LEGISLATION HIGHLIGHTSFRAUD AND MORE FRAUD In late July, I joined other Republican lawmakers in sending a formal letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requesting a federal audit of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS). Two weeks ago, The House Fraud Committee received news that the federal government is already conducting an audit of Minnesota Medicaid autism therapy services and would potentially expand its investigation to consider the serious issues raised in the letter. This is good news, since a new KARE 11 investigation recently found that for more than a year, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) ignored repeated warnings from Hennepin Health, a county-run Managed Care Organization, and other county officials about fraud in the Housing Stabilization Services program. The program, which ballooned to more than $100 million annually, was plagued by bribes, falsified records, and even billing for clients who had already died. Despite receiving credible reports dating back nearly two years, DHS continued making payments while vulnerable Minnesotans went without help. Click here to watch the report. We also learned that when a vulnerable Minnesotan contacted DHS about assistance he was supposed to be receiving, he was told to ‘do it himself.’ Click here to learn more from this KSTP story. On Wednesday, the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee met to discuss fraud within Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) and Integrated Community Supports (ICS). Scheduled to speak was Assistant Commissioner of Homelessness & Housing Supports Eric Grumdahl. But just hours before the hearing was to begin, the committee was informed that Grumdahl had just been fired. Talk about going to any length to avoid accountability. For reference, note that the Minnesota Department of Education oversaw at least $300 million – and it could be closer to $500 million – fraudulently stolen through the Feeding Our Future scheme, and to our knowledge not one person lost their job. Yet one day before the committee is scheduled to ask pointed questions of someone from DHS, he is conveniently removed from his post? There is little doubt the Walz administration is trying to hide its activity – or better stated, continued inactivity – on government fraud from the legislature and the public. Stay tuned for more fraud updates. As I said a month ago, it seems to be the land of 10,000 frauds in this state, as the totals continue to rise as the days go on.  WILL THIS BE OUR TURNING POINT? Over the last few months, I have mentioned several times about my concern about our society boiling over. With the murder of conservative champion Charlie Kirk, I believe we’re there. What is particularly chilling about his assassination is that Kirk was someone who believed in respectfully engaging with people who didn’t agree with him. And yet, while answering a question about the growing number of transgender mass shooters in America, Kirk was killed by a man who was in a romantic relationship with a transgender individual. Charlie Kirk was basically murdered because someone was upset with his views and his 1st Amendment right to express them. The social media response to his killing has been nothing short of diabolical. Tens of thousands of keyboard warriors celebrated his death, and a lot of them are now losing their jobs over their reactions. To be clear, these folks exercised their 1st Amendment right to express their glee that a political foe had been murdered, and now their employers are exercising their rights to show these people the door over their horrifying beliefs. We’re seeing the problem locally as well. In Red Wing, as a prayerful vigil was being held, a woman showed up holding a sign that said: “One Less Nazi.”  We are in a dangerous place in our society when we label someone who does not think exactly like us as an enemy and that they could and should be murdered for their beliefs. In April, a poll found that 55% of self-identified left-of-center respondents said that it was at least somewhat justified to murder President Trump. These people truly believe the ends justify the means, and it’s sick. They want to scare you into silence or change – or else. History shows that intellectuals debated tough topics like religion and politics. Yet somewhere along the line we were told “don’t talk about these things” because it was not politically correct or that it violated a new social guideline and might upset someone. What if this eagerness for us as a society to protect people from having tough conversations has led to the politically active demonization of anyone who doesn’t think or believe exactly the way they do? “Words are violence” is what we were told years ago if we didn’t address someone by their preferred pronoun. This from the same lot – including numerous TV political pundits - that now calls anyone who disagrees with them a Nazi, fascist, or racist. This manipulation is being repeated day after day, which is why few of us are surprised when a psychotic radical is compelled to commit violence on Republicans. All political violence is wrong. Full stop. Regardless of your political preference, if someone is targeted and you say “I feel bad for his family, but…” you are most definitely part of the problem. As a society – are we willing to acknowledge and break this dangerous place that we are in? Just because someone doesn’t want solar panels being installed on prime farmland doesn’t mean they want to kill you through pollution. If someone is pro-life, it doesn’t mean they oppose women’s health care and is therefore Adolf Hitler. Enough is enough. We need to start calling out this rhetoric. We are now at the point in history where people are being murdered for peacefully expressing their views, and a significant portion of our population finds that acceptable. Will we allow this to be our turning point? If you can’t have dialogue, how can we move forward? A FINAL THOUGHT This has been an overwhelming and trying time. Please continue to focus on your families and controlling what you can control. Sometimes it is really good for your soul to just turn off the news and stop scrolling on social media and focus on yourself, going to church, or helping a neighbor. May God bless and protect you and your families, our state and our nation! |