Free Republic

Welfare programs often account for a state’s largest and fastest-growing budget line items, and as these programs grow, the likelihood of waste, fraud, and abuse grows too. Welfare fraud robs resources from those who are truly needy, and stories like this are infuriating.Vida Ofori Causey, a 45-year-old convenience store owner in Worchester, Massachusetts, was charged in a federal court last week after she pled guilty to a multimillion dollar food stamp fraud scheme.Food stamps are administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), and eligible low-income individuals and families receive monetary benefits they...

Gov. Jerry Brown will visit Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles Wednesday to sign legislation mandating that half of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. The ambitious mandates of SB 350, championed by Senate President pro tem Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles, were outlined by Brown in his inaugural address in January. But de Leon’s legislation was significantly watered down last month in the state Assembly, which stripped away a requirement that the state slash its gasoline use by 50 percent in the next 15 years. That provision sparked heated debate in Sacramento, thanks to opposition from...

American prisons to free 6,000 drug traffickers in biggest-ever inmate release October 30 will see 6,000 drug dealers freed from American jails as the country struggles to cope with the world's largest prison population By Harriet Alexander, New York 07 Oct 2015 Six thousand drug traffickers are to be freed from American prisons at the end of this month, in the country's largest-ever mass release of prisoners. The men and women will be freed as part of a plan to reduce overcrowding. America is the world's biggest jailer, and a quarter of the whole world's prison population is in the...

An Alabama Democrat was caught on video attacking a reporter who confronted him over voter fraud allegations on Tuesday. City councilman Amos Newsome of Dothan, Alabama, lashed out in the Dothan Civic Center parking lot after a City Commission meeting, the Donthan Eagle reported.

A MATHEMATICAL discovery by Perth-based electrical engineer Dr David Evans may change everything about the climate debate, on the eve of the UN climate change conference in Paris next month. A former climate modeller for the Government’s Australian Greenhouse Office, with six degrees in applied mathematics, Dr Evans has unpacked the architecture of the basic climate model which underpins all climate science. He has found that, while the underlying physics of the model is correct, it had been applied incorrectly. He has fixed two errors and the new corrected model finds the climate’s sensitivity to carbon dioxide (CO2) is much...

Gun Shop-Owning Roseburg Grandma Gives Completely Unfiltered Answers When Asked About Gun Control — Including Her Nickname for Obama Oct. 6, 2015 9:19am Jason Howerton An 86-year-old gun shop owner in Roseburg, Oregon, recently gave an unfiltered interview to NBC News, criticizing President Barack Obama’s “strange” gun control ideas and revealing her unflattering nickname for the commander in chief.

Redflex red light cameras and speed camera deployments have dropped by half as municipalities reject automated enforcement. Only a few years ago, Redflex Traffic Systems was at the top of its game. Stock analysts saw unlimited growth potential in the Australian firm that once operated more red light cameras and speed cameras in the United States than anyone else. Redflex was so confident about its bright future that it rebuffed Macquarie Bank's 2011 buyout offer at $2.75 a share. Today, Redflex trades at 24 cents per share, a top executive has been found guilty on federal corruption charges and the...

<p>Progressives will tell you that food stamp fraud is basically a problem that doesn’t exist. At best they’ll admit that, perhaps, there are a few instances where a store sells something to a customer that shouldn’t be covered by the SNAP program - but they’ll claim those minor transgressions are extremely isolated cases. They’ll regale you with tales of the hard-working poor who hold down two jobs and receive welfare just to make ends meet.</p>

In a recent lecture at Cornell University entitled "Check Your Green Privilege: It's not environmentally friendly to allow millions to die," British Member of Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Owen Paterson exposed the deadly facts behind the "green" charades perpetrated by activist groups, exemplified by Greenpeace. Mr. Paterson scathingly castigates the rich "environmental" (green) groups that are funded by wealthy elites and foundations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Environmental Working Group (EWG), Friends of the Earth, and (especially) Greenpeace, for their baseless but well-devised campaigns to manipulate consumers' fears and spread suspicion and mistrust among the public. These well-heeled...

