Featured Stories
Manhattan Institute Issues Commentary to The Spectator Entitled 'I Like a Good Hypocrite'
NEW YORK, Sept. 25 -- The Manhattan Institute issued the following excerpts of a commentary:
* * *
I Like a Good Hypocrite
By Douglas Murray
The Spectator
September 24th, 2026
-
I've always admired Diane Abbott, though admittedly only for one thing. Many years ago the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington campaigned against private schools. As a good socialist this comes as part of the ideological package, and Abbott was more than happy to join in the class war against parents who are in a position to educate their children outside the state system.
However, as some readers might remember,
... Show Full Article
NEW YORK, Sept. 25 -- The Manhattan Institute issued the following excerpts of a commentary:
* * *
I Like a Good Hypocrite
By Douglas Murray
The Spectator
September 24th, 2026
-
I've always admired Diane Abbott, though admittedly only for one thing. Many years ago the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington campaigned against private schools. As a good socialist this comes as part of the ideological package, and Abbott was more than happy to join in the class war against parents who are in a position to educate their children outside the state system.
However, as some readers might remember,when it came to her own school choice Ms Abbott looked around the local state schools and decided that none of them was good enough for her own progeny. So she sent her son to the City of London School, a private school for boys.
Confronted with this hypocrisy, Abbott did the sole thing that I admire her for. She admitted that the double-standard she had been caught in was indeed 'indefensible'. She was a hypocrite. She admitted it and moved on.
Continue reading the entire piece here at The Spectator (https://spectator.com/article/i-like-a-good-hypocrite)
* * *
Douglas Murray is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal.
* * *
Original text here: https://manhattan.institute/article/i-like-a-good-hypocrite
[Category: ThinkTank]
Manhattan Institute Issues Commentary to New York Post: How California Has Created a Welfare System for Illegal Immigrants
NEW YORK, Sept. 25 -- The Manhattan Institute issued the following excerpts of a commentary:
* * *
How California Has Created a Welfare System for Illegal Immigrants
By Christopher F. Rufo, Kenneth Schrupp, Austen Hufford
New York Post
September 23rd, 2026
-
California runs the nation's largest welfare system, devoting more than $180 billion annually to food, health care and other programs for the poor and downtrodden. To sustain the arrangement, the state imposes the nation's highest tax rates.
In theory, these programs are supposed to help struggling Californians. In reality, many serve
... Show Full Article
NEW YORK, Sept. 25 -- The Manhattan Institute issued the following excerpts of a commentary:
* * *
How California Has Created a Welfare System for Illegal Immigrants
By Christopher F. Rufo, Kenneth Schrupp, Austen Hufford
New York Post
September 23rd, 2026
-
California runs the nation's largest welfare system, devoting more than $180 billion annually to food, health care and other programs for the poor and downtrodden. To sustain the arrangement, the state imposes the nation's highest tax rates.
In theory, these programs are supposed to help struggling Californians. In reality, many servelarge numbers of illegal immigrants. Today, California oversees a shadow welfare system that allows noncitizens to receive health care, rental assistance, college grants, tax credits, low-cost car insurance and even smartphones on the taxpayers' dime.
We visited four public-services offices in Southern California, each of which admitted that illegal aliens can enroll in public-welfare programs or receive benefits on their children's behalf. In total, California taxpayers spent at least $11 billion subsidizing illegal immigrants in the last fiscal year. The state's shadow welfare system, it seems, shows no signs of slowing down.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post (https://nypost.com/2026/09/23/opinion/how-california-has-created-a-welfare-system-for-illegal-immigrants)
* * *
Christopher F. Rufo is a senior fellow and director of the Initiative on Critical Race Theory at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal. Kenneth Schrupp is an investigative reporter at City Journal. Austen Hufford is a senior investigative reporter at City Journal.
This piece originally appeared in City Journal (https://www.city-journal.org/article/california-illegal-immigrants-shadow-welfare).
