Massive Unemployment Fraud Uncovered in Numerous States

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When the first massive coronavirus aid package was passed in Congress it included substantial benefits for workers who lost their jobs because of the government-mandated shutdown. One of the biggest was the federal enhancement of state unemployment benefits, increasing weekly payments by up to six hundred dollars. As we quickly learned, Senate Republicans’ concerns over not having a cap on those benefits to prevent the payments from exceeding the employee’s previous salary were fully justified.

That didn’t wind up being the only problem with the plan, however. We’re now learning that the hastily rushed through bill and the flood of people applying for benefits left the door open for scammers and identity thieves to tap into the system and falsely claim benefits to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. The first epicenter of this massive scheme was detected in Washington State, but it quickly spread to others. (Associated Press)

It turned out that, like thousands of Washington state residents, [Dayna] Lurie’s identity was used by criminals seeking to capitalize on a flood of legitimate unemployment claims by sneaking in fraudulent ones.

Washington’s race to help newly laid-off residents as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the economy left it vulnerable to such scams, and last week officials hinted at the scope of the damage done: hundreds of millions of dollars paid out in fake claims. Much of it apparently went to a West African fraud ring using identities stolen in prior data breaches, such as the massive 2017 Equifax breach.

State and federal authorities have tried to claw back as much money as possible and say they have blocked hundreds of millions more from being paid out, but Washington’s experience is nevertheless a cautionary tale.

(Read more from “Massive Unemployment Fraud Uncovered in Numerous States” HERE)

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Alaska Legislator Compares Coronavirus Screening Sticker to Nazi Germany’s Star of David

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A Republican state lawmaker in Alaska is facing backlash from Jewish legislators after he compared coronavirus safety measures at the statehouse to the Nazi treatment of Jewish people.

Alaska state Rep. Ben Carpenter (R) complained about the new health screening required for lawmakers returning to the Capitol building this week, Anchorage Daily News reported Friday.

In an email copied to all 40 members of the Alaska House, Carpenter reportedly ranted about legislators being asked to wear a sticker proving they’ve passed the screening.

“How about an arm band that won’t fall off like a sticker will?” Carpenter wrote. “If my sticker falls off, do I get a new one or do I get public shaming too? Are the stickers available as a yellow Star of David?”

His message was immediately condemned by two Democratic members of the legislature who are Jewish, the outlet reported. (Read more from “Alaska Legislator Compares Coronavirus Screening Sticker to Nazi Germany’s Star of David” HERE)

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WATCH: National Guard Called Over Minneapolis Protests; Rioters Burn Down Police Station

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Minneapolis Protests Over George Floyd’s Death Turn Chaotic; National Guard Called

By Forbes. A second night of protests in Minneapolis—sparked by the death of a black man, George Floyd, after a now-viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on his neck—devolved into chaos, as buildings were set on fire and stores ransacked while police deployed tear gas and rubber bullets, leading Mayor Jacob Frey to request assistance from the state’s National Guard. . .

George Floyd’s death stoked national outrage and reignited tensions in Minneapolis, which the Washington Post said is a community in which the police have “long been accused of racism.” Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, the four officers seen in the video, have been fired. Floyd’s family is calling for accountability, with his sister, Brigett Floyd, telling the Today show: “I would like for those officers to be charged with murder because that’s exactly what they did.” The FBI is investigating, and President Trump tweeted Wednesday that “Justice will be served!” (Read more from “Minneapolis Protests Over George Floyd’s Death Turn Chaotic; National Guard Called” HERE)

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Minneapolis Rioters Breach Police Station, Livestream From Inside as Building Goes up in Flames

By The Blaze. Another night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, culminated on Thursday in an assault on the 3rd precinct police station by protesters who tried to light it on fire after police abandoned the area.

Rioters breached the station at about 10:30 p.m. One of the protesters broadcast a livestream from the station on social media.

Rioters could be seen in the livestream video trying to start fires in the building and stealing equipment. Others shot fireworks at the building from the outside.

