Liberty & Prosperity Blog

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...