Security Held the Line even as Funding Failed, Teslas win Food Stamps & The Tragic Math of Liberal Homeless Policy Week In Review

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: Security Held the Line even as Funding Failed, Teslas win Food Stamps & The Tragic Math of Liberal Homeless Policy Week In Review
Date: May 2, 2026
Hosts: Ben Ferguson and Ted Cruz

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Episode Overview

This episode is a week-in-review that tackles the latest political flashpoints: ongoing funding battles over federal security, a significant FBI fraud crackdown in Minnesota, revelations of luxury car owners on food stamps, and an in-depth critique of Portland’s homeless policy through the lens of identity-based benefits. Ben Ferguson and Ted Cruz deliver their trademark unfiltered, right-leaning analysis, pointing to what they characterize as deep flaws in Democratic governance and their social policies.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Security Funding and the Recent Assassination Attempt

Timestamps: 02:50 – 13:53

• Secret Service Funding Crisis:
  • Despite a recent assassination attempt on the President, Democrats have repeatedly voted against fully funding the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). (04:30)
    • Ben Ferguson: "The Democrats have voted against funding the Secret Service, funding the Department of Homeland Security. They voted against it 16 times." (04:30)
• Partial Funding: Some agents were paid through presidentially-reallocated funds, but full department funding remains stalled. (04:19–04:20)
• Judicial Controversy Over Trump Ballroom:
  • The construction of a new, secure ballroom with features like bulletproof windows was temporarily halted by a federal judge who questioned its security necessity. (05:19)
    • Ben Ferguson: “I’m going to give you the technical legal definition of that. That segment of the district court’s ruling. That is stupid. It is stupid on its face.” (05:41)
  • The court of appeals later stayed the injunction, allowing construction to proceed.
• Venue Security & Political Hypocrisy:
  • The main D.C. hotel for events ("the Hinckley Hilton", site of Reagan's shooting) remains a security risk. Democrats’ resistance to the secure ballroom is portrayed as shortsighted and partisan. (08:11–08:27)
    • Ben Ferguson: “The nickname that, that pretty much everyone in politics calls it is the Hinckley Hilton because it is a hotel where John Hinckley shot President Reagan.” (08:11)
• Indoctrination and Violence:
  • Discussion of the would-be assassin’s manifesto as an example of “leftist indoctrination” and the dangers of academic radicalization.
    • Ferguson reads manifesto excerpts, equating the language with Marxist victim/oppressor ideology. (09:32–13:53)
    • Ben Ferguson: "This is the consequence of consistent radical indoctrination. An indoctrination that says that...violence is justified in overthrowing the oppressor. This young man was taught that garbage." (11:54)
  • Only John Fetterman, they note, has called out violent rhetoric in Democratic circles.

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2. FBI Raids on Minnesota Daycare Fraud

Timestamps: 17:37 – 23:44

• Major Federal Crackdown:
  • The FBI launched raids of more than 20 Minnesota childcare sites allegedly involved in large-scale SNAP and welfare fraud, notably among Somali-owned centers. (17:37–18:36)
    • Ted Cruz: "Now we have the FBI that has raided the Minneapolis fraud ridden care centers...including the famous children's leering center that was supposed to say on their sign learning but it was just a leering center." (17:37)
• Political Connections & Ignorance:
  • Discussion of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s misreading of "World War II" as "World War 11", used as an example of alleged lack of basic civics and world history knowledge. (18:49–19:31)
    • Ben Ferguson: "If a ninth grader thought World War II was World War 11, you would flunk that ninth grader." (19:31)
• Political Protection of Fraud:
  • The hosts allege state leaders, including Gov. Tim Waltz, benefitted from or ignored the fraud, now paradoxically taking credit for cleaning up. (22:06–22:58)
    • Ben Ferguson: "That really is like the arsonist taking credit when the firefighters turn, turn up and put out the fire." (22:54)
• Nationwide Implications:
  • The hosts claim this is the tip of the iceberg, with similar probes and crackdowns likely coming to blue states like California. (23:44)

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3. Luxury Vehicles and Food Stamp Fraud