(Read more from “Minneapolis Rioters Breach Police Station, Livestream From Inside as Building Goes up in Flames” HERE)

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Tucker Carlson: Alaska’s Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan Must be Defeated

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Tucker Carlson hammered Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and several other GOP Senators for turning their backs on American workers during the worst period of unemployment in the nation’s history:

And why do Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan continue to push foreign workers at the expense of unemployed Americans? Because they’re owned.

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Tucker Carlson: Corrupt Politicians are Trying to Rig Future Elections with Mail-In-Voting

Tucker also reported on how corrupt politicians are trying to take advantage of this economic crisis by pushing through changes that will rig all future elections. Although he doesn’t name Lisa Murkowski in this segment, she has tons of experience with vote fraud — using it to win all of her U.S. Senate races — and wholeheartedly backs this attack on vote integrity:

TUCKER CARLSON: A lot of people in this country have been suffering through this pandemic but many of our most ambitious politicians have treated the disaster as a massive opportunity.

A chance to implement their entire agenda all at once, immigration amnesty to massive tech censorship. The biggest goal is to eliminate every remaining barrier to voter fraud in this country. They claim to do that by enacting nationwide mail-in-voting. Earlier today the president tweeted this about universal mail-in-voting. “There is no way that mail-in ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, and illegally printed out and signed. The governor is sending them out to millions of people and anyone living in the state will come like will get one. How and for whom to vote. This will be a rigged election. No way!”

Now for the first time ever, Twitter.com, the company responded directly to one of the president’s tweets. They inserted a link below this one to declare authoritatively that the tweet was false. “Get the facts about mail-in ballots.” If the user has taken to a Twitter news page with a headline declaring “Trump makes the unsubstantiated claim that mail-in voting will lead to voter fraud.” That’s the official story. Voter fraud never happens no matter what and it definitely won’t happen with mail-in voting. You are hearing trusted news anchors tell you that, a lot. And they say it like they know it. Anyone who disagrees is a conspiracy nut, a flat Earther, a freak. Probably doesn’t vaccinate his kids.

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Western Caucus Members Spearhead Legislation to Protect U.S. Mineral Supply Chains

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Western Caucus Chairman Paul Gosar (AZ-04) and Rep. Michael Waltz (FL-06) introduced the American Critical Mineral Exploration and Innovation Act of 2020. They were joined by Western Caucus Chair Emeritus and House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Republican Rob Bishop (UT-01), House Committee on Space, Science, and Technology Ranking Republican Frank Lucas (OK-03), and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23).

“I am proud to sponsor the American Critical Mineral Exploration and Innovation Act of 2020 with Representative Waltz. This dual-Committee effort will make significant strides toward securing our nation a domestic supply chain of critical minerals from the United States for the United States. Critical minerals are the building blocks of modern life, necessary for applications in defense systems, renewable technologies, healthcare and more. For years, our country has become increasingly dependent on China and other nations to fulfill our demand for minerals. The global pandemic has demonstrated the severe consequences of allowing this longstanding overreliance on China to go unchecked and this legislation will begin the complex process of unraveling our addiction and addressing this problem. This bill tackles impediments to domestic critical mineral development including inefficiencies in the Federal permitting process and shortsighted mineral withdrawals, and also promotes technological advancements such as minerals recycling. Our need for critical minerals will skyrocket in the coming decades, especially as demand for renewable energy and battery storage increases. That demand can only be met with new mining and new resources, the American Critical Mineral Exploration and Innovation Act will help us meet this challenge head on,” said Chairman Paul Gosar (AZ-04)

“From healthcare to electronics and our defense systems, critical minerals are integral to our way of life. Unfortunately, China currently has a stronghold on the supply of these natural resources. As coronavirus has unfortunately demonstrated, if China can threaten to cut off our pharmaceutical supply, they can do the same with their supply of rare earth minerals. We need to bring this supply chain back to America – and this bill will be an important step to do that,” said Congressman Michael Waltz (FL-06)

