaid funding." We learned that Dr. Oz told Gov. Walz in his letter that "Recent findings from multiple investigations, combined with ongoing vulnerabilities across several service areas, indicate systemic issues requiring immediate action." TRANSLATION: You've got a mess and you need to fix it fast. The article opens by saying "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is demanding Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz take a more 'aggressive approach' in confronting fraud or risk losing federal Medicaid funding. " Tim Walz is trying his best to polish his tarnished imag...

Apparently, Speaker Lisa Demuth's gubernastorial campaign will be long on brash statements and short on transparency. In Speaker Demuth's latest fundraising appeal, she said "What is Governor Walz hiding and why is he hiding it? Last week a story broke that Tim Walz is refusing to turn over records of Medicaid providers under investigation for fraud to the media and the public. Tim Walz knows there is a law that makes this data public, but his Department of Human Services is refusing to turn it over to the media. I have been clear - when I am governor, the fraud will stop on day one . And on DAY ONE, I will order the release of the fraud files that Tim Walz refuses to release. That'd be quite the trick. Stopping rampant fraud statewide on DAY ONE isn't possible. Speaker Demuth knows it. She just wants to sound tough. I don't want a governore who sounds tough. I want a governor who is solutions-oriented and who knows he doesn't have to sound tough. I want a...

I can't believe that I haven't written about Rep. Bernie Perryman's announcement that she's running for the late Jerry Relph's Senate seat. Still, I'm surprised that this is the first time I've written about this prime opportunity for a GOP flip of a DFL seat. Sadly, a far-left DFL politician (whose name I won't insert into this article) currently holds the seat. I'll just say that we need more Bernie Perryman types in the Senate. This article says that Bernie is a "small business owner" who "has served in the Minnesota House of Representatives after she was elected to that chamber in 2022 by just a 1-point margin." Rep. Perryman, whom I've known since 2008, will help the MNGOP turn our economy into a prosperity economy. Currently, Minnesota's economy is a fraud-riddled, NGO-driven economy that's delivered only 1% per year per capita growth according to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce report. That's the 'Wal...

When Gov. Tim Walz tries touting Minnesota as a great place to live, people living in the real world must wonder if Alice in Wonderland is his neighbor. This week, on Dec. 1, 8 Brainerd Lakes Area mayors wrote a letter "eight mayors representing communities throughout the Brainerd Lakes Area wrote 'with deep concern—and growing frustration—about the fiscal direction of our state and the increasing impact it is having on cities across our region.'" In their letter, they wrote "For taxpayers, local governments, and businesses here in the Brainerd Lakes Area, this is more than disappointing; it is alarming. Fraud, unchecked spending, and inconsistent fiscal management in St. Paul are beginning to trickle down to our cities, placing strain on local budgets and making responsible, long-term planning more difficult." These aren't fresh-out-of-college students wondering where (or if) their career will get started. For the most part, these are people who are c...

After reading this USA Today article by Nicole Russell , I was reminded of an old (almost ancient) article by NRO's Jim Geraghty about the importance of campaign cash. In 2010, when the GOP picked up 63 seats in the U.S. House, 12 of 15 best-funded Democrats lost. The lesson wasn't that campaign cash isn't important. It's that Democrats had to run with a millstone tied around their necks. That millstone was then called the Affordable Care Act. These days, it's getting called the UNAffordable Care Act. These days in Minnesota, that millstone is titled Tim Walz. The difference between 2010 and 2026 is that Gov. Walz has a rock-solid base known as the Somalis. They'll stick with Walz through thick and even thicker yet. What's required this year to defeat Gov. Walz is a combination of solutions, ledership and personality/likeability. If we want to defeat Gov. Walz this year, and I want that badly , we'll need the party to unite around a candidate who isn...

Thus far, I've focused most of my attention on the various types of Medicaid fraud that the feds have investigated, then prosecuted. I haven't paid as much attention to the Feeding Our Future scam. Notice that I didn't say "alleged scam.' That's because this article reports that "The scandal, which has already led to 61 convictions , has widely been viewed as a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland called it 'the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme' in the United States." Convictions aren't theories, suppositions or allegations. Convictions are a finding of fact. That takes statements out of the realm of allegedly, then transfers them into the realm of 'proven beyond a reasonable doubt.' While I'm not a legal eagle, I know enough to know that findings of facts are more important than allegations, theories or suppositions. Aimee Bock was found to be the ringleader of the Feedin...

