Archive for category Business

Correction: Drunken Driving-Zero Deaths story

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a story May 17 about a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation on a blood alcohol threshold for drivers, The Associated Press incorrectly reported the definition of a drink. The standard definition of a drink is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine and 1.5 ounces of 80-proof alcohol.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The IRS and its tea party tempest

Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, prior to testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service is feeling the sort of heat that targeted taxpayers feel from the tax agency. It’s the sense that a powerful someone is breathing down your neck.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rising consumer demands aids organic industry sway

In this Feb. 22, 2009, file photo, bottles of Heinz organic tomato ketchup are on display inside Costco in Mountain View, Calif. The organic industry is gaining clout on Capitol Hill, prompted by rising consumer demand and its entry into traditional farm states. But that isn’t going over well with everyone in Congress. Tensions between conventional and organic agriculture boiled over this week during a late-night House Agriculture Committee debate on a sweeping farm bill that has for decades propped up traditional crops and largely ignored organics. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The organic food industry is gaining influence on Capitol Hill, prompted by its entry into traditional farm states and by increasing consumer demand.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tea party tax returns show activism on a budget

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, center, accompanied by, from left, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., chair of the Tea Party Caucus, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., right, speaks during a news conference with Tea Party leaders about the IRS targeting Tea Party groups, Thursday, May 16, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Dozens of tea party groups and other conservative organizations of the kind subjected to improper scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service operated with small budgets and rarely displayed overt partisan activities, according to an Associated Press review of public tax filings by 93 such activist groups. A few groups built million-dollar operations and political ties that could have been legitimate grounds for IRS investigation, tax law experts said. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of tea party groups and other conservative organizations of the kind subjected to improper scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service operated with small budgets and rarely displayed overt partisan activities, according to an Associated Press review of public tax filings by 93 such activist groups. A few groups built million-dollar operations and political ties that could have been legitimate grounds for IRS investigation, tax law experts said.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2nd IRS official to leave amid tea party scandal

President Barack Obama speaks on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday May 15, 2013. Obama announced the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, the top official at the IRS. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama picked a senior White House budget official to become the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday, the same day another top official announced plans to leave the agency amid the controversy over agents targeting tea party groups.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , ,