Wednesday Morning Rant

Threading the Needle

The fraud problem in government programs is blowing up in a way that may cause serious problems for the government at all levels. What Nick Shirley exposed began as "Somali daycare fraud in Minnesota." It quickly ballooned to "Somali program fraud in Minnesota" and then to "Somali program fraud in multiple states" and is now in the process of becoming "widespread fraud everywhere." This is, to put it mildly, bad and presents a conundrum in terms of how the government will respond to it.

It's a tough problem because of widespread it is, how long it has been going on, record low trust and the need to maintain legitimacy. There are a few ways to try to address what is clearly a systemic, all-levels problem and I suspect Bessent's declaration yesterday that "5%-10%" of the federal budget is stolen is a key part of framing a response that can thread the needle.

When Shirley exposed the Somali daycare fraud in Minnesota, he ended up - I suspect completely accidentally - causing an entire vast of edifice of fraud to be exposed like never before. In so doing, he has precipitated a crisis that continues to worsen as information continues to leak out. What Shirley exposed was merely the very small tip of a very large iceberg. What he exposed in Minnesota is not unique to that state or those programs, but turns out to be extremely widespread with a ton of official support for and enablement of it from within the government. The sums involved are both eye-watering and rage-inducing to a degree so severe that it may present a general legitimacy crisis if it goes unchecked.

So how the heck can the government deal with a crisis like that? There are a few approaches I can think of:
1. Sweep it under the rug. Pretend the problem doesn't exist. Call it a local issue, sacrifice a few corrupt Party Men in Minnesota and call it a day.
2. Respond in mass. Suspend programs until legitimacy can be established. Aggressively prosecute people from the government to the NGOs to the cut-outs and straw claimants. Provide detailed results to the public and fill the prisons.
3. Try to split the difference. Acknowledge that the problem is much bigger than Somalis and Minnesota, but much smaller than an all-of-government complex of fraud. Sacrifice some people across the board, put up some modest gains/savings and declare victory.

The "nothing" approach will result in a lot of fury among the public. Blatant, obvious fraud going completely unpunished while State and Party continue to laugh their way to the bank as they light their cigars with stolen C-Notes will not go over well. It will not trigger revolution, but it will broadly increase the rage level among the public, and simultaneously disincentivize anyone from working hard to support or risking anything to defend a government that behaves this way. The anger will be cold, but will have fairly quiet long-term consequences. Young people who are inclined to work will check out even more than they already have and nobody will view anything the government does as honest or legitimate. It will be steal as steal can, and compound the problem into oblivion. But the Party Men remain by and large safe and they continue looting the empire as they push it toward collapse even faster.

The "all" approach runs a real risk of collapsing the government in on itself if the fraud and theft are as widespread as is feared. It may result in systemic failure if fraud at that scale is exposed and acknowledged. If a third or a half of every tax and debt dollar has been stolen - and likely stolen for decades - then people might actually demand blood. There could be no targeted prosecution, it would necessitate a general purge. We'd need a penal colony to deal with the guilty. The economic dislocation would be enormous. If the system survives that kind intervention, it may be a decade or more before it all shakes out. The government may not survive it, and the parties probably wouldn't.

The "split the difference" approach is a way of acknowledging a serious problem and reining in some of it, while pretending that it is the entire problem. This is a tricky proposition, but probably very appealing. Don't just sweep it under the rug. Bring some consequences to some of the wrongdoers, be very public about everything and claim the problem is now solved.

I think it's going to be Door Number Three, and that Bessent's declaration yesterday is laying the groundwork for it. The reaction to Bessent's declaration around these parts was, to summarize, "yeah, whatever - we all know that's BS and it's way worse than that." This is probably true, and I would be shocked if the real number is less than double or triple that, but I also don't think Bessent is directing that message at those who are really tuned-in to what is going on. Most people aren't that tuned in, and I think it is for them that he is doing this. Frame the problem as being big enough to matter, but small enough to contain - and create the environment to go after that much and no more.

In so doing, I suspect the hope is to throw a bone to the people, crucify some insiders, tally up some savings and retain legitimacy through the appearance of responsiveness and effective accountability and enforcement. The problem can't be safely ignored and the full problem is so large it can't be safely addressed, so try to split the baby to maintain legitimacy.

It's going to be a very tough needle to thread.

Posted by: Joe Mannix at 10:55 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 2st

Posted by: Common Tater at January 14, 2026 10:56 AM (IRDWd)

2 Is collapsing a fraudulent government that bad of an idea?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 10:57 AM (uQesX)

3 Pretty simple fix - you get caught fictionalizing documents to defraud the government, we take you to the county courthouse and shoot you on the steps.

Posted by: The_Hoser at January 14, 2026 10:59 AM (H4qGm)

4 Pretty simple fix - you get caught fictionalizing documents to defraud the government, we take you to the county courthouse and shoot you on the steps.

It's gonna get crowded there, what with all the anti-ICE "protesters" who need shooting.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:01 AM (Riz8t)

5 We'd need a penal colony to deal with the guilty.

Might I suggest Greenland?

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:03 AM (bFu5X)

6 This might bring down the commiecrat party if pursued hard enough. That would be messy as hell, but the country would be much improved if we had the GOPe and the MakeAmericaGreat party and the communists were exiled.

Posted by: PaleRider at January 14, 2026 11:03 AM (hhkIi)

7 5 We'd need a penal colony to deal with the guilty.

Might I suggest Greenland?

Excellent idea. Also, please send some A-1.

Posted by: Polar bears at January 14, 2026 11:04 AM (Riz8t)

8 Gulags get a bum rap. Fill a few with federal and state congress critters, folks from the NGOs, bureaucrats and antifa/professional protesters and show the world how to do gulags right.

Posted by: Fra Fillipo at January 14, 2026 11:04 AM (Nge8H)

9 Examples need to be made. Especially of those inside the government who helped facilitate this. Fines, Prison Sentences, Loss of all pensions and benefits, Drawn & Quartered, etc. Total scorched earth.

Posted by: Grapefruit LaCroix at January 14, 2026 11:04 AM (vOJ4/)

10 Excellent idea. Also, please send some A-1.
Posted by: Polar bears

Step off, Bitches! This is my corner>
-- Barbecue guy in Haiti

Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:05 AM (77rzZ)

11 Whatever the opposite of X-ray vision is, Ilhan Omar has got it.

Omar: “They [ICE] haven't been able to produce any evidence that they are finding people who are undocumented who have committed crimes."

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:05 AM (L/fGl)

12 9 Examples need to be made. Especially of those inside the government who helped facilitate this. Fines, Prison Sentences, Loss of all pensions and benefits, Drawn & Quartered, etc. Total scorched earth.

And double the penalties for anyone from the GOP who is involved. We need to make them tremble and fear us for the next 100 years.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:05 AM (Riz8t)

13 ... Bessent's declaration yesterday that "5%-10%" of the federal budget is stolen ...

------------

Sadly & Cynically, that sounds slow to me -- it's likely a minimum of twice that much (depending upon one's definition of stolen).

Posted by: ShainS -- 'The Warmth Of Collectivism' Is Code For 'Hell On Earth' at January 14, 2026 11:05 AM (D9BsV)

14 So how the heck can the government deal with a crisis like that?

End federal programs. Lower federal taxes. Tell states to raise funds and run programs themselves. Almost like Federalism originally intended.

Much of the fraud is encouraged by states because it isn't their money. The more money requested by people (legal or not), the more they can try and get from the Feds. It punishes responsible states vetting applications and being good stewards of money, and rewards fraud.

Posted by: Moron Analyst at January 14, 2026 11:05 AM (JCZqz)

15 These scandals might be the end of both parties??!!

Would that be so bad?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:06 AM (uQesX)

16 > Bessent's declaration yesterday that "5%-10%" of the federal budget is stolen
-------
He's underestimating it. By a lot.

If we're talking what's been stolen from taxpayers, it's 100%.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at January 14, 2026 11:07 AM (NwnyJ)

17 Won't get threaded at all because corporate media which controlls the feed doesn't want democrats hurt.

Posted by: M. Gaga at January 14, 2026 11:07 AM (KiBMU)

18 I think it's going to be option one, Joe, because of wat you said:

It will not trigger revolution, but it will broadly increase the rage level among the public, and simultaneously disincentivize anyone from working hard to support or risking anything to defend a government that behaves this way. The anger will be cold, but will have fairly quiet long-term consequences.

We know the Dems aren't going to do anything. The sticking point is that the GOP won't, either. So long as they can leave office under their own power and die peacefully in their beds, they do not give one red shit about what happens when they are gone.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 14, 2026 11:07 AM (ufSfZ)

19 Excellent idea. Also, please send some A-1.
Posted by: Polar bears

Step off, Bitches! This is my corner>
-- Barbecue guy in Haiti
Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:05 AM

Fine...Greenland gets the A-1, Haiti gets the Sweet Baby Ray's. Happy now?

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:07 AM (bFu5X)

20 Bessent's declaration yesterday that "5%-10%" of the federal budget is stolen...

Not very Trumpy. He'd say 35%, and then the media would jump out to "fact check" him saying it's no more that 15%.

Posted by: Moron Analyst at January 14, 2026 11:08 AM (JCZqz)

21 End federal programs. Lower federal taxes. Tell states to raise funds and run programs themselves. Almost like Federalism originally intended.

Much of the fraud is encouraged by states because it isn't their money"

Newsletter, perhaps?

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:08 AM (K/vzL)

22
"As we wrestle in my home state of Minnesota with the fact of deep corruption in the political and economic orders, I want to draw attention to the 'social justice' dimension of this problem. Catholic social teaching has a good deal to say about official corruption, insisting that it undermines confidence in our leaders, compromises the integrity of the institutions of government, and subverts the rule of law. But even more importantly, it deeply harms the poor, stealing resources from them, increasing inequality and blocking essential services such as health and education. And if the widespread fraud in Minnesota is also present in a number of other states, we are dealing with a massive violation of human rights and a heinous attack on the poor and needy."

- Robert Barron, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 14, 2026 11:08 AM (tgvbd)

23 Imagine, proper purge of all voter rolls; ending the fraud money pipeline to all the commie NGOs; and deporting a significant # of illegals. The commiecrat party would collapse; perhaps we'd get a labor party that took up the mantle of representing working people that the D's threw in the rubbish bin in their place.

Posted by: PaleRider at January 14, 2026 11:08 AM (hhkIi)

24 Gload I got here on time. Out of breath.
A, statement, actually more of a joke reproduced by the NY Post on the SS agent for Vance being relieved of duty.
"...“The US Secret Service has no tolerance for any behavior that could potentially compromise the safety, privacy or trust of our protectees,”
_Deputy Director Matthew Quinn

Not mentioning SS, on duty for Obama in Latin America, passed out, drunk in the hall or half witting with whores.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:10 AM (y79kU)

25 - Robert Barron, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester

What? There's a Diocese of Winona Ryder?

Posted by: That guy who thinks he's discovered a new joke that's been done a million times before at January 14, 2026 11:10 AM (Riz8t)

26 Paper money works. Why not ballots?

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:10 AM (A32KF)

27 - Robert Barron, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 14, 2026 11:08 AM

Bishop of Winona...oh, Rochester. Never mind.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (bFu5X)

28 23 Imagine, proper purge of all voter rolls; ending the fraud money pipeline to all the commie NGOs; and deporting a significant # of illegals. The commiecrat party would collapse; perhaps we'd get a labor party that took up the mantle of representing working people that the D's threw in the rubbish bin in their place.
Posted by: PaleRider

You may say I'm a dreamer, but apparently I'm not the only one.

Posted by: Mirror Universe John Lennon at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (JCZqz)

29
Is collapsing a fraudulent government that bad of an idea?
Posted by: OrangeEnt

Heads must roll and ill-gotten fortunes must be surrendered.

No quarter given, or this will continue for generation after generation.

Were it possible, stripping malfeasants of their citizenship, followed by getting sent into exile would satisfy me most.

None of this will happen because "reach across the aisle" and "we're all in this together".

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) Imprison! Imprison! Imprison! at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (xG4kz)

30 Lego Tariffs.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (A32KF)

31 But even more importantly, it deeply harms the poor

I'm so damn tired of the fucking poors. I'm with Scrooge before the ghosts: Let 'em die and reduce the excess population.

Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (77rzZ)

32
Bishop of Winona...oh, Rochester. Never mind.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (bFu5X)

You people. Pearls, swine, some assembly required.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (tgvbd)

33 There's another option. One welfare program at a time.....Completely overhauling it or discontinue it.

It shouldn't be that hard.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (g8Ew8)

34 Do you fire the players or the coaches? Real dilemma.

Posted by: Pudinhead at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (pLaQB)

35 None of this will happen because "reach across the aisle" and "we're all in this together".

Is it not who we are?

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:12 AM (Riz8t)

36 I was a devout member of the Church of Winona Ryder back in the day.

Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:12 AM (77rzZ)

37 So how the heck can the government deal with a crisis like that? There are a few approaches I can think of:

--------------

4. Make every publicly-funded social welfare program at every level of government unconstitutional.

/Now that's just crazy talk ... except to those idiots known as The Founding Fathers

Posted by: ShainS -- 'The Warmth Of Collectivism' Is Code For 'Hell On Earth' at January 14, 2026 11:12 AM (fbMoU)

38 Robert Barron, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh

Robber barons > Robert Barron

Posted by: Moron Math at January 14, 2026 11:12 AM (JCZqz)

39 34 Yes.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:12 AM (A32KF)

40 You people. Pearls, swine, some assembly required.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM

Well, you know...Morons and all that.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:13 AM (bFu5X)

41 They've gone radical!

A senior standards director at CBS News told staffers on Tuesday to use the term “biological sex at birth” without quotations when referring to a case before the Supreme Court challenging state bans on transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports, a break from its prior newsroom guidance.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:13 AM (L/fGl)

42 Fine...Greenland gets the A-1, Haiti gets the Sweet Baby Ray's"

As long as I get the Kinder's...

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:13 AM (K/vzL)

43 Do you fire the players or the coaches? Real dilemma.
Posted by: Pudinhead

The refs. That's where the real corruption lies.

Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:13 AM (77rzZ)

44 *Pop* and smoke puff from the pole transformer in 45MPH gusts, and voila! My power is out. So I'm here at the public library charging my phone.

Posted by: gp at January 14, 2026 11:14 AM (NLkgW)

45 The refs. That's where the real corruption lies."

The regulators are the first bought and sold...

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:14 AM (K/vzL)

46 And the refs seeing eye dogs.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:14 AM (A32KF)

47 ‘ The "nothing" approach will result in a lot of fury among the public. Blatant, obvious fraud going completely unpunished while State and Party continue to laugh their way to the bank as they light their cigars with stolen C-Notes will not go over well.’

That depends on which part of the public we are talking about. Our half will definitely won’t like it.

The democrat half has shown bottomless tolerance of crimes as long as it’s their side.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 14, 2026 11:14 AM (jbnUc)

48 Stop swattin’ flies, and go after the manure pile

Posted by: Common Tater at January 14, 2026 11:15 AM (IRDWd)

49 "I was a devout member of the Church of Winona Ryder back in the day."

Hmmm..... Banana Splits Guy disappears but Bulg shows up.

Posted by: Ouch the Grouch at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (gHU/A)

50 bottomless tolerance of crimes as long as it’s their side."

And get iphones, door dash, and huluflixstreaming

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (K/vzL)

51 April 15 is approaching quickly . . .

Posted by: RI Red at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (30Gj0)

52
Barron Trump >>>> Robert Barron

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) Imprison! Imprison! Imprison! at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (xG4kz)

53 Government and the people who mooch or rely on it for existence want the fraud to continue, so it will.
Nothing will stop it until the money runs out.

Posted by: Looters, Moochers and Producers at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (n+1Zi)

54 My guess is way more than %25 of the government funds are stolen, maybe up to 1/2, who knows?

Posted by: Skip at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (i+wP0)

55 ... while State and Party continue to laugh their way to the bank ...

------------

I fully expected that to read "continue to laugh their ASSETS OFF ON their" way to the bank ...

Posted by: ShainS -- 'The Warmth Of Collectivism' Is Code For 'Hell On Earth' at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (fbMoU)

56 "As we wrestle in my home state of Minnesota with the fact of deep corruption in the political and economic orders, I want to draw attention to the 'social justice' dimension of this problem. Catholic social teaching has a good deal to say about official corruption, insisting that it undermines confidence in our leaders, compromises the integrity of the institutions of government, and subverts the rule of law. But even more importantly, it deeply harms the poor, stealing resources from them, increasing inequality and blocking essential services such as health and education. And if the widespread fraud in Minnesota is also present in a number of other states, we are dealing with a massive violation of human rights and a heinous attack on the poor and needy."

- Robert Barron, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester

-
More concise: civilization sucks.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (L/fGl)

57 Stop swattin’ flies, and go after the manure pile
Posted by: Common Tater

It'll be hard to scarab any enthusiasm for that.

Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (77rzZ)

58
Billions, if not trillions, in theft? Hey, some innocent lady with a dog got shot by ICE agents!!

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 14, 2026 11:16 AM (tgvbd)

59 Good on Joe Rogan for trying to redeem himself by turning against Trump's gestapo ICE tactics! People can change!

Posted by: Sid at January 14, 2026 11:17 AM (6o3yh)

60 8
‘ show the world how to do gulags right.’

TRUE gulags have never been tried.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 14, 2026 11:17 AM (jbnUc)

61 None of this will happen because "reach across the aisle" and "we're all in this together".
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) Imprison! Imprison! Imprison! at January 14, 2026 11:11 AM (xG4kz)

Of course not. It will take the fear of loss of life or limb for any politician to do anything they need to do but won't. I don't think any of that will happen.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:17 AM (uQesX)

62 Baron Vladimir Harkonnen > pretty much every baron...

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:17 AM (K/vzL)

63 "The "nothing" approach will result in a lot of fury among the public."

Wait until the malefactors see how hard we vote next time! They're trembling with dread.

Posted by: gp at January 14, 2026 11:18 AM (NLkgW)

64 I'm so damn tired of the fucking poors. I'm with Scrooge before the ghosts: Let 'em die and reduce the excess population.

Posted by: Bulg

As a local representative of the Honest Poors, feel free to fuck off with that.

The Dishonest ones, well, those can get tossed in the Grand Canyon for all I care.

Let us focus appropriately. Failure to do so will probably make things worse in ways we can barely anticipate.

Posted by: Brother Tim (102mm/W59), Keeper of the Tim Continuum at January 14, 2026 11:18 AM (OUMaO)

65 Barons made pretty good pizza.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:18 AM (A32KF)

66 Is collapsing a fraudulent government that bad of an idea?
Posted by: OrangeEnt

Heads must roll and ill-gotten fortunes must be surrendered.

No quarter given, or this will continue for generation after generation.

Were it possible, stripping malfeasants of their citizenship, followed by getting sent into exile would satisfy me most.

None of this will happen because "reach across the aisle" and "we're all in this together".
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot

Don't do it and every person in jail for fraud has a legitimate claim of unequal treatment in the eyes of the law and should have a great chance for an appeal.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 11:18 AM (QGRvm)

67 Bessent's declaration yesterday that "5%-10%" of the federal budget is stolen

Biden doubled the federal budget.

All of that increase was stolen...on top of the amount being stolen before that.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:18 AM (sKqQm)

68 The news came out in the First World War,
The bloody Red Baron was flying once more.
The Allied command ignored all of its men,
And called on Snoopy to do it again.

Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:19 AM (77rzZ)

69 Door number three is the best we can hope for.
We are witnessing what a vicious prosecutor we have at DoJ.

Door number two is the best option for the Republic.
We are a strong people (only 33% are idiots) and can withstand government implosion for the better.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:19 AM (y79kU)

70 But even more importantly, it deeply harms the poor, stealing resources from them, increasing inequality and blocking essential services such as health and education.

The number one cause of poverty is governmental corruption.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:20 AM (sKqQm)

71 The biggest barrier to correcting the widespread fraud is the number of politicians and politician-adjacent benefiting from it. The Somalis and other immigrant groups didn’t come up with these schemes by themselves. They were pointed in that direction by pols and bureaucrats eager to skim the money as it passed through. We have too many instant millionaires in Congress, too many highly profitable nonprofits, and too many NGOs tied to tax money. ALL these have dirty hands, and cannot/will not allow an actual audit of the money.

On top of all that, there’s the current bipartisan response of what passes as a US government right now: “What are you going to do about it?” The Obama regime particularly enunciated this position explicitly.

Posted by: Advo at January 14, 2026 11:20 AM (jO4mz)

72 Fiat justitia ruat caelum

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 14, 2026 11:21 AM (jc0TO)

73 It's gonna get crowded there, what with all the anti-ICE "protesters" who need shooting.
Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:01 AM (Riz8t)

Send in the bucket loaders.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 14, 2026 11:21 AM (8zz6B)

74 As a local representative of the Honest Poors, feel free to fuck off with that.

The Dishonest ones, well, those can get tossed in the Grand Canyon for all I care.

Posted by: Brother Tim (102mm/W59), Keeper of the Tim Continuum at January 14, 2026 11:18 AM (OUMaO)

It used to be that way. The "Deserving Poor" were given help. The "Undeserving Poor" were left to their own devices.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:21 AM (uQesX)

75 I might be in the minority but I want it all exposed and anyone and everyone who was involved with the fraud prosecuted. I don't think it will topple the government but I do think it will cause people to stop being so apathetic and start paying attention to what is going on both at the state and federal levels of government.

We've been right all along and hopefully some of the non Sid retards will start to join us.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:22 AM (viF8m)

76 The Scoops?

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:22 AM (A32KF)

77 The biggest barrier to correcting the widespread fraud is the number of politicians and politician-adjacent benefiting from it.

Yep.

Why do people spend millions to get elected to a job that pays less then $200k/year?

Because the salary isn't how you make your money in Congress...just ask BroFo, or Nazi Pelosi, or Batch McRino

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:22 AM (sKqQm)

78 My suggestions?

- Acknowledge the fraud, it's scope, and the participants
- Detail how much, and from whom, the fraud was perpetrated
- Make a plan to make restitution to those affected (us taxpayers)
- Jail the participants in the fraud, all of them
- Evaluate and develop methods to eliminate this from happening again

or

- Disband the Federal Government and start over

Posted by: Martini Farmer at January 14, 2026 11:22 AM (NwnyJ)

79 Door number three is the best we can hope for.
We are witnessing what a vicious prosecutor we have at DoJ.

Door number two is the best option for the Republic.
We are a strong people (only 33% are idiots) and can withstand government implosion for the better.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _

The only real virtue to Number Three is the hope that, by making examples of the worst offenders, some deterrence effect is finally in place to keep the levels "tolerable".

This points to its real risk...it's done and the problem kicks up again in volume later. At which point memory of the half-measures adds fuel to the fire.

Posted by: Brother Tim (102mm/W59), Keeper of the Tim Continuum at January 14, 2026 11:22 AM (OUMaO)

80 And to think this started with a lady in a playground with her child flipping off a Somalian pedophile.

Posted by: NR Pax at January 14, 2026 11:22 AM (NR6c1)

81 It used to be that way. The "Deserving Poor" were given help. The "Undeserving Poor" were left to their own devices.
Posted by: OrangeEnt

But I became the most original moralist in England!
-- Halfred P. Doolittle, common dustman

Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:23 AM (77rzZ)

82 66 Is collapsing a fraudulent government that bad of an idea?
Posted by: OrangeEnt
---

And out of the rubble comes a giant of a nation.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:23 AM (y79kU)

83 If you are going to be rounding up the poors, you need to leaven it with quite a few 1%ers.

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 14, 2026 11:23 AM (jc0TO)

84 75 I might be in the minority but I want it all exposed and anyone and everyone who was involved with the fraud prosecuted.

And someone will try the argument "It's a small percentage" and "This will hurt minorities!"

The best answer will be to not care about either argument.

Posted by: NR Pax at January 14, 2026 11:25 AM (NR6c1)

85 4 It's gonna get crowded there, what with all the anti-ICE "protesters" who need shooting.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:01 AM (Riz8t)

---

When I lived in Texas, we called that a "two-fer."

Posted by: The_Hoser at January 14, 2026 11:25 AM (H4qGm)

86 If you collapse the govt, have you got some honest people to reconstruct it? There aren't any honest men left to lead.

Posted by: gp at January 14, 2026 11:25 AM (NLkgW)

87 If you are going to be rounding up the poors, you need to leaven it with quite a few 1%ers.
Posted by: toby928(c)

Considering that most of the 1%ers are politicians, I'm OK with that.

Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:25 AM (77rzZ)

88 ... as they light their cigars with stolen C-Notes ...

------------

Make The $500, $1000, $5000, and $10,000 Bills Great Again!

/Since they were officially discontinued in 1969 (owing to concerns over money laundering, hah!), the cumulative compounded inflation rate (including housing & energy) approaches 1,000%.

Posted by: ShainS -- 'The Warmth Of Collectivism' Is Code For 'Hell On Earth' at January 14, 2026 11:25 AM (IOSCq)

89 Chicago Teachers Union can't spell "governor."

https://is.gd/yUR9Sn

Must be graduates of the Learing Center, Bill Clinton's Alma Mater.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:26 AM (L/fGl)

90 There should a tax on poor people, like 50% a year.

Watch the poor disappear.

Posted by: Tax The Poor at January 14, 2026 11:26 AM (n+1Zi)

91 42 Fine...Greenland gets the A-1, Haiti gets the Sweet Baby Ray's"

As long as I get the Kinder's...
Posted by: man

C'mon, man! Me and Muhammad have dibs on the Kinder.

Posted by: Joe Biden at January 14, 2026 11:26 AM (JCZqz)

92 7 5 We'd need a penal colony to deal with the guilty.

Might I suggest Greenland?
----

That's an idea. Drop dead center of the furthest reaches place an iron and concrete compound.
Parachute food and supplies.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:26 AM (y79kU)

93 Bulg, you beat me to it.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 14, 2026 11:26 AM (ufSfZ)

94 Penal colony?

Might I suggest a great tent city in West Texas?

Posted by: no one at January 14, 2026 11:27 AM (qFwJc)

95 If you collapse the govt, have you got some honest people to reconstruct it? There aren't any honest men left to lead.
Posted by: gp

Everyone here.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 11:27 AM (QGRvm)

96 What does collapsing the government really mean in this case? Eliminating the deficit? Lowering taxes?

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 14, 2026 11:27 AM (jc0TO)

97 I have confidence in the System.

System says two weeks from now this will be a memory replace with another more outrageous outrage.

The majority of the public is almost completely conditioned to need a constant supply of outrage.

Posted by: pawn at January 14, 2026 11:27 AM (rbIOb)

98
That's an idea. Drop dead center of the furthest reaches place an iron and concrete compound.
Parachute food and supplies.
Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:26 AM (y79kU)

Greenland

Posted by: It's me donna at January 14, 2026 11:27 AM (VE6XX)

99 That's an idea. Drop dead center of the furthest reaches place an iron and concrete compound. Parachute food and supplies.

RINO.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:27 AM (Riz8t)

100 The claim that the Democrats stealing hundreds of billions of dollars from government programs is primarily hurting the intended beneficiaries of those programs is risible. The funding far exceeds the need because the intention in setting up the programs was to steal the money. The taxpayers are the mark, just as they are the mark for Fed generated inflation.

Posted by: Oglebay at January 14, 2026 11:27 AM (2ap+5)

101 Bulg, you beat me to it.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing

To what?

Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:28 AM (77rzZ)

102 Precisely. Good column, homey.

MAGA people are disgusted by the corruption, hence demands and promises to "drain the swamp."

But even after a decade worth of very foul water under the bridge, they still don't understand (or want to, for that matter) the astounding extent of the corruption.

They do not understand that draining the swamp would leave very little behind. They do not understand that they are asking for regime change.

Trump and Bessent and the rest of the administration *do* understand that, and very clearly, and they are not desirous for it. They don't want to be the guys who turn out the lights on the American experiment.

So they have to soft-pedal this, because if they aggressively go after it, then their own voters might find out more than they're willing to tolerate about the corruption in every other federal program.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 14, 2026 11:28 AM (BI5O2)

103 If you collapse the govt, have you got some honest people to reconstruct it? There aren't any honest men left to lead.

Posted by: gp

Controlled demolition is the best to hope for. Revert authority back to the states. Rebuild from that level up with the best, or perhaps simply least worst, examples from that pool.

What gives pause is that there's no guarantee the replacement will be any better. An understandable sentiment, honestly.

Posted by: Brother Tim (102mm/W59), Keeper of the Tim Continuum at January 14, 2026 11:28 AM (OUMaO)

104 90 There should a tax on poor people, like 50% a year.

Watch the poor disappear.
Posted by: Tax The Poor
---------

There are no poor people.
There will be poor people when the government stops paying able bodied people not to work.
But that will be their choice.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:28 AM (y79kU)

105 I must disagree.

Sure. Go slowly. Build the cases. Prosecute those you can convict.

But don't stop. Keep going. Slow and steady wins this race.

Posted by: no one at January 14, 2026 11:28 AM (qFwJc)

106 Congress, the HOR specifically, can stop this by just cutting all the welfare goodies to 40% of what they are now.

Fixed. Probably cause to self deport a few million criminal illegal invaders out of the country.... permanently. Also do this to education, K-12 specifically.

Posted by: Jukin the Deplorable and Totally Unserious at January 14, 2026 11:29 AM (xvV+O)

107 Our State and Fed tax rates need to drastically be reconfigured and lowered.

Posted by: Joe at January 14, 2026 11:29 AM (Uy/WF)

108 People can change!
Posted by: Sid at January 14, 2026 11:17 AM (6o3yh)

'Tis true. Commies can change into fertilizer if you run them through a wood chipper.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 14, 2026 11:29 AM (8zz6B)

109 "I have been trained for this moment, bi***! I will follow you everywhere!"

Oh no!!!! You'll follow me!!! Sounds like a great candidate for the EU's armed forces.

https://is.gd/RZhCUW

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:29 AM (Riz8t)

110 I remember CETA. Is that still a thing? It worked because it made the recipients have to be somewhere eight hours a day doing make-work. This revealed that the unemployed on welfare were not in fact unemployed but mostly just off the books.

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 14, 2026 11:29 AM (jc0TO)

111 I, for one, would like to see a jinormus pile of skulls of the guilty. We could make it a national monument.

Posted by: Archer at January 14, 2026 11:30 AM (YGRGv)

112 My first instinct is to be like Hamlet, at greater volume, and declare "LET JUSTICE BE DONE, THOUGH THE HEAVENS FALL!" Very satisfying to the Scots-Irish & Swiss portions of my heritage.

But, to be serious, the sort of corruption we're looking at can only be truly ended if the MAGA principle is carried on past Trump in 2028. The problem didn't happen overnight, and it won't be fixed over night either. It will be in J.D.'s second elected term that it gets fully resolved, as much as can be done this side of the Second Coming. So I stand with choice #3.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 14, 2026 11:30 AM (XjTSo)

113 112 I should look up what the last Dilbert cartoon was...

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, buy ammo at January 13, 2026 12:26 PM (xcxpd)

---

Scott kept creating Dilbert cartoons up until a week or so ago. They were available through his Locals page, although I think he also posted them himself in other places. They are also available in aggregate as calendars.

Posted by: The_Hoser at January 14, 2026 11:30 AM (H4qGm)

114 This revealed that the unemployed on welfare were not in fact unemployed but mostly just off the books.

I'd be interested to see how many MN daycare owners were also on unemployment insurance AND welfare.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:30 AM (sKqQm)

115 Bulg, you beat me to it.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing

To what?
Posted by: Bulg at January 14, 2026 11:28 AM

The same My Fair Lady reference that you beat me to.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:30 AM (bFu5X)

116 I remember CETA. Is that still a thing? It worked because it made the recipients have to be somewhere eight hours a day doing make-work. This revealed that the unemployed on welfare were not in fact unemployed but mostly just off the books.

It's damn difficult to waste 8 hours. It's boring, tedious, and soul-sucking. It's a lot easier just to work the 8 hours.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:31 AM (Riz8t)

117 103 All I see in America are desperate people scrambling to get theirs before the music stops. I can't think of any public figure I trust. They all lie and steal.

Posted by: gp at January 14, 2026 11:31 AM (NLkgW)

118 3. Try to split the difference.

This is going to happen because:

Beaver 🦁

@beaverd
Indiana spent $15 BILLION on social services agencies since 2022, $4 billion went to child services responsible for ~12,000 foster kids

How does a state government spend $1 billion/yr on ~12,000 foster kids? And why does the federal government pay for 90% of it? Ask Mike Pence and the Indiana GOP...
( thread goes on, link in nic )

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 14, 2026 11:31 AM (mlg/3)

119 Where my EBT card? I need me some Doritos and grape Nehi.

Posted by: LaQuisha at January 14, 2026 11:31 AM (0NfMy)

120 103 If you collapse the govt, have you got some honest people to reconstruct it? There aren't any honest men left to lead.
-----

Yes there are. The system, as it is, will punish an honest man. Look what they are doing to Trump.

Clear the way for an honest man to do his job and it will happen. We are an honest people. (That ever present 33% excepted.)

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:31 AM (y79kU)

121 And if the widespread fraud in Minnesota is also present in a number of other states, we are dealing with a massive violation of human rights and a heinous attack on the poor and needy."

- Robert Barron, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester
------

Wow, an official of the Catholic Church telling the truth--I didn't have that on this week's bingo card.

Posted by: Crusader at January 14, 2026 11:32 AM (TN0g+)

122 People can change!
Posted by: Sid at January 14, 2026 11:17 AM (6o3yh)

'Tis true. Commies can change into fertilizer if you run them through a wood chipper.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 14, 2026 11:29 AM

Why waste the fuel? Pigs have to eat, too.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:32 AM (bFu5X)

123 It's damn difficult to waste 8 hours. It's boring, tedious, and soul-sucking. It's a lot easier just to work the 8 hours.
Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:31 AM

We would be better off if they were just required to go to a theater and watch documentary films eight hours a day to get their EBT.

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 14, 2026 11:32 AM (jc0TO)

124 Poor baby!

Ding Dong! The Witch Is Gone: Teacher's Union Leader Randi Weingarten Flees X for Safer Echo Chambers

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:32 AM (L/fGl)

125 Honestly, the fraud wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't free money there for the taking. By what Constitutional authority is the federal or state government giving money to daycares or private EMT companies *in the first place*?

Posted by: Daniel Ream at January 14, 2026 11:32 AM (LgYtf)

126 I would expect all of us to be on option 3, and that is what needs to happen. My guess is somewhere between option 1 and 2 is what will happen for reasons we all know.

You will not be able to get rid of the biggies - SS. Medicare, Medicaid. But you really need to wipe out the other ones. Medicaid you might be able to improve.

But we know this won't happen because the GOP is already trying to cave on ACA subsidies - and that is a totally garbage program.

Posted by: Black JEM at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM (GZYu7)

127 One thing I am absolutely confident will collapse the system is doing nothing. More and more people are beginning to realize we have been lied to and ripped off for years by corrupt elements in or government. They've used the media and social media to lie to us and frame those of us who just want to live our lives as the evil bad guys and brain dead, corrupt leftists as the good guys and now everyone is starting to realize the opposite is true.

China is weakening, Iran is collapsing, Venezuela is done and so are all of their foreign influence campaigns. Decades of lies and filth are being removed and now we have the power.

We should use every last bit of it. Pedal to the metal and take lots of prisoners.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM (viF8m)

128 Have a Fanta.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM (A32KF)

129 The core problem is that people are strongly incentivized to steal from the government.

Not only has it been trivial and in many cases *legalized* but it is more money then they can make in the private sector.

So to fix this you need to reverse the incentives. We won't be able to get pop culture or the FNM to instill a sense of shame in the grifters, so the answer will have to be rigorous enforcement with big named political figures spending time in prison.

If Timpon or Ellison go to jail for this other grifters will notice and change their risk exposure by stealing less and more discretely...

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM (sKqQm)

130 107 Our State and Fed tax rates need to drastically be reconfigured and lowered.
------
I would also like to see Razorfist's idea of state electoral colleges also brought to fruition. I weary of otherwise red states being dragged into blue drudgery & despair by a few urban counties.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM (XjTSo)

131 There should a tax on poor people, like 50% a year.

Watch the poor disappear."

