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Microsoft Fired Americans hired Foreign Visas plus China & Russia Deepen Defense Ties · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: There is anger erupting right now as US brand fires
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: one thousand, six hundred employees after securing thousands of foreign
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: worker visas. One lawmaker now calling to end the H
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: one B foreign worker program entirely to prioritize American workers first. Now,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: this also comes as the President was saying, you need
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: to pay a premium to secure these types of visas,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: and of course a liberal judge is slapping that down.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: You did, John good evening to you. This came out
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: of Boston. A federal judge in Boston ruled today the
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: one hundred thousand dollars payment the Trump administration demanded employers
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: pay to bring applicants from overseas to work here in
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: the US is considered a tax, and that the White
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: House doesn't have the power to unilaterally impose such a fees.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: The latest court case that found President Trump unlawfully acted
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: without express congressional approval. The policy put into effect last
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: year up the fee from between two to five thousand
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: dollars to one hundred thousand dollars per application to have
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: employers bring up to between sixty five and eighty five
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: thousand high skilled foreign tech and university workers to the
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: United states each year with what's called a H one
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: B visa. According to court records last year, there were
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: about three to six years that these lasted. The H
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: one B program was created in nineteen ninety. The judge
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: today rights here the substance and application of the one
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars payment reveal that it is a tax,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: regardless of what the payment is called. The higher fees
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: were designed to prioritize US citizens over foreign workers. In
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: a statement, a White House spokeswoman says, the administration will
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: appeal and feel confident.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: So there you can see how the present feels about
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: this issue and why. Well. A popularly US based gaming
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: brand owned by Microsoft is now facing a fury after
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: mass employee layoffs occurred in the wake of the company
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: being approved for thousands of foreign worker visas. Microsoft announced
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: that it will layoff four thousand, eight hundred people total,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: and one thousand, six hundred from the corporation's Xbox division,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: which makes and sells the dominant video game console you
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: not as Xbox. Meanwhile, Microsoft has also at the same time, well,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: they've been approved to hire from foreign countries two thousand,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy three employer sponsored non immigrant workers
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: under what is known as the H one B visa
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: program that all coming from the data from the US
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Citizen and Immigration Services known as the USCIS. Now, there
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: are a lot of people that are angry about this,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: claim that American jobs are being unfairly handed to foreigners
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: in an effort to cut labor costs, but at a
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: cost of leaving US workers well without a job. Quote.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: A great way to fix this is to throw anyone
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: doing this in prison. That's what one you use are
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: on XD. Another one said, fire Americans and replace with
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: thousands of visa workers straight to jail and asset sezed. Now,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: this story has happened over and over again, but it
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: seems to be getting worse. Another social media user said
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: it is the fault of our government for approving the
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: H one bs, referring to the visa saying our government
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: has sold us out of jobs at home and those
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: being moved to other countries. Another described the H one
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: B program as industrial scale job theft from Americans. Now, Microsoft,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: to put in perspective, is the sixth largest beneficiary of
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: the H one B visa program. It's overwhelmingly dominated by
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: workers from India. The company has even more H one
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: B applications pending as well. Not to be clear, Microsoft
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: has employees worldwide, but most are in the United States
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: of America. Disproportionately. These decisions are based on one business
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: need not visa status. H one B employees were also
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: impacted by job eliminations in the US. Is what a
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: microspot Golly is what a Microsoft spokesman told Fox News
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Digital when they were asked about the shocking layoffs. Quote,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: every single employer is exploiting the H one B visa
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: program is what the Project for Immigration Reform said, and
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: lawmakers are even calling for a complete end to the
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: non immigrant visa program. This is insane. Legal immigration is
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: a major problem. These companies, especially big tech, are abusing
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: these immigration programs to replace American workers with foreign workers.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Is what Representative Riley Moore, a Republican from West Virginia, said,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: saying no more, it's a long past time to end
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: the H one B scam. Now, Xbox CEO side of
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: the company's financial health for their layoffs, saying vote our
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: that are three to ten x lower than comparable platforms
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: and publishing businesses. They also added that the strategy is
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: to reset Xbox now. Many critics, however, claim that the CEO, well,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: she's full of it, and also claiming that her Indian
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: heritage played a major role in firing the Americans given
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: the percentage of HEB workers from India. She was actually
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: born just to put in perspective in Wisconsin. But that
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: is the fight online now. The Vice President JD. Vance
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: also announced on Tuesday a large scale investigation into H
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: one B visas.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: One of the reasons why I personally care so much