“The global pandemic has highlighted significant supply chain vulnerabilities, particularly our reliance on China and other nations to meet our demand for critical minerals. The introduction of the American Critical Mineral Exploration and Innovation Act is an urgently needed step in the right direction. Shortsighted Federal policy has left us reliant on our adversaries and with an abundance of domestic minerals untapped, leaving our renewable energy technologies, healthcare, and modern way of life with dangerous uncertainties. From overhauling our permitting process to prioritizing advancements in mineral refining, this legislation provides solutions for rebuilding every aspect of the domestic critical mineral supply chain. I look forward to working with Representatives Gosar and Waltz, our Senate committee counterparts, and Leadership in both chambers to advance this legislation to the President’s desk,” said Chairman Emeritus Rob Bishop (UT-01)

“Critical minerals power technologies ranging from cell phones to medical equipment to renewable energy storage. China holds an overwhelming advantage in access to critical minerals and the COVID-19 pandemic has made it dangerously clear that we can’t take our supply for granted. We need to be forward-thinking about how we develop our resources and manage our access to critical minerals. I’m proud to join my colleagues on this bill which not only helps secure our supply of critical minerals, but also accelerates research into critical minerals development and technologies” said Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03)

“The world has paid a costly price for China’s dangerous missteps on how they have handled this pandemic. The Chinese Communist Party hid the severity of the virus, manipulated statistics, and still refuses to allow international experts to investigate or share viral samples with the scientific community. What this health crisis has also exposed is our dangerous dependence on China when it comes to our supply chain. We can no longer afford inaction – that is why I am proud Republicans on the Natural Resources and Science, Space and Technology Committees, an effort led by Representatives Waltz and Gosar, are working together on a legislative fix that would restore stability and independence to our critical minerals supply chain. The American Critical Minerals Exploration and Innovation Act will make sure our country continues to become stronger on the other side of this pandemic and will help us follow through on a national commitment to put America’s energy future into our own hands.”– House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23)

Background:

The text of the legislation can be viewed HERE.

A section by section breakdown of the legislation can be viewed HERE.

This legislation aims to reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources of critical minerals by supporting responsible domestic mineral development. Minerals, with applications including healthcare, defense systems, and renewable energy technology, are essential to our modern way of life. China has dominated the critical minerals market for years, controlling the vast majority of the global supply. Currently, 14 of the 35 critical minerals identified by the U.S.G.S. are imported to the U.S. at a rate of 100%. Ensuring a stable supply of critical minerals for electric car batteries, smartphones, healthcare equipment, and a range of other technologies and products, begins with encouraging responsible critical minerals development, production, and innovation here at home.

Current sponsors and cosponsors of this legislation include (37): Reps. Waltz (FL-06), Gosar (AZ-04), Bishop (UT-01), Lucas (OK-03), McCarthy (CA-23), Young (AK-AL), Crawford (AR-01), Buck (CO-04), LaMalfa (CA-01), Olson (TX-22), Newhouse (WA-04), Curtis (UT-03), McClintock (CA-04), Hern (OK-01), Stauber (MN-08), Marshall (KS-01), Weber (TX-14), Gonzalez (OH-16), Posey (FL-08), Balderson (OH-12), Westerman (AR-04), Wittman (VA-01), Cheney (WY-AL), Lesko (AZ-08), Stewart (UT-02), Johnson (SD-AL), Cook (CA-08), Gohmert (TX-01), Hice (GA-10), Emmer (MN-06), Amodei (NV-02), Fulcher (ID-01), Lamborn (CO-05), Calvert (CA-42), Baird (IN-04), Babin (TX-36), Norman (SC-05).

Endorsements for this legislation so far include: National Mining Association, American Exploration and Mining Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, Uranium Producers of America, Arizona Mining Association, and Utah Mining Association.

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Another 2.1 Million People Filed for Unemployment Last Week

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Roughly a quarter of the total U.S. workforce has been put out of work since the COVID-19 pandemic caused government officials to shut down most or all businesses deemed non-essential, with another 2.1 million Americans filing jobless claims over the past week, Politico reported.

Another 1.2 million people applied for unemployment benefits under a temporary program for people who are typically ineligible for unemployment, such as self-employed workers. There may be some overlap of people who applied for both. Overall, 40.8 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past 10 weeks.

Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, told Politico that about half the people who have applied for benefits since the coronavirus shutdowns began have received them, while others are stuck waiting as overwhelmed state agencies with sometimes unreliable websites and processes try to keep up.