It isn't surprising that Gov. Tim Walz is still engaged in fiscal happy talk . Coming from a man who spent an entire $17,500,000,000 projected surplus in 2023, that's to be expected. Coming from a DFL politician who spent that record surplus, then raised taxes by $10,000,000,000 , I'd be surprised if he didn't act fiscally irresponsibly. Gov. Walz is quoted as saying "Despite the President’s tariffs and destabilization of health care costs, Minnesota’s annual budget forecast has improved in both the short and long term thanks to the responsible budgeting we’ve done in Minnesota." Spoken like a true socialist. First, President Trump didn't cause the destabilization of health care costs. They've been destabilized since President Obama signed the UNaffordable Care Act into law. Next, tariffs didn't destabilize the economy. The DFL's socialist econoomic policies destabilized the economy. Third, a growing economy isn't slowed that much by things...

Let's not tiptoe with words like affordability. That's the DFL's euphemism for Bidenflation, which was the worst since the late Jimmy Carter. Simply put, inflation is a thief. It's stealing the American Dream from Gen-Z. Let's not tiptoe around socialism, either. Socialism is a thief, too. Thriving economies are built upon capitalism, not socialism. Show me a socialist nation and I'll show you a nation without a middle class. It's that simple. Joe Biden isn't the only thief that's a Democrat idiot. Pick any DFL politician, whether it's Tim Walz, Erin Murphy, Jamie Long or Aric Putnam. Though they'll deny it, they're socialists, too. They've spent your money just as willingly as Biden did. It isn't difficult to remember that Peggy Flanagan was cheering Tim Walz and the DFL Trifecta for throwing away an $18,000,000,000 surplus, then watching Walz and the DFL raise taxes and fees by another $10,000,000,000. Though it isn't theft...

Minnesota is fortunate to have engaged activists. We pride ourselves in making life better. Looking at the legislature, I'd put Speaker Demuth, Floor Leader Niska, Chairman Bakeberg and legislators like Walter Hudson and Bernie Perryman in being great legislators who are making Minnesota better. That being said, it's great having activists like Jeff Johnson and Rex Newman: Jeff is running for governor while Rex is covering some of the grassroots events. Here's Rex's report from Owatonna's gubernatorial forum: The Minnesota Steele County Republicans held a gubernatorial candidate forum at the Owatonna Country Club. The nine contenders were (as seated) Phillip Parrish, Jeff Johnson, Lisa Demuth, Brad Kohler, Scott Jensen, Kristin Robbins, Kendall Qualls, Phillip Knight, and John Krhin. It was very well run and attended this cold December 2 evening. The questioning comprised seven rounds, each starting with a candidate picked at random. Each answer was limited to t...

It's still hard to picture Minnesota being in the national news on virtually a daily basis. Still, that's exactly what's happening. The terrible news is that Minnesota's in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Writer Liz Peek nailed it when she wrote "The massive Somali-orchestrated welfare fraud in Minnesota grew so big, even The New York Times had to cover it ." Then she threw the knockout punch, saying "The takeaways are delicious: an indictment of sloppy Democrat-run Big Government, a repudiation of immigration policies that favor groups that decline to assimilate and that in some cases embrace anti-U.S. sentiment and exposing Governor Tim Walz for the lightweight he is. " That's gotta sting something fierce for Gov. Walz. That's just the first shot. Next is an article about House Oversight Committee Jamie Comer titled " Comer targets Walz in new House investigation, citing nearly $1B in alleged Minnesota fraud." It's worth...

Monday afternoon, I contacted a frequent reader of this blog to see if my friend had tracked the activities of a Twitter account thought to be connected to people thought to be employed by Minnesota's Department of Human Services. He'd been tracking the account as closely as I had. When I asked him what he thought was going on, he said that one of 3 things was happening. The first possibility was that the DFL thought Walz was too weak to win so they tried to make Walz look utterly corrupt so they attempted to help him look bad by shutting down the account. Option 2 was that the DHS employees really had violated Twitter's rules and their account was legitimately suspended. Option 3 was that it was a combination of the first 2 options. This is just opinion but I think that Option 2 is most likely. That doesn't eliminate the possibility of the DFL not wanting Walz out of the competition. This NY Post article is interesting in that it highlights the employees' perspect...