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Criminals loot Michigan’s $250M monthly food benefits system

Michigan gives $250 million of food benefits monthly to low-income households using outdated magnetic stripe cards. Criminals have stolen millions of those dollars over the last decade, according to testimony given at a July 25 meeting of the Michigan House Oversight Committee.

More than 1.4 million Michiganders rely on Bridge Cards to eat. But you can steal their benefits with the help of a kit available for purchase from Amazon, according to Doug Woodard of the Office of the Inspector General.

Lawmakers also heard from Andrew Kustowski, director of the Special Investigations Division of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, they interviewed Jennifer Allen, the manager of the Benefit Trafficking Investigation section.

Organized criminal groups commit fraud against the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Kustowski said.

These criminals use computers and the internet to build EBT skimmers to steal benefits, he said. Click here to read more.

 

If Public-Sector Unions Provided Value, They Wouldn’t Need Schemes

Chances are, the last time you went to the supermarket, the clerk at the checkout stand thanked you for your business.

And you thanked her back.

You were both being polite, of course, but there was more to it than that. In fact, you were expressing the essence of capitalism: In a free-market economic system, there can be no transaction unless both parties walk away feeling they got what they wanted.

The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you.

You may have sticker shock when you see how much more your groceries cost than they did even a year before, but they’re still worth more to you than the dollars you trade for them.

And vice versa.

It’s a voluntary exchange. Value for value. Everyone benefits.

That’s why it works.

That’s also why government employee unions are struggling to survive these days. They don’t provide value, and their members are getting wise to it. Click here to read more.

 

Michigan health officials ignore federal guidance, claim COVID vaccine for pregnant women, infants ‘good science’

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is ignoring “common sense” and “good science” with continued pressure on pregnant women and infants to vaccinate against COVID.

In May, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., National Institute of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, and Federal Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary announced the U.S. government is no longer recommending the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is ignoring “common sense” and “good science” with continued pressure on pregnant women and infants to vaccinate against COVID.

In May, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., National Institute of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, and Federal Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary announced the U.S. government is no longer recommending the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women.

“Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data, to support the repeat booster strategy in children,” Kennedy said in a video announcement. Click here to read more.

 

Department of Education Finds Five Northern Virginia School Districts in Violation of Title IX, Following AFL’s Call for a Federal Investigation into the Districts’ Illegal “Gender Identity” Policies,

Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced that it had concluded its investigation into five Northern Virginia school districts and found each district in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 for adopting and enforcing illegal “gender identity” policies that permit males into female bathrooms and locker rooms.

This follows America First Legal’s (AFL) call for a federal investigation into these five school districts, Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County, which it filed with the Department of Education on February 3, 2025. In response, on February 14, 2025, the Department of Education announced that it had opened an investigation. Last week, on July 17, 2025, AFL sent a letter to the Department of Education, explaining the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor on the ongoing investigation.

With this action, the school districts now have 10 days to voluntarily comply with the law by rescinding policies based on “gender identity” and clarifying that policies related to intimate spaces, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, must be separated based on sex. If the districts fail to do this, they could face further enforcement actions, including, but not limited to, referral to the U.S. Department of Justice and loss of federal funding. Click here to read more.

 

GOP Lawmakers Blame Cincinnatti Violence on Democrat Policies: ‘Have the Mayor Resign’; ‘Fund the Police’

Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) believes Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval (D) should resign following the violent brawl that broke out on the streets of downtown Cincinnati over the weekend, as he and others point to Democrat policies as a key factor in generating such violence.

Video of the incident shows two men fighting as others rush to the scene shouting. A man in a white shirt ends up on the ground as a swarm of others begin attacking and kicking him in the middle of the road as others recorded the fight.

“It’s a heinous attack. The mayor of Cincinnati is a disgrace,” Moreno said of the incident. “Have the mayor resign. Have a congressman that actually cares about his district, and fund the police in Cincinnati.” Click here to read more.

 

 

Michigan can’t even give away billions of dollars.

A cash offer of $1.1 billion wasn’t enough to lure a company to a Genesee County location near Flint.