* * *
Original text here: https://manhattan.institute/article/how-california-has-created-a-welfare-system-for-illegal-immigrants
[Category: ThinkTank]
Jamestown Foundation Issues Commentary: Central Asian Countries Mull Transformative Schengen-Style Passport Regime
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 -- The Jamestown Foundation issued the following commentary on Sept. 24, 2026, in the foundation's Eurasia Daily Monitor:
* * *
Central Asian Countries Mull Transformative Schengen-Style Passport Regime
Paul Goble
Executive Summary:
* Central Asian leaders are considering establishing a Schengen-style passport regime for the region, a logical next step in their drive to promote regional cooperation, but one that faces opposition both within the region and from countries with special arrangements.
* That opposition reflects the concern of Central Asians that this would
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 -- The Jamestown Foundation issued the following commentary on Sept. 24, 2026, in the foundation's Eurasia Daily Monitor:
* * *
Central Asian Countries Mull Transformative Schengen-Style Passport Regime
Paul Goble
Executive Summary:
* Central Asian leaders are considering establishing a Schengen-style passport regime for the region, a logical next step in their drive to promote regional cooperation, but one that faces opposition both within the region and from countries with special arrangements.
* That opposition reflects the concern of Central Asians that this wouldweaken their only recently gained sovereignty and fears by outsiders, and especially Russia, that such a move would deprive them of their current influence across the region.
* The prospect of Central Asian governments taking this step is small and distant. This discussion alone matters because it highlights the growing interest among people and governments there in cooperating, even at the expense of outside ties.
-
For almost a decade, some Central Asian leaders, Kyrgyzstan's in particular, have called for a Schengen-style visa-free regime across the region to let citizens move easily between countries and promote tourism (Orda, March 31, 2025; Azattyq Asia, September 6). Now, after many fits and starts, interest in some arrangements similar to those in the European Union--which has created the original Schengen accord to allow visa-free travel among them behind a common visa regime for others both at the external border of the union and at national borders as well--is growing (Azattyq Asia, September 5; Asia Plus, September 16). To be meaningful, such a regime would require establishing a common external visa border, something many Central Asian governments, which view it as a threat to their recently gained sovereignty and control over restive regions within them, oppose (Instagram/@bright_uzbekistan, September 14). Outside powers, in this case the Russian Federation in particular, would oppose it, as they have maintained influence over the region through special visa-free relations with these countries compared with others (Facebook/Information For Thought, September 17). For these reasons, the prospect that the governments of Central Asia will take this step any time soon, particularly as they expand the region to include Azerbaijan, remains small. The discussion alone matters because it highlights those governments' growing interest in cooperating, even at the expense of outside ties.
Advocates of a Schengen zone for Central Asia, such as Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Jarapov, have argued that such an arrangement will boost tourism and economic development in the region (Orda, March 31, 2025). His counterparts in other Central Asian countries, however, traditionally have been less enthusiastic given that they want to retain control of state borders both as a demonstration of sovereignty and as a means of blocking the entrance of those who may pose a terrorist threat to their regimes, with Turkmenistan the least interested (Azattyq Asia, September 5; Asia Plus, September 16). At the same time, some in the Russian Federation--which at present has no visa regime with any of the Central Asian countries, although some in Moscow would like to impose one to control immigration--have expressed concern about any change that might eventually restrict its current freedom of action in comparison with other countries (Azattyq Asia, September 5). Until this summer, these opponents, both domestic and foreign, appeared to have prevented discussions in Central Asia from becoming more immediately serious. Now, as regional moves to cooperation have expanded, especially in the wake of the decision to create a Turkic counterpart to Interpol for the region, they have been re-energized (Instagram/@bright_uzbekistan, September 14; Asia Plus, September 16). At the end of July, Japarov received more support for his proposal to create a common visa regime for tourists. Since then, discussions about what to do next have expanded (Asia Plus, September 16).
