Tag Archives: Taxes

Dec 21 2025

Minnesota Somalia Community Fraud Likely to Exceed $9 Billion – New Charges Announced


Posted originally on CTH on December 20, 2025 | Sundance

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, 14 Medicaid services currently under audit and deemed “high risk” have cost the state $18 billion since 2018. “I don’t make these generalizations in a hasty way,” he said. “When I say significant amount, I’m talking on the order of half or more. But we’ll see. When I look at the claims data and the providers, I see more red flags than I see legitimate providers.”

Thompson said during a press conference announcing new indictments that entire companies were created not to provide medical services but to pocket federal funds for international travel, luxury vehicles and lavish lifestyles. “The magnitude cannot be overstated,” Thompson said. “What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes. It’s staggering, industrial-scale fraud.”

Thompson then outlined an industry of “fraud tourism” where some outsiders -specifically two from Philadelphia- even travelled to the state to participate in the financial windfalls. The scheme was “easy money,” he said.

(VIA CBS) – Five new defendants have been charged in connection with a Minnesota housing services fraud, Thompson said. Two of them pocketed $750,000 instead of helping Medicaid recipients find stable housing, he said. Prosecutors allege they used the proceeds to travel to international destinations, including London, Istanbul and Dubai.

One defendant submitted $1.4 million in fraudulent claims, using some of the funds to purchase cryptocurrency, Thompson said. Federal officials say he fled the country after receiving a subpoena.

The five charged include two Philadelphia residents who have been accused of “fraud tourism” after they registered as Minnesota providers. (read more)

Nov 21 2025

Paying Fees to Pay Fees – Taxation in America


Posted originally on Nov 21, 2025 by Martin Armstrong |

SalesTaxMeme

The US government has one of the most complex tax systems in the world. Citizens must calculate what they owe to the government—overpay or underpay, and you’re in trouble. The Trump Administration recently eliminated Direct File, the only option to file taxes directly with the IRS, and now merely paying taxes comes at a price.

Direct File has been in operation for only two years, but it was the last option for Americans to file directly with the IRS without a fee. The current administration claimed that the program was costly and underutilized. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the private sector “can do a better job” than the federal government, and while that is namely true, the government should not be charging civilians for submitting their annual dues.

The government has partnered with a number of private commercial organizations to permit people earning under a certain threshold to file their taxes without a fee. The same government that is concerned that people cannot acquire ID to vote believes that everyone is competent enough to prepare and file ever-changing state and federal tax forms with a private company.

The tax code complexity requires advanced training to decipher. The code is deliberately confusing. “In 1955, there were less than 1.5 million words in the U.S. Tax Code. Today, there are more than 16 million words. Because of this complexity, Americans collectively spend 6.5 billion hours preparing and filing their taxes each year. This must be simplified,” DOGE wrote on X in November 2024, when there were calls for simplifying the tax code.

American Revolution Tax

Taxation is indeed a much broader issue than merely federal. State and local governments have been raising taxes at an unseen pace. The cost of government, as measured by total revenues as a percent of the total GDP, is a key factor in determining our quality of life, and as we have seen, our quality of life has been drastically reduced as government spending rises. The people cannot possibly be expected to foot this endless bill.  The Founding Fathers of the United States specifically prohibited direct taxation, such as any form of an income tax.

There are infinite loopholes in the tax system, deliberately placed there in order to provide the IRS with free rein to extort the people. The majority of people who fail to file are low-income workers. In 2025, an estimated 13-15 million individuals or households will still not have filed their taxes. The voluntary rate for filing is around 85%, and the majority who do not file simply do not understand how to do so. The government measures the “tax gap” to determine the total amount of taxes that taxpayers should pay by law for a given period and the amount that is actually and voluntarily paid on time.

AOC Tax Rich

The bottom income bracket (the lowest 20%) has a tax noncompliance rate of 38%. These are the people who benefited from free tax filing services. Most would likely receive a rebate or incentive for filing, and some mistakenly believe they are benefiting by providing the government an interest-free loan on their earnings. The top 1% only accounts for around 9% of tax noncompliance orders, but those at the top 1% can afford to pay for creative taxation.

Direct File may not have been the ideal service, yet, there must be a method for Americans to easily file without the need for a middle man.

