Obama Picks OMB Chief to Run Embattled IRS
President Obama picked a senior White House budget expert Thursday to become the acting head of the IRS, the same day another top official announced plans to leave the agency.
tea Party
IRS Official Resigns, But Investigations Won't End
The acting commissioner for the IRS, Steven Miller, has resigned, but don't look for the outcry over the agency's improper targeting of tea party groups to subside.
IRS Says It's Sorry for Targeting Conservative Groups
The IRS is apologizing for inappropriately flagging conservative political groups for reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.
House Budget Plan Includes Sharp Cuts to Programs for Poor
A familiar budget plan to sharply cut safety-net programs for the poor and clamp down on domestic agencies is cruising to passage in the tea party-flavored House.
Sequestration Cuts? Not In My Backyard, Insist Legislators
Is this how we save the federal budget? Sequestration cuts are starting to hit home ... and legislators are starting to complain.
What's Next for Obamacare Foes Now That Rick Scott Has Caved
On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, one of the most outspoken critics of President Obama's Affordable Care Act -- and the Medicaid expansion it carries with it -- announced that Florida will accept the federal windfall that the program will bring.
Obama's SOTU Economic Pitch: This Time, It's Personal
In Tuesday's State of the Union address, President Obama turned that old feminist rallying cry that "the personal is political" on its ear with a long list of proposals that argued that the personal is economic -- and the economic is political.
Night of the Living Debt Ceiling: The Fiscal Horror That Is to Come
Last week's fiscal cliff deal did much to resolve the dark specter of economic uncertainty in America. However, it was only the first of three fiscal crises set to hit before March. Next on deck, another sequestration battle; and then the biggie: "Debt Ceiling 2: The Tea Party Strikes Back."
Did Tea Party's Top Campaign Donors Tax Themselves?
Tea Party mega-donors poured hundreds of millions into the 2012 election, and one of their key goals was to keep taxes low for the rich. Had Romney won, their investments could have paid off mightily. Here's a look at how what they donated compares with what they'd have saved under Romney.
American Spirits: Mike Rowe Pours a Shot of Alcoholic Economic History
In How Booze Built America, Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs mixes little-known history with economic analysis, puns and many tasty beverages to explain how the American story is really the tale of one nation's love affair with alcohol. Here are a few of Rowe's favorite high points.
Fiscal Cliff Ahead: The Party's Over for the Payroll Tax Holiday
When pundits talk about the fiscal cliff, they7 usually focus on the damage that'll be caused by the expiring Bush tax cuts and the across-the-board budget cuts. But what you'll probably feel first will be the end of the payroll tax holiday, which will take an instant bite out of your paycheck.
Paul Ryan's Budget vs. President Obama's: How They Differ
Even before Mitt Romney picked him as his running mate, Paul Ryan was a Tea Party star, a fiscal-policy super-wonk and author of the GOP House's budget proposal. Here's a look at some of the ways Ryan's fiscal ideas contrast with President Obama's:
How Conservatives Are Making Life Harder for U.S. Businesses
Republicans tout themselves as friends of business. Yet when it comes to many of industry's top priorities, the GOP's tea party lawmakers and far-right lobbying groups are putting roadblocks in the way of legislation that U.S. businesses really want to see passed.
Occupy the IRS? TaxKilla Shows You How to Bend the Tax Code
Every April, resistance to taxes becomes a national hobby. The rebellious souls at taxKilla.org take that resistance to the extreme by encouraging the broad use of tax loopholes and iffy methods to reduce what you pay to the IRS. But there's nothing illegal about it.
Before You Cheer IRS Budget Cuts, Consider This
Nobody enjoys paying taxes, so hearing that Congress is cutting the IRS budget might inspire you to applaud. But this is the agency that makes sure the rest of government gets funded, and stops the unscrupulous from dodging their fair share of the burden.