Timestamps: 24:16 – 32:29

• Data Dumps Reveal High-End Car Owners on SNAP:
  • Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins cited data from a red state revealing food stamp users owning Teslas (2,000+), Porsches (144), Land Rovers (306), Maseratis (59), Lamborghinis (11), Ferraris (3), and Bentleys (3). (24:27–25:33)
    • Brooke Rollins (via narration): “We found SNAP recipients had more than 2,000 Tesla owners, 200 Alpha Romeo owners, more than 144 that were receiving food stamps were driving Porsches." (24:27)
    • Ben Ferguson: “Let me give some additional breakdown...There were 11 Lamborghinis, there were three Ferraris and there were three Bentleys. These are people getting food stamps driving a quarter million dollar or more like a Lamborghini could be a million dollar car depending on which one they had.” (25:33)
• Systemic Welfare Loopholes:
  • They blame “broad based categorical eligibility,” a federal loophole dating back to the Clinton and Obama administrations, for much of the fraud. (26:40–28:20)
  • Fraud extended to individuals with unverifiable or foreign identities, including those with IP addresses in China, Mexico, and Canada. (29:08)
• Accountability Push:
  • The hosts claim the Trump administration is now acting to close loopholes and hold scammers and enabling state governments accountable. (26:40)
  • Ben Ferguson: "If states were cross checking income and assets, those cases would be flagged as potential fraud." (29:50)
  • On Democrat governors: “If the Democrats don't stand for that, then I just want to ask you a question. Why wouldn't Democrat governors do what the Trump administration has done?” (31:42)
    • Ted Cruz: “If you have a Ferrari, sell your damn food stamps.” (32:13)

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4. The Tragic Math of Liberal Homeless Policy: Portland’s Point System

Timestamps: 36:15 – 44:33

• Identity-Based Poverty Metrics:
  • Portland’s $1.3 billion homeless spending is critiqued for prioritizing benefits not on the basis of need, but an “intersectional” point system:
    • English as a second language: 2 points
    • Pregnant: 3 points
    • Child under 5: 3 points
    • Head of household under 18: 2 points
    • LGBTQIA+ interest: 1 point
    • Over 55: 2 points
    • Domestic violence survivor: 2 points
    • Disability: 3 points
    • No income: just 1 point (42:23–42:33)
    • Homelessness > 1 year: 1 point; currently homeless: 2 points.
  • Ted Cruz: “This is DEI on a whole nother level of stupid.” (42:57)
• Failure of Outcomes:
  • Despite $200,000 spent per homeless resident, the death rate among homeless Portlanders quadrupled (2019–2023). (39:20–39:36)
  • Ferguson and Cruz mock the point system as “woke” and prioritizing “interest in culturally specific services” equal to being a survivor of domestic violence or a senior. (41:20–41:45)
    • Ben Ferguson: “Interest in culturally specific services is equally prioritized to being a domestic violence survivor.” (41:45)
  • The hosts attribute the policy’s failure to “woke” priorities overruling basic accountability and care.
    • Ben Ferguson: “They were more interested in their woke policies than they are actually in helping someone who needs help. And that's tragic.” (44:13)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On political motivations and violence:
  • Ben Ferguson: “Violence is wrong, period.” (09:32)
  • Ted Cruz: "This is the difference between the Democratic party, The Republican party as Democrats call for this type of violence...We on the right say we don't want anyone to die because of their political beliefs, even if they're against me." (09:08)
• On Ilhan Omar’s World War 11 gaffe:
  • Ben Ferguson: “If a ninth grader thought World War II was World War 11, you would flunk that ninth grader.” (19:31)
• On the waste of Portland’s homeless policies:
  • Ted Cruz: "With $200 grand, you can buy somebody a house." (43:36)
  • Ben Ferguson: “They were more interested in their woke policies than they are actually in helping someone who needs help. And that's tragic.” (44:13)
• On luxury cars and food stamps:
  • Ted Cruz: “If you have a Ferrari, sell your damn food stamps.” (32:13)

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Importance & Utility

• Security and Law Enforcement: Highlights perceived dangers in underfunding protection for high-profile political events and the consequences of political grandstanding.
• Government Accountability: Investigates large-scale fraud in welfare and SNAP, arguing for stricter eligibility enforcement.
• Social Policy Critique: Uses Portland as a case study to argue against identity-based allocation of social services, highlighting unintended and tragic consequences.
• Tone & Appeal: The hosts maintain a critical, often mocking tone, blending anecdote with policy critique, clearly targeting a conservative-leaning audience.

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Key Segment Timestamps

• Secret Service Funding, Ballrooms, Assassination Attempt: 02:50 – 13:53
• FBI Raids and Minnesota Fraud/Ilhan Omar: 17:37 – 23:44
• Luxury Cars on Food Stamps/Federal SNAP Loopholes: 24:16 – 32:29
• Portland Homeless Policy and Point System: 36:15 – 44:33

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This summary captures the major arguments, rhetorical highlights, and structural flow of the episode for listeners interested in conservative perspectives on current federal and state policy battles.