Well, we tax what we want less of. You know, like income...

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM (K/vzL)

132 We would be better off if they were just required to go to a theater and watch documentary films eight hours a day to get their EBT.

Okay, but they have to be fitted with the Clockwork Orange eyelid-holder-openers.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM (Riz8t)

133 "I have been trained for this moment, bi***! I will follow you everywhere!"

Oh no!!!! You'll follow me!!! Sounds like a great candidate for the EU's armed forces.

https://is.gd/RZhCUW
Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:29 AM

The Paolo must concede that the Paolo cannot, how you say, fix her.

Posted by: Paolo at January 14, 2026 11:34 AM (bFu5X)

134 Believe it or not!

Today is World Logic Day.

Should be re-titled, Logic in Tiny Areas of the World Day.

Posted by: Gref at January 14, 2026 11:34 AM (5rh/l)

135 "I have been trained for this moment, bi***! I will follow you everywhere!"

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:29 AM (Riz8t)

Was that her cat talking?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:35 AM (uQesX)

136 Make them do cardio 8 hours a day.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:35 AM (A32KF)

137 watch documentary films eight hours a day"

Beats Prometheus...

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:35 AM (K/vzL)

138 Wow, an official of the Catholic Church telling the truth--I didn't have that on this week's bingo card.
Posted by: Crusader

Both good and bad in that one bishop can't 'speak' for the Church. And worse in that the UCCCB has been raking in billions to aid this disaster.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 14, 2026 11:35 AM (mlg/3)

139 Public hangings of the guilty. The time for being nice is over.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at January 14, 2026 11:35 AM (g8Ew8)

140 Ha. YT just offered me a vid titled 'Are we taking in too many inbreds?'.

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 14, 2026 11:35 AM (jc0TO)

141 In 1989 the estimated annual income of the Mexican cartels was $200 Billon. Yes, with a "B". The profit margin on that business is quite high but let's assume for a minute that they paid 10% to cover bribes and payoffs of which 75% went to the US. That's $15 Billion going to LEOs, congress critters, judges, political parties, etc.
Every year.
Every friggin' year!
And this was 35 years ago.
So it begs the question, who can you trust?
The Somali fraud being exposed is just the tip of the iceberg. It is a cancer eating at the very foundation of our Republic and if it isn't cut out, we all fail.

Posted by: Diogenes at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (2WIwB)

142 119 Where my EBT card? I need me some Doritos and grape Nehi.
Posted by: LaQuisha
---

It's over at the Mini-States Power Co. Tower.
What you do is after hours office clean-up and at the end of the week you receive a payment in your bank account that you may use to redeem any thing you want. Easy peasy

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (y79kU)

143 I can't think of any public figure I trust. They all lie and steal.
Posted by: gp

Don't tell me Sydney doesn't really have great genes. Don't tell me she's "artificially enhanced"!!!

Posted by: Admiral Ackbar at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (JCZqz)

144 Now you know why Silver Eagles are costing $100+

Posted by: no one at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (qFwJc)

145 Well, we tax what we want less of. You know, like income...

This was one of things that has darkly amused me with the left's jihad on tariffs.

Yes, actual people pay tariffs...thanks for noticing finally lefties. But this is also true for income, property, capital gains, etc etc taxes.

But when you tax income - people work less. When you tax capital gains they invest less and so on.

Taxing imports...reduces imports. Which unlike investing and working are not clear gains for American society.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (sKqQm)

146 We should use every last bit of it. Pedal to the metal and take lots of prisoners.
Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM

That's just not who we are, good sir.

Posted by: The GOP at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (bFu5X)

147 The concept of "fraud" assumes it's a stain on a larger system of legitimate business. That's not what we have here. We have a system of fraud with a small amount of legitimacy.

Same as the Deep State. That assumes we have a functioning government with a pocket of corruption and scumbaggery inside. We don't have a Deep State. The entire government is the Deep State with pockets of legitimacy here and there.

The entire welfare system needs to be gutted and thrown to the rats. Fuck these people. Don't earn enough to feed your family? Life's tough, what can I say. Work harder or starve to death. I don't fucking care.

Posted by: Judge Elric The Blade at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (iFTx/)

148 Why waste the fuel? Pigs have to eat, too.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:32 AM (bFu5X)

Would you want to eat bacon made from the pig that ate Sid?

Me neither.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (8zz6B)

149
Besides the money stolen by outright fraud, there are slothful government employees at all levels who do very little useful work. And, a bunch of regulatory enforcement that is beside the point, contradictory, and impedes just about everything.

It has been preached openly to minorities for generations that government jobs are a path to a secure middle class existence. The view is that the purpose of these jobs is to provide a type of welfare, not to provide useful services.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at January 14, 2026 11:37 AM (VWtfl)

150 I think its lunch time

Posted by: Skip at January 14, 2026 11:37 AM (i+wP0)

151 " There should a tax on poor people, like 50% a year."

50% of what?

Posted by: pawn at January 14, 2026 11:37 AM (rbIOb)

152 How does a state government spend $1 billion/yr on ~12,000 foster kids?

$83,333 per kid.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 11:37 AM (QGRvm)

153 Tax on government hand outs.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:37 AM (A32KF)

154 "I have been trained for this moment, bi***! I will follow you everywhere!"

Awwwww. Isn't that nice.

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:38 AM (K/vzL)

155 " There should a tax on poor people, like 50% a year."

50% of what?
Posted by: pawn at January 14, 2026 11:37 AM

Their time. 12 hours a day on the treadmill.

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 14, 2026 11:38 AM (jc0TO)

156 If Timpon or Ellison go to jail for this other grifters will notice and change their risk exposure by stealing less and more discretely...
Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM (sKqQm)

Honest graft.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:38 AM (uQesX)

157 " There should a tax on poor people, like 50% a year."

50% of what?
------

Yeah, I don' think that idea was thought-through.

Posted by: Crusader at January 14, 2026 11:38 AM (TN0g+)

158 China is weakening, Iran is collapsing

They are tightly coupled.
Iranians Are Dying. Thank China.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k74gb1MJ2Z4

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:38 AM (Riz8t)

159 In theory the people who should be most angry about the theft of government aid "for the poor" should be the people screaming the government has to do more for the poor.

They tell you people are literally dying without money from the government then they tell you it is no big deal a significant portion of the money "given to the poor" is stolen. Which tells you they do not in fact believe this money is particularly important to "save lives"

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:38 AM (sKqQm)

160 Pick the letteuce.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (A32KF)

161 132 We would be better off if they were just required to go to a theater and watch documentary films eight hours a day to get their EBT.
---

NO. It's unnatural.
That not only puts the economy in an ellipse it does so with our culture. This is very bad.
As Obama the Great said, we all should have skin in the game.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (y79kU)

162 Don't earn enough to feed your family? Life's tough, what can I say. Work harder or starve to death"

The conundrum of "civilization"...

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (K/vzL)

163 In 1989 the estimated annual income of the Mexican cartels was $200 Billon. Yes, with a "B". The profit margin on that business is quite high but let's assume for a minute that they paid 10% to cover bribes and payoffs of which 75% went to the US. That's $15 Billion going to LEOs, congress critters, judges, political parties, etc.
Every year.
Every friggin' year!
And this was 35 years ago.
So it begs the question, who can you trust?
The Somali fraud being exposed is just the tip of the iceberg. It is a cancer eating at the very foundation of our Republic and if it isn't cut out, we all fail.
Posted by: Diogenes at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (2WIwB)
____

That was 1989. I assume by now the cartel pockets over a trillie a year. Not joking.

Posted by: Judge Elric The Blade at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (iFTx/)

164 How does a state government spend $1 billion/yr on ~12,000 foster kids?

$83,333 per kid.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 11:37 AM

It ain't about the kids.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (0N4FZ)

165 Why waste the fuel? Pigs have to eat, too.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:32 AM (bFu5X)

Would you want to eat bacon made from the pig that ate Sid?

Me neither.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

You shoot those pigs and leave them lay.
Worms gotta eat. Same as buzzards.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (QGRvm)

166 It is a cancer eating at the very foundation of our Republic and if it isn't cut out, we all fail.
___

Yay! Then we'll have a Marxist-Islamist-Transgender Paradise!

Posted by: South Berwick Follies at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (qUkBO)

167 I would also like to see Razorfist's idea of state electoral colleges also brought to fruition. I weary of otherwise red states being dragged into blue drudgery & despair by a few urban counties.
Posted by: exdem13 at January 14, 2026 11:33 AM (XjTSo)

Every state senate should be apportioned by county, but the SC said no. So, it will never be fixed absent a major collapse of SC deference.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (uQesX)

168 Hating the poor because of government corruption.

That makes sense.

Posted by: pawn at January 14, 2026 11:40 AM (rbIOb)

169 50% of what?
Posted by: pawn at January 14, 2026 11:37 AM

Their time. 12 hours a day on the treadmill.

This is an interesting point. Taxes on income are really just taxes on time. As in, since the government takes half my income I have to work twice as long. Return government to the scope and breadth of say...1999 and people will be retiring at 45 not 63...

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:40 AM (sKqQm)

170 160 Pick the letteuce.
Posted by: Boss Moss
---

Just like the rest of us. Start at an entry level job and work your way up and out.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:40 AM (y79kU)

171 Yeah, I don' think that idea was thought-through."

Sure. If there are so many, then just a tiny amount per will yield....

Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:40 AM (K/vzL)

172 You shoot those pigs and leave them lay.
Worms gotta eat. Same as buzzards.
Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM

I should have specified feral hogs. Circle of life, and all that.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 11:40 AM (bFu5X)

173 And now for something completely different. Watch this K-pop drum duet from the ... Korean president and Japanese PM??

https://youtu.be/yzxd4ml3bTE

If Trump had been there, he'd have been the David Lee Roth.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:40 AM (L/fGl)

174 162 Don't earn enough to feed your family? Life's tough, what can I say. Work harder or starve to death"

The conundrum of "civilization"...
Posted by: man at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (K/vzL)

If you weren't good enough to acquire a marketable skill, you're not good enough to survive.

Get a third job or die.

Posted by: XTC at January 14, 2026 11:40 AM (uEmCf)

175 Don't do it and every person in jail for fraud has a legitimate claim of unequal treatment in the eyes of the law and should have a great chance for an appeal.

Absolutely true and accurate.

Want to see massive fraud on the private sector side? Go look at the commodity markets. The banks have been running a hustle for years. Why do you think that JP Morgan had no problem paying a $920 million fine for spoofing the silver market and holding the price of silver far below the actual market value? Answer: their profits from that scam far exceeded the cost of that fine.

And none of these fraudsters in either government or the private sector are in prison. The fact is there are neither enough lamp posts or enough rope to solve the corruption problem in this country.

Posted by: An Observation sez Trump is my President at January 14, 2026 11:41 AM (Da7Vv)

176 "So how the heck can the government deal with a crisis like that? There are a few approaches I can think of:"

What is most important here is our public servants go home safe, fat and well paid to their family at the end of each day.

Posted by: Ripley at January 14, 2026 11:41 AM (GUOwU)

177 That was 1989. I assume by now the cartel pockets over a trillie a year. Not joking.
Posted by: Judge Elric The Blade at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (iFTx/)

Blade, you are probably correct although I think more of their income is coming from Europe. And adjusted for inflation of course.

Posted by: Diogenes at January 14, 2026 11:41 AM (2WIwB)

178 That was 1989. I assume by now the cartel pockets over a trillie a year. Not joking.
Posted by: Judge Elric The Blade at January 14, 2026 11:39 AM (iFTx/)

Walter White now needs to rent at least 10 storage spaces to keep his full pallets of fat stacks…

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at January 14, 2026 11:41 AM (/iXAp)

179 $83,333 per kid.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 11:37 AM

It ain't about the kids.

I suspect you'll find there is roughly one government employee for each kid or two in the system.

And you'll note even with that these kids disappear or get abused at a regular cadence...

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:41 AM (sKqQm)

180 Are there no workhouses?

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 14, 2026 11:41 AM (jc0TO)

181 >>I can't think of any public figure I trust. They all lie and steal.