A previous COVID-19 relief package boosted unemployment benefits temporarily, and a University of Chicago study showed that more than two-thirds of people receiving unemployment may be getting more in benefits than they would’ve gotten from their jobs. The relief package added a $600 per week supplement to the standard benefits. (Read more from “Another 2.1 Million People Filed for Unemployment Last Week” HERE)

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The CDC Just Gave Us the Biggest Reason to End the Coronavirus Lockdowns (VIDEO)

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) nows estimates that 35 percent of coronavirus infections are asymptomatic.

But that’s not even the most important part of their latest estimates. It’s the CDC’s new “best estimate” for the case fatality rate amongst symptomatic patients. . .

According to the CDC’s current best estimate, the case fatality rate of the coronavirus is .4 percent. And that’s just amongst symptomatic cases, which, the CDC estimates, is 65 percent of all cases. This means the CDC estimates that the fatality rate for all infections across all age groups, symptomatic as well as asymptomatic, is approximately .26 percent.

The CDC does caution that the numbers are likely to change with new data, but considering we’ve gone from 3.4 percent to 2.0 percent to now 0.26 percent. The more data we get, the lower the numbers get. So, I’m thinking it might get even lower. (Read more from “The CDC Just Gave Us the Biggest Reason to End the Coronavirus Lockdowns” HERE)

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Donald Trump Signs Exec Order to Curb Big Tech’s ‘Unchecked Power’

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday in the White House to defend free speech on social media and regulate social media companies for selectively censoring users.

“We’re here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers,” the president said, referring to the “unchecked power” wielded by social media companies in the United States.

The president signed the order in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon.

“They’ve had unchecked power to censor restrict, edit shape hide alter virtually any form of communication between private citizens or large public audiences,” Trump said.

The president criticized the growing monopoly of social media companies in America, vowing to act to change the regulatory framework for the companies. (Read more from “Donald Trump Signs Exec Order to Curb Big Tech’s ‘Unchecked Power’” HERE)

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Left Aims to Use Virus Scares to Tamper With Voting Systems

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. . .Another interesting trend has emerged as well: Calls to end the Electoral College are often paired with calls to enact mail-in voting. Are the two moves seen as serving the same end? Or are they merely two goals that would seem unachievable, but for the crisis thrust upon us?

. . .Other commentators remind voters they don’t have a right to vote in the presidential election on Election Day. The Constitution gives state legislatures wide discretion, and legislators could simply appoint electors directly if the pandemic is still ongoing. Legislative selection of electors hasn’t been used in decades, but now the power is spoken of again as if it could happen in 2020.

The governor of at least one swing state has already shown her capability for muscling past the state legislature and implementing her desired policy. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer refused to accept a legislative decision not to extend her emergency powers on April 30. Instead, she simply declared another emergency, claiming she could extend her own powers for 28 more days.

Perhaps you won’t be surprised to hear one power that Whitmer seized as she declares emergencies. She’s expanded absentee voting for local elections in her state and has made moves towards universal mail-in voting. Although the presidential election is months away, the move is already being called a “blueprint for the presidential battleground state in November.” (Read more from “Left Aims to Use Virus Scares to Tamper With Voting Systems” HERE)

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One in Three Americans Now Show Signs of Clinical Anxiety or Depression

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. . .According to a Washington Post analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau out last week, 34 out of 100 Americans reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, or both in the most alarming numbers to date on the status of the nation’s psyche amid the pandemic over the novel Wuhan coronavirus. Twenty were recorded to show symptoms of each, 10 exhibited signs of anxiety alone, and 4 possessed symptoms of just depression.

When asked screening questions on respondents’ mental health, 24 percent of Americans demonstrated clinically significant symptoms of major depression and 30 percent revealed signs of generalized anxiety.

These new findings, the Post reported, show a dramatic shift in the nation’s psychic well-being from pre-pandemic times with the percentage of those suffering from spiritual distress having doubled from the census survey in 2014.

While the novel coronavirus continues its inevitable spread, prolonged state and local lockdowns have exacerbated an existing crisis already chipping away at the nation’s fragile state of mind. (Read more from “One in Three Americans Now Show Signs of Clinical Anxiety or Depression” HERE)

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