Transcript

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ted Cruz]

It is verdict with Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. It's nice to have you with us on the Weekend Review. And here are the big stories you may have missed that we talked about this week. Another assassination attempt on the president. United States of America. And Democrats still playing politics, not wanting to pay the Secret Service. They showed up to do their job, but Democrats don't want them to get a paycheck. We'll explain that. Also, the FBI, they've had major raids this week in Minnesota, including the famous leering center. You know, the sign that was supposed to say learning center. So what's behind all this? And is the president paying off on stopping waste, fraud, and abuse? And finally, if you're homeless, well, you may get bonus points if you have a certain skin color before you get benefits. And if you check the right box on if you're gay, lesbian or transgender, how does that get you ahead of people that are senior citizens? It's all been set up by the Democrats. It's a Weekend Review, and it starts right now. Okay, let me ask you another question on this. And, and this is. I, I know the answer, but I think the audience needs to know this. The president was talking about how the Secret Service did an amazing job and making sure that this threat was neutralized. Do those guys get paychecks right now that were at the White House Correspondence Center?

[Ben Ferguson]

Look, DHS is shut down. It's been shut down for more than two months.

[Ted Cruz]

So they're not getting paid.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, some of them are getting paid because the president is reallocating money from other parts of the budget. So some of them have gotten paychecks.

[Ted Cruz]

But, but the Democrats are saying they don't want him paid.

[Ben Ferguson]

The Democrats have voted against funding the Secret Service, funding the Department of Homeland Security. They voted against it 16 times. And by the way, there were Democrats at that event. That event. In fact, there were more Democrats in that room than there were Republicans because it's mostly reporters and they're almost all either Democrats or further left. And, and the Secret Service, look, when they stop this shooter, any one of them could be killed. You know, I don't know if you're a Democrat, how you justify going and voting against paying for the Secret Service when they may have quite literally saved your life the couple days before.

[Ted Cruz]

But, but I have no doubt that they would still vote against it, right? They would. They would vote against it. They would say, no, no, no, we're not going to fund them like they're unified on that.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's, I don't know what they're going to do next. I do know that they voted 16 times against it. I'll also point out, you know, you look at the litigation against the new ballroom that President Trump is building. And yes, in that litigation, a federal district judge enjoined construction of the, of the ballroom, ordered that it be halted. And, and here was his reasoning. I want you to listen to it because it, it, it's absurd on its face. Quote, the fact that the ballroom is planned to include security features such as bulletproof windows and a drone proof roof does not bring the structure within the scope of the national security exception. While these features may well be beneficial, defendants have not provided any national security justification for why these features must be installed immediately such that they should be excluded from the scope of the injunction. Now, I'm going to give you the technical legal definition of that. That segment of the district court's ruling. That is stupid. It is stupid on its face. And now, thankfully, that injunction was stayed by the court of appeals, so it's not in effect. But, but the federal district judge was saying, why I see no national security justification three times. Wow. In about a year we have seen President Trump attempted, a year and a half attempted to be assassinated. And yet the judge is saying, look, if it were in the White House ballroom, if you had the security of the White House, that would be a much safer place to minimize these kinds of threats. And sadly, I think the odds are high this is not the last attempted assassination of President Trump. There are leftists out there who are hearing Hakeem Jeffries war all the time. Everywhere they're hearing Democrat after Democrat after Democrat using language that is not even a dog whistle. It's not even a coded call to violence. Their lunatic supporters know exactly what they're saying.

[Ted Cruz]

You know, you go back the ballroom of the politics of this, by the way, it was made private funds came in to, to pay for this as well. And there was. Democrats are obsessed with this ballroom. They don't want it to happen because Donald Trump's the one doing it. And the other thing I think is interesting is the president said in his interview on 60 Minutes that this has been something that the, that the Secret Service and the military have been saying for like basically the last 100 years. We need this because it's a way to have events in a safe manner. You look at the hotel where the White House Correspondence center was last night, I've gone to Countless events there. I know you have. I mean, how many, how many events do you think you've been to that thing in your. In your political lifetime? Like, almost every event is there because it's one of the bigger, closest places.