I trust Trump and his team. They aren't perfect but they are going after this fraud hard, probably the first administration in my lifetime that has been this aggressive.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:42 AM (viF8m)

182 Weeping CPS worker: My child was adopted!

Posted by: Just the Punchline at January 14, 2026 11:42 AM (jc0TO)

183 The only way to fix any of this is for the government to essentially collapse and be replaced by what we got the day after the Constitution was signed.

Posted by: ballistic at January 14, 2026 11:42 AM (5aZAZ)

184 What is most important here is our public servants go home safe, fat and well paid to their family at the end of each day.

It is amusing this is the line for welfare bureaucrats but an ICE agent with Karen Deathwheels about to run him over is supposed to just "take the L"

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:42 AM (sKqQm)

185 "The most endangered species
The honest man
Will still survive annihilation"

-Rush (the band) in 1980

Posted by: Bad Andrew at January 14, 2026 11:43 AM (DgMqy)

186
Of course your government is bought off by the cartels.

And the Chinese.

And the Arabs.

And al-Shabaab.

And the banks.

And defense contractors.

And on and on.

They're in estrus to sell out to anyone. Anybody can buy their influence. Except you, of course. They can simply take whatever they want from you, so they couldn't give a fuck less about anything you think. You have to pony up.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 14, 2026 11:43 AM (BI5O2)

187 >>>The Somali fraud being exposed is just the tip of the iceberg. It is a cancer eating at the very foundation of our Republic and if it isn't cut out, we all fail.
Posted by: Diogenes at January 14, 2026 11:36 AM (2WIwB)
____

That was 1989. I assume by now the cartel pockets over a trillie a year. Not joking.
Posted by: Judge Elric The Blade a
------------

The surgeons are going to need loyal guards.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:43 AM (y79kU)

188 >>@EricLDaugh
·
38m
>>🚨 JUST IN: House Republicans are moving RAPIDLY to pass the second MAGA reconciliation bill BANNING illegals from obtaining any taxpayer welfare, ensuring only citizens count for allocating funding, codifying Trump executive orders and more

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:44 AM (viF8m)

189 What is most important here is our public servants go home safe, fat and well paid to their family at the end of each day.
Posted by: Ripley at January 14, 2026 11:41 AM (GUOwU)

Families? Don't you mean queer sex partners?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:44 AM (uQesX)

190 Because of the standard deduction, etc. lots of the working poor pay no taxes.

That is called a "moral hazard."

They have no skin in the game. They don't care about "waste, fraud, and abuse."

A flat tax of 10% on all income with no deductions would eliminate that.

Posted by: no one at January 14, 2026 11:44 AM (qFwJc)

191 I think Trump will have to declare a 5 year tax holiday for those making less than $200k.

That may not be enough

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at January 14, 2026 11:45 AM (bLblT)

192 181 They're aggro as hell, that's fer sure. They also lie like fucking rugs. And don't tell me the Trump family ain't making giant bank this time.

This nation was designed for a virtuous people. They're all gone now, if we ever even had them in the first place.

Posted by: gp at January 14, 2026 11:45 AM (NLkgW)

193 188 >>🚨 JUST IN: House Republicans are moving RAPIDLY to pass the second MAGA reconciliation bill BANNING illegals from obtaining any taxpayer welfare, ensuring only citizens count for allocating funding, codifying Trump executive orders and more
Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:44 AM (viF8m)

Can't wait for the Senate to kill it.

(I don't want them to, obviously, but they will.)

Posted by: XTC at January 14, 2026 11:45 AM (uEmCf)

194
Wow, an official of the Catholic Church telling the truth--I didn't have that on this week's bingo card.

Posted by: Crusader at January 14, 2026 11:32 AM (TN0g+)

___________

Well, that's what I was trying to illustrate before it got mowed down.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 14, 2026 11:45 AM (tgvbd)

195 JUST IN: House Republicans are moving RAPIDLY to pass the second MAGA reconciliation bill BANNING illegals from obtaining any taxpayer welfare, ensuring only citizens count for allocating funding, codifying Trump executive orders and more
Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:44 AM (viF8m)

The new commie mayor in Seattle believes that all citizens should vote. That means driver's Licenses, and also the names go into the jury pool. Imagine being tried by a jury of your peers, a third of whom cannot speak English?
That is how bad it is.

Posted by: Diogenes at January 14, 2026 11:46 AM (2WIwB)

196 >>🚨 JUST IN: House Republicans are moving RAPIDLY to pass the second MAGA reconciliation bill BANNING illegals from obtaining any taxpayer welfare, ensuring only citizens count for allocating funding, codifying Trump executive orders and more

I'll be in my bunk...dreaming about this, because I don't trust the GOPe will actually pass it.

Posted by: Admiral Ackbar at January 14, 2026 11:46 AM (JCZqz)

197 I don't think it will topple the government but I do think it will cause people to stop being so apathetic and start paying attention to what is going on both at the state and federal levels of government.

Posted by: JackStraw

This right here is one of the frustrating things about the "NOTHING IS BEING DONE" crown, who have decided that unless we get perpwalks of name-brand federal apparatchiks, nothing useful or good will ever happen.

They either don't know or deliberately ignore the lower level arrests that... actually remove the people doing the fraud.

As satisfying as the high-level arrests would be - and they should happen at some point, just to show that Congressional status isn't a title of nobility - the low level arrests are the actions that will truly fix the problem.

Posted by: FeatherBlade at January 14, 2026 11:46 AM (a+4eV)

198 >>Can't wait for the Senate to kill it.

>>(I don't want them to, obviously, but they will.)

Maybe. But it's a reconciliation bill that will only take 51 votes.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:46 AM (viF8m)

199 It's fun watching bank stocks go down.

Posted by: Oglebay at January 14, 2026 11:47 AM (2ap+5)

200 And now for something completely different. Watch this K-pop drum duet from the ... Korean president and Japanese PM??

Takaichi is the best thing to happen to Japanese diplomacy in a long time. She has a knack for making friends, which is especially useful when it's with a country like Korea that has a long and fraught relationship with Nippon.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:47 AM (Riz8t)

201 I think it's going to be Door Number Three ...

------------

We'll be lucky to get a 1%/99% split. * spit *

Posted by: ShainS -- 'The Warmth Of Collectivism' Is Code For 'Hell On Earth' at January 14, 2026 11:47 AM (bSsCi)

202 Can't wait for the Senate to kill it.

(I don't want them to, obviously, but they will.)
Posted by: XTC at January 14, 2026 11:45 AM (uEmCf)

60 vote threshold on that bill?

Yeah, we know who'd stand with the corruptocrats and kill it.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:47 AM (uQesX)

203 Bishop Barron has a really great "Word On Fire" ministry. Aside from his "Dare we hope that all men are saved?" universal salvation question, he is actually very orthodox.

Posted by: no one at January 14, 2026 11:47 AM (qFwJc)

204 Maybe. But it's a reconciliation bill that will only take 51 votes.
Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:46 AM

50, right? Vance wants it. Can we get 50?

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 14, 2026 11:48 AM (jc0TO)

205 Can't wait for the Senate to kill it.

-
GOPe help.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:48 AM (L/fGl)

206 >>>They're in estrus to sell out to anyone. Anybody can buy their influence. Except you, of course. They can simply take whatever they want from you, so they couldn't give a fuck less about anything you think. You have to pony up.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice
---

A spot in life to find peace is helpful or one becomes a nihilist and that's a bad road. Yeah, there was a time one could put a $20.00 check in with his letter to the Senator and it would be considered.
Nevertheless, there is great hope and one should not let go of it.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at January 14, 2026 11:48 AM (y79kU)

207 >>60 vote threshold on that bill?

No. 51. They are also voting to end funding to the National Endowment for Democracy, perhaps the scummiest NGO in DC.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:48 AM (viF8m)

208 The new commie mayor in Seattle believes that all citizens should vote.
------

The Feds should pre-emptively sue since any action to allow that to happen would de facto endanger the integrity of Federal elections (and its already established law that non-citizens can't vote in Federal elections).

Posted by: Crusader at January 14, 2026 11:49 AM (TN0g+)

209 And now for something completely different. Watch this K-pop drum duet from the ... Korean president and Japanese PM??

https://youtu.be/yzxd4ml3bTE

If Trump had been there, he'd have been the David Lee Roth.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:40 AM (L/fGl)
_____

Takaichi can really play. The Korean president was clearly just a beginner. But no shame in that. Everyone has to start at the beginning.

Posted by: Judge Elric The Blade at January 14, 2026 11:49 AM (iFTx/)

210 Takaichi is the best thing to happen to Japanese diplomacy in a long time. She has a knack for making friends, which is especially useful when it's with a country like Korea that has a long and fraught relationship with Nippon.
Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:47 AM (Riz8t)

South Korea's president? The one that stands with Kommie Kim? The one that wants the last president put to death? That South Korean president?

https://tinyurl.com/3xhmu4va

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:50 AM (uQesX)

211 It’s so entrenched I don’t think it’s undoable. There are millions of people who depend on the fraud with very powerful forces behind them. They won’t allow the fraud to end.

Posted by: Really?? at January 14, 2026 11:50 AM (kgFPv)

212 I know folks who live in Minneapolis and they say those poor Somalis are being persecuted by racists…. The fraud is overblown or nonexistent. There is none so blind as they who will not see. You can’t fix stupid… etc etc

These people exist. I don’t know if they represent 60% of the populace or 30% or somewhere in between. It’s frustrating that any with this attitude are out there and it’s a problem

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at January 14, 2026 11:50 AM (YobFY)

213 If you weren't good enough to acquire a marketable skill, you're not good enough to survive.

Get a third job or die.

Posted by: XTC

And if all the jobs that used to pay decently get offshored?

Seriously though, all the useful assistance I've had over the past year with all the crap I've dealt with came privately. No government assistance at all. And the poor that actually needed it were better off when government wasn't the primary "benefactor".

It would be ugly for a while, but things will sort themselves out (mostly) if gov't gets taken out of that picture.

Posted by: Brother Tim (102mm/W59), Keeper of the Tim Continuum at January 14, 2026 11:50 AM (OUMaO)

214 191 I think Trump will have to declare a 5 year tax holiday for those making less than $200k.

That may not be enough

Posted by: MAGA_Ken

Sorry, no. The last thing we need with a $38T debt is to take a bunch of people off the taxpayer roles. Let's get the debt down by cutting, and then we can talk.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:50 AM (Riz8t)

215 Just getting in.

I have to go with Door #2...scorched earth genocide.

I want to see the destruction of the wealth of political grifters and hear the lamentations of the wimmin.

Posted by: DanMan at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (8uzBS)

216 The new commie mayor in Seattle believes that all citizens should vote.
------

The Feds should pre-emptively sue since any action to allow that to happen would de facto endanger the integrity of Federal elections (and its already established law that non-citizens can't vote in Federal elections).
Posted by: Crusader at January 14, 2026 11:49 AM (TN0g+)

***

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Oh stop it...you're killing us here!
*wipes tears*
BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Posted by: Washington State Democrats at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (2WIwB)

217 207
‘ perhaps the scummiest NGO in DC.’

Hey!

Posted by: Catholic Charities at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (jbnUc)

218 Sorry, no. The last thing we need with a $38T debt is to take a bunch of people off the taxpayer roles.

Rolls

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (Riz8t)

219 new commie mayor in Seattle believes that all citizens should vote.

—

All US citizens or all citizens of the world?

Posted by: Really?? at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (kgFPv)

220 They took billions of dollars from you and handed it over to al-Shabaab. Your government likes and cares more about balloon-headed rapetard terrorists than you. They sold several American cities to the rapetards, because they were getting a cut of the action. Americans can go find a different cities to live in. "Fuck 'em, hammer the check" is the sole governing principle remaining in the United States.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (BI5O2)

221 Bishop Barron has a really great "Word On Fire" ministry. Aside from his "Dare we hope that all men are saved?" universal salvation question, he is actually very orthodox.
------

Good for him then! And I too "hope that all men are saved"...but I've done enough reading to know that's not likely going to be how this all works out.

Posted by: Crusader at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (TN0g+)

222 I WANT BUTTS!!

Posted by: that tower controller in Top Gub at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (Y1sOo)

223 >>Rolls

rolls

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:52 AM (viF8m)

224 This "5 to 10%" bs is not the way to talk or think about this.

14% of the budget, for example, is a trillion dollars. That's how this needs to be spoken about. A trillion dollars a year. Not "10%".