The proximate cause of this shift is the difficulties expanding tourism this summer have created for the countries of Central Asia. Long lines at the border and visa requests have overwhelmed the capacity of these countries' diplomatic representations abroad. All would like to reduce these problems. The main issue in discussions about changes is the internal restrictions some countries have placed on travel because of instability. Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on the Afghan border are especially opposed to any changes that might undermine their security. In this they are backed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), which has seen its personnel attacked there (Window on Eurasia, November 27, 2024).
At present, those favoring some changes to the existing visa regimes for Central Asian countries appear to be gaining the upper hand, at least for short-term tourism. Advocates of allowing those who get visas to one country to visit others in the region argue that foreign tourists make an important contribution to Central Asian economies and that most want to visit more than one country because of the costs of getting to the region in the first place. As a result, support for a common tourist visa regime is growing. Opposition to any change in each country's ability to restrict travel to troubled regions, however, remains strong. There is little evidence that any of the countries are ready to change the visa regime arrangements for those staying longer periods, precisely the people that the Russian Federation, the PRC, and other outside countries care most about. (For a survey of these discussions, see Asia Plus, September 16.)
Support for what might be called "Schengen-Minus" appears to be emerging. This would not be a full-blown copy, as some media coverage has suggested, but a limited one that would make it easier for tourists to visit Central Asia without making changes that would challenge Moscow's or Beijing's ability to exploit the existing situation. Going further than that in the coming months is unlikely, but the desire of Central Asian leaders, who have recently achieved so much progress so quickly in overcoming obstacles, means it cannot be ruled out. After all, some in the region are now urging that the populations identify in the first instance as Central Asians rather than as citizens of individual countries (Window on Eurasia, August 13). To the extent that ideas like that gain traction, the push for a common visa regime could continue. This will encourage the governments of the region but spark new opposition from Russia and even the PRC, given the advantages they now have in influencing the decisions of individual countries that they might lose under a new visa regime.
Looming behind these immediate concerns in Moscow and Beijing is the larger fear that Central Asia as a whole is going to be able to play a larger role than any one of the countries in that region has been able to since becoming independent. This is especially the case if Azerbaijan is added to it. This acquisition of agency by a region rather than just an individual country is an important part of the continuing collapse of the Russian Empire, something that is typically measured country by country rather than by region. For that reason alone, the discussion in Central Asia of even a partial move to Schengen-style controls represents something far more important than a glance at what many may feel is simply a question of bureaucratic convenience might suggest.
* * *
Paul Goble is a longtime specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia. Most recently, he was director of research and publications at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy.
* * *
Original text here: https://jamestown.org/central-asian-countries-mull-transformative-schengen-style-passport-regime/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center of the American Experiment Issues Commentary: Sentencing Departure in 2025 - Attempted Murder in 2026
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, Sept. 25 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary:
* * *
Sentencing departure in 2025; attempted murder in 2026
Written by David Zimmer | September 24, 2026
Minnesota's court system has bought into the rhetoric that "the system" is causing racial disparities. Of course, "the system" hasn't created disparities - rather, disproportions in those committing offenses create disproportionate outcomes. We showed this conclusively in our report, Case Closed - Minnesota's
... Show Full Article
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, Sept. 25 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary:
* * *
Sentencing departure in 2025; attempted murder in 2026
Written by David Zimmer | September 24, 2026
Minnesota's court system has bought into the rhetoric that "the system" is causing racial disparities. Of course, "the system" hasn't created disparities - rather, disproportions in those committing offenses create disproportionate outcomes. We showed this conclusively in our report, Case Closed - Minnesota'sOffender Outcomes Devoid of Racial Bias.
As a result of the buy-in by many county attorneys and judges, young men like D'Marco Buckney Jr., 20, are routinely given inappropriately lenient penalties for serious offenses - and too often the public pays the price.
Sentence departure in 2025
Records indicate that in December 2024, shots were fired into an apartment in North Minneapolis. When Minneapolis police arrived on scene two men were observed on the street near the apartment building. One of the men fled on foot, and the other did not. Buckney was detained by police and searched. Officers recovered not one, but two firearms from Buckney, neither having serial numbers.
Buckney was arrested and charged with a felony for possessing a firearm without a serial number - an offense punishable by up to five years in prison. There is no indication in the records why the Hennepin County Attorney failed to charge Buckney with a second count for possessing the second firearm. (This is a common failure of "the system" which tends to excuse multiple offenses and essentially give a free pass after the first offense). There is also no indication why Buckney wasn't charged with being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, or for the shots fired into the apartment building. The single charge of possessing a firearm without a serial number was a gross under-effort from the start.
During the prosecution of this felony, Buckney was released from custody under multiple conditions - remaining law abiding, appearing in court as directed, no possession of firearms, etc.
In June 2025, Buckney was allowed to plead guilty to the single count of possessing a firearm without a serial number. Judge Scoggin agreed to depart downward from the sentencing guidelines and sentence Buckney to a gross misdemeanor. Judges have to declare a reason for departing from the guidelines - Scoggins justified the departure by checking the box, "Crime less onerous than usual."
The sentence held 364 days of workhouse confinement over Buckney's head but Judge Scoggin stayed that sentence for two years. Then, Judge Scoggin ordered Buckney to "serve" three (3) days in the workhouse, but gave him credit for the three days he had already served in jail after his arrest. Buckney was placed on supervised probation for two years, and ordered to complete 10 days of community service, which he never did.
Not surprisingly, the entire experience had little impact on Buckney.
Probation violation
By December 2025 Buckney had violated his probation, and a hearing was scheduled. Buckney failed to show for the hearing and a warrant was issued. Buckney was arrested and brought back to court in January 2026 where he was promptly released and given another hearing date to address the probation violation.
In June 2026, Judge Scoggin dismissed the probation violation, and amended Buckney's sentence, ordering Buckney to serve 15 days in the workhouse, but then allowed the 15 days to be served on home monitoring. Judge Scoggin also altered the original 10 days of community service, which Buckney apparently had not completed, to work/school release instead. Among the conditions that remained in place - a stern finger wagging, admonishing Buckney not to possess firearms.
Again - the court experience apparently had little impact on Buckney.
Brazen attempted murder
At some point, despite being under probation supervision and having been ordered by the court not to possess firearms, Buckney registered an account at Bill's Gun Range in Blaine.
On September 12th, 2026, Buckney rented a shooting lane at the gun range, checking in under his customer account. After practice shooting, surveillance video showed Buckney walk out into the parking lot where he approached a man, pulled his firearm, and shot the man five times severely wounding but not killing him. Buckney left the area in a car registered to him.
Buckney remained at large until September 22nd, when he was arrested on a warrant from Anoka County charging him with one count of 2nd degree attempted murder and one county of 2nd degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Buckney remains in custody of the Anoka County Sheriff in lieu of $1.5 million bail.
The takeaway
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office and the Hennepin County District Court had ample opportunity to remove Buckney from society in 2025. Until our judicial system stops turning a blind eye to those committing violence with firearms, we will continue to experience more violence with firearms.
All the laws in the world won't prevent violence; action will. And that action needs to come from our court system which must reject the all-too-common response of providing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chances to violent offenders.
Law abiding Minnesotans deserve better.
* * *
David Zimmer is a Public Safety Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment. David.Zimmer@americanexperiment.org
* * *
Original text here: https://www.americanexperiment.org/sentencing-departure-in-2025-attempted-murder-in-2026/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center of the American Experiment Issues Commentary: Five Reasons Minnesota Became "the State of Fraud"
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, Sept. 25 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary:
* * *
Five reasons Minnesota became "the state of fraud"
Written by Matt Dean | September 24, 2026
Governors want to be ranked number one in the nation for all kinds of reasons. Fraud is not one of them. Minnesota now leads the nation in fraud, and that stone-cold truth ended the political career of a governor who just two short years ago was looked to as a savior for his party. Fraud has bubbled up as a
... Show Full Article
MINNETONKA, Minnesota, Sept. 25 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary:
* * *
Five reasons Minnesota became "the state of fraud"
Written by Matt Dean | September 24, 2026
Governors want to be ranked number one in the nation for all kinds of reasons. Fraud is not one of them. Minnesota now leads the nation in fraud, and that stone-cold truth ended the political career of a governor who just two short years ago was looked to as a savior for his party. Fraud has bubbled up as aflashpoint in the upcoming election, but it did not just appear. During the last decade, a growing Minnesota fraud crisis was created by policymakers and their enablers with both malicious and virtuous intentions.