[Ben Ferguson]

The nickname that, that pretty much everyone in politics calls it is the Hinckley Hilton because it is a hotel where John Hinckley shot President Reagan. And it's just. I mean, you say, oh, we've got an event. It is Hinckley Hilton. That's just. That's just what they call it.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. I mean, and, And. And this goes back to the Secret Services obsession with safety is we do the best we can. We have all this security. It's still a hotel. This guy was able to check in, apparently on Friday. It still operates like a hotel. We're rushing people out the back. I, I had friends at Fox News that were rushed through the back of the. Of the hotel, through the kitchen, to try to keep them safe after all this went down. And as you mentioned, the nickname of the hotel goes directly back to Ronald Reagan, which, again, if any of these Democrats are against having a ballroom, which, by the way, will benefit Democrats in the White House, there will be more Democrats in the White House. I believe in our lifetimes, that's the way politics works. It will keep them safe as well, because I never want to see an American president assassinated. I don't care if you're Republican or a Democrat. And this is the difference between the Democratic Party, the Republican Party as Democrats call for this type of violence, and assassinations and celebrate when people like Charlie Kirk get shot. And we on the right say we don't want anyone to die because of their political beliefs, even if they're against me.

[Ben Ferguson]

You are absolutely right. Violence is wrong, period. I do think this attempted assassination, it is the fruits of a corrupted elite academic system. Where did this kid get radicalized? I think the odds are quite likely at Caltech being trained by leftists. And look, he wrote his manifesto, and I'm not interested in highlighting his deranged attacks on President Trump, but I actually do want to read a little bit of it because he put out a series of objections and rebuttals, and they show just how twisted the indoctrination is. So he writes, Objection 1. As a Christian, you should turn the other cheek. By the way, this guy calls himself a Christian. He claims to be a Christian. Rebuttal. Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I'm not the person raped in a detention camp. I'm not the fisherman executed without a trial. I'm not a school kid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration. Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior. It is complicity in the oppressor's crimes. By the way, listen to that language. Complicity in the oppressor's crimes. That is Marxist language of oppressors and victims. And, and, and he is repeating what, what leftists have indoctrinated him in university. Here was his next objection to this is not a convenient time for you to do this rebuttal. I need whoever thinks this way to take a couple of minutes and realize that the world isn't about them. Do you think that when I see someone raped or murdered or abused, I should walk on by because it would be inconvenient for people who aren't the victim? This is the best timing and chance of success I could come up with. Objection number three. You didn't get them all. So. So he believed he was going to kill President Trump. Multiple members of the cabinet, but he recognized someone would live. The Vice President, his speaker was there. His rebuttal gotta start somewhere. This is the consequence of consistent radical indoctrination. An indoctrination that says that, that. That in Marxist ideology the oppressor oppresses the victim and violence is justified in overthrowing the oppressor. This young man was taught that garbage. The young man who murdered the United Healthcare CEO was taught that garbage. And the people purveying this poison, they are doing massive damage. The lunatic who tried to murder Brett Kavanaugh was taught that garbage. And when you teach people violence is okay and justified and justified, morally justified, you must act. By the way, this lunatic was not at all worried about, about all the children who were raped by human traffickers under, under the Democrats open borders that those crimes he was not worried about. The people murdered by illegal alien criminals and gang bangers released those murders don't concern them at all. It's kind of like the leftists who hate Israel and are constantly protesting against Israel. And yet when Iran murders between 10 and 40,000 protesters, not a single leftist utters a peep because they only care about the people they deem oppressors. And I really do hope that some responsible Democrat office holders stand up and say, you know, the rhetoric that my party is using is producing horrible results and we need to stop. But I got to say, other than John Fetterman, I don't see anyone doing that now.

[Ted Cruz]

If you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

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[Ted Cruz]

story number two on its dinner. I want to move center on to another topic and that is some good news for people that are sick and tired of seeing crimes committed in one actual action, especially when it comes to taxpayer dollars disappearing by the tens of billions. And now we have the FBI that is rated the, the Minneapolis fraud ridden care centers, 20 plus of these that were actually rated by the FBI, including the famous children's leering center that was supposed to say on their sign learning but it was just a leering center. That one was rated as well. And, and I am, I am excited to just say at least it looks like now we're getting some real action into stopping this fraud and to showing that if you take away taxpayer dollars this way and you send it to terrorist organizations like Al Shabaab and you bribe Democrats to look the other way like Governor Waltz, but with campaign contributions, somebody is at least going to come in and actually hold you accountable.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, look, I'm very glad that there is finally going to be some accountability. 22 locations in Minneapolis raided by the FBI this week. You mentioned the Quality leering Center. Of course, their most proud graduate, Ilhan Omar, who actually is not technically World War Three.

[Ted Cruz]

We had World War 11 yesterday. Did you know about that? We've had 11 world wars. That's impressive stuff. I didn't think the King of England knew that.