Posted by: ... at January 14, 2026 11:52 AM (g078z)

225 The new commie mayor in Seattle believes that all citizens should vote.

Too many people vote. Even out of citizens who are eligible.

If you don't know the issues and where the candidates stand on them you are voting for you reduce the quality of the candidates that are elected.

I deal with lefty LIVs that constantly complain about what the elected officials they vote for do...even through as candidates they said they were going to do it...and then the LIVs vote them in again anyway.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:52 AM (sKqQm)

226 I think it's going to be Door Number Three ...

They will go for Door Three. But I suspect we'll get Door Two in the end.

Posted by: Brother Tim (102mm/W59), Keeper of the Tim Continuum at January 14, 2026 11:52 AM (OUMaO)

227 I think Trump will have to declare a 5 year tax holiday for those making less than $200k.

That may not be enough

Posted by: MAGA_Ken

Sorry, no. The last thing we need with a $38T debt is to take a bunch of people off the taxpayer roles. Let's get the debt down by cutting, and then we can talk.
Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 11:50 AM (Riz8t)
***

I doubt I'll live long enough to see a tax holiday, but I tend to agree, lets get that debt down to something manageable.

Posted by: Washington State Democrats at January 14, 2026 11:53 AM (2WIwB)

228 I want to see the destruction of the wealth of political grifters and hear the lamentations of the wimmin.
Posted by: DanMan at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (8uzBS)

Don't you mean their rent boys?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 14, 2026 11:53 AM (uQesX)

229 They're aggro as hell, that's fer sure. They also lie like fucking rugs. And don't tell me the Trump family ain't making giant bank this time.

---------

I think Trump and his family are the only honest people attached to DC right now. They've been vetted how many times now? We would have known long ago if the Trump family was on the take.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at January 14, 2026 11:53 AM (g8Ew8)

230 There's no such thing as a Democrat judge or a Republican judge.

https://is.gd/yNaYic

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:53 AM (L/fGl)

231 50, right? Vance wants it. Can we get 50?
Posted by: toby928(c)

I intend to squeeze you. I don't like your kind of people. I don't like to see you come out to DC with your red hats, dressed up in those American flags, trying to pass yourselves off as decent Americans. I'll do business with you, but the fact is that I despise your patriotism, the honest way you pose yourself — yourself and your whole fucking movement.

Posted by: Lisa Murkowski at January 14, 2026 11:53 AM (JCZqz)

232 Disincentives can be created to minimize future fraud; e.g.:

. Make theft and fraud of public money a capital offense; and
. Make Capital Offenses Executable Again!

/Well, that's just more crazy talk ...

Posted by: ShainS -- 'The Warmth Of Collectivism' Is Code For 'Hell On Earth' at January 14, 2026 11:53 AM (ibuaa)

233 191 I think Trump will have to declare a 5 year tax holiday for those making less than $200k.

That may not be enough

Posted by: MAGA_Ken

That already basically exists for under $100k. Most people do not realize how few people pay any significant amount in taxes. We know 1/2 pay nothing. But of the half that does pay, 1/2 of that half pays very little. And then 1/2 of the next 1/2 pays almost everything. The vast majority of federal taxes are paid by a small slice of very rich people. The same people leftists demonize as not paying their “fair share” which is true. They pay like 100X their fair share.

Posted by: Really?? at January 14, 2026 11:54 AM (kgFPv)

234 I think this is huge news:
7-2 SCOTUS rules that candidates have a right to challenge voting laws.
Ruling that the Republicans in IL can sue to stop IL from counting absentee ballots after Election Day.

Which ruling is going to expand out and end CA's (and other states) 3-weeks post-election counting.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at January 14, 2026 11:55 AM (HXT0k)

235 new commie mayor in Seattle believes that all citizens should vote.

—

All US citizens or all citizens of the world?
Posted by: Really?? at January 14, 2026 11:51 AM (kgFPv)

***

All...but not that it matters since they control who counts the ballots.
I'm thinking of heading to Seattle with a couple hundred thousand friends of mine and voting in the next election.

Posted by: Diogenes at January 14, 2026 11:55 AM (2WIwB)

236 Looks like Sid took some time off from the glory hole again.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at January 14, 2026 11:55 AM (5xuJ/)

237 "I think Trump and his family are the only honest people attached to DC right now."

I think he's a liar and a thief with a long list of broken promises. I think over half of what he says is nonsense, and the rest is lies.

Posted by: gp at January 14, 2026 11:55 AM (NLkgW)

238 I thread the needle with a bazookaka.

Just like a bazooka but updated with a dell computer.

Posted by: thug dolphin at January 14, 2026 11:56 AM (EyfuW)

239
He'd say 35%, and then the media would jump out to "fact check" him saying it's no more that 15%.
Posted by: Moron Analyst

===============

Why, yes! It's only 15%!

Posted by: Margaret Brennan, not hearing myself at January 14, 2026 11:57 AM (Jxa0O)

240 231
‘ I intend to squeeze you.
Posted by: Lisa Murkowski’

Yuck! I don’t even think a bill outlawing the democrat party would be worth getting squeezed by you.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 14, 2026 11:57 AM (jbnUc)

241 >Rolls

rolls
Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:52 AM (viF8m)

Cinnamon?

Posted by: Diogenes at January 14, 2026 11:57 AM (2WIwB)

242 End early and mail in voting and Dems probably never win an election again.

Posted by: Really?? at January 14, 2026 11:57 AM (kgFPv)

243 I think he's a liar and a thief with a long list of broken promises. I think over half of what he says is nonsense, and the rest is lies.
Posted by: gp at January 14, 2026 11:55 AM (NLkgW)

And I hope you try to run down an ICE agent soon.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at January 14, 2026 11:57 AM (g8Ew8)

244 I hope the House passes another reconciliation bill. The Senate still has Murk, Collins , Mitch, Curtis and Cassidy to worry about

Posted by: Smell the Glove at January 14, 2026 11:57 AM (dN7BA)

245 Indiana spent $15 BILLION on social services agencies since 2022, $4 billion went to child services responsible for ~12,000 foster kids

How does a state government spend $1 billion/yr on ~12,000 foster kids? And why does the federal government pay for 90% of it? Ask Mike Pence and the Indiana GOP...
( thread goes on, link in nic )

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 14, 2026 11:31 AM (mlg/3)
==
And Indiana is one of the better run states. Just imagine.

Posted by: Black JEM at January 14, 2026 11:57 AM (GZYu7)

246 This is an interesting point. Taxes on income are really just taxes on time. As in, since the government takes half my income I have to work twice as long. Return government to the scope and breadth of say..~~1999~~ 1889 and people will be retiring at 45 not 63...
Posted by: 18-1

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 11:58 AM (QGRvm)

247 >>@TomFitton

>>BREAKING: Major @JudicialWatch Supreme Court victory--SCOTUS Rules 7-2 that candidates have inherent standing to sue in federal court over election rules.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:58 AM (viF8m)

248 Rice and beans.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at January 14, 2026 11:58 AM (pkeXY)

249
7-2 SCOTUS rules that candidates have a right to challenge voting laws.
Ruling that the Republicans in IL can sue to stop IL from counting absentee ballots after Election Day.

Which ruling is going to expand out and end CA's (and other states) 3-weeks post-election counting.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice

===============

Any chance that that could lead to suits against all the other forms of voter fraud?

And good mornign!

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at January 14, 2026 11:58 AM (Jxa0O)

250
>>BREAKING: Major @JudicialWatch Supreme Court victory--SCOTUS Rules 7-2 that candidates have inherent standing to sue in federal court over election rules.
Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:58 AM (viF8m)

Where was this in the 2020 election ?

Posted by: It's me donna at January 14, 2026 11:58 AM (VE6XX)

251 Karoline Leavitt Says Dems “Lied From the Very Beginning” About Minneapolis ICE Shooting

-
Geez! Tell me something I don't know.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 11:59 AM (L/fGl)

252 >>Cinnamon?

Jelly. Jam don't shake like that.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 11:59 AM (viF8m)

253 Just got here, but I am tired of "threading needles."

I want to blow up the needle. I want to blow up that a**hole the made the needle. I want to blow up the cousins of anyone who worked in the city that invented needles.

We need to internalize the Davy Crockett speech "Not yours to give" where he talks about the *immorality* of gov. charity.

Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at January 14, 2026 12:00 PM (n2ZBr)

254 251 Karoline Leavitt Says Dems “Lied From the Very Beginning” About Minneapolis ICE Shooting

I just read the ICE agent had internal bleeding from that non hit he took

Posted by: It's me donna at January 14, 2026 12:00 PM (VE6XX)

255 Sorry, no. The last thing we need with a $38T debt is to take a bunch of people off the taxpayer rolls.

Are we on the hook for that fraud? I think we won't be.

Posted by: t-bird at January 14, 2026 12:01 PM (J0qLT)

256 Bishop Barron has a really great "Word On Fire" ministry. Aside from his "Dare we hope that all men are saved?" universal salvation question, he is actually very orthodox.
------

Good for him then! And I too "hope that all men are saved"...but I've done enough reading to know that's not likely going to be how this all works out.
Posted by: Crusader
==
Well just look at the two theives. He only told the one who accepted him that he would see him in the kingdom. Its your choice. Choose wisely.

Posted by: Older and Wiser at January 14, 2026 12:01 PM (0DDbn)

257 There is a Meme scorecard showing 0 arrests for all the major scandals.I have zero faith in the government to do anything other than ignore the problem. I hope I’m wrong.

Posted by: High tech at January 14, 2026 12:01 PM (37cEZ)

258 Here is how fraud works at the lowest levels.

I had a tree in front of my house that died and needed removed. It was on that strip between the street and the sidewalk. No man’s land. It’s not my property but I’m responsible for it.

I called the city. They said they will pay for removal but I had to take care of logistics. They have “certified” tree removal companies I have to use. Of course those companies charge 3X more than non “certified” companies. I’d bet any sum of money the owners of the “certified” companies are related to city council members or the mayor or both.

Multiply this stuff by millions of similar situations and that’s how you get trillions in fraud.

And it’s never going to stop.

Posted by: Really?? at January 14, 2026 12:01 PM (kgFPv)

259
POKER MONKEY

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 14, 2026 12:01 PM (y9nCu)

260 209 Takaichi can really play. The Korean president was clearly just a beginner. But no shame in that. Everyone has to start at the beginning.
Posted by: Judge Elric The Blade at January 14, 2026 11:49 AM (iFTx/)

If you want a drumming prodigy, check out the girl from Nankai Trio (she's also the group's composer).

Posted by: XTC at January 14, 2026 12:01 PM (uEmCf)

261 There is a Meme scorecard showing 0 arrests for all the major scandals.

This is why people are critical of Bondi - because ultimately this is what she should be measured on.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 12:02 PM (sKqQm)

262 Hey, Mr. Joe Mannix -- that would be a good subject for a rant, the Davy Crockett speech "Not Yours to Give."

The morality of the West has been hijacked into a destructive mode of handing out OPM (other people's money) after stealing it through inflation and taxes, and calling it "virtue." This will be the end of us.

Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at January 14, 2026 12:02 PM (n2ZBr)

263 Oh no, Democrats are winning every race and we can't win in November!

>>@EricLDaugh
·
3h
>>🚨 JUST IN: Liberals are furious after Alabama State House District 63 SWINGS HARD RED, was Trump+18 but just went R+29 in 2026

>>Norman Crow (R) WINS over Judith Taylor (D), 64.5%-35.5%.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 14, 2026 12:02 PM (viF8m)

264 Can the owners of The Learing Center be arrested? At least do this

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at January 14, 2026 12:02 PM (YobFY)

265 242 It's not early voting. The commoners really like daughters showering with guys, having their homes shaken down for weapons like those yucky ARs, and being forced to buy health insurance that's ten times more expensive. Oh, yeah, take the bus on us and get rid of that pollutin' car.

