Medicaid Mayhem in Minnesota

by Ted Flint

The Gopher State and its Governor Tim Walz are under the federal microscope following reports that Somalians living in that state hacked Minnesota’s Medicaid system to the tune of over $1 billion. The investigation centers around whether the money was funneled to non-profit groups tied to the Somali community. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Memet Oz has suggested that some of the stolen money may have found its way to the Somalian terrorist group al-Shabab.

According to News Nation hundreds of Minnesota DHS workers claimed in a post on X that not only did Walz ignore their fraud warnings, but he also punished whistleblowers. According to Oz, the alleged scheme involves food assistance programs, housing support and autism therapy services. Oz told WABC Radio Minnesota’s autism program went from $3 million dollars a year in 2018 to roughly $400 million in 2023. He said in addition to funding terrorist organizations, the fraudsters may be buying property in Africa, luxury homes and cars with their ill-gotten gain.

The alleged scheme affects every taxpaying American, as it involves federal money. New Yorkers already pay some of the highest taxes in the nation. That money should be used to help the people who truly need it, not sent abroad to fund criminal enterprises. Oz says there could be a political angle to all this too; since Somalians vote overwhelmingly democrat, Oz hinted that Walz was afraid to alienate a major voting block during his bid to become Vice President. Oz has warned Walz, get to the bottom of the fraud or risk losing federal dollars. 

There is a similar scam involving social service funds and the Somali community unfolding in Ohio.  A whistleblower says the scheme dates back over a decade and totals millions in stolen taxpayer dollars.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Mehek Cooke, an Ohio attorney and conservative commentator, said that "Minnesota was just the tip of the spear."Cooke claims providers within the Ohio Somali community have confided to her that they have been pressured to join in a "massive" Medicaid fraud scheme that involves doctors "rubber stamping" home healthcare payouts to the family members of elderly individuals for fake medical conditions. 

Cooke says the scammers have been exploiting a loophole in Ohio’s Medicaid program that allows individuals to receive Medicaid payments, totaling as much as $91,000 per year per individual, for care they are supposedly providing to a family member. Doctors who approve these payments in turn receive kickbacks themselves.

On an unrelated topic, federal Border Czar Tom Holman says Minnesota Congresswoman Ilan Omar is under investigation for immigration fraud. President Trump has maintained that Omar married her brother in order to gain entry to the country. Omar was born in Somalia but fled that nation’s civil war in the 1990s. She arrived in America in 1995 and became a naturalized citizen in 2000. If found guilty, President Trump says she should be deported. From his lips to God’s ears.

Bellwether Election?

The recent special election In Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District is a snapshot of how progressive democrats get elected in areas in which they shouldn’t have a chance of winning. Republican Matt Van Epps beat back a challenge from liberal democrat Aftyn Behn by roughly nine points in a district Donald Trump won by 22 points in 2024. There are all kinds of theories as to why Behn overperformed in a solidly republican district. But the fact that Behn had stated she hates Nashville, hates country music, hates even bachelorette parties, should give Tennesseans pause - why would she even run and what would possess so many residents in that district to vote for her.

We all know people like Behn; they are angry at everything and everyone. They are never satisfied. They stir up trouble in their communities and claim they seek justice for the oppressed or the downtrodden. They’re just looking for equity, they say, or for a town or village to be more “inclusive.” But what they really seek is control. They want to control what you read, what you say, how you think, how you teach your children, what you eat, what you do with YOUR OWN property. I am reminded of a quote from the late author, polemicist, and founder of Frontpage Magazine, David Horowitz: "Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out." 

The unexpectedly competitive race underscores potential vulnerabilities for Republicans as they seek to fend off a potential blue wave in the 2026 midterms and protect their razor-thin majority. People generally vote with their pocketbooks, Middle America is struggling with high prices, and President Trump is not doing an adequate enough job of articulating the problem and how his policies will help. Democrats think by pinning the “affordability crisis” on Trump’s policies, they have come up with a winning formula to take back the House and Senate. Democrats blaming Trump for rising prices is laughable when it was the Biden Administration that pumped trillions of dollars into the economy during Covid, driving the inflation rate to record highs reducing Americans’ purchasing power.

It’s great that the stock market is booming and trade deficits have begun to shrink. But most Americans don’t own stocks, and many must work more than one job just to make ends meet, keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. The main problem is that the government is too big, too expensive and has assumed tasks that are better left to the private sector.