[Ben Ferguson]

It really is stunning. So she was giving a speech and the speech referenced World War II, but the two is two Roman numerals and that's how you normally write World War II. And she read that as World War 11.

[Ted Cruz]

Yes. Now didn't like correct herself. Just owned it and kept going like it was not like if you or I did that. And by the way, if you've ever read a speech and you're tired or you're just kind of, it's a long day, you can, you might.

[Ben Ferguson]

She didn't know but you correct it.

[Ted Cruz]

She had no clue. No idea.

[Ben Ferguson]

Look, look, there's a level of ignorance there. If a ninth grader thought World War II was World War 11, you would flunk that ninth grader. I mean you think about it, nowadays

[Ted Cruz]

we'll just socially just pass them on in our public school system. Back in the good old days. You'd fail.

[Ben Ferguson]

Look, look, Ilhan Omar is one of the leading Democrats. She and AOC and I mean the crazy squad is driving the agenda of Democrats today. And the level of ignorance of basic world history is really stunning. And Omar was also integral in covering up the Somali fraud in Minnesota. She was a beneficiary of it. She was elected by the fraudsters. The Somali voting base is her core base. Their money helped elect her. Their votes did elect her. And she and Tim Walsh and the governor and Keith Ellison the ag, they were all absolutely involved in the COVID up. They had every incentive. It was corrupt and we're talking over $9 billion of taxpayer money swindled away. And so here's what Fox News reported about the raids. Federal authorities raided more than 20 locations including childcare facilities in Minneapolis on Tuesday as part of a sweeping fraud investigation into largely Somali owned businesses. Sources confirmed to Fox News. Quote, today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation. A Department of justice spokesperson said authorities executed 22 federal search warrants in Minnesota on Tuesday morning as part of the operation, which is not immigration related. Sources said the raid center on federal fraud investigations into largely Somali owned businesses including childcare facilities that registered they their daycare with the state but were allegedly billing for care that was not provided. Sources told Fox News that two of the raids were conducted at the Quality Leering center and Baby Halim no child care, both in Minneapolis. Vice President J.D. vance addressed the raid Post on X writing the task force of the DOJ will be relentless in exposing these fraudsters wherever they may be hiding. Governor Tim Waltz, this is, this is you you want to talk about amazing chutzpah.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Said the raids were carried out by federal and state law enforcement after state agencies, quote, caught irregular behavior and reported it. Quote, if you commit Fraud in Minnesota, you're going to get caught. And that's exactly what we saw today. We catch criminals when state and federal agencies share information, joint investigations work and securing justice depends upon it. Now that truly is stunning because Waltz, his entire governorship, has looked the other way on massive fraud, has refused to investigate it, has profited from it, has been elected by it, has, has taken campaign donations from it. The entire Democrat machinery was built on fraud. And now he's taking credit. That really is like the arsonist taking credit when the firefighters turn, turn up and put out the fire.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it really is. And it's all because now he's not running for reelection. Right. So he can just be like, oh, we're rooting out fraud and try to I guess rebuild his legacy so maybe he can have a grand comeback one day. I don't know if that's gonna work. There's one aspect of this though, Senator, that excites me and it's the fact that it's clear this is the beginning, not the end. Based on what was said by the doj, like this is the tip of the iceberg. We're going to the catalyst point and then there's been directives at all states, including Republican led states, to start looking at waste, fraud and abuse. They're looking at California. I think you're going to see more people that are going to be indicted and more places that are going to be rated outside of Minnesota. That is exactly what the American people voted for, which was to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse.

[Ben Ferguson]

That is exactly right. And I will point out also that other blue states are coming. California is coming. I have every reason to expect and indeed I've been told by senior officials in the administration, California is even worse than Minneapolis has been. And I want you also give a listen to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and what she revealed about farm fraud and abuse concerning snap, concerning food stamps. Give a listen to Secretary Rollins.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, this one's amazing. By the way, for context. This is about luxury cars and how many people on food stamps are driving like luxury cars. It's incredible sharing.