Your DNC, hard at work

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at January 14, 2026 12:03 PM (gm9Sb)

266 That already basically exists for under $100k. Most people do not realize how few people pay any significant amount in taxes. We know 1/2 pay nothing. But of the half that does pay, 1/2 of that half pays very little. And then 1/2 of the next 1/2 pays almost everything. The vast majority of federal taxes are paid by a small slice of very rich people. The same people leftists demonize as not paying their “fair share” which is true. They pay like 100X their fair share.

Posted by: Really??

Sorry. I have an appointment with H&R Block to do my taxes at the end of January and I am well south of $100k.

But that's ok. My cracker ass doesn't qualify for any government shit.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:03 PM (QGRvm)

267 I deal with lefty LIVs that constantly complain about what the elected officials they vote for do...even through as candidates they said they were going to do it...and then the LIVs vote them in again anyway.

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 11:52 AM

Well, to be fair...MA.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 12:03 PM (bFu5X)

268 And I think AliasSmithSmith is right about shit tasting good.

Posted by: gp at January 14, 2026 12:03 PM (jbnUc)

269 It's really not that hard. People getting money from the government need to PROVE that they're eligible for that money and the government absolutely needs to ensure that proof is legitimate and stop giving money to people who shouldn't get it AND prosecute those that are defrauding the government to the fullest extent of the law.

Posted by: deadrody at January 14, 2026 12:04 PM (rDyqH)

270 There is not a single Dem running for office in my County

Posted by: Ben Had at January 14, 2026 12:04 PM (0KSrI)

271 I’d bet any sum of money the owners of the “certified” companies are related to city council members or the mayor or both.

Indeed this is all the over the place, in the last year we've seen federal office holders paying relatives for "security" or running their campaign...

This really is the oldest direct type of fraud, you can find people complaining about it 100 years ago but it is way more common now because the government spends way more money

Posted by: 18-1 at January 14, 2026 12:04 PM (sKqQm)

272 "JUST IN: House Republicans are moving RAPIDLY to pass the second MAGA reconciliation bill BANNING illegals from obtaining any taxpayer welfare, ensuring only citizens count for allocating funding, codifying Trump executive orders and more"

A large [part of the problem is many benefits (SNAP especially) are distributed based on the anchor baby kids , who were born here. Something must be written that the person applying for the aid and getting the check for the children must be a citizen.

Posted by: Ripley at January 14, 2026 12:05 PM (GUOwU)

273 There is not a single Dem running for office in my County
Posted by: Ben Had at January 14, 2026 12:04 PM

Sure...brag.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 12:05 PM (bFu5X)

274 Sorry. I have an appointment with H&R Block to do my taxes at the end of January and I am well south of $100k.

—

You just need some kids. 😀

Posted by: Really?? at January 14, 2026 12:05 PM (kgFPv)

275 199 It's fun watching bank stocks go down.
--------
The banks have been doing a little too well out of the fraud scheme & also with the inflated rates. Seeing them take a hit is satisfactory in a Gospel of Luke sort of way.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 14, 2026 12:05 PM (XjTSo)

276 243,268 Oh, come on, I know you guys can do better insults than those!

Posted by: gp at January 14, 2026 12:05 PM (NLkgW)

277 Cloward Piven became the official policy of the US government so slowly we didn't notice.

Posted by: Dantes at January 14, 2026 12:05 PM (nfXtq)

278
There could be no targeted prosecution, it would necessitate a general purge. We'd need a penal colony to deal with the guilty.

YOUR TERMS ARE ACCEPTABLE

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 14, 2026 12:06 PM (y9nCu)

279 Sorry, no. The last thing we need with a $38T debt is to take a bunch of people off the taxpayer rolls.

Are we on the hook for that fraud? I think we won't be.
Posted by: t-bird

I didn't see a dime of that fraud. Why am I on the hook gor it? I didn't agree to it.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:06 PM (QGRvm)

280 Just got here, but I am tired of "threading needles."

I want to blow up the needle. I want to blow up that a**hole the made the needle. I want to blow up the cousins of anyone who worked in the city that invented needles.

We need to internalize the Davy Crockett speech "Not yours to give" where he talks about the *immorality* of gov. charity.
Posted by: bob (moron incognitus) at January 14, 2026 12:00 PM (n2ZBr)
____

I want to stab motherfuckers in the heart with the needle

Posted by: Judge Elric The Blade at January 14, 2026 12:07 PM (iFTx/)

281 What’s the surprise? The prophet Samuel warned about this millennia ago. But noooooooo, we gotta have gubmint.

Posted by: Hokey Pokey at January 14, 2026 12:07 PM (YlWIZ)

282 Sorry. I have an appointment with H&R Block to do my taxes at the end of January and I am well south of $100k.

—

You just need some kids. 😀
Posted by: Really??

How about claiming some wetbacks or somalians?

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:07 PM (QGRvm)

283 Did someone say penal colony?

Posted by: Mayor Pete Buttgiggity at January 14, 2026 12:07 PM (TbWk/)

284 Has anyone said "Nothing will happen " yet ?

Posted by: It's me donna at January 14, 2026 12:09 PM (VE6XX)

285 Nothing is happening.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 12:09 PM (A32KF)

286 263 Oh no, Democrats are winning every race and we can't win in November!

>>@EricLDaugh
·
3h
>>🚨 JUST IN: Liberals are furious after Alabama State House District 63 SWINGS HARD RED, was Trump+18 but just went R+29 in 2026

>>Norman Crow (R) WINS over Judith Taylor (D), 64.5%-35.5%.
---------
It's a good sign. The GOPe are a bunch of lazy idiots, but the voters have more than enough impetus to go to the polls & sink the d's on every level.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 14, 2026 12:09 PM (XjTSo)

287 280
‘ I want to stab motherfuckers in the heart with the needle’

Not a blade?

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 14, 2026 12:09 PM (jbnUc)

288 Be thankful you can have the tree taken down without permission from the urban forester.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at January 14, 2026 12:09 PM (+mUZM)

289 Sorry, no. The last thing we need with a $38T debt is to take a bunch of people off the taxpayer rolls.

Are we on the hook for that fraud? I think we won't be.
Posted by: t-bird

I didn't see a dime of that fraud. Why am I on the hook gor it? I didn't agree to it.

Unless you have a time machine, we (I mean we as a country) already bought the ticket and took the ride. That money is gone, and must be paid back. It's not fair, but life is rarely fair.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 12:10 PM (Riz8t)

290 Geez! Tell me something I don't know, part deux.

Lefty SCOTUS Justice Shocks With "Complete Nonsense of an Opinion"

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 12:10 PM (L/fGl)

291 Did Democrats who predicted a win eat crow?

Thank you I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress well.

Posted by: Really?? at January 14, 2026 12:10 PM (kgFPv)

292 HOAs have staff Druids now?

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 12:10 PM (A32KF)

293 >>🚨 JUST IN: Liberals are furious after Alabama State House District 63 SWINGS HARD RED, was Trump+18 but just went R+29 in 2026
>>Norman Crow (R) WINS over Judith Taylor (D), 64.5%-35.5%.
Posted by: JackStraw

Didn't see much crying yet in the Alabama subreddit, but this headline there made me chuckle:

'Badge of honor': Sen. Tuberville named first U.S. senator on CAIR's anti-Muslim extremist list

Posted by: Intercepted Reddit Transmissions brought by the Intrepid AoS Liaison at January 14, 2026 12:10 PM (JCZqz)

294 Wouldn't be prudent.

JPMorgan CEO Claims DOJ Probe of Jerome Powell Could Stoke Inflation

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 12:11 PM (L/fGl)

295 Geez! Tell me something I don't know, part deux.

Lefty SCOTUS Justice Shocks With "Complete Nonsense of an Opinion"

Ketanji Jackson Johnson is right!

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 12:11 PM (Riz8t)

296 JPMorgan CEO Claims DOJ Probe of Jerome Powell Could Stoke Inflation
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 12:11 PM (L/fGl)

Just like tariffs!!!ty

Posted by: Really?? at January 14, 2026 12:12 PM (kgFPv)

297 44 *Pop* and smoke puff from the pole transformer in 45MPH gusts, and voila! My power is out. So I'm here at the public library charging my phone.
Posted by: gp

Pffft. We know the real story. Pay your bill.

Posted by: Consolidated Electric Public Service Cooperative Authority. at January 14, 2026 12:12 PM (oftw2)

298 292 HOAs have staff Druids now?
Posted by: Boss Moss

Not all HOA staffs have druids, but all druids have staffs.

Posted by: DM remembering Ace's gay D&D commentary at January 14, 2026 12:12 PM (JCZqz)

299 It is truly amazing. When the IRS started requiring Social Security numbers for dependents, millions of children went missing.

Posted by: no one at January 14, 2026 12:12 PM (qFwJc)

300 JPMorgan CEO Claims DOJ Probe of Jerome Powell Could Stoke Inflation

He's right. There's more than one case of "inflation" at the HQ at the thought of Powell going off to the pokey.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 12:12 PM (Riz8t)

301 "JUST IN: House Republicans are moving RAPIDLY to pass the second MAGA reconciliation bill BANNING illegals from obtaining any taxpayer welfare, ensuring only citizens count for allocating funding, codifying Trump executive orders and more"

-------------

The Left: "illegals don't get American Welfare, H8Rs!"

Also The Left: "You can't take American Welfare away from illegals, H8Rs!"

Posted by: ShainS -- 'The Warmth Of Collectivism' Is Code For 'Hell On Earth' at January 14, 2026 12:13 PM (ibuaa)

302 JPMorgan CEO Claims DOJ Probe of Jerome Powell Could Stoke Inflatio
-----

Under his watch JP Morgan closed accounts of people associated with Trump, including Trump himself if I remember correctly.

Posted by: Crusader at January 14, 2026 12:13 PM (TN0g+)

303
‘ I want to stab motherfuckers in the heart with the needle’

Not a blade?
Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 14, 2026 12:09 PM (jbnUc)

There is no spoon

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 14, 2026 12:13 PM (y9nCu)

304 ‘ I want to stab motherfuckers in the heart with the needle’

Not a blade?
Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 14, 2026 12:09 PM (jbnUc)
___

Both

Posted by: Judge Elric The Blade at January 14, 2026 12:14 PM (iFTx/)

305 Spoons aren't sharp.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 12:14 PM (A32KF)

306 Fuuuuuuuuuck. Trump is ripping ass on Goldie's show.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:14 PM (QGRvm)

307 That's racist!

Posted by: no one at January 14, 2026 12:15 PM (qFwJc)

308
Spoons aren't sharp.
Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 12:14 PM (A32KF)

It'll hurt

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 14, 2026 12:15 PM (y9nCu)

309 306 Fuuuuuuuuuck. Trump is ripping ass on Goldie's show.
Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:14 PM (QGRvm)

Goldie ?

Posted by: It's me donna at January 14, 2026 12:15 PM (VE6XX)

310 What kind of twisted illogic is Jamie Dimon using to defend Powell?? It’s a big club and we’re not in it…

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at January 14, 2026 12:15 PM (YobFY)

311 306 Fuuuuuuuuuck. Trump is ripping ass on Goldie's show.
Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:14 PM (QGRvm)

He shouldn't have eaten so many beans.

Posted by: XTC at January 14, 2026 12:16 PM (uEmCf)

312 306 Fuuuuuuuuuck. Trump is ripping ass on Goldie's show.
Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:14 PM (QGRvm)
------
Eric Swalwell is going to be big mad that Donnie is horning in on his specialty.

Posted by: ballistic at January 14, 2026 12:16 PM (5aZAZ)

313 I’ll second… Goldie???

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at January 14, 2026 12:16 PM (YobFY)

314 Spoons aren't sharp.
Posted by: Boss Moss

Them grapefruit spoons can be pretty nasty.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 14, 2026 12:16 PM (mlg/3)

315 @263

>>Oh no, Democrats are winning every race and we can't win in November!

It's not that they are winning races, it's that their brand is not a mud and they can win at all.

The house is on a knife edge when it really shouldn't be.

Republicans winning in Republican areas and Democrats continuing to win in Democrat areas is a problem.

It means that at some point the democrats will control the government and plunge us back into hell.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at January 14, 2026 12:16 PM (XV/Pl)

316 264 Can the owners of The Learing Center be arrested? At least do this
=========
They all get to be deported & returned to whence they came, with none of their property obtained from stolen wealth.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 14, 2026 12:16 PM (XjTSo)

317 I'm, all for exposing them all. Full Restitution and fines plus felony theft convictions to be served in third world prisons, or... Banishment in lieu of imprisonment. Banishment does not require building anything. Just getting a corruption intolerant country to take them in. Singapore would be wonderful.