If I post incorrectly, please forgive me. I think it is the first one.... A new Go Pro showed up that wasn't ordered from a reputable outfit today. It was addressed to my wife so I didn't open it on arrival. I don't go through other people's mail. Figured it was a typical purchase even though it wasn't from an outfit I would expect. It was a technology dealer and I do that buying. A little while ago she brings in a box with a new Go Pro. She checked her CC and there was a charge from a couple...

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/09/27/nbc-caught-manipulating-poll-results-released-today/

The family of 14-year-old Muslim student Ahmed Mohamed is planning to take legal action against the school for calling police after a teacher discovered a “homemade clock” that looked eerily similar to an explosive device, while questions continue to be raised about whether the incident was a “purposeful hoax.” Amid comments from electronics experts who say it appears that Mohamed simply took apart a 1970s era alarm clock and reassembled it in a pencil box, Judge Andrew Napolitano said the family may face charges if the incident is proven to be a publicity stunt.“If this was part of a purposeful...

**SNIP** According to Whitehouse.gov, an official website of the Obamacare administration, the ACA “reduces health care costs,” in part, “by … cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse.” A new government audit of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) management of contracts made with eight companies that helped to build the Healthcare.gov website, shows the 20 contracts “most critical to the website’s operation” – worth roughly $600 million in total – were incredibly mismanaged. According to the report, millions were wasted in cost overruns, shoddy practices, and poor business practices. John Tozzi of Bloomberg Business reports the primary...

Former President Bill Clinton blamed Republicans who hope to undercut his wife’s presidential chances and a voracious political news media uninterested in substance for the furor surrounding Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a private email account and server while she was secretary of state. “I have never seen so much expended on so little,” Mr. Clinton said in a taped interview with Fareed Zakaria that is scheduled to be shown Sunday on CNN. The network released excerpts on Saturday afternoon. “She said she was sorry that her personal email caused all this confusion,” Mr. Clinton said. “And she’d like to...

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/09/pro-immigration-pope-lives-in-vatican-city-with-strictest-immigration-policies-in-the-world-video/

slamophobia due to his temporary detention by police as a result of bringing what he described as an innocent clock that he claims he "invented" to school, reveals more details of what actually happened. Based upon previous reports, he showed his "invention" to an engineering teacher in the morning. Who subsequently warned him that the device looked suspicious and not to show it to anybody else. Apparently rather than heed his warning, according to reports ,he then showed his 'invention" to teachers in the next six classes who voiced similar concerns to him. In the sixth period he apparently, without...

As record numbers of Muslim migrants enter the United States, and as a surge of Central Americans swamps our southern border, GOP presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)80% is using his presidential campaign to promote citizenship for those who come here illegally and take American jobs, benefits and residency. In a September 21 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Rubio said that within 10 or 12 years — which would be after the U.S. foreign-born population has swelled above 51 million on current trends — “you could have a broader debate about how has this worked out and should...

The Office of Personnel Management announced Wednesday that 5.6 million people are now estimated to have had their fingerprint information stolen. That number was originally thought to be about 1.1 million, OPM said in a statement. About 21.5 million individuals had their Social Security Numbers and other sensitive information affected by the hack. According to OPM, "federal experts believe that, as of now, the ability to misuse fingerprint data is limited." The office acknowledged, however, that future technologies could take advantage of this information. An interagency working group—to include FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Defense Department representatives—plans to review...

The Science Is Settled: Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton, Apple's Steve Wozniak, Microsoft, and MIT, All Fooled By Ahmed's "Clock" Ahmed said he "invented" a "clock". In fact, all he did was take the workings of an existing clock out of it's casing, reassemble them part way, and then insert them into a Pencil Box. Here's a photograph of the "clock" Ahmed "invented". Now watch this video Now, I'd like you to think about something. Barack Obama was fooled by this. Mark Zuckerberg was fooled by this. Hillary Clinton was fooled by this. Apple's Steve Wozniak was fooled...

The Obama administration on Friday directed Volkswagen to recall nearly a half-million cars, saying the automaker illegally installed software in its diesel-power cars to evade standards for reducing smog. The Environmental Protection Agency accused the German automaker of using software to detect when the car is undergoing its periodic state emissions testing. Only during such tests are the cars’ full emissions control systems turned on. During normal driving situations, the controls are turned off, allowing the cars to spew as much as 40 times as much pollution as allowed under the Clean Air Act, the E.P.A. said. “We expected better...