Unsurprisingly, this story starts and ends with the money. Too many pipelines of money, too little verification, and a political culture that treated spending as proof of virtue and skepticism as a civil-rights violation.
This summer, American Experiment traveled the state to share some of the nation-leading work Policy Fellow Bill Glahn has done over the past five years to expose fraud in Minnesota as well as hear from Minnesotans. We got an earful...and then some.
American Experiment is now digging deeper into the state of fraud in our public health care programs. Specifically, we will be detailing how our Medicaid dollars are being used as a primary source of fraud at an industrial scale. To kick that off, here are five causes of a perfect storm for fraudsters in Minnesota.
1. Too many buckets, too many spigots, no shut off valve
Minnesota's health-and-welfare architecture is a maze of overlapping funds: the provider "sick tax," the Health Care Access Fund, reinsurance for the individual market, Affordable Care Act subsidies, and Medicaid expansion dollars that nearly doubled total Medical Assistance spending from $12.3 billion in FY 2019 to a projected $24 billion in FY 2026. The sick tax (which Governor Dayton eliminated and Governor Walz resurrected) funds the Health Care Access Fund which is a convenient piggy bank kept off the books from the traditional general fund (the one used to track state deficits and surpluses). This tempting fund has been used as a source of general fund money when things get tight, and a place to keep money parked in better times. Together they create an irresistible temptation for both republicans and democrats in St. Paul to fund things they can't afford while hiding that spending to make things look rosier than they are. This unusual funding mechanism also created confusing and muddy Health care spending budgets that can easily hide aberrations.
Willie Sutton robbed banks because that is where the money was. Minnesota's crooks hit Medicaid and nutrition programs for the same reason. The state wanted to load as many people on the programs as possible. When keeping them enrolled became the highest priority, billions of new dollars flowed to crooks through fraud and down the drain through sloppiness.
2. Confusing spending with effectiveness
Governor Tim Walz has treated budget overruns as evidence of success. On the state's universal school-meals program--originally projected near $400 million in its first two years and now running about 46 percent over the three-year forecast--Walz called the extra cost "a wonderful problem to have" because it showed the program was "an investment." That is the same theory that let Housing Stabilization Services explode from a few million dollars to more than $100 million, and autism and related Medicaid lines grow so fast federal prosecutors later labeled 14 programs high-risk programs and cut off the spigots in Washington DC. An exploding line item on a budget in any mom-and-pop business will alert the owners to a big problem. In Minnesota, it is treated as a "wonderful problem."
3. Letting the fraudsters hide behind protected constituencies
Feeding Our Future and related schemes were not abstract policy failures. Federal prosecutors charged scores of defendants--overwhelmingly from Minnesota's Somali community--in nutrition, housing-stabilization, and autism billing cases. State officials had authority to freeze payments. They hesitated after a nonprofit sued, alleging racial discrimination, and after legislators pressed agencies to restore funding. The US House Oversight Committee later found that fear of litigation and discrimination accusations--not a court order--kept the money flowing. Political clout became a shield.
