'Opens the door to competitors that don't play by the rules'

'Do they just not want to put any effort in to resolve their mistake?'

The new and improved  CBS Evening News burst upon the scene with a fundamental promise of getting the story right. While this new iteration is a significant improvement over prior news product, there remain opportunities for improvement. Case in point, the most recent reporting out of Minneapolis. Correspondent Nicole Sganga is, for some reason, still on the scene in Minneapolis. The last time we examined Sganga’s reporting, she referred to the shooting of Renee Nicole Good as a “murder”. Now, she is framing the DHS as dishonest by default when talking about jail cooperation- a key component to helping keep ICE off the streets and out of dangerous situations. Her report begins with a setting meant to evoke fear: the empty Hmong marketplace, and a chat with the mayor of St. Paul, who claims that her parents are more afraid of ICE than of the communists during the Secret War in Laos.  Sganga’s then video package runs reel of the ICE official denouncing the state’s release of illegals in police or state custody. Sganga brings on the director of the state’s correctional system to refute ICE. Watch: WATCH: ICE official denounces Minnesota's release of criminal aliens in police or state custody", prior to CBS correspondent Nicole Sganga bringing on the director of the correctional system to refute. No consideration of the county jails. pic.twitter.com/tYc1YD88WJ — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 22, 2026 MARCOS CHARLES: Since President Trump took office one year ago today, the state of Minnesota has released nearly 500 criminal aliens who were in police or state custody, rather than turning them over to ICE. PAUL SCHNELL: If ICE has a detainer, they want them to take custody of them. We will facilitate the transfer of custody. Period. SGANGA: Commissioner Paul Schnell oversees Minnesota's Department of Corrections, including the state’s prison system.  Does it feel like the Department of Homeland Security is lying when it says that state authorities are not cooperating? SCHNELL: It is fundamentally false. We cooperate with ICE And ICE detainers. We have, as a matter of policy, done that for a long, long time. SGANGA: The Department of Homeland Security says roughly 450 criminals have been released into Minnesota's streets. And you say you don't know where that number comes from? SCHNELL: We have no idea where that number comes from. We know we released 84 people -- SGANGA: To ICE SCHNELL: -to ICE that were subject to detainers. And so this notion that Minnesota is not honoring federal ICE detainers is utterly untrue. State correctional agencies typically have oversight over state prisons and, in some states, juvenile detention facilities. These entities are separate from county jails, and so it is entirely plausible that there would be a discrepancy between what the state has and what DHS has.  The main sticking point with ICE has always been access into the county jails. Sanctuary jurisdictions deny ICE the access to detain illegal aliens housed in county jails. This is where the numerical discrepancy might come from. But this is never explored. ICE is left holding the bag and appearing to look deceitful. Narrative construction clearly on display. A reasonable individual might think that this is a minor distinction hardly worth examining. But once a correspondent refers to an unfortunate agent-involved shooting as a “murder,” without evidence, then it becomes time to examine everything else. Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned transcript as aired on the CBS Evening News on Wednesday, January 21st, 2025: TONY DOKOUPIL: We are going to turn to new developments in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Late today, we received a copy of an internal ICE memo authorizing federal agents to forcibly enter homes without a warrant from a judge. The directive was provided to Congress by whistleblowers who say this goes against standard training in the Department of Homeland Security. Tonight, Nicole Sganga has new reporting on how immigrants in Minnesota are responding to what is happening there. NICOLE SGANGA: In St. Paul, Minnesota’s Hmong Village, empty stalls line a once-busy marketplace. KAOHLY HER: On a normal day, all of these stalls would be open. SGANGA: It’s a sign, the city's mayor explains, of the deeply rooted fear spreading within immigrant communities. HER: They’re afraid to leave their homes, they’re afraid to let their children go to school. SGANGA: Mayor Kaohly Her says that fear has driven naturalized U.S. citizens, including her own parents, to hide in their homes. HER: When I talk to them they’re telling me they are more afraid now than they were fighting communism in Laos during the Secret War. SGANGA: Top Homeland Security officials have declared Operation Metro Surge, laser focused on arresting what DHS calls the worst of the worst, convicted felons and violent offenders, accusing Minnesota officials of not cooperating. MARCOS CHARLES: Since President Trump took office one year ago today, the state of Minnesota has released nearly 500 criminal aliens who were in police or state custody, rather than turning them over to ICE. PAUL SCHNELL: If ICE has a detainer, they want them to take custody of them. We will facilitate the transfer of custody. Period. SGANGA: Commissioner Paul Schnell oversees Minnesota's Department of Corrections, including the state’s prison system.  Does it feel like the Department of Homeland Security is lying when it says that state authorities are not cooperating? SCHNELL: It is fundamentally false. We cooperate with ICE And ICE detainers. We have, as a matter of policy, done that for a long, long time. SGANGA: The Department of Homeland Security says roughly 450 criminals have been released into Minnesota's streets. And you say you don't know where that number comes from? SCHNELL: We have no idea where that number comes from. We know we released 84 people -- SGANGA: To ICE SCHNELL: -to ICE that were subject to detainers. And so this notion that Minnesota is not honoring federal ICE detainers is utterly untrue. SGANGA: CBS News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for clarity. The department responded just moments ago, doubling down on their numbers. They again are asking Minnesota elected officials to honor all ice detainers. Tony. DOKOUPIL: Nicole, thank you very much.  

