More on massive Somali daycare fraud in MN

So, you've surely read about the massive ($100 Million) day-care-center fraud committed by an organized group of Somalis in Minneapolis to fund Islamic terrorism, right?

Oh come on, citizen.  How often does the nation see an organized fraud of $100 million that doesn't involve the federal government?  By all accounts this should have been a huge story.  Yet you never heard of it?  Why, that almost sounds un-possible, comrade.  Cuz our national media pushed it right to the front pages of all the big...

Hahahahahaha!  Just kidding.  The story got a little play in the Peoples' Republic of Minnesota, but quickly vanished because massive fraud by certain protected groups is just not a big deal, apparently.  Similarly, it barely made a ripple nationally.  Most people learned about it from the Net.

Here's a summary from the reliable City Journal:

In the past year airport authorities in Minneapolis noted that a stunning number of Somali passengers flying to that country had their carry-on bags stuffed with millions of dollars in cash.  This seemed to happen on a regular basis.

Surprisingly (to most of us ordinary folks, anyway), carrying millions in cash overseas is legal, but airport cops were curious to know the source of such huge amounts cash.  It soon emerged that the millions were from a scheme most people would think impossible:  fraudulent claims for state-subsidized daycare.

See, Democrats in Minnesota (as in many other states) decided to severely regulate day-care centers.  When that had the predictable effect of jacking up the cost of state-approved daycare to stratospheric levels, the same Dems had a very, very simple remedy ready to enable poor working parents to afford the cost:  Have the state pay the daycare centers for children of families making less than some arbitrary amount.

Of course by "the state" we mean taxpayers.  But then you probably knew that, right?

Last year the budget for taxpayer-subsidized daycare was a modest quarter of a BILLION dollars-- $248 million.

Now: Starting in the 1990s the U.S. State Department--directed by Bill Clinton--was keen to allow "refugees" from around the world to come to the U.S.  They paid various religious organizations hundreds of millions of dollars to settle thousands of refugees from Somalia’s civil war in Minnesota, which is now home to the largest population of Somalis outside Somalia itself--over 100,000.

State probably picked Minnesota because the native population is probably the most liberal outside of Berkeley.  No one was likely to complain.  And sure enough, no one did.

Then the law of unintended consequences started to kick in:  Left/liberal Minnesota had some of the most generous welfare and charity programs in the U.S.  And an endless number of leftist groups were eager to help the new arrivals take advantage of every possible taxpayer-funded program.

Minnesota's governor, liberal Mark Dayton, quashed public complaints by accusing critics of bigotry and intolerance. Indeed, he told native Minnesotans with qualms about immigrant resettlement “If you are intolerant, find another state”--implying that only racists were complaining.  After that statement, smart state employees quickly realized that investigating reported scams by the immigrant community was a career-ending move.

With all the pieces in place, a group of ten daycare centers (dozens more are suspected) began billing the state for taking care of kids from low-income (i.e. subsidized) families.  Search warrants show that each of these daycare centers billed and received several million dollars in state funds for this service.  But in many cases the centers weren't actually caring for, y'know, children.

According to public records and government sources, most of the centers are owned by Somali immigrants.  In some cases Somali investors helped fund new daycare centers for a cut of the huge profits.

Fortunately the financial damage is confined to Minnesota, whose residents arguably voted this on themselves.  Gosh, do you suppose elections really do have consequences?

But the cost of this fraud on Minnesota taxpayers is just part of the damage:  there are also the absolutely certain deaths of thousands in Somalia because of half a billion dollars or so going to buy arms and pay fighters.  But hey, minor downside, eh?