"Unemployment fraud exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Labor Department Inspector General's semiannual report to Congress.

"Approximately $872 billion in federal funding was allocated to unemployment benefits in the last year, and at least 10% was estimated to be paid 'improperly, with a significant portion attributable to fraud.'

"This means that at least $87 billion was lost to fraud, the report said. By contrast, $27.3 billion in total unemployment insurance benefits were paid in 2019, according to the Labor Department.

"The major increase in fraud is labeled a 'significant' concern by the inspector general."

Read the entire article here.

"If you're still wondering why raising the cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction was important enough to Democrats to sacrifice their stated principles and resort to brazen gimmicks in order to fit it into the reconciliation bill, look no further than the latest release of the IRS's tax migration data, covering tax years 2018-2019.

"The data shows that certain states continue to alienate their own tax bases with punitively high taxes and uncompetitive business tax environments. High-tax states are losing taxpayers at an alarming rate, while states that tax their residents less aggressively are benefiting from their fellow states' loss.

"The five states that lost the most taxpayers are not exactly known for fiscal restraint. New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts lost, on net, 219,937 taxpayers and over $28 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI). On average, these states have a state-local effective tax rate of 11.8 percent.

"The five states that gained the most taxpayers, on the other hand, are all low-tax states -- in fact, three of the five have no state income tax. Florida, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, and Washington state gained, on net, 194,340 taxpayers and $28.9 billion in AGI, all while averaging a state-local effective tax rate of just 8.96 percent. Unsurprisingly, Florida is the big winner here, adding $17.5 billion in AGI to its tax base alone."

Read the entire article here.

"Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged Tuesday that he now expects high inflation to continue into the middle of 2022, stating that the government should no longer push what had been a recurring slogan of it being 'transitory.'

"During a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Powell noted that when the Fed says 'transitory,' they do not mean it as just referring to how long inflation will last, as the average person might expect. Still, he said it is time to stop using the word.

"'So I think the word transitory has different meanings to different people,' Powell told Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. 'To many, it carries a time, a sense of short-lived. We tend to use it to mean that it won't leave a permanent mark in the form of higher inflation. I think it's probably a good time to retire that word and try to explain more clearly what we mean.'"

"As illegal migrants continue to stream across America's southern border in record numbers, the Biden administration has announced Trump-style travel bans affecting eight southern African nations. The administration also instituted a vaccine mandate for essential travelers legally crossing the border -- including truck drivers, emergency response workers and government officials.

"These new measures, allegedly designed to protect Americans from the spread of the emerging COVID-19 omicron variant, are little more than political theater. Under current Biden administration policies, migrants detained at the southern border are only being tested for COVID if they exhibit symptoms. There is no vaccine requirement for them.

"That means hundreds of thousands of people are flooding into the country illegally while truck drivers are prohibited from doing their jobs unless they are vaccinated. At a time when a shortage of drivers is hobbling already crippled supply chains, Biden's new regulations have a huge down side with very little up side."

"In the beginning, Build Back Better wasn't just the most expensive piece of legislation ever. The multitrillion-dollar price tag was a bargain because the bill would totally transform America, President Biden claimed.

"Whatever the problem, from jobs to climate change to child care, BBB was the solution.

"When came inflation, with the White House hiding behind the fictions that rising costs were overstated and transitory. When the price of everyday consumer items jumped, a slimmed-down Build Back Better was drafted for a new assignment: Suddenly it was the cure for inflation, the president insisted.

"Comes now a new COVID variant that is shaking health officials and global markets. How long until the White House claims BBB is key to surviving a new round of social and economic disruptions?

"The ever-shifting rationale and price tag behind Biden's signature legislation is an apt metaphor for the confusing incoherence of his presidency. As Winston Churchill said in a different context, 'This pudding has no theme.'"

"Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!"

"A coalition of financial officers from 15 states sent a letter to the U.S. banking industry on Monday warning they plan to take 'collective action' against banks that adopt corporate policies to cut off financing for the coal, oil, and natural gas industries.

"The group threatens to scrutinize or potentially curtail future business with banks that adopt an 'economic boycott' of those industries in a letter obtained exclusively by National Review.

'"Just as each state represented in this letter is unique in its governing laws and economy, our actions will take different froms,' writes the group, led by West Virginia treasurer Riley Moore. 'However, the overarching objective of our actions will be the same -- to protect our states' economies, jobs, and energy independence from these unwarranted attacks on our critical industries.'

"The group of state treasurers, auditors and comptrollers from West Virginia, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, Alabama, Texas and Kentucky say they have a 'compelling government interest' to eleven major financial institutions that 'are not engaged in tactics to harm the very people whose money they are handling." ...

"The letter puts the financial institutions that have 'adopted policies aimed at diminishing a large portion of our states'  revenue' on notice, saying the banks have 'a major conflict of interest against holding, maintaining, or managing those funds.'

"'This is not really a boycott,' Moore told National Review. 'I'm a market participant and I'm exercising my preference not to work with these banks.'"

Read the entire article here.

"Build Back Better's taxes, direct and indirect, would mean a world of hurt for American families.

Yes, President Joe Biden's plan socks the rich, with hikes of more than half a million bucks, on average, for the top 0.1 percent. But it also hits as many as 30 percent of the rest of us, too, according to the Tax Policy Center. Those bump-ups might be fairly small next year, but after that, the expanded child tax credit (up to $3,600 per child) expires, meaning many low- and middle-class families would see their bottom-line tax bill go up even more.

The bill will also slam the majority of the nation's 30 million small businesses by applying the 3.8 percent net investment income tax to active business income for pass-through firms. Those moms and pops will certainly feel the pinch -- but so will their customers, when they pass along the upcharge in the form of higher prices. Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee say Build Back Better will squeeze more than $400 billion in new taxes from small businesses."

Read the entire article here.

"Worth noting, the Dems' BBB plan frontloads all of the spending in the first five years, adding $791 billion to the deficit from 2022-2026. Only in the 'out years' does the CBO project it will rein that back to just $367 billion."

"President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) was arrested for allegedly shoplifting merchandise at a TJ Maxx, according to a police report.

"Cornell Law School professor Saule Omarova, who Biden picked to head the OCC in September, was arrested in 1995 for an alleged retail theft of $214 in TJ Maxx merchandise, according to police records posted by the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative watchdog group. Her arrest had previously been reported by Fox News, but the police report offers new details on the incident. ...

"Omarova allegedly stole several bottles of cologne, along with shoes, belts, and socks from a Wisconsin TJ Maxx, according to the police report. She reportedly placed the items in her bag and covered them with clothes before exiting the store, at which point she was confronted by a TJ Maxx security guard."