Fraud and Its Costs.

 Fraud and Its Costs.

 

Sometimes it seems that for every dollar we are taxed in some manner, we see that someone has figured out a way to steal at least half of it or more to use in ways never intended by the taxing authorities. One of the biggest thefts has become the federally funded agencies for Medicare or Medicaid.

 

“The administration is also launching a six-month nationwide moratorium on Medicaid enrollments for new hospice and at home care services. Oz said a third of all hospice programs receiving federal assistance in the United States are in Los Angeles.”

“There will be no new hospices,” Oz said. “We’re not taking any services, but there will be no new ones."

Oz said the administration suspended 800 hospices in the Los Angeles area alone. He said those entities charged $1.4 billion to taxpayers.

The administration’s announcement follows months of ramping up enforcement actions for fraud in federally funded programs. In February, the administration halted $259 million in Medicaid funds sent to Minnesota.

“We want to save the American people money, but we're also trying to preserve programs that exist for the benefit of the American people,” Vance said. “We're also trying to make sure that we do this in a way that's defensible.”

Other Big Grabs: AI to the Rescue or AI to Benefit Corporations?

 

“The contribution of AI data centers to higher bills is just one of the ways the development boom is affecting consumers. The facilities also compete for critical resources like water and land, and they can lower air quality and increase traffic, often while benefiting from changes to zoning laws and huge tax breaks.”

 

Recently our city (Wichita Falls, TX) has been interested in a new data center that might provide jobs for our area. It may be just another problem looking for a place to cause trouble in my personal estimation. We suffer from droughts on a regular basis, but has anyone considered how much of a drain a new data center might be on our sources of water? The excess electrical usage in an AI data center causes light pollution that throws off course migrating birds—not to mention the effect on insect populations. Then there are zoning laws that allow great swaths of a city to be populated with more concrete and heat sources. We need shade trees, not concrete.

 

Common sense truly is not all that common any longer. City leaders may buy up property that will benefit everyone—eventually—but having the sense to check out what has happened in other cities of the same size should probably be a requirement before decisions are made that affect the entire city.

 

Recently President Trump had 40 fountains in D.C. cleaned up and revitalized. Some people are still complaining. Then there is the reflective pool that had to be cleaned of tons of garbage\ sewerage. Maybe no one else sees the need to clean up places in our nation’s capital, but it is sad to think that a birthday party for this nation was about to be celebrated from the sewer.

 

Depending upon who we listen to, we have been told today that Iran was about to be hit by the U.S. tomorrow. But the main nations that included Arabia, UAE, and others asked that the strike be delayed. However, our forces have been set to strike when the word is sent—whenever that happens. It may be nerve wracking for the men and women on those ships and bases, but at the same time, we know that the so-called agreements are going to be just so much fertilizer from the sand pits. Let us pray for our troops and for our leaders that good decisions will be made in whatever situations that follow. Only God can be trusted completely. It is OUR job to pray that God’s will be done. We can’t keep all the corruption from happening in our own country; we can’t protect our cities from mismanagement or pollution; we can’t change the attitudes of those who choose to hate—but we can pray for the change of heart that all of us need. Let us pray.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.