Under Trump, the media elites treat the executive branch as an evil empire, but under Biden, journalists were so eager to help promote the Democrats that they sometimes offered their sources the ability to edit their articles to their liking. New documents shared exclusively with MRC Business just exposed the latest example of elitist media hacks violating every modicum of journalistic integrity to genuflect to the Biden administration’s whims and wishes.  Forbes contributor Rhett Buttle and his associate Abdullah Kahn offered to delay a story schmoozing President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan on his “environmental justice” focus until his team had a chance to address the catastrophic February 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, according to emails obtained by the Functional Government Initiative. The incident had led to a controlled explosion and the spewing of hazardous fumes into the atmosphere, with reports of groundwater damage, dead animals and health issues circulating. Both Buttle and Khan attempted to take some of the media pressure off of the Biden administration by postponing publication of the interview until the political heat died down, even though they had been in communication with the EPA about the interview since at least December 2022. Twenty-four days following the disaster, Khan asked then-EPA deputy press secretary Tim Carroll February 27, “I know we originally planned to have this piece close out Black History Month with some of the excellent content you provided us on environmental justice, and we are set to post tomorrow.” He continued, “However, given what's going on in Ohio at the moment, we wanted to know if your office would potentially like for us to add a question and response about the situation, or would like us to hold the piece until a later date?” Buttle responded some minutes later, “We can do that!”  Why would Forbes leave the option open to pass up an opportunity to grill the Biden EPA on its mishandling of a major ecological disaster if it’s not because they were intentionally acting as the Biden public relations arm? In a January 27, 2023, email, Khan already showed a willingness to hand the editorial reins over to the Biden EPA, before the train disaster even happened: We've put together a draft list of questions below that we think would be good for the piece. If you have any edits or would like to add additional questions, let us know and we'd be happy to adjust. If you could give us an idea of when you think we'll be able to have responses, that would be greatly appreciated. This shows that the interview was always intended as a positive, administration-friendly piece on "environmental justice" and Black History Month. DEI at EPA was a good-news story. Complicating matters further is that we found Buttle on OpenSecrets as a Biden donor, having given $1,000 to his 2020 campaign and indicating a glaring conflict of interest.  Buttle isn't really a journalist first, but runs a PR shop called Public Private Strategies. In 2016, he worked for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign as a liaison to the business sector. Khan continued, essentially handing editorial direction over to the Biden EPA: Hi Tim, This is the question we're thinking of adding to the interview. If it's good with you, please provide your response ASAP: The EPA has been at work handling the recent trainwreck in East Palestine, Ohio for the past couple weeks. What updates would you share about the response?” Carroll, assuming the role as Forbes de facto editor, pushed for the piece to be published during Black History Month to give greater focus to the Biden administration’s woke bona fides. “Thanks Abdullah, we'd welcome the opportunity