Fraud

At some point, bureaucracy gets to be too large to manage.

Exposing ObamaCare Subsidy Fraud

People fudged their income reporting and we got a financial crisis. People lie about their income and we get massive government entitlement spending fraud.

This was made possible by the “discretion” of the prior Administration in enforcing Congressionally passed laws.

‘Bigger government invariably creates more opportunities for fraud. Exhibit A is the ObamaCare insurance subsidy racket, which a new Paragon Health Institute report finds has resulted in some 6.4 million people this year receiving free health insurance to which they aren’t entitled.

‘Enrollment in the ObamaCare exchanges ballooned after Democrats sweetened subsidies in 2021. The 2021 law capped how much households are required to pay toward their premiums as a share of income on a sliding basis. Households get a tax credit that covers the difference between their plan premium and what they are required to pay.

‘The tax credit for households that make between 100% and 150% of the poverty line ($15,650 to $23,475 for a single adult) fully covers their premiums. Those making more than 400% of the poverty line ($62,600 for a single) don’t have to pay more than 8.5% of their income toward their premiums.

‘As Paragon explains, the larger subsidies combined with the Biden Administration’s relaxation of rules for verifying eligibility created an enormous incentive for individuals and insurance brokers to fudge how much income they report.’

USAID Gave Known Con Man $800M Contract To Do Kamala’s Work On ‘Root Causes Of Migration’

This is glorious.

Failed border control enforcement (there’s that pesky “discretion” again). Check.

Deciding that the way to address the problem is by awarding a truckload of money to someone operating out of their own home to write policy papers. Check.

Giving a massive multi-hundred million dollar contract to some dude even after you know that he is a con man. Check.

Bribing a contract official to get the contract locked up. Check.

Section 8a (minority advantage) bidding to eliminate any competition in the bidding process. Check.

Priceless. Actually $800 million.

How much of this stuff doesn’t get caught? Serious question.

‘President Joe Biden’s USAID awarded an $800 million contract to a business operating out of a Virginia home even after it formally ruled that its key manager lacked “honesty or integrity” — a reference to the fact that, according to a May 12 guilty plea, he had secured USAID contracts through bribery for a decade.

‘The contract was for addressing “issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States” — the work that Biden assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris, but which she never appeared to address, a Daily Wire investigation found.

‘The Department of Justice announced Friday that Walter Barnes III, the founder of government contractor Vistant (previously known as PM Consulting Group, or PMCG) and Roderick Watson, a USAID contracting official, pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme in which Barnes and two others conspired to pay Watson $1 million in exchange for $544 million in contracts.

‘What has not been reported is that the Biden administration continued to steer contracts to Vistant/PMCG even after it knew of the massive corruption: the migration contract, even larger than the $544 million in the indictment, and others that are still active.

‘The $800 million contract went to a joint venture between Barnes’ company and CollaborateUp, a tiny consultancy run out of a suburban home in Falls Church, Virginia, where its CEO, Richard Crespin — who runs the company while also working at a think tank — lives. The Virginia home was the address listed on the $800 million contract.’

How Progressive Government Set the Stage for the LA Riots

Rules, rules, and rules distort life in LA immensely.

Regulating wages higher leads to lower employment. Prosecutorial discretion in which city leadership lean on police not to enforce the law leads to higher crime, which chases people in the lower and middle classes out of the city, in addition to demoralizing the police and crippling recruiting and retention. It goes on.

Elections have consequences. So do regulations.

‘Start with public safety. The Los Angeles Police Department has about 1,300 fewer officers than a decade ago—and about half as many per capita and nearly 90% fewer per square mile than New York City. An overstretched police force almost certainly explains why it took officers so long to respond to the call from ICE officers.

‘Blame city leaders. The mayor this spring proposed eliminating another 400 police positions to close the city’s $800 million budget hole, caused by ballooning pension costs and lawsuit payouts. The LAPD has also struggled with low morale and recruitment owing to lax enforcement policies that let lawbreakers run free. Crimes such as shoplifting, vandalism, disorderly conduct and trespassing are rarely prosecuted.

‘How many of the rioters have a history of looting businesses and vandalizing buildings with impunity?

The police recruiting pool has also shrunk alongside L.A.’s working class as blue-collar families leave for locales with better schools and a lower cost of living. Los Angeles County has lost some 1.4 million people due to domestic out-migration since 2010, which has been offset in part by an influx of 530,000 immigrants.’