XPost: mn.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.fraud   
   From: jolsen@cnc-fl.com   
      
   By Mattias Gugel   
      
   Every public scandal is a parade of failures, not just a single misstep.   
      
   Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future case, the biggest COVID-era fraud   
   prosecution in America, doesn’t just expose cracks in one emergency   
   program. It spotlights a national pattern: Government prioritized speed   
   over accountability. The unspoken rule was clear: Just get the money out.   
      
   Prosecutors say the scheme siphoned off $250 million meant to feed   
   children during the pandemic. Fake meal sites, phony invoices, and   
   imaginary recipients were the tools of the trade. Some fraudsters   
   splurged on luxury cars and shipped cash overseas. Auditors and   
   employees sounded the alarm, and federal partners raised concerns, but   
   checks failed as politicians and bureaucrats grew terrified of slowing   
   the money spigot during a crisis.   
      
   While Minnesota’s child-nutrition scandal grabbed headlines, the biggest   
   financial disaster of the pandemic unfolded quietly in unemployment   
   insurance. During COVID, unemployment insurance lost tens of billions.   
   Experts peg fraudulent pandemic unemployment payouts at $100 to $135   
   billion, with total improper payments brushing up against $200 billion.   
   Almost none of that money has come back, leaving state trust funds on   
   life support.   
      
   Ohio alone has identified more than $1 billion in fraudulent pandemic   
   unemployment overpayments. New York flagged hundreds of millions more,   
   while Texas and Colorado each reported losses well into nine figures.   
   According to the Government Accountability Office, states have recovered   
   only a sliver of the fraud they’ve identified—often less than five   
   percent—leaving taxpayers permanently on the hook.   
      
   In fact, “improper payments,” the government’s polite term for sending   
   out taxpayer dollars that never should have gone out the door, plague   
   state unemployment systems. According to the U.S. Department of Labor,   
   Rhode Island, Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Delaware, and New York all   
   report unemployment-insurance improper payment rates above 25%. That   
   means more than one out of every four unemployment dollars was paid   
   incorrectly.   
      
   The cause? Good intentions gone bad. Federal guidance told states to pay   
   benefits first, worry about details later. Outdated IT, flimsy identity   
   checks, and self-reported benefits turned the system into a playground   
   for fraudsters.   
      
   Criminal rings pounced, flooding the system with bogus claims and stolen   
   identities. Basic safeguards collapsed. Taxpayers footed the bill for   
   claims from the dead, the incarcerated, and serial applicants gaming the   
   system across state lines. Emergency allotments, rubber-stamp   
   verification, and overwhelmed agencies opened the door wide for fraud   
   and error, with barely a glance back once the money left the building.   
      
   Minnesota’s scandals put that abuse in the spotlight and underscored the   
   need for real change.   
      
   Too often, fraud gets whitewashed with passive language, like "Funds   
   were misdirected," "Controls failed." It’s a clever way to let   
   government officials and politicians off the hook. When unemployment   
   trust funds run dry, states don’t pick up the tab. Employers do. Payroll   
   taxes climb, wage bases expand, and honest businesses, especially the   
   small ones, are left to refill coffers that criminals looted by   
   exploiting government blind spots.   
      
   SNAP fraud brings the same pain. Bad payments erode public trust,   
   trigger federal penalties, and spark demands for deep benefit cuts that   
   punish the people who need help. State lawmakers don’t have to choose   
   between compassion and competence.   
      
   First, stop fraud before a single dollar leaves the vault. Identity   
   checks need to be layered and ruthless: multi-factor authentication,   
   document scans, device risk scoring, and cross-checks with fraud   
   databases. It’s cheaper and fairer to keep the barn door shut than to   
   chase the horse after it bolts.   
      
   Second, demand instant eligibility checks. Claims should be run against   
   wage records, death rolls, prison lists, and other states’ registries   
   before a dime goes out. SNAP applications need the same scrutiny:   
   cross-checked with income and participation data.   
      
   Third, use risk-based triage. Most claims are honest, but some aren’t.   
   Systems should sort the wheat from the chaff and reserve extra scrutiny   
   for high-risk, self-reported claims.   
      
   Fourth, make transparency non-negotiable. Wrong payment rates and   
   recovery numbers shouldn’t be buried in reports no one reads. Public   
   dashboards put sunlight on the mess and help rebuild trust.   
      
   Finally, emergency waivers should come with an expiration date. No   
   future crisis should be a free pass to skip verification forever.   
   Emergency rules should die on schedule unless renewed with real safeguards.   
      
   Congress, if they choose to get involved, must empower states to enact   
   these commonsense reforms that curb fraud and abuse, including allowing   
   states to keep a portion of recovered funds, so good oversight is   
   rewarded rather than punished.   
      
   Minnesota’s scandal is dramatic, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.   
   When oversight is treated as a nuisance, taxpayers get left behind.   
   Unemployment Insurance and SNAP are still riddled with weak spots.   
   Outdated systems linger. Verification gaps fester. Politicians still   
   flinch at demanding real reform, afraid they’ll look heartless.   
      
   Integrity isn’t indifference. It’s stewardship: protecting the public’s   
   trust and money. Minnesota fired the warning shot. The pandemic revealed   
   the price tag. The next move belongs to the states.   
      
   Mattias Gugel is the Director of State External Affairs for the National   
   Taxpayers Union.   
      
   https://redstate.com/redstate-guest-editorial/2026/01/19/minneso   
   as-snap-fraud-fiasco-is-the-warning-shot-states-cant-ignore-n2198272   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)