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| Russ Allison Loar/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Blue states are pouring out cash with a system of pretend-rules that don’t matter. They’re running free money programs with no lock on the front door.
If you watched Nick Shirley’s videos from Minneapolis, you’re wondering how: How did a bunch of people get millions of dollars in public funds to run apparently fake service organizations, with no apparent qualifications and no apparent intent to actually do anything? How do you run a wink wink “daycare center” without being a plausible daycare provider?Before I start answering that question, file this January 26 CBS News headline somewhere in your head, because you’ll want to remember it: “California lawmakers ignore most state audit warnings, costing billions.” Gavin Newsom’s failing state has a remarkably capable team of auditors, and they keep pointing out all the systemic failures in the state’s financial controls. Weirdly enough, no one ever fixes those gaps.
With that in mind, we can dig into the details of a single blue state fraud case to see how the machine works. Blue states, and blue state local governments, are pouring out cash with a system of pretend-rules that don’t matter. They’re running free money programs with no lock on the front door. If you aim to misbehave, you probably can. If “a purpose of a system is what it does,” then the purpose of blue state social welfare programs isn’t social welfare. They’re just spending money to spend money, using government as a mechanism of pure redistribution, with a light sprinkling of performative caring.
In Los Angeles, as I recently mentioned, a homeless services contractor named Alexander Soofer is facing a long list of federal and state fraud charges over allegations that he took $23 million in public funds to provide housing to people, but kept at least $10 million of it for himself. But I’ve been trying to get in front of the alleged fraud, winding back the days to the moment when Soofer showed up and started asking for government contracts. Who was he? What was his background in homeless services, working with a challenging population that can show up with mental health problems and drug addiction? Like someone running a Quality “Learing” Center, how did he qualify for that government funding? Soofer also ran the “Los Angeles Public Health Medical Center” out of a PO box for a while, so he’s apparently qualified as a social worker and a medical provider. But who is he?
The problem of qualifying for government cash is one that Democrats suddenly seem to be concerned about. A Democrat-authored bill introduced in the Virginia state legislature, HB 1369, proposes to explicitly forbid vetting by nonprofits for some publicly funded social services: “No state agency responsible for the administration of federal funds shall impose a requirement on a nonprofit charitable organization providing a federal public benefit to determine, verify, or otherwise require proof of eligibility of any applicant for such benefits.” If someone says they want free money, you can’t be mean — you just have to give it to them.
Officially, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has a lot of contracting rules, and does require service providers to qualify for government funding. You can see an example of a “REQUEST FOR STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATION AS A QUALIFIED BIDDER FOR LAHSA FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES” here. Start on pg. 9: “Agencies seeking certification as a qualified bidder for LAHSA funding opportunities must demonstrate a minimum of at least two (2) years’ experience in providing one or more of the following types of supportive services/housing intervention for persons experiencing homelessness…” On paper, at least, you can’t just show up and start grabbing cash: You have to prove that you have experience.
But my extensive search for Soofer’s professional background in homeless-focused social services has so far turned up only one piece of prior experience: He apparently owns, or owned, a Yogurtland franchise on the 3rd Street Promenade. I went there, and couldn’t find their business license inside the building, although I did discover that the outraged Yelp reviews were right about the fact that the place charges $1.37 an ounce. I’m guessing that the next price point after $1.37 an ounce is that you just have to give them one of your kidneys. --->READ MORE HERE
Follow link below to a relevant story:
+++++'Ghost students' stealing millions in financial aid from CA community colleges, investigation finds+++++
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