When auto companies chose to spend about $11 billion building plants in the American South in 2021, Michigan, stung by headlines blaming the state for losing this business, gathered a taxpayer-funded honeypot. But years later, that also has failed to attract a buyer.

Michigan gave $259 million in site prep for the Genesee County spot. It offered $6 billion to Western Digital Technologies, according to an August 2024 letter of intent signed by Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Quentin Messer and Dan Steere, Western Digital's senior vice president of corporate development and strategy.

In return, the company would invest $63 billion between 2024 and 2045 and create 9,400 jobs.

Michigan offered:

• $1.175 billion in a cash grant

• $750 million in cash grants

• $416 million in a sales and use tax exemption

Click here to read more.

 

CNN anchor Erin Burnett blasted for describing NYC shooter as 'possibly white'

Authorities have charged at least five suspects in a violent attack that took place in downtown Cincinnati, according to police.

FOX 19 reported that the beating took place on Friday night between Elm and Fourth Streets, with videos going viral on social media.

Video circulating around social media shows two people attacking a man wearing a white T-shirt, who is eventually shoved to the ground. The man wearing a white T-shirt was kicked several times while he was on the ground, but eventually gets up.

A woman was also seen lying unconscious in the street after being punched. Several people can be seen helping her get up, and she eventually regained consciousness. Click here to read more.

 

Middle School Cheerleaders Made a TikTok Video Portraying a School Shooting. They Were Charged With a Crime.

One afternoon in mid-September, a group of middle school girls in rural East Tennessee decided to film a TikTok video while waiting to begin cheerleading practice.

In the 45-second video posted later that day, one girl enters the classroom holding a cellphone. “Put your hands up,” she says, while a classmate flickers the lights on and off. As the camera pans across the classroom, several girls dramatically fall back on a desk or the floor and lie motionless, pretending they were killed.

When another student enters and surveys the bodies on the ground in poorly feigned shock, few manage to suppress their giggles. Throughout the video, which ProPublica obtained, a line of text reads: “To be continued……”

Penny Jackson’s 11-year-old granddaughter was one of the South Greene Middle School cheerleaders who played dead. She said the co-captains told her what to do and she did it, unaware of how it would be used. The next day, she was horrified when the police came to school to question her and her teammates. Click here to read more.

 

Here’s why a school district is telling teachers not to post Amazon Wish Lists

HOHENWALD, Tenn. - A school district in Tennessee is asking teachers not to share personal Amazon Wish Lists.

Lewis County School District asked teachers to refrain from posting their wish lists when using the district’s name, school names or logos.

Director of Schools Tracy McAbee shared the district’s reasoning for the decision in a Facebook post.

McAbee said that when donations are made using the name or brand of a Tennessee public school, “there must be a documented process to verify that items were received, properly inventoried, and used in accordance with public purpose.”

“Currently, there is no consistent way to verify that donations made through individual wish lists were delivered or how those resources were used. This creates the potential for audit findings and concerns about mismanagement, even when the intent is good,” she said. Click here to read more. Click here to read more.

 

Congress wants largest teachers union to pick kids over politics

The National Education Association was given a federal charter to be a professional advocate for teachers and public education, but it has morphed into a hyper-partisan advocacy group.

Spending tens of millions of dollars on campaigns, lobbying and ideology-driven resolutions that have little to do with students has real consequences. It hurts teachers. It politicizes the classroom. It undermines trust in public education. And it’s happening under the recognition of a federal charter, a rare privilege possessed by fewer than 100 national-interest groups, such as the American Legion.

Congress is considering fixing that. The Stopping Teachers Unions from Damaging Education Needs Today Act, would hold the NEA to the same standards of neutrality, transparency and public service expected of any nationally chartered nonprofit. The STUDENT Act is intended to refocus the NEA on education.

NEA is more focused on power than education

In 2024, the NEA spent $23 million on political campaigns and another $3 million lobbying Congress. That same year, just 9% of the NEA’s spending was on representing its members, while the rest went to political causes and other union leadership priorities. Click here to read more.