[Cancer Survivor Narrator]

Previously no data was shared. We had no idea where the taxpayer dollars were spent, just one red state. The recent dump of data we found SNAP recipients had more than 2,000 Tesla owners, 200 Alpha Romeo owners, more than 144 that were receiving food stamps were driving Porsches. Again, this is the data dumps we're getting because that we before we had no accountability on any of these programs. We now are requiring accountability. The blue states are suing us. They don't want to share the data. And can you imagine this was a red state where there is actually some taxpayer accountability. Imagine what's happening in the blue states, if that's happening in the red states.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, I love that. It's like a bunch of Tesla owners, Alfa Romeo, also Porsches, Mercedes, BMWs. And you're on food stamps. Like these were high end luxury cars, Ben.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's even worse. So let me give some additional breakdown. So there are 306 Land Rovers, cheap by the way. There were 59 Maseratis.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, that's a food stamp car.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know that there were 11 Lamborghinis, there were three Ferraris and there were three Bentleys. These are people getting food stamps driving a quarter million dollar or more like a Lamborghini could be a million dollar car depending on which one they had. Yeah, that is an absolute abuse. And if that happened in just one red state that handed over its data, how much do you think it's happening in Minnesota? How much do you think it's happening in New York? How much do you think it is happening in Illinois? How much you think it's happening in California? The numbers are going to be stunning.

[Ted Cruz]

Every, every time they went after and got somebody there for fraud recently, what were they doing? You saw them putting in a six figure car that was being seized and, and in some of the cases there was like multiple six figure cars that were being seized center and put on flatbeds. Like yeah, they finally raid the house of this fraudster and look at what they had. Like if you're on food stamps and you're driving a Lambo or a Ferrari or a Maserati, like you are defrauding the US government, full stop.

[Ben Ferguson]

Amen. Hallelujah. And listen, I'm very glad the Trump administration is, is, is having some accountability. Let me read from what the New York Post wrote about this, this story about Ferrari drivers on food stamps. So it's entitled Ferrari Drivers on Food Stamps. How States Help Scam Scammers Gain Welfare. New York Post. What do a university professor, a celebrity barber and a professional football player have in common? All three bought new six figure luxury sports cars and lived lavish lifestyles while collecting food stamps. How on earth can these quote, welfare recipients purchase high end vehicles while remaining on the dole? Thanks to a federal loophole known as broad based categorical eligibility. The Clinton administration manufactured this loophole and the Obama administration supercharged it. Currently 43 states and Washington D.C. use broad based categorical eligibility to bypass federal supplemental Nutrition assistance program, eligibility limits on income, assets, or both. The mechanism, based on a federal law that was meant to minimize states administrative cost, is simple. State welfare agencies print up a brochure about welfare programs or set up an informal hotline and deem it a quote benefit under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Anyone who touches that pamphlet, touches or receives the phone number, is then treated as as being quote, categorically eligible for food stamps. Even millionaires. It's fraud by design that distributes benefits intended for the truly needy to otherwise ineligible individuals under the insidious goal of maximizing enrollment and dependency. And it works in almost every state. Researchers from the foundation for Government Accountability examined de identified data on food stamp enrollment. And in a single representative state, the data set matched recipients with jobs, addresses, car registrations and more. And then. Then they redacted the personal details before the researchers reviewed. That's what produced these outcomes. And by the way, it also Thousands use Social Security numbers that federal databases could not verify that included real numbers with mismatched names and birthdays, numbers issued years before the applicant's date of birth, numbers of people who died years ago, and numbers that don't even exist. All are clear that both stolen identities and synthetic identities are being used to defraud the system. The BBC loophole doesn't just expand enrollments, it creates the condition for outright criminals to flourish. When state agencies eliminate asset checks, they tear out the trip wires that cost fraudulent applications. This is so a case in point. The wealthy professor, barber and professional athlete that FGA researchers spotted could be victims of identity fraud. Because SNAP intentionally allows anything to serve as proof of identity, even a library card. If states were cross checking income and assets, those cases would be flagged as potential fraud. Thousands more. Here's something else. Thousands more food stamp recipients in the study enrolled using IP addresses traced to foreign countries, including China, Mexico and Canada. More than 5,000 applicants in this state used foreign based email addresses to apply and countless others used disposable emails, the kind designed for identity theft and phishing. Look, the USDA puts improper food stamp payments at $10.4 billion a year with a B. That's more than one in every ten dollars spent on the program. And so now we're going after that fraud. And I'm here to say yes, this is what I voted for. Holding the criminals accountable. And by the way, holding the Democrats accountable who have enabled this theft of taxpayer fraud. You want to know what the Democrats stand for? They stand for Somali fraudsters stealing your tax money and sending it to Al Shabaab, Islamist terrorists in Somalia. They stand for thieves driving Bentleys and Lamborghinis and Ferraris who say they need food stamps and stealing your money. That is if the and by the way, look, sometimes Heidi will say, gosh, you know, that rhetoric sounds really harsh. Well, Ben, if the Democrats don't stand for that, then I just want to ask you a question. Why wouldn't Democrat governors do what the Trump administration has done? Why wouldn't they go after and cut them off? And they don't do it because ideologically they are in favor of it. If they just said, I mean, is there one Democrat in the country will say, all right, we're going to have a rule. Nobody on food stamps can have a Ferrari. Like if you have a Ferrari, sell

[Ted Cruz]

your damn food stamps.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, and buy your food with that money you get for selling your car. But you don't get if you got the money for a Ferrari, we ain't paying for your food. I gotta say, that sounds like common sense. And there's not a single Democrat governor in the country that's saying that.

[Ted Cruz]

Amen to that. Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Hit that subscribe or Auto Download button. Please share this podcast with your family and friends. Share it on your social media pages wherever you are on social media and the Senator, I will see you back here on Friday morning as before. If you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.

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[Martha Stewart]

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[Compassion International Narrator]

I want you to pause what you're doing for just one minute to hear about Alejandra. She lives in a remote community with very few resources and little to no health care. So when Alejandra got sick, her parents had no real options. No doctors in the community and no money for real medical care. By the third day, her body was shutting down. She woke up just long enough to tell her mom, I can't take the pain anymore. I can't keep going. Her parents drove hours to find doctors who tried everything, but she needed a private hospital and that was impossible for her family to afford. That's when Compassion International stepped in. Through Compassion, Alejandro was treated and against all odds, she survived. She lived because someone took action. Right now, there are children like her who won't survive unless someone steps in. Someone like you. Compassion International partners with local churches providing children with the support they need. Critical medical care plus food, education and and the hope of the Gospel, all in Jesus name. Help a child like alejandra today. Visit compassion.com that's compassion.com I want to

[Ted Cruz]

get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed, Senator. This might be one of the most entertaining stories that I've seen in a long time. If you want to know how bigoted the Democratic Party is, look no further than how they treat homeless people. They've got a scoring mechanism now. You get bonus points for certain things while being homeless in America and then you get services AKA rewarded based on your race and your sexual identity. Now this is like English as a second language gets you two points. So just think of that as a jumper. If you're pregnant, that's a three pointer. We give you more points if you're pregnant. If you're a child under 5, you get 3 points. If you're a child under 18, you only get 1 point. So in other words, and if you're head of household and you're under 18, we give you bonus points, two points for that. There's an actual quota list of points you receive depending on how you describe yourself. And if you say that you know you're gay or lesbian or transgender, that's bonus points as well.

[Ben Ferguson]

So look, we talked a minute ago about the, the hierarchy of victim groups. In the Democrat party, it's a notion that's called intersectionality. And in the Democrat party, being LGBT or being a racial minority is, is more privileged than simply being poor and being homeless. And let's talk, we're going to talk about Portland, Oregon, because Portland, Oregon is almost like a deranged faculty lounge experiment gone awry. Yeah. I'm going to read from an article in ProPublica. To be clear, ProPublica is not a right wing outlet. It is a left wing outlet. But, but here's what they described, quote. As the city of Portland, Oregon clawed its way out of the pandemic, it faced a new set of crises. The city's homeless population was growing. Tents lined some city blocks. High powered business associations held press conferences demanding the city remove homeless people and touted self funded survey saying that without action, businesses and residents would flee the city. By late spring 2021, the city committed to a new strategy that then mayor Ted Wheeler said would, quote, reprioritize public health and safety among homeless Portlanders, ultimately allocating $1.3 billion by the end of 2024. Now let's see what the results were. Although the city spent roughly $200,000 per homeless resident, now let's stop and think 200 grand per homeless resident. You could house them and feed them. 200 grand is a lot of money. That's what they spent. What do you think it did? What do you think? Massively spending and saying we're prioritizing the safety of homeless people. What do you think it produced?

[Ted Cruz]

I'm going to guess close to nothing. Because it's a government program and liberals are in charge.

[Ben Ferguson]

Sorry, call me a cynic, you're not cynical enough. Nothing would be better. Close to nothing would be better. The death rate among homeless people in Portland, quadrupled went up 400%. The death rate went up from 113 in 2019 to more than 450 in 2023. So when liberals say we are going to focus on the homeless, if you're homeless, God help you, because at least in, in Portland, what that meant was the death rate quadrupled. Now, they also put in place, as you referenced, an elaborate point system.

[Ted Cruz]

I, I mean, and this is not a joke. Like, it's literally. And they even tell you, like, hey, you can't get double points if you get points in one category compared to another category. So if you're pregnant and under 18, that's bonus points, but only if you haven't already gotten points for being pregnant on another, another piece of paper for another point system. And I, it's just, it's unbelievable how well organized it is.