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: about fraud. I want to save every single one of
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: you money, but I also want to ensure that when
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: a young mom goes in to get some prenatal vitamins
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: and she can't afford them, she's able to get access
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: to them because a fraudster hasn't taken advantage of that program.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: Part of what we're trying to do is to ensure
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: that these programs exist for the next generation. Look, just
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: take one of the biggest, the biggest federal programs out there,
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: Social Security. People to pay into Social Security for their
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: entire working lives every single day or every two weeks.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: I should say, we get a paycheck and we see
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: on that paycheck, the amount of money that is going
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: to Social Security. I am worried that if we don't
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: stop sending Social Security checks to illlegal immigrants, that people
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: who paid into it for their entire lives are never
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: going to have access to that money. That's a scam
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: and it's totally unacceptable. So the most important thing we
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: can do to ensure those benefits exist for the people
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: who earn them is to make sure that the fraudsters
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: don't get them, that the American people.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Do jd Vance making it clear that all types of
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: fraud are exactly what they're going after each and every day.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: The Vice President also went on to say at that event,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: this today, I'm proud to announce that the Federal Department
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: of Labor has started dozens of subpoenas and investigations into
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: foreign fraudsters who are trying to take advantage of the
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: H one B visa program. American jobs ought to go
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: to American workers and not foreign fraudsters, and the Department
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: of Labor is fighting back against it now. Recently, President
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump tried to limit employer's use of the H
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: one B program by as you heard earlier, imposing one
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars fee for companies seeking an H one
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: B application, a federal judge striking down that order, and
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: that is going to mean that there's going to be
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: a bigger fight moving forward. What you can expect from
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the President of the White House says they're going to
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: fight this all the way until the end. They believe
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: that they have the right to do exactly what they
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: did with the H one B application program. The federal
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: judge saying, well, this amounts to attacks, and only Congress
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: has the ability to to impose a tax, not the president. Well,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: maybe it's time for Republicans to move on this in Congress.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Americans are certainly watching right now and seeing what happens next.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: But if there's anything you can count on, it's clearly this.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: The Trump administration has made it abundantly clear it doesn't
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: matter what type of fraud that you are involved in,
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: we will find you, we will hunt you down, we
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: will charge you at crimes, we will send you out
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: of this country if we need to. And we're not
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: backing down. And there's not a single government program that's
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: off limits from them investigating. And that is part of
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the reason why you're seeing fraud in education and even
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: with work visas. It's clear Democrats knew this was happening
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: and deliberately look the other way for years. Well, now
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: President Trump is saying, We're going to expose it all.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: We've been focusing so much about the World Cup and
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the greatest country
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: in the world, America. But there is a lot of
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: other news happening. Some of it deals with national security,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: and we're now learning that the Chinese Defense Ministry has
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: announced that China and Russia are going to be teaming
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: up to hold major joint naval exercises in July. Why
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: are they doing this is the big question. Their answer
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: the world is this to quote counter maritime security threats
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: quote unquote. Now, the exercises, we're being told, will begin
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: in Chinese waters, but will then move to what they
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: describe as relevant areas of the Pacific Ocean. Yes, that
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: is concerning, especially when you have China and Russia teaming
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: up in a military exercise. The exercise is being dubbed
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Joint C twenty twenty six, and it will begin they say,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: near China's port city in the eastern Shengdang Province. Now,
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: the last Russian involved in the exercise arrived in those
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: waters over the weekend, we're also being told, and the
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: exercises will reportedly be held from Monday, July sixth, all
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: the way until July thirteenth. According to Chinese state run
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: at Global Times, the Russian force includes the guided missile
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: cruisers and many of their new frigates, as well as
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: their submarines and a rescue ship as well. China contributed also.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: They say two guided missile cruisers plus the frigate known
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: as the Wuhu and a supply ship. A submarine rescue
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: ship also was there and another quote unnamed submarine. Now.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: The Chinese Defense Ministry said this exercise would include three phases,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: one being force assembly, then port planning and coordination, and
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: then most importantly, they say, joint operations at sea between
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Russia and China. They say the port phase will primarily
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: include planning sessions and seminars on land, plus mutual ship
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: tours and then a friendly basketball match as well to
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: show how tight China and Russia are with one another.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: The livelier at sea phase, as they described it, will
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: feature a range of training scenarios including joint reconnaissance, air
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: and missile defense, and maritime strike operations as well. Now
