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4 Takeaways from the IRS Inspector General's Report

May 15, 2013 The IRS is about to become Washington’s favorite political target as hearings get under way about its targeting of conservative non-profit groups. With the White House and lawmakers expressing outrage, a key report from the agency’s inspector general paints an unflattering view of the goings-on within the IRS. The report’s ...

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A Guide to the IRS Scandal—What Happened and When Did It Happen?

May 14, 2013 Revelations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups have put the Obama White House on the defensive and are raising serious questions about what officials knew, and when they knew it. Among the new details that have come out: At least one official at the IRS knew in 2011 ...

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5 Reasons Not To Take Joe Biden's Presidential Ambitions Seriously

May 3, 2013 There’s nothing like a trip to South Carolina to fuel a conversation about political ambitions. Vice President Joe Biden, who’ll speak at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner for Palmetto State Democrats tonight, earned a battery of such coverage. An influential vice president who has brokered budget deals in Congress and shepherded high-visibility ...

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Virginia Governor's Race Overshadowed by Scandal

April 30, 2013 Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli are locked in a tight race in the off-year gubernatorial contest to succeed Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell in Virginia. The campaign is expected to be filled with negative attacks, as McAuliffe and Cuccinelli jab each other over their close, personal connections with a ...

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Why Isn't Joe Biden Giving Back Some of His Salary?

April 5, 2013 President Obama did it. So did Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Attorney General Eric Holder. Some members of Congress have offered to do it, too. But, setting up an awkward dynamic in the White House, there’s one high-profile Cabinet member who ...

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Analysis: Obama's Political Gamble on Sequestration

February 28, 2013 President Obama stood in front of a giant five-blade propeller at a Newport News, Va., shipbuilding plant on Tuesday, warning the public about the dire “meat-cleaver approach” that automatic budget cuts will have on the economy. It was the third time this month the president took his case on sequestration ...

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Deficit Reduction Among Top Priorities for Political Insiders

February 8, 2013 On a National Journal poll of political insiders, deficit reduction ranked among the top priorities for Democrats, tying with tax reform in popularity. Republicans rated it as even more pressing. What two issues should be the top priorities for your party this year? DEMOCRATS (107 VOTES) Deficit reduction: 21% Energy: ...

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New Poll Shows Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio More Popular Than Obama

February 8, 2013 President Barack Obama's second term just got under way, but it's outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is far more popular, according to a new Quinnipiac poll testing politicians' favorability ratings. Need evidence that House Republicans are unpopular? House Speaker John Boehner sits at the bottom of the list, ...

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Utah conservative: GOP should 'end slavery from the federal government'

January 28, 2013 Mia Love, the Republican mayor of Sarasota Springs, Utah, wowed conservatives in Tampa at the Republican National Convention this summer. After a failed fall campaign that resulted in losing a congressional race to Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, she's again making an appeal to conservatives. "I will stay -- I don't ...

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Chris Christie Reality Check

January 7, 2013 Last week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie very publicly scolded House Speaker John Boehner for not bringing superstorm Sandy relief legislation to the floor for a vote. Christie, who aggressively pushed for spending cuts and pension reforms during his first year in office, unambiguously criticized his GOP colleagues for not ...