Nov 4 2025

Senate Leader John Thune Tells President Trump, “There aren’t enough Republican votes to end CR filibuster”


Posted originally on CTH on November 3, 2025 | Sundance |

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters he informed President Trump, “The votes aren’t there” to kill the filibuster.  Ergo, the govt shutdown will continue.

The issue is somewhat frustrating for those who have followed DC events closely.  The Democrats hated the Big Beautiful Bill budget and spending legislation, so the Republicans had to suspend the filibuster to pass it.  However, the Democrats are blocking the BBB budget and spending legislation by shutting down government, and the Republicans will not suspend the filibuster to open it.

WASHINGTON DC – Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday there’s not enough support among Republican senators to eliminate the filibuster as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure to change the chamber’s rules to allow the simple-majority passage of legislation. “The votes aren’t there,” Thune told reporters.

Thune said he had spoken to Trump about the issue — he didn’t specify when — and questioned whether his campaign against the filibuster should come as a surprise. (more)

The Moonbat leftists are not the biggest problem; they never have been. They are ideologues, mostly. Insufferable, stupid, violent at times, but easy to spot.  Remember, Democrats quest for power; Republicans quest for money. Always underline this, because it’s really important.

The Moonbat leftists seek power, seek control of your life, and they are open in their insufferably stupid arguments to get there. When they start to lose, they turn violent. This is their history.

That said, they are not the most dangerous.

The professional Republicans are more dangerous, because their priority is money. As a result, their approaches, goals, objectives and arguments can be purchased.

Republicans have no interests, goals or objectives, nor allegiances, that supersede their primary objective – getting money, and growing their wealth.

Democrats will come at you with a knife, a gun or a baseball bat. You can see them. The professional Republican guy standing beside you, however, is willing to take a payment to shoot you in the ear when you don’t see it coming.

This is also why it seems like Democrats stick together, and Republicans split. Democrats are chasing a common goal, a collective goal – power. Republicans are chasing a commonality, yes, but an individual goal – money, their wealth.

Donors contribute to the Democrat agenda because their interest is to benefit from power. Republicans modify their agenda to benefit donors, because their goal is money.

Democrats stay on task, power. Republicans are flexible, money.

You enter a war against Leftists with extreme danger. However, the danger is not the war in front of you, it’s the army beside you waiting to get a payment from the enemy in front of you.

Out of a group of 1,000 Democrats, 900+ will join in to defend a weakened Moonbat leftist (see Kimmel).

Out of a group of 1,000 Republicans, you will find, maybe, 5 willing to cover your back regardless of how much bribery is put in front of them.

Remember this, understand this, and the reality of who presents the most danger to us is accurately framed.

Republicans do not simply snatch defeat from the jaws of victory; they sell defeat to the highest bidder!

It is interesting to watch Senate Republicans proclaim how agencies like the DOJ and FBI have lost the institutional trust of the American people due to corruption, while simultaneously the same Senate Republicans never note the trust loss within their party as a result of their willful blindness to it.

Wax on….  Wax off.   Today is another Monday.

Dec 16 2021

The Pink Tax


Armstrong Economics Blog/The Hunt for Taxes Re-Posted Dec 16, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

Numerous studies have shown that women are often paid less than men, but the pink tax receives less attention. Products marketed to women are often 42% more than products marketed to men. In 2019, that additional tax cost women an extra $1,300 per year. The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs studied 800 various products that were similar in nature but marketed to a respective gender.

(Chart provided by Listen Money Matters)

The study found that women pay 13% more on personal care products, 8% more on senior health products, 8% more on adult clothing, 7% more on toys and accessories, and 4% more on children’s clothes. Another study found that women pay nearly double for dry cleaning costs. A Northwestern study found that women were quoted $406 for a routine vehicle maintenance job, whereas men received a quote of around $383.

In addition to the pink tax, there is the tampon tax, whereby the government deemed tampons a luxury item that should be taxed accordingly. I do not know of any women who consider their monthly cycle a “luxury.” A number of US states have passed laws to prohibit gender discrimination and reversed the tampon tax, and nations such as Canada, India, Australia, and Malaysia have eliminated the fee. Still, products marketed toward women remain elevated. Until recently, insurance companies were not required to cover birth control but insured Viagra for men. While the pink tax is not an actual tax, gender-based discrepancies in price prevail. See for yourself the next time you enter a drugstore.

Jul 24 2014

ANALYST: GERMANY SECRETLY PLANNING TO JOIN BRICS


More unintended (maybe) consequences of having a fool in the White House!