When our Founding Fathers gave us the Constitution, they expected government to be limited, honest, and accountable to the people. Today, we are seeing the opposite. In Oregon, state officials have used taxpayer money—yours and mine—for shocking purposes. Strip clubs, sex change surgeries for minors, and even housing for violent criminals have all been funded through Medicaid. This is not just wasteful. It’s a betrayal of public trust.
Oregon state Rep. Dwayne Yunker, a Republican lawmaker in a mostly Democrat-controlled state, recently uncovered some disturbing facts. His investigation revealed that an adult day care program used Medicaid dollars to take developmentally disabled people to a strip club. That’s right—federal health care money meant to help the poor and disabled was instead used for something completely inappropriate.
When Yunker raised concerns, the Oregon Department of Human Services actually said that denying such outings could risk losing federal Medicaid funding. They pointed to a federal rule that says people with disabilities should be integrated into the community. But let’s be honest—community integration should mean taking someone to the park, the library, or a museum, not to a bar or a strip club.
This kind of spending is not only wrong, it’s unconstitutional. The federal government was never meant to control every corner of our lives. Medicaid was created to help people with real medical needs. It was not designed to fund social experiments or cover illegal immigrants, who, by law, should not even be receiving these benefits.
And this isn’t the only abuse Yunker found. He also discovered that Oregon paid $2.3 million to a group that housed a Venezuelan gang member now charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. On top of that, Medicaid money has been used to pay for so-called “sex change” operations for minors—children who are not even old enough to vote, but who are being pushed into life-altering surgeries with our tax dollars.
Thankfully, Rep. Yunker didn’t stay quiet. He took his findings to Washington, D.C., where he met with officials from the Trump administration and members of Congress. He supports the administration’s efforts to reform Medicaid through the One Big Beautiful Bill. This bill includes common-sense ideas like requiring able-bodied adults to work in order to receive benefits. That’s not cruel—it’s fair. It encourages independence, not dependency.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have since responded, saying that no rule requires funding for strip club visits. That’s good news. But the fact that such abuse happened in the first place shows how broken the system really is.
As Tony Woodlief from the State Policy Network said, Americans are too often misled about what federal laws actually require. Bureaucrats hide behind confusing rules and use them as excuses to push their own agendas. This is why we need lawmakers like Yunker—people who ask hard questions and demand accountability.
We also need to remember that Oregon has gone even further off course. In 2023, the state began giving full Medicaid benefits to people regardless of immigration status. That means illegal immigrants are receiving taxpayer-funded health care while American citizens are left to suffer under a failed system.
Oregon’s Democrat governor, Tina Kotek, has criticized the Trump administration’s Medicaid reforms. She claims they will make people “sicker, hungrier, and less prosperous.” But the truth is, the real harm comes from waste, fraud, and misplaced priorities. As Yunker said, “The real hardship is what my constituents endure under Oregon’s broken Medicaid program.”
This is about more than just Oregon. It’s about the soul of our nation. Are we going to allow unelected officials to misuse our tax dollars? Or will we return to the principles of limited government, personal responsibility, and the rule of law?
The choice is ours. Let us follow the Constitution and demand that every dollar spent serves its true purpose—helping those truly in need, not funding political experiments and moral confusion. Rep. Yunker has shown us the way. Now it’s time for the rest of America to follow.
