Food stamp fraud rises along with participants, budget

Phyllis K. Fong, Inspector General for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, testified before Congress on Thursday about fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.  SNAP is the USDA’s largest program,  both in terms of participants and budget to the tune of $75 billion annually.

The $75 billion is provided by those who pay income taxes in the U.S.

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More Medicare fraud alleged—a mosque owner and a pharmacist charged

Updated on Friday, December 2, 2011 at 10:22AM by Kay B. Day, Editor

I really get tired of saying I told you so.

If you read here frequently, you’ll recall I like to do soapbox rants about Medicare fraud. Partly because I care about seniors like my mom and partly because my husband and I actually pay taxes—you can see where I’m going with this.

Legacy media is finally paying attention to this fraud, maybe because a progressive publication finally acknowledged it. Funny thing is, the Detroit cases appear to surprise the folks at Detroit Free Press.

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Lack of border security and federal accountability cost taxpayers billions

A medallion marks the spot where the US and Mexico borders meet. [Customs and Border Patrol photo by James R. Tourtellotte]We’re hearing a lot about US debt these days, with both parties vowing to cut spending. There’s an issue that should be part of the discussion and the only reason it isn’t has to do with political tactics—no one wants to shine a light on our porous border and no one wants to discuss the failure of past and current administrations to hold the federal government accountable for fraud, and no one wants to talk about the costs associated with law enforcement when it comes to citizens of foreign countries.

Michael Cutler spent 30 years working with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He’s a well known face on programs that cover politics. Cutler, who says on his website he is a Democrat, recently called attention to a particular case involving an “immigration consulting business” catering primarily to Indian nationals.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement disclosed that principals of the consulting business were charging aliens (term used by government) as much as $60,000 for documentation. The owners have been charged with visa fraud.

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Rep. Boren should know—the devil’s in the spending

This video from Citizens Against Government Waste reveals mindless federal spending.

Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) appeared on Fox and Friends Monday, questioning Republican plans to cut spending. This should come as no surprise—Boren is a third generation politico.

When asked about GOP plans for cuts, he said, “The devil’s in the details.” Boren and his fellow liberal Democrats proved incapable of addressing rapidly increasing budget deficits. Instead they spent more—they set world records for spending despite President Barack Obama’s campaign pledge to go line by line and cut wasteful spending.

Republicans should face facts. And so should anyone else who really cares about our country.

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Kos alleges poll data ‘likely bunk’, threatens lawsuit

Polls often yield predictable results. In a recent poll taken in the Day household, we learned 100 percent of dogs like doggie biscuits. Sample size was 2, but it was diverse, including a hound and a Schnauzer.A rather remarkable admission from the most influential blogger in Democrat-allied politics has come forth.  Markos Moulitsas at Daily Kos wrote, “I have just published a report by three statistics wizards showing, quite convincingly, that the weekly Research 2000 State of the Nation poll we ran the past year and a half was likely bunk.” 

Moulitsas also known as ‘Kos,’ claims Daily Kos was ‘defrauded’ by the polling company, and he renounced any post based exclusively on the company’s polling. I’m thinking he might want to add a widget that shows on every page because Kos is essentially a blog mill.

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Phony SEAL gets 2 years for Stolen Valor

Updated on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 3:19PM by Kay B. Day, Editor

Exclusive to The US Report

*Please see the followup posted Sept. 6, 2011 at the end of the original column for an update on court rulings regarding Stolen Valor.

By Chris Carter

URBANA, ILL. - A former sailor who defrauded the government of more than $280,000 and falsely claimed to be a Navy SEAL will spend the next 27 months in prison.

Robert J. Warren was sentenced for defrauding the government and falsely claiming to be a Navy SEAL. This photo was taken at a Chicago bar.[Photo used with permission, Don Malin; all rights reserved]Robert J. Warren, 45, of Sullivan, Ill. claimed to be a member of the elite counter-terrorism unit SEAL Team Six, a Prisoner of War in two combat operations, and to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He fraudulently received $166,116 in Veteran's benefits and $114,005 in Social Security benefits due to his purported service-related disabilities.

Warren pleaded guilty to twelve felony counts: six counts of wire fraud, four counts of mail fraud, one count of making a false statement, and one for Social Security fraud.

In the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Judge Michael P. McCuskey sentenced Warren to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Warren will also have to pay back $280,161 in restitution and a $1200 special assessment fee which is mandated by Congress.

Following his sentencing, the judge ordered that Warren be immediately taken into custody.

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