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: this is concerning because you don't see every day Russian
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: and China doing these types of exercises and maritime strike
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: operations and missile defense and air defense and reconnaissance. This
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: shows a very new cooperation between Russia and China, two
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: countries that typically do not trust anyone, and allowing each
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: other to come on board their ships, train together, and
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: coordinate together tells you just how important this alliance is
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: between the two nations. Now, the presence of advanced frontline
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: surface combatants, they say, are also important. Many of their
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: cruisers are intended to show how seriously, they say, Russia
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: and China take their maritime security threats, although the press
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: release were notably led on details of where those threats
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: actually might be coming from at all. One of the
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: state of aims or the exercises to reduce, they say,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: perceive threats to key maritime strategic corridors posed by certain
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: regional countries, and that's why they say they need to
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: do these exercises now, they say, through the joint exercises,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: the two sides seek to demonstrate their ability to keep
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: these sea lanes open and operate further into the Pacific,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: the Chinese military experts are now saying to the Global Times,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: obviously that is Chinese propaganda. Song also added that the
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: joint exercise is intended to quote deter unilateral actions by
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: certain countries. Obviously they're referring to America, and they say
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: resists historical revisionism and discouraged behavior scene as undermining the
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: security and the well being of our neighboring countries. Which
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: offered a few more clues about who the Chinese and
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Russian sailors are actually training to fight. You guessed it,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: it would be in large part the United States. They said,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: the unilateral actions by certain countries, well, that has also
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: been used before by the Chinese Communist Party. It is
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: language that they use almost exclusively about the United States
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: of America and the Asian Pacific region. Recent historical revisions
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: is a thinly veiled slam at countries like the US
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: and then Japan as well as the Philippines for challenging
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: China's expansive claims to control the entire South China see region.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: They're making it known what they think about all of this. Now,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: the Kremlin was a bit less well blunt about their
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: actions on Monday, insisting that the joint C twenty twenty
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: six drills were not meant to threaten or intimidate any
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: particular country. Obviously, China's in a much stronger position, they feel,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: and Russia is in a much weaker position, especially with
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: the Ukraine War and how they've been isolated from the
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: rest of the world's economy. As for our joint exercises,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: Russia says they are not directed against anyone nor against
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: any single state in the region. Everyone should bear this
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: in mind, is what the Kremlin spokesperson said publicly. Now,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: Russia also went on to say this on the contrary,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: cooperation between Russia and China in such an important critical
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: area is a very significant factor that contributes to predictability
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: and security in the region. Now, military analysts around the
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: world they're all watching these exercises very carefully because they
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: reveal several important trends. And that first is Russia and
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: China now believe they have a truly common strategic interest,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: and that interest is reducing America's influence around the world.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: That is obvious. They don't have to agree on everything,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: but both governments oppose what they see as a US
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: led international order, and these joint military exercises are sending
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: a message that they can coordinate their forces if needed. Secondly,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: they're also learning from one another. Russia, we now know,
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: has accumulated years of real world combat experience in Ukraine,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: everything from drone warfare to electronic warfare to missile defense.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: And China is one of the largest and most technologically
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: advanced militaries, but it hasn't fought a major war literally
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: in decades. Reports this year indicate Chinese forces have secretly
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: trained Russian troops in areas such as drone operations and chemical,
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: biological and radiological defenses, while Russia shares lessons learned from
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: the battlefield in Ukraine. China, of course, they lie. They
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: deny it has ever provided military support in the war,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: but our intelligence agencies say military cooperation has deepened significantly.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: And then there's a third reason for these exercises. Every
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: time two militaries operate together, they improve communications, they improve logistics,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: command structures, and they learn how to work together. That
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: means if a future crisis develops, whether it's in Taiwan
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: or the South China Sea, Europe or elsewhere. They're much
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: better prepared for coordinating than they ever have before. Now,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: this doesn't mean that WORL War III is around the corner,
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: but it is important to understand that Russia and China
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: are not a formal military alliance like NATO. Neither country
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: is committed to automatically going to war on behalf of
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: one another. They each still pursue their own national interests first,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: but this is an area where they clearly want to cooperate,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: and the trend well, it's unmistakable if you ask military experts,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: because these two countries, as I mentioned earlier, they don't
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: trust anyone, and for them to dramatically expand over the
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: last several years the way they have and now have
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: joint exercises that are literally reaching record levels, it means
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: something now that United States may have to prepare for
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: the possibility of managing multiple security challenges at once to
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: during Russia and Europe while also maintaining stability in the
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Indo Pacific and then American allies including Japan, South Korea, Australia,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: NATO members and others are likely to continue increasing defend
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: spending and military cooperation and response as well. This is
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: exactly why you have to have a strong military presence,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: and it also raises the stakes anytime there's a crisis
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: involving Taiwan now or even Eastern Europe, because if Russian
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: and China are coordinating more closely, then lawmakers, policymakers, they've
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: got to think through how one regional conflict could actually
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: affect another. So today's military exercises and they'll be going
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: on for a whole week, they don't necessarily mean a
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: conflict is imminent. What it does mean is that Russia
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: and China are turning over a new leaf and looking
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: to work together to try to stop American influence around
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: the world. Now, the partnership ultimately becomes a true military
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: alliance if they decide to actually get involved in attack somewhere.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: So far, China has not been willing to do that
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: in decades. But what we do know is there's a
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: lot of people asking a lot of questions right now
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: about Taiwan and what could this mean if Russia decide
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: to get involved with China in that way. Only time
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: will tell, but it certainly means that the United States
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: America must be paying attention and watching like never before.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: President Donald Trump giving us another example of why the
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: Trump administration says rooting out government waste, government fraud and
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: abuse isn't just a campaign slogan, It's a governing priority
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: of this administration. There is new explosive reports out that
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: allege that investigators have uncovered more than two hundred and
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: twenty five million and suspected K through twelve education fraud,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: adding to what the administration says, a growing list of
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: cases where taxpayer dollars intended for America's children instead end
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: up enriching bad actors. Now, it's also important to make
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: one major distinction right at the beginning of this conversation. Now,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: these are allegations and investigative findings, not criminal convictions yet.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: But if even a fraction of these allegations are ultimately
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: proven true, taxpayers have every reason to be enraged by
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: the steel of your dollars. And it also explains why
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: public education is failing our young people. Think about this
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: money and what it was supposed to do. It was
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: supposed to buy textbooks. It was supposed to help children
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: learn to read, to deal with learning disabilities, and support.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: It was supposed to fund special education services for a
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: multitude of children. It was supposed to pay for classroom technology, tutoring,
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: even transportation, school meals and resources for the teachers. Instead,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: according to investigators nationwide, millions and millions and millions of
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: dollars have been diverted through fraudulent schemes that were easy
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: to catch. Clearly, the school district's choosing to look the
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: other way, and that is exactly why President Trump has
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: repeatedly argued that Washington needs far more oversight of taxpayer spending.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: And let's be clear, throughout Trump's second administration, he's been
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: fighting fraud and it's become a centerpiece of his domestic agenda.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Now it doesn't matter what type of fraud it is.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: Could be medicaid fraud, Medicare fraud, pandemic relief abuse, unemployment
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: insurance scams, even immigration related benefits fraud. But now it's
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: hardcore education fraud. The White House has consistently argued that
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: billions of taxpayer dollars have been lost because of well,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: the previous administration's failure to aggressively investigate and not only investigate,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: but prosecute the egregious financial abuse. The Administration's message is simple.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Every dollar stolen from a taxpayer is a dollar stolen
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: from hardworking Americans, and every dollar stolen from a classroom
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: is a dollar stolen from a child and their future. Now,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: according to the investigators, many of these education fraud cases
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: involved the misuse of federal education grants, then fake ven
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: inflated invoices, duplicate billing, false reimbursement requests, conflicts of interests,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: and then various schemes they say designed to siphon public
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: money away from the students and into the private pockets
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: of corrupt individuals. Now, this is exactly the type of
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: fraud schemes that inspector generals have warned Congress about for years. Now.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: One of the main problems is that whenever the federal
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: government rapidly increases spending, and we've seen that happen countless
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: times with public education, while oversight and this could be
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: on purpose by the left, have often struggled to keep pace.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: We saw that, by the way, clearly during the COVID relief,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: We saw it with unemployment benefits, we saw it with
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: small business relief, and investigators now say education funding has
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: become another area requiring far greater accountability. The Trump administration
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: argues this isn't simply about recovering mone it's also about
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: restoring confidence the government can actually protect taxpayer dollars because,
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: let's be honest, Americans don't mind investing in education. Polling
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: has shown that over and over again. And also we
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: know that most parents and grandparents want incredible quality schools.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Most taxpayers are happy to support children's futures. What frustrates
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: people is discovering that when the money that they've given