4. Whistleblowers were intimidated
Scott Stillman, a former DHS digital-forensics supervisor, warned colleagues as early as 2015-2017 that empty day cares were improperly billing and spending and that controls were collapsing. He testified to the Legislature and then he lost his career after feeling the heat from his superiors who accused him of unfairly investigating Somali vendors. Years later, federal prosecutor Joe Thompson described "staggering, industrial-scale fraud" across the same family of programs and estimated that as much as half of $18 billion spent on 14 high-risk Medicaid services since 2018 may have been stolen. Rep. Kristin Robins, Chair of the House Fraud and Agency Oversight Committee found evidence of systemic intimidation to keep employees from saying something when they saw something.
5. Media complicity
For years the story was framed as isolated pandemic program abuse to hide the scope and source of the problem. National and congressional investigators eventually forced the issue. Local coverage later documented that officials treated fraud warnings as an "open secret" and still failed to act. By then CMS was deferring Minnesota Medicaid payments over fraud vulnerabilities as DR. OZ withheld another $91 million. Hundreds of millions in child-nutrition funds were already gone, and billions more in Medicaid billing sat under a cloud.
The Walz administration kept its head in the sand while the rest of the country watched in amazement. A free press that treats program integrity secondary to a political narrative is not a watchdog, it is an accessory after the fact. Minnesota journalists not only looked the other way, they engaged in the same virtue signaling and kowtowing the fraudsters themselves used to perpetrate the very crimes they refused to cover. Even as national media outlets blasted Minnesota for being chumps for the crooks, the largest newspaper in the state must have pulled a muscle in trying to make the argument that the fraud could not possibly reach $9 billion. Yesterday, Minnesota Public Radio scratched its head and (without irony) asked "What's the deal with fraud in Minnesota?"
More to come....
For Additional resources on this:
1. Matt Dean, "Who Paid the $9 Billion Fraud Bill in Minnesota? Mostly the Federal Government, but Less So Now," Center of the American Experiment, August 18, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/who-paid-the-9-billion-fraud-bill-in-minnesota-mostly-the-federal-government-but-less-so-now/.
2. Matt Dean, "When They Say It's Not About the Fraud, It's About the Fraud," Center of the American Experiment, July 24, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/when-they-say-its-not-about-the-fraud-its-about-the-fraud-walz-denies-reality-as-cms-stops-paying-minnesotas-sketchy-invoices-first/.
3. Matt Dean, "Was Walz Just Looking the Other Way? Comer Report Foreshadows the Next Shoe to Drop in Vance Probe," Center of the American Experiment, June 11, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/was-walz-just-looking-the-other-way-comer-report-foreshadows-the-next-shoe-to-drop-in-vance-probe/.
4. Matt Dean, "They Let Billions Get Stolen from Medicaid. Your Health Insurance Just Got More Expensive," Center of the American Experiment, June 24, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/they-let-billions-get-stolen-from-medicaid-your-health-insurance-just-got-more-expensive/.
5. Matt Dean, "Minnesota's Overreliance on Shaky Financing Schemes Threatens HCMC amid CMS Crackdown," Center of the American Experiment, May 27, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/minnesotas-overreliance-on-shaky-financing-schemes-threatens-hcmc-amid-cms-crackdown/.
6. Matt Dean, "To Save Medicare, Congress Must Cut Fraud," Center of the American Experiment, September 4, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/to-save-medicare-congress-must-cut-fraud/.
7. Matt Dean, "One in Three Minnesota Kids on Medicaid: Why Are We Paying for Middle-Class Medicaid, and How Much Goes to Fraud?" Center of the American Experiment, July 15, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/one-in-three-minnesota-kids-on-medicaid-why-are-we-paying-for-middle-class-medicaid-and-how-much-goes-to-fraud/.
8. Matt Dean, "Kickbacks for Cash: Minnesota's Autism Program Betrayed Vulnerable Children and Taxpayers," Center of the American Experiment, March 18, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/kickbacks-for-cash-minnesotas-autism-program-betrayed-vulnerable-children-and-taxpayers/.
9. Matt Dean, "Minnesota's EIDBI Autism Program: Explosive Growth, Widespread Fraud, and a Coming Reckoning," Center of the American Experiment, March 13, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/minnesotas-eidbi-autism-program-explosive-growth-widespread-fraud-and-a-coming-reckoning/.