Posted by: Augusto Perez at January 14, 2026 12:17 PM (UqnMl)

318 ...have inherent standing to sue in federal court over election rules...
Well, obviously. How could you even argue that they don't? So, two retards on the Supreme Court thought otherwise. I'm sure one was Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at January 14, 2026 12:17 PM (xAP/Y)

319 Goldie.

https://is.gd/mO9ujX

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 12:18 PM (A32KF)

320
Has anyone said "Nothing will happen " yet ?
Posted by: It's me donna

=============

I'm really looking forward to February 1, when the federal money supposedly stops flowing to sanctuary cities and states. Something might happen in state legislatures and city councils.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at January 14, 2026 12:18 PM (Jxa0O)

321 Here's some good news for TX morons:

Harris County (Houston) Republicans have decided to run a candidate against all Dem incumbents.

No more uncontested races.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at January 14, 2026 12:18 PM (HXT0k)

322 It is truly amazing. When the IRS started requiring Social Security numbers for dependents, millions of children went missing.

Posted by: no one at January 14, 2026 12:12 PM (qFwJc)

--------------

Not to mention their pets!

Posted by: ShainS -- 'The Warmth Of Collectivism' Is Code For 'Hell On Earth' at January 14, 2026 12:18 PM (ibuaa)

323 I’ll second… Goldie???
Posted by: LinusVanPelt at January 14, 2026 12:16 PM

Former Canadian MP. Iranian. Been livestreaming and commenting on the revolution. Also hawt.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 12:18 PM (bFu5X)

324 Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 14, 2026 11:31 AM (mlg/3)

$19K/yr might sound like a lot to raise a foster child, but if it's a teenage boy, most of that's going to be spent on the grocery bill alone. Then add in clothing the kid as they seem to grow an inch every week...

Posted by: pookysgirl's boy isn't even a teenager yet and he's at this stage at January 14, 2026 12:19 PM (Wt5PA)

325 Paradise has been postponed.

In Major Retreat from the Metaverse, Meta Cuts Over 1,000 Jobs

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 12:19 PM (L/fGl)

326
Former Canadian MP. Iranian. Been livestreaming and commenting on the revolution. Also hawt.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 12:18 PM (bFu5X)

Thanks

Posted by: It's me donna at January 14, 2026 12:19 PM (VE6XX)

327 287 280
‘ I want to stab motherfuckers in the heart with the needle’

Not a blade?
====
A stiletto is also a lade, even if it's more like a needle. just sayin'.

Posted by: exdem13 at January 14, 2026 12:19 PM (XjTSo)

328 Former Canadian MP. Iranian. Been livestreaming and commenting on the revolution. Also hawt.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 12:18 PM (bFu5X)

Ah… thank you. That person is new to me

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at January 14, 2026 12:20 PM (YobFY)

329 Q: I am broken when my name is spoken.
What am I?

Me: McDonald's milkshake machine.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:20 PM (QGRvm)

330 325 In Major Retreat from the Metaverse, Meta Cuts Over 1,000 Jobs
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 12:19 PM (L/fGl)

Bet that Sen. McCormick (R-PA) 's wife is safe, though.

Posted by: XTC at January 14, 2026 12:20 PM (uEmCf)

331 324 Then add in clothing the kid as they seem to grow an inch every week...

Can confirm. And "growing pains" is not a cute phrase to me.

Posted by: NR Pax at January 14, 2026 12:20 PM (NR6c1)

332 And just precisely *how* would investigating a corrupt banking official drive inflation, short of that corrupt banking official loosening monetary policy as leverage against the investigators?

I'm all ears.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 14, 2026 12:20 PM (BI5O2)

333 What kind of heel would stab someone with a stiletto?

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 12:20 PM (A32KF)

334 318 ...have inherent standing to sue in federal court over election rules...
Well, obviously. How could you even argue that they don't? So, two retards on the Supreme Court thought otherwise. I'm sure one was Ketanji Brown Jackson.

You thought correctly.

Dissent: Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, with Jackson criticizing the creation of a "bespoke candidate-standing rule" that deviates from the traditional requirement that all litigants must show actual injury

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 12:20 PM (Riz8t)

335
Fuuuuuuuuuck. Trump is ripping ass on Goldie's show.
Posted by: rickb223

=============

I had it muted, and now they're showing Charlie Kirk.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at January 14, 2026 12:20 PM (Jxa0O)

336
What kind of heel would stab someone with a stiletto?
Posted by: Boss Moss at January 14, 2026 12:20 PM (A32KF)

Someone without a sole.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 14, 2026 12:22 PM (y9nCu)

337 Use a spork.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at January 14, 2026 12:22 PM (pkeXY)

338 @324
It's $83k+ per year.

Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at January 14, 2026 12:22 PM (1VZmA)

339 Goldie

Goldie Ghamari on YouTube. Been liveblogging for the last 18 days.

Her and Armin Navabi.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:22 PM (QGRvm)

340 Oh no, Democrats are winning every race and we can't win in November!

>>@EricLDaugh
·
3h
>>🚨 JUST IN: Liberals are furious after Alabama State House District 63 SWINGS HARD RED, was Trump+18 but just went R+29 in 2026

>>Norman Crow (R) WINS over Judith Taylor (D), 64.5%-35.5%.

Posted by: JackStraw

Just for context, that's the Tuscaloosa area--University of Alabama and environs.

Posted by: Brother Tim (102mm/W59), Keeper of the Tim Continuum at January 14, 2026 12:22 PM (OUMaO)

341
Can the owners of The Learing Center be arrested? At least do this
=========
They all get to be deported & returned to whence they came, with none of their property obtained from stolen wealth.
Posted by: exdem13

--------------------

If Trump could execute domestic policy the way he does foreign policy, this would have happened yesterday.

#NothingEverHappens

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at January 14, 2026 12:22 PM (Jxa0O)

342 266 That already basically exists for under $100k. Most people do not realize how few people pay any significant amount in taxes. We know 1/2 pay nothing. But of the half that does pay, 1/2 of that half pays very little. And then 1/2 of the next 1/2 pays almost everything. The vast majority of federal taxes are paid by a small slice of very rich people. The same people leftists demonize as not paying their “fair share” which is true. They pay like 100X their fair share.

Posted by: Really??
======

At the end of the day, everyone that buys things pays. The reason is that inflation is a monetary phenonmenon and deficit spending drives inflation. No deficit, lower inflation as less money chases the same amount of goods produced.

Posted by: whig at January 14, 2026 12:22 PM (WDjG6)

343 In Major Retreat from the Metaverse, Meta Cuts Over 1,000 Jobs
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 12:19 PM (L/fGl)

Awww...

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 14, 2026 12:22 PM (8zz6B)

344 Nood. MN ICE agent.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at January 14, 2026 12:22 PM (bFu5X)

345
Dissent: Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, with Jackson criticizing the creation of a "bespoke candidate-standing rule" that deviates from the traditional requirement that all litigants must show actual injury

You mean like "I lost because the corrupt local government allowed fraudulent mail-in ballots"? Geez, it should hurt to be this stupid.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 14, 2026 12:23 PM (Riz8t)

346 This has always been the problem for the Trump Forces. The oppo WANTS to collapse the system somehow thinking that societal collapse will end up with old rich people on top, which I doubt. The Trump Forces wish to maintain America. It feels to me like a temporary Pinochet solution is the only way to fix the problems.

Posted by: Azjaeger at January 14, 2026 12:23 PM (Mh1sS)

347 $19K/yr might sound like a lot to raise a foster child, but if it's a teenage boy, most of that's going to be spent on the grocery bill alone. Then add in clothing the kid as they seem to grow an inch every week...
Posted by: pookysgirl's

It's $83,333.00 a year.

Posted by: rickb223 at January 14, 2026 12:23 PM (QGRvm)

348
I'm really looking forward to February 1, when the federal money supposedly stops flowing to sanctuary cities and states. Something might happen in state legislatures and city councils.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia at January 14, 2026 12:18 PM

-------

Does the flow of money to the layabouts just come to an abrupt half? I thought it was more indirect than that.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at January 14, 2026 12:23 PM (E5iKs)

349 320
Has anyone said "Nothing will happen " yet ?
Posted by: It's me donna
=============
I'm really looking forward to February 1, when the federal money supposedly stops flowing to sanctuary cities and states. Something might happen in state legislatures and city councils.
-----------
Dunno what will happen but the tantrums will make for great viewing on X!

Posted by: exdem13 at January 14, 2026 12:24 PM (XjTSo)

350 Well, he knows rockets.

Elon Musk Roasts “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” & Questions Why the David Ellison Didn’t Cancel the Woke Show4

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 14, 2026 12:24 PM (L/fGl)

351 Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, with Jackson criticizing the creation of a "bespoke candidate-standing rule" that deviates from the traditional requirement that all litigants must show actual injury

Somebody, please, for the love of God and all else holy, go through her home and remove the warning labels from everything, that nature may be allowed to take its course and this stain be removed.

Posted by: Brother Tim (102mm/W59), Keeper of the Tim Continuum at January 14, 2026 12:25 PM (OUMaO)

352 If you weren't good enough to acquire a marketable skill, you're not good enough to survive.

You can find lots of ads looking for house painters, how many have you seen looking for another Rembrandt?

In plain English - if you have skills almost no one has, there is no demand for your skills.

I know how to greatly improve first stage boosters and how to build a high thrust ION engine that could get practical loads to Mars. Does anyone here know Elon?

Posted by: An Observation sez Trump is my President at January 14, 2026 12:27 PM (Da7Vv)

353 318 ...have inherent standing to sue in federal court over election rules...
Well, obviously. How could you even argue that they don't? So, two retards on the Supreme Court thought otherwise. I'm sure one was Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent
======
This also means that leftist candidates can have standing to sue things like voter id, shutting down polls on time, etc.

It is just that the previous rule treated those on the right differently than the left such as PA Supreme Court ignoring the law in 2020 on counting ballots without signatures as required by law.

In part, the 2020 challenges failed (and this is why a lot of cheated candidates on the right didn't do it) because of the standing rule. So Lake did not have the right to challenge the failures of Maricopa County and so on.

The old rule meant that the national party had to file the suits or some overarching organization rather than the law as applied to individual candidates. It would be as if your whole workplace had to sue the employer for sex harassment when you were the actual one affected by it.

Posted by: whig at January 14, 2026 12:29 PM (WDjG6)

354 $19k a year is still a lot. At $100/wk., that's only $5200. Add in clothing at $200/month, that's another $2400. Add in sportsball equipment at $200/month, another $2400. We're still not close to $19k. And aren't the foster parents supposed to pay for some of this stuff? That's kinda the point of foster parents--they sacrifice to save a child.

Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at January 14, 2026 12:29 PM (cWffP)

355 322
--------------

Not to mention their pets!
Posted by: ShainS -- 'The Warmth Of Collectivism' Is Code For 'Hell On Earth' at January 14, 2026 12:18 PM (ibuaa)

Kinda funny, but IIRC, you could claim a pet (well, a dog) as some form of a dependent on German taxes. Asked it one nite, as they were 'decluttering' before the tax man came and audited their apartment. Held their keep-ables several days until the Rev'newers moved on...

Posted by: Pinochet Flight Attendant at January 14, 2026 12:36 PM (zL/eJ)

356 The third option gives a Pour Encourager Les Autres option. If we're willing to go after *random* fraudsters, maybe the others will decouple and fly right (enough) if they don't know if they'll be next. Might be the most efficient way to bring fraud to an acceptable/absorbable level.

I know, I know. Won't be 100%, but it will deter some, fix others, and be a deterrent for the future.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at January 14, 2026 01:17 PM (kN4f7)

357 Bollocks to all that.

Fiat justitia, ruat caelum.

Posted by: Rowsdower's not letting go of Ray Epps was a fed asset at January 14, 2026 01:35 PM (klycm)

358 Hang them high, publically. Invite the public to get their piece of revenge. Send the message that epic corruption will be met with epic punishment.

Posted by: Sanity break 2 at January 14, 2026 04:09 PM (0cJcL)

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