HotAir Daily Express 05/23/2013

What did Ruemmler know, and when did she know it? 5/23/2013 10:01:02 AM  Ed Morrissey 11 Comments Two weeks ago, no one had heard of the IRS targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. A week ago, no one in the White House knew anything about it.  My, how things change when the pressure is on.  After finally admitting that White House More... Insurers pressured by Sebelius to fund WH-related Enroll America 5/23/2013 9:21:56 AM  Ed Morrissey 39 Comments At any other time in Barack Obama’s time as President, this might have qualified as a top priority for a Congressional probe.  As it is, Kathleen Sebelius’ attempt to pressure insurers to fund a White House-linked organization as a means to More... Pickering, Issa reach agreement on testimony 5/23/2013 8:41:13 AM  Ed Morrissey 46 Comments Since the appearance of three State Department whistleblowers, House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa and former Ambassador Thomas Pickering have engaged in a public war of words over the investigation into Benghazi.  Issa wanted Pickering and Admiral Mike More... IRS audited 69% of filers claiming adoption tax credit 5/23/2013 8:01:37 AM  Ed Morrissey 69 Comments Mary Katharine linked this yesterday in her post on Rep. Stephen Lynch’s unmistakable anger over the corruption at the IRS, but it’s worth a long look on its own, too.  National Review’s David French, an adoptive father himself (as am More... Did Obama Break His Oath of Office? President Obama just allowed 13 new tax increases which will further slow the economy, damage the stock market and make it even harder on the 12 million Americans already looking for work.  Should he now face impeachment? Click here to vote. Quotes of the day 5/22/2013 10:41:39 PM  Allahpundit 292 Comments Like most journalists, I find it disturbing that the Justice Department went fishing for sources in the phone records of the Associated Press without giving the news organization a chance to take the matter to a judge. We can now add to that the More... It’s come to this: Venezuela approves funds to relieve the toilet-paper shortage 5/22/2013 10:01:25 PM  Erika Johnsen 35 Comments After longtime Chavismo-strongman Hugo Chavez’s death earlier this year, his lieutenant Nicolas Maduro “won” the snap election for a replacement president — except that the opposition party headed by challenger Henry Capriles More... Video: Dem Congressman rips IRS for abuses, threatens bringing in special prosecutor 5/22/2013 9:21:01 PM  Mary Katharine Ham 35 Comments Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts came down on the IRS’ witnesses admirably today, knocking them for abuses of freedom of speech and breaches of trust by comparing them to those routinely employed in Communist, repressive regimes. In his More... Sebelius touts ObamaCare as a boon to graduates instead of the war on the young it actually is 5/22/2013 8:41:05 PM  Erika Johnsen 36 Comments I know that this isn’t a new line for them or anything, but their continued insistence on deceiving the (largely unemployed!) youth coalition with promises of free stuff is just as morally- and fiscally-bankrupting as it ever was. From HHS’s More... Rothenberg: Forecast for Senate seats changing because of White House scandals 5/22/2013 8:01:35 PM  Allahpundit 51 Comments Interesting, simply because it cuts against so much conventional wisdom. Many, if not quite all, recent polls suggest that O’s approval rating is hanging tough despite the scandal bombardment, probably because economic optimism is acting as More... MSNBC contributor wonders: Why didn’t Romney make a bigger deal about the IRS scandal last year? 5/22/2013 7:21:55 PM  Allahpundit 72 Comments Via Mediaite, there are only two possibilities here. One: Such is the denial and obfuscation at MSNBC over Scandalmania that Republicans are now being blamed for not building a time machine and exposing Obama’s scandals before anyone (except the More... Gosnell attorney: Maybe a 16-week deadline for abortion and more regulation would be better 5/22/2013 6:41:35 PM  Mary Katharine Ham 31 Comments I’m not going to comment too much on this except to say it seems… important and unexpected. Kermit Gosnell’s attorney, Jack McMahon, spends 8:30 minutes defending Gosnell, proving himself to be one of the few still willing to align More... Holder reveals: U.S. has killed four American citizens in drone strikes 5/22/2013 6:01:41 PM  Allahpundit 84 Comments You can read the PDF of his letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee disclosing the number