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: that was intended for students may instead be well financing
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: straight up fraud and corruption. There's also another aspect of this.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Imagine being a teacher buying classroom supplies out of your
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: own pocket while someone else is stealing hundreds of thousands
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: or even millions of dollars through fraudulent contracts or fake
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: billing or duplicate billing. And that's what makes stories like
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: this so infuriating. Teachers often spend their own money on pencils, paper,
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: classroom decorations, science projects, and even books. Investigators are alleging
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: enormous sums peered through fraudulent activity as well. President Trump
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: has repeatedly said the US government shouldn't automatically ask taxpayers
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: for more money until it proves it can responsibly manage
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: the money that it already takes in that it already has,
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: and stories like this, while they strengthen the president's argument,
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Supporters of President Trump also point to the broadern pattern here.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: For years, federal watchdogs have warned about weak internal controls.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: They've warned about insufficient auditing, they have warned about outdated
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: accounting systems, and they've warned about agencies failing to verify
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: where grant money actually even goes. And that's where the
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: fraudsers come in and they exploit exactly these weaknesses. Well,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: the administration says it's cracked down as design to change
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: that by increasing investigations as well as expanding forensic audits,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: coordinating more closely with inspector generals, and pursuing both civil
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: and criminal enforcem when it's appropriate. And that extends beyond education.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: The administration has highlighted investigations also into healthcare fraud, benefits, fraud,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: procurement fraud, disaster relieve fraud, and organized criminal schemes targeting
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: federal programs and the criminals they've gotten insanely rich off
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: of all of this, Officials argue that recovering stone taxpayer
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: dollars not only helped reduce waste, but also it does
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: something important without cutting legitimate services. That's an important distinction.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: The goal, according to the Trump administration, isn't taking resources
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: away from students. It's making sure the money actually reaches
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: those students at all, because every fraudulent dollar means fewer
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: legitimate resources are available for the classroom and for the individual.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: The broader political debate here is also significant because for years,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: many in Washington have responded to challenges in education by
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: proposing one thing, more money, larger budgets, and President Trump
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: is arguing now yet again that before we appropriate any
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: additional funds, much less billions of dollars, it should first
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: eliminate the fraud, the waste, the abuse that's already deep
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: entrenched inside of the education system. That's also a message
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: that is likely to resonate with many taxpayers come the midterms.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: After all, if a private company discovered hundreds of millions
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: of dollars being stolen internally, shareholders wouldn't approve another spending
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: increase without demanding accountability first. And that's exactly what the
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: President's advocating for. Government should not operate under a lower
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: standard and The other major question is this oversight. How
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: long do these alleged schemes continue. We're warning signs completely
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: ignored to whistleblowers raise concerns. We're audits delayed where agencies
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: properly monitoring grant receipts. These are questions and investigators in
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Congress will continue to examine. It's also worth remembering that
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: education funding involves multiple layers of government. Federal dollars often
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: flow through state agencies and then the local school districts
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: or nonprofit organizations. That complexity can create opportunities for fraud
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: if oversight breaks down at any stage, and clearly it did.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: That's one of the reasons that Trump and his investigators
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: say it's important that transparency be shown. The administration argues
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: that technology, data analytics, and stronger financial controls can actually
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: help deter suspicious transactions much earlier. So, instead of discovering
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: fraud at this level years later, the Trump administration won
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: systems capable of identifying unusual spending patterns in real time.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Now for taxpayers, this story touches on something much larger
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: than education. It really goes down to the issue of trust.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: Americans work hard for their paychecks and they should demand
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: that a government and expect that government is going to
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: be a responsible steward of the taxes they send to Washington.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: But when headlines reveal hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: while confidence disappears, doesn't just a road. And that's why
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: the administration says accountability isn't optional, it's a mandatory essential.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Every fraudulent scheme uncovered sends two messages. First, investigators are
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: finding the problem that need fixing, and second, potential fraudsters
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: are being warned that enforcement is increasing. Now, whether these
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: investigations ultimately result in indictments, conviction settlements, are recovered funds
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: remains to be seen. But one thing is clear. The
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Trump administration intends to make fraud enforcement a defining part
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: of its governing philosophy. President Trump is repeatedly argued that
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: before asking Americans to sacrifice more, Washington must clean up
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: its own books. And that is exactly what they found
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: from this investigation. We'll keep following this story. I can
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: promise you that we've got a lot more that's going
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: to happen the days ahead, So make sure you don't
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: forget grab our podcast The Ben Ferguson podcasts wherever you
• 29:06
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• 29:09
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