10. Matt Dean, "Guidance on MinnesotaCare for Undocumented Immigrants Shows Why Fraud Is Out of Control," Center of the American Experiment, December 17, 2025, https://www.americanexperiment.org/guidance-on-minnesotacare-for-undocumented-immigrants-shows-why-fraud-is-out-of-control/.
11. Matt Dean, "Minnesota Crooks Hit Medicaid for the Same Reason Willie Sutton Robbed Banks," Center of the American Experiment, December 19, 2025, https://www.americanexperiment.org/minnesota-crooks-hit-medicaid-for-the-same-reason-willie-sutton-robbed-banks/.
12. Matt Dean, "Pervasive Medicaid Fraud Met with Milquetoast Response by Walz Regulators," Center of the American Experiment, July 9, 2025, https://www.americanexperiment.org/pervasive-medicaid-fraud-met-with-milquetoast-response-by-walz-regulators/.
13. Matt Dean, "Minnesota's 'Sick Tax' Would Go Up 11% under DFL Budget," Center of the American Experiment, April 16, 2025, https://www.americanexperiment.org/minnesotas-sick-tax-would-go-up-11-under-dfl-budget/.
14. Matt Dean, "DR. OZ Withholds Another $91 Million in Minnesota Medicaid Payments That 'Don't Look Right,'" Center of the American Experiment, May 1, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/dr-oz-withholds-another-91-million-in-minnesota-medicaid-payments-that-dont-look-right/.
15. Matt Dean, "Medicaid Run Amok," Thinking Minnesota (Center of the American Experiment), Summer 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/magazine/article/medicaid-run-amok/.
16. U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota's Fraud Explosion (staff report, June 8, 2026), https://oversight.house.gov/report/the-cost-of-doing-nothing-how-tim-walz-and-keith-ellison-fueled-minnesotas-fraud-explosion-2/.
17. Associated Press / Pioneer Press, "'Industrial-Scale' MN Fraud May Have Cost Billions, Feds Say," December 18, 2025 (Joe Thompson's $9 billion estimate), https://www.twincities.com/2025/12/18/industrial-scale-fraud-may-have-cost-mn-billions-feds-say-while-announcing-new-charges/.
18. CBS News, "Everything We Know about Minnesota's Massive Fraud Schemes," updated March 20, 2026, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minnesota-fraud-schemes-what-we-know/.
19. Ellen Galles, "Free School Meals Cost Rises as Minnesota Serves 450 Million Meals to Students in 3 Years," KSTP, September 8, 2026 (Walz: "what a wonderful problem to have"), https://kstp.com/uncategorized/free-school-meals-cost-rises-as-minnesota-serves-450-million-meals-to-students-in-3-years/.
20. John Phelan, "DFL Trifecta's 'Free' School Meal Program Is 46% over Budget," Center of the American Experiment, September 9, 2026, https://www.americanexperiment.org/dfl-trifectas-free-school-meal-program-is-46-over-budget/.
21. Rich McHugh, "Minnesota Whistleblower Speaks Out after Being Targeted for Fraud Findings," NewsNation, March 30, 2026 (Scott Stillman), https://www.newsnationnow.com/vargasreports/minnesota-whistleblower-alleged-fraud-findings-targeted/.
22. Ryan Faircloth, "Inside Gov. Tim Walz's Fraud Response," Minnesota Star Tribune, September 13, 2026, https://www.startribune.com/mn-gov-tim-walz-fraud-feeding-our-future-medicaid-federal-money/601878851; Faircloth, "Four Takeaways from Our Deep Dive into the Walz Administration's Fraud Response," Minnesota Star Tribune, September 14, 2026, https://www.startribune.com/mn-gov-tim-walz-fraud-testimony-takeaways-feeding-our-future/601888010.
