GOP Rep: House 'Will Do Better Job' On Immigration

On a conference call with reporters Tuesday, TX Rep. Lamar Smith said the House will take a more deliberate, thoughtful approach to immigration than the Senate. Smith predicted that the House would consider different elements of immigration in separate pieces of legislation, as opposed to one comprehensive bill. Asked if this approach would slow down the process, Smith answered, "I'd rather be slow if that gets it right." 21 May 2013, 12:51 PM PDT

McCain Finds Paul's Defense of Apple 'Offensive'

On Tuesday, KY Sen. Rand Paul launched a spirited defense of Apple, whose tax strategies were subject to a hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "I frankly think the committee should apologize to Apple," Paul said. Paul went on to accuse the committee of "bullying" one of America's greatest companies, prompting Sen. John McCain to quickly defend the inquiry and say that Paul's remarks were "frankly, offensive." 21 May 2013, 12:30 PM PDT

David Frum, Tea Party Unite Against Senate Amnesty Bill

On Monday, a broad cross-section of the conservative movement released a joint letter opposing the Gang of 8 Amnesty bill in the Senate. Signers included well-known talk radio hosts, prominent individual activists, tea party and family organizations from across the country. The breadth of the growing opposition to the Senate bill is evidenced by one signature, David Frum of Frum Forum. 21 May 2013, 9:36 AM PDT

Miller: IRS Didn't Have Time to Prepare Testimony

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee convened a hearing examining the circumstances of the IRS targeting of tea party and conservatives organizations. Appearing before the committee, Acting Commissioner Steven Miller began his remarks noting the IRS hadn't had time to prepare written testimony. He opened his remarks before the House Ways and Means Committee the same way on Friday. 21 May 2013, 8:04 AM PDT

Top Dem Demands Detailed Answers on IRS Scandal

On Monday, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) sent a letter to the IRS requesting detailed information about the origins of the IRS scandal. Baucus' committee will convene a hearing on Tuesday, to being the Senate's examination of the IRS targeting of tea party and conservative organizations. Monday's letter details 41 specific questions about the scandal for the agency. The Senators have given the IRS until the end of May to comply. 20 May 2013

Scandal Fallout Scuttles Democrat Dreams of Majority

The idea that Nancy Pelosi would again become Speaker after the 2014 elections was always something of a Democrat fantasy. It may be a good story to get a lefty to sleep at night, but it wasn't likely to happen. In the last 100 years, only once has a President's party picked up seats in the sixth year of a term. Redistricting in 2011 as put many of the seats the Democrats need out of reach. Whatever confluence of events Democrats envisioned would allow them to retake the House have been swept aside by the IRS scandal. The Democrats best hope now is that they don't lose additional seats. 20 May 2013

WH Counsel Withheld IRS Scandal from Obama

We're being asked to believe a lot of incredible things in the wake of the IRS scandal. Low-level bureaucrats somewhere in Ohio decided, without any political motivation, to target groups with "tea party." These bureaucrats simply rewrote agency policy with no direction from superiors. No senior IRS officials were aware of this, despite repeated questions from Congress about the alleged targeting. Oh, and we now learn that the White House counsel found out about this at the end of April and withheld the information from the President. 20 May 2013

VA Gov: Cuccinelli Makes Clear Case Against McAuliffe

On Saturday, VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli formally accepted the GOP nomination for Governor at the party convention in Richmond. Cuccinelli will face Democrat fundraiser Terry McAuliffe in the November election, the premier political contest of 2013. In a speech to convention delegates, Cuccinelli made it clear that voters face a clear choice in the election. 18 May 2013

Applications for Tax-Exempt Status Were Down When IRS Began Targeting Tea Party

In House testimony Friday, former Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller explained that the IRS mistakes in handling applications for non-profit status from tea party groups were due, in large part, to a flood of applications following the Citizens United decision. Miller said the targeting was a botched attempt to centralize the process to account for the increased workload. There were fewer applications in 2010, when the IRS began targeting conservative groups, than the year before, however. 17 May 2013

Baucus: 'A Lot More Coming Out' on IRS Scandal

Sen. Max Baucus, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee said on Friday that he expects "a lot more" information about the growing political scandal at the IRS to come out over the coming days. The powerful Democrat, who is retiring at the end of next year, is holding a hearing on the scandal on Tuesday. Baucus warns that the crisis at the IRS is "broader than the current focus." 17 May 2013