Racism Is No Excuse, Obama Tells Black Grads

Obama delivered the commencement speech at the historically black, all-male Morehouse College today, encouraging graduates to use their education to help others in their communities, act as role models to other young black men, and to achieve success in spite of racism, rather than using it as an excuse to...

GOP Shreds White House 'Cronyism,' 'Intimidation'

The GOP pulled no punches in lambasting the Obama administration over the series of scandals—ranging from the IRS to Benghazi and the AP—dogging it of late. On Benghazi, Mitch McConnell says he wants "the investigations to go forward," because clearly the White House "made up a tale here,...

IRS' Planted Question Adds to Its Misery

It probably seemed like a wise idea to the IRS at the time, but it's becoming clear that the strategy of planting a question in the apparent hope of spinning its recent scandal has, as the headline in USA Today puts it, backfired. If you missed it, outgoing chief Steven...

Reid May Go 'Nuclear' to Reform Filibuster

Those who think abuse of the filibuster has gotten out of hand in DC should keep an eye on three upcoming Obama nominations, reports Greg Sargent at the Washington Post . If Republicans use the tactic to block the president's picks to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the labor department,...

Bobby Jindal: Send IRS Officials to Prison

Probably a good sign that Republicans see the IRS controversy as very fertile ground politically: Bobby Jindal—who famously warned the GOP not to be the "stupid party" of unhinged attacks—is going after the scandal hard today, reports Politico . The potential 2016 challenger plans to tell Republicans in Virginia...

How Your Muscles Impact Your Politics

Are our political debates really just pantomimes of primitive chest-thumping exercises? A new study surveying people about their opinions on the redistribution of wealth and the size of their biceps certainly suggests so. The results: Those with big muscles who were rich tended to vehemently oppose redistribution, while strong poor...

IRS Chief Blames 'Foolish Mistakes', Not Politics

The outgoing chief of the IRS visited Capitol Hill today to take his lumps over the way his agents gave extra scrutiny to conservative groups, reports the Hill . Steven Miller said the "American public deserve better," but insisted that no sinister political motives were at play: "I want to apologize...

Two Very Different Views on Obama Scandals

Supporters of President Obama will be glad to read that all three of the scandals that have dominated headlines this week look like they're fizzling. So writes Ezra Klein at the Washington Post . Obama's detractors, though, can take heart to learn that "we are in the midst of the worst...

Guess Who's Running the IRS' ObamaCare Office?

Sarah Hall Ingram's career path sounds like something out of a Fox News fever dream. Her old job: Heading up the IRS' tax-exemption division during the exact stretch of time that it allegedly discriminated against Tea Party groups. Her new job: Running the IRS office handling ObamaCare. Ingram was commissioner...

Second IRS Official Is Out Amid Scandal

Another head has rolled in the wake of the IRS scandal : The official in charge of the agency's "tax-exempt and government entities" division will retire in June, reports the Wall Street Journal . Joseph Grant's departure follows the forced resignation of acting commission Steven Miller yesterday. President Obama, meanwhile, has picked...

Yes, Obama Should 'Go Bulworth'

The political catchphrase of the day: "Going Bulworth." It was tucked in a New York Times piece on President Obama's latest troubles, with Peter Baker writing this of the president: "In private, he has talked longingly of 'going Bulworth,' a reference to a little-remembered 1998 Warren Beatty movie about...

Obama: 'No Apologies' for Investigation of Reporters

President Obama used a joint news conference today with the Turkish prime minister to try to defuse the recent White House scandals . Some highlights: AP phone records: He said he would make "no apologies" for the Justice Department's subpoena of reporters' phone records because finding the source of leaks was...

Holder-Issa Showdown: White House Is Loving It

Things got heated on Capitol Hill yesterday as congressman Darrell Issa grilled Eric Holder over the recent White House troubles. At one point, Issa cut off one of the attorney general's answers to laugh about it, and Holder wasn't having it. “No, no, that’s what you typically do,” he said....

Obama's Net Worth Revealed —Kind Of

President Obama's net worth could stand at a hair under $7 million ... or just $1.8 million. That range comes via his financial disclosure reports released yesterday, and USA Today sums it up perfectly: The Obamas "are wealthy, but it's uncertain just how wealthy." Their assets are documented on an...

Can Obama 'Stop the Bleeding'?

Enter the new narrative from the DC press corps: The White House is shifting from offense to defense on scandals, or as Politico puts it, "President Obama tries to stop the bleeding." Obama fired the IRS chief yesterday, released Benghazi emails , and got a new press-shield law in the works...