here. If you’re having trouble grasping the magnitude of it, let Greg Pollowitz help you: #fact Obama has killed more US citizens than foreigners More... Cruz: No, “I don’t trust the Republicans” with the debt ceiling 5/22/2013 5:21:35 PM  Erika Johnsen 90 Comments While Scandalmania continues to swirl, Congress still has the regular hum-drum business of governing to get done — and with little-to-no fanfare over the weekend, we bumped up against our debt ceiling and officially entered into the More... Issa: Lerner waived her rights by giving an opening statement, so we’re bringing her back before the committee 5/22/2013 4:41:47 PM  Allahpundit 285 Comments You already know the background on this from Ed’s post this morning. Lerner began her testimony by reading a self-serving statement, then declared that she’d answer no questions. Trey Gowdy objected, insisting that once you start yapping in More... Chris Christie’s challenger is going for it with a million-dollar ad buy in New Jersey 5/22/2013 4:01:10 PM  Erika Johnsen 47 Comments Well, if we could categorize this year’s New Jersey gubernatorial as a ‘competitive’ race at the moment, I’d say this is would probably be a pretty effective move in terms of increasing her visibility and bringin’ it to More... Video: IRS chain of command undermines the “low level employees” defense 5/22/2013 3:21:36 PM  Ed Morrissey 71 Comments In one sense, this can’t surprise anyone who’s ever dealt with entrenched bureaucracies, which are hardly known for their innovation. No one really believes for a moment that a few rogue agents just decided to band together to start More... The Ed Morrissey Show: Guy Benson, Mary Katharine Ham 5/22/2013 2:53:32 PM  Ed Morrissey 0 Comments Today on The Ed Morrissey Show (4 pm ET), it’s time again for our Salem All-Stars! Guy Benson and Mary Katharine Ham join me today to discuss Scandal-palooza, the terrorist attack in London, and much more. Don’t miss it! The Ed Morrissey Show More... Chuck Todd: The Obama administration is trying to “criminalize journalism” 5/22/2013 2:41:45 PM  Erika Johnsen 76 Comments There are plenty of voices from both the right and the left chiming in with nothing short of dismay concerning the Obama administration’s increasingly apparent willingness to use their muscle to try and intimidate and/or punish any supposed threats More... Terror: British soldier reportedly beheaded by two men in attack on London street; Update: Video added 5/22/2013 2:01:25 PM  Allahpundit 541 Comments A random attack by lunatics? Not quite: The prime minister’s called a meeting of his emergency response team in the aftermath. The attackers were, allegedly, heard screaming, “Allahu akbar.” Sky sources understand that senior police More... House Oversight e-mails: IRS IG report was originally supposed to be released … last September? 5/22/2013 1:21:40 PM  Allahpundit 128 Comments See for yourself. Issa’s committee was told last year that the report would be ready in September, two months before the election. Eight months later, the bomb finally dropped. Why? Did the IG initially underestimate the volume of malfeasance and More... Video: Lerner takes the Fifth — or did she? 5/22/2013 12:41:45 PM  Ed Morrissey 188 Comments Via Andrew Johnson at NRO, Lois Lerner’s decision to take the Fifth came as no surprise. What did come as a surprise was that Lerner actually started off by, er, testifying on her own behalf. Surprisingly, Lerner accepted Darrell Issa’s More... NYT: Say, this attack on Fox News is certainly concerning 5/22/2013 12:01:19 PM  Ed Morrissey 45 Comments No kidding!  The New York Times belatedly wades into the Obama administration’s attack on James Rosen and Fox News as unindicted co-conspirator in an espionage case.  To their credit, they don’t go very far in excusing the White House and More... Kabuki: Dems yank phony amendment on gay spouses at last minute to help push Gang of Eight bill through committee 5/22/2013 11:21:31 AM  Allahpundit 53 Comments Can there really be anyone who didn’t instantly recognize this as the cheap negotiating tactic that it is? To refresh your memory, Democrats have been threatening for the past month to add an amendment to the Gang of Eight bill that would extend More... Is Kathryn Ruemmler the next one under the bus? 5/22/2013 10:41:29 AM  Ed Morrissey 70 Comments Until a few weeks ago, only the most die-hard political geeks would have known the name Kathryn Ruemmler or her position as White House counsel.  These days, she’s becoming more and more famous, and that might be by design.  The Washington Post More...

