16-23 Digging Into and Exposing State Government Fraud & Waste
Air Dates: June 6th & 7th, 2026 | Guests: Jonathan Williams (president and chief economist of ALEC)
About This Episode
On this week’s show (16-23): Imagine the CEO and board of directors of a large company believes that a department within that company is stealing money from the company. So they tell the department head, we need to see the accounts and where all this money is going.
But the department says no. You can’t look at how I spent the money you gave me. It’s my money now and I’ll spend it how I want to.
Now imagine states telling the federal government you can’t look to see how we’re spending our money. That you gave us. Except you don’t have to imagine that. That’s happening right now. Not just on money but on things like voter rolls. They’re telling the federal government, no. You can’t look.
But they’re not just telling the federal government that they won’t open their books, or their voter rolls — they’re telling that to the real bosses. The taxpayers. The citizens. Of those states.
And even when they try to pretend that they’re opening the books they can hide things like money any number of ways all by complicating the process, complicating the money flows through commingling of funds from different pots of monies, and not telling you exactly to whom they sent that money but rather aggregating it in totals. Or worse, giving it to so-called nonprofits where the money goes in but is hidden how it goes out.
That’s the focus of this week’s show. We’re looking at fraud with Jonathan Williams, the president and chief economist for the American Legislative Exchange Council. They have a government efficiency Coalition to address state level fraud and regulatory burdens. Jonathan exposes the reality of government waste, including how Oregon paid roughly $445 million to Medicaid recipients who were simultaneously enrolled in another state. Is this just an isolated oversight that got fixed, or is it merely the tip of an iceberg of undiscovered fraud?
Jonathan, breaks down ALEC’s new Government Efficiency Coalition designed to tackle these exact structural failures. From state-level data discrepancies to a roadmap for the future, we ask the tough questions. Such as, if a new Oregon governor took office with a genuine mission to clean up the fiscal house, what are the first things that need to happen?
When it comes to opening the books, it’s time for a little accountability.
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Show Notes: Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info
Jonathan Williams’ organization is ALEC – the American legislative Exchange Council. Visit them at alec.org. &the ALEC Coalition
ALEC helped push states like Oregon to put their spending online. Oregon’s attempt at spending transparency can be found at Oregon.gov/transparency
Co-founder of ‘green’ bank gets 14 years for defrauding lenders, investors (Courthouse News Service, June 1, 2026)
State of Oregon Statewide Single Audit Report, March 2025 (PDF)
Oregon audit flags OHA and ODOT errors, including OHP Bridge eligibility problems (KATU, Apr 1, 2026) *“The audit also identified holes in the Highway Planning and Construction Program, administered by the Oregon Department of Transportation. Auditors said they could not gather enough evidence to verify compliance” with the law and federal regulations.
Audit: California Lost Track of $24 Billion Spent to Combat Homelessness (Breitbart, Apr 12, 2024)
“Illegal aliens & foreign fraudsters steal BILLIONS yearly from American taxpayers.” (White House via X, Jun 3, 2026)
The Joe Rogan interview with Elon Musk in February 2025 discussing social security as the fraud gateway (Joe Rogan Experience, Episode 2281)