to address the ongoing response to the train derailment in Ohio but would really like this to land during BHM (with apologies again for the delay on our end.)” Buttle and Khan apparently obliged, as the interview would be published on February 28, the last day of Black History Month, with the promotional headline, “Engagement With The Business Sector And Environmental Justice: A Conversation With U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan.” Nowhere in the puff piece did Forbes editors disclose that Buttle was tagged as one of Biden’s donors. Reading how Buttle teed up Regan’s answers regurgitated by Carroll made his conflict of interest even more damning: “As we close out Black History Month, I recently had the opportunity to speak with Administrator Regan about his work at EPA, initiatives with the business community and work on environmental justice. I appreciate him taking the time and below is a summary of our conversation.” A Regan statement that Caroll forwarded to Buttle and Khan was published in its entirety, with no pushback given: EPA will be with the community of East Palestine every step of the way – we will not leave until the job is done and until they feel at home once again. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, we are committed to delivering justice for all communities facing environmental challenges, from East Palestine, Ohio, to Jackson, Mississippi to McDowell County, West Virginia, and we will continue this work to ensure all people have healthy lands to enjoy, clean air to breath, and safe water to drink. Buttle and Khan — in the email chain — didn’t bring up reporting at the time that the Biden administration initially denied East Palestine, Ohio disaster relief as a result of the incident. Fox News reported Feb. 16 that Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) spokesperson Dan Tierney said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied federal aid because it “believed the [train derailment] incident didn't qualify as a traditional disaster, such as a tornado or hurricane, for which it usually provides assistance.” Buttle didn’t address this in his propaganda item either. Additional context provided some insight as to why Biden’s FEMA did not initially pursue providing aid for that particular area.  Biden released details on a new executive order advancing racial equity on Feb. 16, the same day as the Fox News report. Biden claimed his goal was to “advance an ambitious, whole-of-government approach to racial equity and support for underserved communities and to continuously embed [racial] equity into all aspects of Federal decision-making.” Could that have included FEMA’s decision-making? According to the demographic breakdown at the time, East Palestine was 93.5 percent white, three percent Hispanic, and only 0.36 percent black. The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics stipulates that journalists should “Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts. Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility.” Failure to disclose a contributor’s donations to the Biden administration and offering for the president’s flunkies to guide publication scheduling and content shows that Forbes just willfully trampled all over the aforementioned principles with impunity. Buttle and Khan delivered "special treatment" to Biden’s EPA on a silver platter. If you’re wondering why Americans' trust for the media is in the toilet, this is just another one of the plethora of examples why.  Forbes did not respond to MRC Business’s request for comment as of the publication of this report.  Read the December 2022- February 2023 email chain between Buttle, Khan and the Biden EPA below. Forbes_EPA.pdf-1768941511205.pdf

Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have launched one of the largest Medicaid fraud crackdowns in American history. Raids. Indictments. Billions of dollars. A system designed to help the poor became a loot bag for criminals and grifters.California saw those headlines and said, “They should have consulted us!”Taxpayers don’t care whether fraud happens the Minnesota way — through day-care centers and nonprofits — or the California way — through health care accounting games.Sacramento’s progressive class has spent years perfecting a cleaner version of the same scam — one that stays inside the lines, collects federal dollars on paper, and sends the bill to taxpayers everywhere else. Call it “legal.” Call it “approved.” Call it “routine.” None of those words makes it legitimate.In 2004, the Government Accountability Office warned Congress that states were gaming Medicaid through intergovernmental transfers. States would shuffle public money through a circular process to make spending look real, inflate federal matching payments, then cycle the funds back to themselves. The GAO described “round-trip” arrangements that generated federal dollars without exposing states to true financial risk and that undermined the balance Congress intended.Washington shrugged. Some states backed off. Others refined the trick.California scaled it.Medi-Cal, the state’s massive Medicaid program, now serves as the vehicle for this legal laundering operation. State officials insist that the system complies with federal rules. Fine. A loophole still remains a loophole, and taxpayers still pay the tab.Paragon Health Institute, a conservative health policy organization, has laid out the mechanism clearly. Counties and public hospital systems transfer funds to the state through IGTs. The state counts that money as the “non-federal share” of Medicaid spending, then claims a larger federal match. Sacramento sends the combined state and federal funds back to government-owned providers through supplemental payments and formula-driven reimbursements.The math almost always works in the contributors’ favor. The entities that send money in get reimbursed in full — and often receive more than they put up.RELATED: $300M frozen: California allegedly forced Americans to fund illegal alien Medicaid — so Dr. Oz drops the hammer Photo by Alex Wong/Getty ImagesCalifornia’s ambulance program shows how ugly this gets. Under the state’s Ground Emergency Medical Transport program, California bars payments from the state’s general fund. Public ambulance agencies instead receive “supplemental payments” that California largely restricts to public providers, limiting private companies’ access.The result: California pays public ambulance providers about $1,065 per transport, while it offers private ambulance companies roughly $339 for the same job.Then the federal government matches the inflated payments.This isn’t just favoritism. It warps the market. It pushes private providers out and leaves patients with fewer options.California has also expanded Medi-Cal eligibility regardless of immigration status. The state claims it funds routine coverage for “undocumented” adults with state dollars, but emergency Medicaid remains federally reimbursable. Sacramento still taps federal funds through the back door, even as it sells the program as a self-funded moral gesture.This system stinks — even when regulators bless it.And the political contrast tells you everything. Minnesota’s fraud scandal has created enough public anger to drive its Democrat governor out of the next election. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), whose administration runs a program built on the same kind of federal exploitation — just with better paperwork — remains a top Democrat presidential prospect in 2028.The federal government could stop this tomorrow. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could clamp down on the abuse of IGTs and demand a genuine state contribution, not an accounting illusion. Instead, under the Biden administration, CMS approved major expansions and encouraged the same incentives that fuel the problem.Audits don’t fix it, either. Regulators review what states claim on paper, not what taxpayers actually fund. If a state can justify the scheme in bureaucratic language, CMS signs off. Fraud analysis often misses the point for the same reason. A state can structure IGTs so the “state share” exists largely as a bookkeeping device. Federal taxpayers remain the only party exposed to real financial loss.Congress never designed Medicaid to serve as a revenue stream for local governments. It created Medicaid to help the poor. California’s 12-to-1 payment disparities punish the poor by reducing competition, shrinking access, and driving private providers out of business.RELATED: The insane little story that failed to warn America about the depth of Somali fraud Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty ImagesCongress already has the solution. The GAO outlined it two decades ago, and the George W. Bush administration backed the basic idea: Close the loophole by prohibiting Medicaid payments that exceed actual costs for government-owned facilities.In plain English: Stop rewarding government-owned providers with inflated reimbursements that private providers can’t touch. Set equal rules. Require real state contributions. Cut the circular funding schemes that turn Medicaid into a federal ATM.Taxpayers don’t care whether fraud happens the Minnesota way — through day cares and nonprofits — or the California way — through health care accounting games. We care that Washington keeps subsidizing systems designed to break the rules everyone else has to follow.California built this machine. Congress can shut it down.

The invitation to speak at Friday’s march prematurely offers Vice President Vance the imprimatur of the pro-life movement.

As the population ages, opportunities to complement caregivers with AI and robotics abound.

Indiana was aided by a robed former jock.