Free Republic

A federal lawmaker introduced legislation Thursday aimed at cracking down on alleged fraud within a federal program that paid for dead people’s phone and internet service. Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst is targeting the federal Lifeline program, which subsidizes the services for low-income Americans, after California was accused of taking in $3.8 million between 2020 and 2025 to cover the costs for 94,000 dead people. “While Californians are taxed to the grave and back, its governor especially can’t pass the buck when the state is allowing providers to enroll dead people in a federal program,” Ernst told The Post. A...

DES MOINES -- A high-speed rail network radiating from Chicago's Union Station through nine Midwestern states could carry 13.6 million passengers annually by 2025, according to a new report. The Midwest Regional Rail System report released Tuesday confirms the viability of a 3,000-mile rail network stretching through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin, said Mark Wandro, Iowa's transportation director. Trains would travel at speeds of up to 110 m.p.h., cutting hours off trips between major cities. The study, led by Transportation Economics & Management Systems Inc., a Frederick, Md.-based consulting firm, said significantly reduced travel times,...