Obama: IRS Chief Is Out

The IRS mess has its first high-profile casualty: President Obama today announced the resignation of the agency's acting commissioner. "I am angry about it," declared Obama, who has been criticized for appearing passive in his response to the matter. He said the American people had a right to be angry...

White House Releases Benghazi Emails

If you can't get enough of the Benghazi story, the White House has some reading for you: This afternoon, it released 100 pages of emails and other internal notes that show how its "talking points" evolved after the attack, reports the Washington Post . You can dig in here , as the...

AP Scandal Fallout: Obama Asks for Press Shield Law

Chuck Schumer re-introduced his media-protection bill today at the White House's request, as the administration reels from the AP phone record scandal . The bill, called the Free Flow of Information Act, would make it so that journalists couldn't be compelled to reveal their sources until all other options are exhausted,...

Media Finally Gets It: Obama Is a Joke on Civil Liberties

Look around today, and it's easy to find a news story or column criticizing President Obama and his Justice Department for going after reporters' phone records. (Like these in the Washington Post , Politico , and the New York Times .) To which Glenn Greenwald at the Guardian can only say, it's...

The IRS Was Stupid—but Not Partisan

The inspector general's IRS report is out (read it in full at the Washington Post , if 54 pages of dry analysis and liberal use of the underline function sound like your thing), and some pundits say it's not exactly as jaw-droppingly scandalous as it was made out to be. The...

GOP Makes Attempt No. 37 to Repeal ObamaCare

You've got to give the GOP credit for its sheer tenacity: This week will mark the 37th time House Republicans have tried to repeal ObamaCare. And, likely, the 37th time they will fail, reports the New York Times . And there are at least another 15 additional Republican bills attempting to...

Holder: I'm Not Sure How Often We Spy on Journalists

The Justice Department's secret subpoena of AP phone records might not have been a one-time occurrence. Eric Holder tells NPR that he has no idea how many times he'd allowed the department to snoop on journalists. "I'm not sure how many of those cases … I have actually signed off...

IRS: Hey, We Targeted Lefty Groups, Too

The IRS is defending itself against the Inspector General's report on its targeting of Tea Party groups, saying they made up only a "minority" of the 471 political nonprofit groups scrutinized. And, hey, three—three!—of those 471 were Democrat-leaning groups, including one, Emerge America, that was actually denied tax-exempt...

No. 12: Gay Marriage Legal in Minnesota

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill today that legalizes gay marriage, making the state the 12th to do so. Cheering spectators filled the south lawn of the state Capitol for the outdoor ceremony, with rainbow and American flags fluttering in a sweltering breeze. Dayton's signature came one day after...

Holder Orders IRS Investigation

Eric Holder today said he has launched a criminal investigation into the IRS scandal , and he also disavowed involvement in the AP snooping scandal . On the latter, the attorney general said he'd recused himself from the related leak investigation. In a press conference at the Justice Department today, Holder explained...

Would-Be Florida Mayor Endorsed by ... Jesus

A North Miami mayoral candidate has pretty much the endorsement to end all endorsements: Jesus Christ himself. Anna Pierre touts what she calls the "spiritual endorsement" on her campaign posters, and says she knows she's the one because the son of God sent her three signs that he endorsed her...

Many Angry Over Benghazi Don't Know Where It Is

Republicans remain pretty stinkin' mad over Benghazi, with 41% of GOP voters telling Public Policy Polling that they think it is the biggest political scandal in our country's history. Just 10% of Democrats feel similarly. But here's the most interesting nugget: Among those voters who ranked it as the worst...

1/3 of House Committees Investigating White House

If President Obama looks even grayer by the end of summer, this line in Politico might explain it: "All together, roughly one-third of House committees are engaged in investigating some aspect of the Obama administration." That includes two heavyweight panels—Darrell Issa's Oversight and Government Reform, along with Ways and...

Cue Obama's 2nd-Term Scandals

It's all begun, and it's no big surprise to Dana Milbank: "Four months into a fresh four years, President Obama is already assuming the familiar crouch of a scandal-struck second-termer," Milbank writes in the Washington Post . Yesterday saw Obama taking just one question from American media during a press conference...

IRS Also Leaked Info About Conservative Groups

More trouble for the IRS: The same office that singled out conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status also leaked confidential information about conservative groups last year, ProPublica reports. How does ProPublica know? Well, because the nine pending applications were leaked to ProPublica in the first place. The investigative site had...