[Ben Ferguson]

So look, and, and, and I'll say actually pregnant makes some sense. Prioritizing pregnant women, that, that, that has a reasonable basis. You are more vulnerable. Uh, but English as a second language, that was worth two points. Uh, head of a household under 18, that was worth two points. Interest in LGBTQ services, that was worth one point.

[Ted Cruz]

Uh, just interest. So just make sure you say, I, I, I, I think I've thought about being gay or transgendered or a lesbian. And then you get one bonus point.

[Ben Ferguson]

So total disabilities impacting entire household, ability to secure housing. I don't even know what that means, but it's worth three points.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, there you go.

[Ben Ferguson]

Interest in culturally specific services, that's two points. Again, I don't know.

[Ted Cruz]

By the way, comparing that, just so you understand how woke this is, if you are over the age of 55, 55 plus, which is a higher vulnerable category, I think we can all agree on that. For homelessness, you get two points. For that, you get the same number of points. If you're interested in culturally specific services, you can just catch up to somebody that's 55, 60, 70, 70, 80. 85, 90 years old.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. And also worth two points as being a domestic violence survivor. Now, now that actually is rational and makes sense that you would prioritize domestic violence survivors. But in the Portland world, interest in a culturally specific service is equally prioritized to being a domestic violence server survivor. Now, how about this? What do you think being poor is like? Like having, let's say, something crazy, zero income. Like, if you're trying to help homeless people having zero income, you, you would

[Ted Cruz]

think that would be one of the top scoring things on a sheet because that would get you, obviously, to be homeless. So you would think, like, that would be worth something, right? Guess what?

[Ben Ferguson]

One point.

[Ted Cruz]

It's not one point.

[Ben Ferguson]

One point. One point.

[Ted Cruz]

And if you're homeless for a year or more, you only get one point. But if you are currently homeless, this is what's weird. Currently homeless gets you two points. Wouldn't that also mean you get one point for being homeless for like, 12 months or more or no income? I. I don't know. Like, this is DEI on a whole nother level of stupid.

[Ben Ferguson]

Look, look, here's what they said they've done. So. So Multnomah County, Oregon, which is home of deep blue Portland, where deaths of homeless people quadrupled between 2019 and 2023. The county screening tool for housing services is designed. And this is a quote from the county to, quote, prioritize BIPOC households. LGBTQIA2s plus.

[Ted Cruz]

Yep.

[Ben Ferguson]

And people with disability.

[Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

Again, this is not. They're spending 200 grand per homeless person.

[Ted Cruz]

With 200 grand, you can buy somebody a house.

[Ben Ferguson]

You could buy someone a house. Yeah, but. But you can pay. Would make too much sense. You could pay rent for a long time. You could get someone a hotel room. You could feed them. You could get the medical care. And yet the death rate quadrupled because they were more interested in LGBTQ elementop. Like. Like the number of letters there. I. I can't even. It reminds me of that crazy Canadian who got up and gave this incredibly long stream that. That I'm pretty sure was her wi fi password. But they're more interested in their woke policies than they are actually in helping someone who needs help. And. And that's tragic.

[Ted Cruz]

Mentioned 200,000 a person. Just to put it in perspective, with everything we know, you got to ask yourself the question, how much fraud's involved here?

[Ben Ferguson]

Massive. Massive.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it's hard to spend that much money. 200,000. It's going to be interesting to watch.

[Ben Ferguson]

See where somebody's driving a Ferrari. Somebody's driving a Lamborghini.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, there's. Yeah, you're absolutely right about that one. Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Hit that subscribe auto download button. You've been listening to Verdict with Ted Cruz. We will see you on the podcast this week and back on this radio station next week in. As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Don't forget to download my podcast, and you can listen to my podcast every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict Afterwards. I'd love to have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here on Monday morning.

[Martha Stewart]

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The wait is almost over. Get ready for the NFL season with the highly anticipated 2026 NFL schedule release. Every rivalry, every rematch and every rookie debut with matchups locked and kickoffs confirmed. Be there for every can't miss moment. The full NFL schedule release coming in May. Get all the [e-mail] ScheduleRelease.

[Cancer Survivor Narrator]

I need to be healthy every day to survive it and go to the

[Compassion International Narrator]

next chemo round and the next chemo round.

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So it's important that work was part of that to keep my mind busy

[Ted Cruz]

for 8, 9 hours and then I

[Compassion International Narrator]

had to go back and face the reality. I had a goal and the goal is to survive.

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