Minnesota and California, two of the most left-leaning, Democrat-controlled states in the country, are both in the midst of fraud scandals of simply breathtaking scale, as model red states like Florida and Texas are thriving. We really do have to ask the question, why?
In Minnesota, despite most of the local news media dragging its feet like an elite NFL receiver on the sideline for years, as $9 billion of fraud and growing is being exposed, much of it committed by the burgeoning and bright blue Somali community.
All of it happened under the lazy watch of Minnesota Democrat governor and failed "white guy taco" candidate for vice president, Tim Walz.
Much of this fraud centers on social service programs like day care centers and transportation to the doctor, but there are no kids, there are no rides being given, there is just graft, often tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars at a time.
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The situation in the Golden State is little better, with a recent audit leading to estimates that a stunning "$72 billion" may have been bilked from taxpayers, and that is according to Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom's own auditor.
And here again, social services appear to be at the heart of the alleged theft. For example, payment errors in food assistance benefits could cost the state $2.5 billion in federal funds, according to the report.
There is also a bullet train to nowhere that has wasted so much money that the Trump administration is now pulling funding from it.
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Even some California Democrats such as Rep. Ro Khana are calling this out now. The congressman told me, "The scale of fraud in Sacramento with the IG report of $72 billion is staggering. Waste and fraud during COVID, with infrastructure projects, and services. We need bold new leadership that will clean up Sacramento."
So, why are these blue states awash in fraud while red ones such as Florida and Texas thrive? Even ruby red West Virginia saw its credit rating bump up over the past year.
One answer is simply that there is more money to steal. California has a population of about 39 million and a state budget of $298 billion dollars; compare that to Florida, which boasts 23 million residents, but with a budget of only $116 billion.
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Based on this math, California spends about $7,600 per resident, while the Sunshine State comes in at a mere $5,000 per resident, and we now know that much of this gap is accounted for by blatant fraud.
To make matters worse, as blue states enact ever more and ever kookier forms of social assistance and welfare, such as paying people to be home health aides, or providing care for youth, no money is spent to increase oversight. In other words, nobody is watching the pot of taxpayer gold.
On top of all of this, nearly every blue state and city in America adds a budget line for DEI or funds reserved for "marginalized" populations to almost every spending bill they pass. This is at the very least wasteful, but even if no crime is being committed, is giving a nonprofit millions of dollars to make an anti-racist PowerPoint presentation not graft in its own way?
The vast scale of this fraud in blue states may not be an accident. In fact, it might be the key to why it took so long to uncover.
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In the first decade of the 20th century, according to the book "Philadelphia, Corrupt and Consenting," Philadelphia's GOP political machine boss Israel Durham was asked by a reporter how his party possibly hoped to get away with all the corruption of the recent Mayor Samuel Ashbridge. His answer is timely today and a bit chilling to boot. "If we did any one of these things alone," Durham opined, "the papers and the public could concentrate on it, get the facts and fight. But we reasoned that if we poured them all out fast and furious, one, two, three one after the other - the papers couldn't handle them all and the public would be stunned and give up…"
Sound familiar?
But many Americans, including frustrated voices in California and Minnesota, are not giving up. In fact, they are just getting started. Will voters in these states choose Republican candidates, now? Will responsible Democrat leaders step up? Or will the graft just continue? Consented to, almost?
It is impossible to say. But what is possible to say is that as long as this dichotomy between red and blue states exists, Florida and Texas can expect their populations to continue growing. Because, it turns out, Americans really do like good governance.
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