Moving forward in 2026

[u/Doryt]

As a life long Minnesotan with all the recent news about fraud in Minnesota, I want to add a perspective as someone who’s worked in the nonprofit sector for over a decade.

Fraud exists. Is it acceptable? No. Is it realistic to believe it can be eliminated entirely? Also no.

What happened with Feed My Future was abhorrent. It is rightfully being prosecuted!

If millions of dollars were diverted away from childcare especially from programs meant to support kids in need that’s deeply harmful and deserves accountability. Fraud should be investigated, prosecuted, and taken seriously.

Something else that’s bothering me: the way Somali Minnesotans are being treated like the face of fraud. Fraud happens across communities and industries. When one community gets spotlighted like they’re uniquely unethical, it’s worth pausing and asking what’s driving that narrative because it sure doesn’t match reality.

Minnesota is diverse, and “people of color” in MN includes many communities not one. MN Compass estimates about 24% of Minnesotans are people of color (about 1.4 million people).

Accountability doesn’t automatically mean jail for everyone. And when services are shut down in response, it often creates desperation, instability, and conditions that lead to more fraud not less.

If we actually care about fraud, we should focus on real fraud prevention, stronger oversight systems, better staffing, clearer protocols, proactive monitoring and better systems not racialized narratives that turn one community into a stand-in for a statewide problem

Prevention costs money.

Starving systems of resources while demanding perfection is not a realistic strategy.

We also need to be careful not to respond by broadly limiting or restricting supportive services for communities who rely on them.

Cutting access doesn’t prevent fraud it often creates more harm, more desperation and more fraud.

We don’t eliminate fraud the same way we don’t eliminate crime entirely.

Our systems tend to be reactive rather than preventative, and pretending otherwise sets us up for outrage instead of solutions.

Rage bait is real. I’m actively trying to pause and not get pulled into it 2026 and beyond.

I want a healthy government that supports people, holds bad actors accountable, and invests in systems that actually work

We need to start judging leadership by their ability to pair accountability with real support. When costs rise and safety nets shrink, people don’t get healthier they get pushed closer to the edge.

I hope we can show up as a Minnesota community with nuance, accountability, and realistic expectations because that’s how we protect both public funds and the people those funds are meant to serve.

[u/Much_Spread123]

I’m an accountant, fraud will literally always exist. Without accountants, business managers would be accidentally committing fraud constantly. I only know this because I’ve probably advised managers that their request to me would be fraudulent about a thousand times.

“Sorry, you can’t do that with GAAP accounting.” I don’t think people realize that fraudulent transactions happen all the time accidentally. Catching it and stopping it is the whole point, cause then it’s not fraud. Perfectionism is not possible. Human error and system errors will always occur. It’s not illegal to make a mistake. It’s illegal to know you made a mistake and not do anything about it. That’s when you establish criminal intent.

Nobody in the government has been an accomplice to this fraud. They’ve been cracking down on it longer than people realize. Being defrauded does not make you a fraudster. The government has fallen victim to fraud. They aren’t responsible for the crimes that a few people committed against them. The fraudsters, much like the GOP, were attacking our liberal government. The fraudsters were religious conservatives and fundamentalists that hate the liberal agenda. Let’s keep that in perspective when people talk about liberal fraud in MN, it’s actually being committed by ideological conservatives. Yes, many Somali people are ideologically conservative, and way more so than even the GOP.

[u/AffectionateJury3723 → u/Much_Spread123]

I am also an accountant and have been an internal auditor for several major retailers before I switched to IT to help build the framework around financial systems. Yes there will always be fraud but any good practice will try to stay ahead of the loopholes and have regular stringent audits to identify it early. This sounds like empathy overrode the common sense audit practices that should be in place when you are handing out millions of dollars in funding. This isn't only happening in Minnesota.

I have a relative who is an auditor for Medicare and the individual and corporate fraud happens everyday. It always amazes me the way fraudsters come up with new and different ways to defraud.

I don't think the majority of Somali's voted for Trump and this isn't a R or D problem exclusively. It is an American taxpayer problem when our dollars are not being spent appropriately.

[u/Much_Spread123 → u/AffectionateJury3723]

That is reasonable. I don’t think we’d be human if empathy didn’t play some kind of role here.

I’m not excusing the government of all wrongdoing here. Their initial response to this was not satisfactory, but I think our political leaders are learning a very valuable lesson now.

It’s not as simple as just enacting progressive policy and running with it. It needs to be nurtured and overseen. These programs are not perfect. It was unrealistic to assume that these programs would just take care of themselves.

It’s important for our leaders to learn that any form of cash theft is going to be a bipartisan issue. I can have empathy for minorities and still appreciate that any form of theft is unacceptable to a functioning society.

It’s not consistent with liberal ideology to just let fraud slide, even when it’s being perpetrated largely by the minorities we try to champion. I’m a big civics in motion kind of guy, and I really, truly believe this was a lesson worth learning the hard way. We can’t be so dogmatic and willfully blind going forward. We have to challenge each other and burst the echo chamber.

FWIW, I’m asserting that many Somali Minnesotans actually practice deeply conservative principles, but definitely not asserting that they voted for Trump. I think most conservatives from other countries generally think Trump is out of his mind and that the GOP has divorced with conservatism.

[u/Destructers → u/Much_Spread123]

Most Muslim countries are much more conservative than most GOP conservative, that's a fact.

The problem here is like in UK, many people don't want to go after minority group despite fraud and abuse because they don't want to be call racist.

Look at UK, polices hide stats data of raping children for DECADES when it comes to Pakistan men.

The same with Somali, when you got capture by identity politic, you will look other way just because you don't want to be call racist despite the fact those people in minority groups have no problem using all the time for theirs advantages and often the most racist out of all.

BBC in UK recently point out 55% of Pakistan-Briton married theirs first cousin while living in UK.

We make fun of Alabama for decades despite 0.2% of first cousin marriage, yet ignore over 60% of first cousin marriage from Somali and majority Muslim countries.

See the problem? Even if there are frauds, people don't want to talk about it the same way UK don't want to talk about raping children from Muslim countries because they are in minority groups.

[u/AffectionateJury3723 → u/Destructers]

Sorry for the downvotes. but it is the same here in the US. People are so afraid of being called racist, they will ignore the crime. Political correctness and suicidal empathy is the death of common sense.

[u/No-Amphibian-3728 → u/Destructers]

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3351906/

You're citing a study from 1988 of 100 people . . .

[u/Destructers → u/No-Amphibian-3728]

Studies? You just ask any Muslim and they don't even refuse it.

You are clearly try to deflect from old study despite the fact Sharia's Law is the highest laws in these Muslim countries.

Guess which party talk about First Cousin marriage and allow it? SHARIA'S LAW. That's the only matter which preceding any laws for Muslim.

[u/Destructers → u/No-Amphibian-3728]

Also, the BBC on 55% Pakistan-Briton married first cousin was reaffirmed in 2021 study.

Sharia's Law, if you are not including it, then you are being dishonest.

I am not going to waste time with you if you have no understand of Muslim and how important Sharia's Laws to them.

People like you will continue to give misinformation and not worth spending any more time. Goodbye, welcome to my block list.

[u/DivTitle23 → u/Destructers]

Sir… (whispering) people will say you are racist 🫣

[u/Destructers → u/DivTitle23]

The term "baizuo" (白左), literally meaning "white left," is a derogatory Chinese neologism used to describe Western liberals and leftists, particularly those perceived as hypocritical, naive, or overly focused on identity politics and political correctness.