23. Ernesto Londono, "How Fraud Swamped Minnesota's Social Services System on Tim Walz's Watch," New York Times, November 29, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/us/fraud-minnesota-somali.html; Londono, "Prosecutors Say Minnesota's Fraud Scandal Goes Further Than Previously Known," New York Times, December 18, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/us/minnesota-fraud-scandal.html.
* * *
Matt Dean is a Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment. matt.dean@americanexperiment.org
* * *
Original text here: https://www.americanexperiment.org/five-reasons-minnesota-became-the-state-of-fraud/
[Category: ThinkTank]
AFPI Releases New K 12 Education Roadmap
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following news release:
* * *
AFPI Releases New K 12 Education Roadmap
September 24, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) today released a new K-12 education roadmap outlining actionable reforms for governors, legislators, and state education leaders to expand education freedom, restore academic excellence, strengthen career pathways, and empower teachers.
"For decades, education policy has been written to protect a system instead of serve a child. But children don't learn in systems. They learn
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following news release:
* * *
AFPI Releases New K 12 Education Roadmap
September 24, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) today released a new K-12 education roadmap outlining actionable reforms for governors, legislators, and state education leaders to expand education freedom, restore academic excellence, strengthen career pathways, and empower teachers.
"For decades, education policy has been written to protect a system instead of serve a child. But children don't learn in systems. They learnat kitchen tables, in classrooms, and from teachers who know their names," said Erika Donalds, Chair of Education Opportunity at AFPI. "States don't have to wait on Washington to fix this. This roadmap is a practical blueprint for the governors and legislators ready to act."
The roadmap includes reforms to expand school choice, strengthen civics education, increase academic transparency, improve career and technical education, and bring new talent into the teaching profession.
"Our roadmap identifies specific legislative and administrative actions that can expand educational options, raise academic expectations, attract new talent into teaching, and equip students with career options that do not require four-year degrees," said James Paul, AFPI's Director of State Education Policy.
Read the roadmap here (https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/k-12-education-reform-roadmap/).
* * *
Original text here: https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/afpi-releases-new-k-12-education-roadmap/
[Category: ThinkTank]
AFPI Applauds DOJ Action Defending Second Amendment Rights
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following news release:
* * *
AFPI Applauds DOJ Action Defending Second Amendment Rights
September 24, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) applauds the Department of Justice's (DOJ) recent legal opinion concluding that a federal gun law prohibiting licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns or handgun ammunition to law-abiding adults between the ages of 18 and 20 violates their Second Amendment rights and is unconstitutional.
The Constitution protects the rights of all Americans, and those
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following news release:
* * *
AFPI Applauds DOJ Action Defending Second Amendment Rights
September 24, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) applauds the Department of Justice's (DOJ) recent legal opinion concluding that a federal gun law prohibiting licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns or handgun ammunition to law-abiding adults between the ages of 18 and 20 violates their Second Amendment rights and is unconstitutional.
The Constitution protects the rights of all Americans, and thoserights should not be denied because of age. Law-abiding 18, 19, and 20 year olds are guaranteed their Constitutional Rights, and this opinion by DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel makes that clear. This opinion recognizes a fundamental principle: constitutional rights must be protected for every American.
"Attorney General Blanche and his team have once again proven that the Trump Administration's commitment to the Second Amendment is second to none. Like every Constitutional right, the right of the people to keep and bear arms extends to all law-abiding American adults for all protected arms," said Knox Williams, AFPI's Senior Fellow for Second Amendment Policy. "We applaud the Justice Department for taking decisive action against the unconstitutional federal ban on handgun sales to 18 to 20-year-olds."
This opinion recognizes 18-to-20-year-olds as among "the people" protected by the Second Amendment and concludes that the federal government cannot constitutionally enforce the restriction against licensed dealers selling handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults. This move from DOJ is an important step toward restoring the Second Amendment rights of Americans.
* * *
Original text here: https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/afpi-applauds-doj-action-defending-second-amendment-rights/
[Category: ThinkTank]