BostonGlobe.com Political Headlines - May 23, 2013

• Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray resigns: Once considered a front-runner for governor, a string of controversies tarnished Murray's political standing, and yesterday he abruptly announced his resignation, leaving the state without a lieutenant governor.

• Mass. tries to retain $250 million for hospitals: The Mass. congressional delegation, after holding a rare emergency meeting Wednesday, launched what could be a final effort to preserve more than $250 million in bonus Medicare payments to the state's hospitals that critics call the "Bay State boondoggle." Tracy Jan reports.

• Gabriel Gomez reports 6 years of income to be $10.1 million: The former US Navy Seal who turned to private equity investing released his tax returns yesterday, and has been pushing his opponent, Democratic Congressman Edward Markey, to do the same. Stephanie Ebbert and Beth Healy report.

• Longevity a liability for Ed Markey?: Columnist Yvonne Abraham questions whether the fact that Markey has been around for so long is his biggest weakness.

• Murray's ambition meets reality: Columnist Joan Vennochi writes about how Lt. Gov. Tim Murray will be known as the state official who crashed his car and his reputation on the highway of political ambition.

• A rainy day fund doesn't work if it's always raining: Federal disaster relief has long been directed at covering damage that has already occurred, rather than driving future behavior, and national security columnist Juliette Kayyem pushes for the need for reform.

BostonGlobe.com Political Headlines - May 24, 2013

• Markey misses a string of votes in House: Senate hopeful Edward J. Markey, who has faced scrutiny for his light schedule of public campaign appearances, has not cast a vote in Congress since May 9, missing the last 40 votes before the chamber. Political reporter Joshua Miller details.

• Political rebounds for the scandal inclined: After a string of local political scandals, columnist Scot Lehigh writes that in politics, hope never truly dies. Just look at Anthony Weiner.

Townhall Daily - May 24 - Hugh Hewitt, Mark Davis, Jonah Goldberg, David Limbaugh, Mona Charen and More

Hugh Hewitt: The Pressing Need for a Special Prosecutor Mark Davis: Bulletin: We Are Still at War Jonah Goldberg: First Amendment Clause-Trophobia David Limbaugh: Liberty, Where Have You Gone? Mona Charen: Obama and the Law Suzanne Fields: Barack Obama as the Great Gatsby Is Obama's $72k-per-month personal windfall taxpayer-funded? According to his most recent tax filings, U.S. President Barack Obama collects an average of more than $72,780 PER MONTH in personal income… that's NOT counting his presidential salary. Where does all this money come from? Click here to see. Mike Shedlock: Warning: Move Money out of Spainish Banks...Now Ransom Notes Radio: Apple Makes McCain Look Like a Fool, er, More Like a Fool Daniel J. Mitchell: The IMF Is the Doctor Kevorkian of Global Economic Policy Night Watch: Iraq Civil War Pauses, Temporarily Rich Galen: Tom Ridge Donald Lambro: Obama Playing at the Improv, Making it Up As He Goes Along Bob Beauprez: Rand Paul: "Congress should be on trial" - not Apple Brian Birdnow: Rationale Shifts And Foreign Policy Failures Cliff May: Black Swans, Icebergs and Benghazi Michael Brown: Immorality is Trending Brian and Garrett Fahy: Scandalous Ignorance Charlotte Hays: The Destruction of Our Culture of Self-Reliance and Civic Society Daniel Pipes: The U.S. Government Compiles a Bibliography Bill Tatro: Going Japanese on Housing Fred Lucas: Talk Radio, Immigration Reform and ‘Running America’ Roger Schlesinger: The Hair is Almost Gone Bob Kabel: Resolving to Get It Right Simon Conway: London, a Deeper Horror Than We Might Think

Townhall Daily - May 23 - Ann Coulter, Hugh Hewitt, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, Victor Davis Hanson, John Ransom and More

Ann Coulter: When Did We Vote to Become Mexico? Hugh Hewitt: The Real Reporting on the IRS Jackie Gingrich Cushman: Thanks and Devotion This Memorial Day Victor Davis Hanson: Paranoid or Prescient? John Ransom: Impeaching Holder is a Good First Start Michael Barone: Low-skilled Worked Get Raw Deal Under Obamacare Did Obama Break His Oath of Office? President Obama just allowed 13 new tax increases which will further slow the economy, damage the stock market and make it even harder on the 12 million Americans already looking for work.  Should he now face impeachment? Click here to vote. Brent Bozell: Obama and 'Overreach' Larry Elder: Obama's Scandals -- and His Media Co-Conspirators Bob Barr: Obama Scandals To Haunt Democrats As Marley’s Ghost Spooked Scrooge Michael Reagan: Weathering the Polticians Cal Thomas: The President's Morehouse Address Mike Shedlock: Bernanke's Semi-Annual Tap-Dance of Distortions, Half-truths, Lies, and Hypocrisy Debra J. Saunders: Newsom Turns a New Leaf on Marijuana Daniel J. Mitchell: Rand Paul Debunks the Shameful Demagoguery against Apple David Harsanyi: Obama May Survive, but Scandals a Blow to Left Night Watch: North Korea Engages in Piracy Matt Towery: When the Messenger Gets Shot, Others Are Sure to Follow Paul Greenberg: The Old Lady in Black Rich Galen: It Wasn't Malaria Steve Chapman: A Sober Approach to Drunk Driving Charles Payne: Tim Cook Explains Luck of the Irish Emmett Tyrrell: The Beauty of Confusion Marvin Olasky: Real Commencement Bob Goldman: Fired Up Carrie Schwab Pomerantz: Baby on the Way: Are You Ready for Your New Financial Reality? Bill Tatro: Pleading the Fifth to Save Obama Doug Napier: Lesson for Us Iowans: Reluctance to Go the Full Distance Has Consequences