Funniest part is this loser is losing his house seat as a direct result of the Trumpster Fire stealing 5 seats in Texas forcing California voters to overwhelmingly vote to support redistricting that will temporily eliminate 5 Republican congessional seats to defend our country from brain dead fascists like the hateful OP. As for fraud, with Republicans, every accusation is a confession and the level of ill-gotten Covid payments from the GOP nationwide pales in comparison to what Kiley is misrepresenting. Specific to Kiley's speech here 5 things he failed to get right: 1. The “$32 Billion” Figure Isn’t a Secret Theft or Political Scandal — It’s a Policy & Administrative Challenge The oft-cited **$32 billion number comes from estimates of improper payments and potential fraud across pandemic unemployment programs — and it reflects the complexity of emergency federal programs, not a deliberate looting of taxpayer dollars. Estimates of fraud/improper payments varied widely, and the exact figure is not crystal clear — even state audits describe a range from $20 billion to $32 billion rather than a precise, confirmed loss. Many unpaid claims, backlogged reviews, and unresolved cases make exact accounting difficult. This means Republicans are turning a technical audit estimate into a political boogeyman rather than dealing with what actually happened in a fast-moving pandemic environment. 2. This Was a National Issue — Not a California-Only Drama Republicans often act as if California was uniquely incompetent. In truth, unemployment insurance fraud and improper payments skyrocketed nationwide because: States were wrestling with brand-new federal programs under the CARES Act. Emergency authorizations expanded eligibility in ways that opened doors for fraud everywhere, not just here. Federal guidance was at times unclear or lagging, leaving states to improvise under pressure. Numerous states faced similar challenges; California’s EDD was one of the largest because its system is one of the largest. Pointing fingers at Newsom ignores the broader context of federal emergency response design and shared failures across the country. 3. Republican Claims Misinterpret What the Auditor Actually Found Kiley and GOP outlets often say the state “lost track of billions” or that it “allowed criminals to get free money.” But the California State Auditor and other reports do not conclude that leadership intentionally enabled fraud or that the money is definitively unaccounted for. Instead: The Auditor found system vulnerabilities and delays in deploying fraud detection tools, not a deliberate theft of public funds. A big part of the problem was outdated systems and a sudden surge of online claims that overwhelmed the department. Even the auditor’s own findings note that final numbers are uncertain — and that fraud estimates are estimates, not audits with exact figures. This undermines the Republicans’ framing of it as a singular scandal. 4. California Has Been Working to Strengthen Oversight and Recovery Democrats can defend by highlighting remediation efforts and accountability: EDD increased staffing, fraud detection capabilities, and data-matching tools to prevent future abuses. Law enforcement and district attorneys have prosecuted hundreds of fraud cases and recovered billions in illicit payments. California continues to pursue recovery of improper payments and strengthen oversight frameworks. Rather than portraying the issue as unchecked corruption, the story is: this was a failure of systems under extreme stress, and California is fixing it. 5. The GOP Narrative Ignores the Human Toll and the Core Purpose of the Program Kiley’s talking points focus on big numbers and political theater, but they sideline what unemployment insurance actually did during the pandemic: This was meant to be a lifeline for workers suddenly laid off by government-mandated shutdowns, not a gravy train. Millions of Californians didn’t get what they were due on time, and many still struggle with backlogs and appeals. Emphasizing big dollar figures without recognizing real people who needed help is politically cynical. Democrats can turn the debate by framing the issue in terms of policy design, urgency, and public service, instead of feeding into a culture-war narrative about corruption.
San Francisco is in mourning. Bobbie Weir died. Regardless, you need to wear flowers in your hair. kris
