Posts Tagged Government business and finance

INFLUENCE GAME: Tech, labor spar on immigration

In this Jan. 15, 2013 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. The expansion of H-1b visas is considered the first major victory for Zuckerberg’s new non-profit lobbying organization, FWD.us, which receives financial backing from such big tech names as Bill Gates of Microsoft, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn and Napster pioneer Sean Parker. In announcing the group, pronounced “forward us,” Zuckerberg in April called for changes so that U.S. businesses could attract “the most talented and hardest-working people, no matter where they were born.” (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — To the U.S. technology industry, there’s a dramatic shortfall in the number of Americans skilled in computer programming and engineering that is hampering business. To unions and some Democrats, it’s more sinister: The push by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to expand the number of visas for high-tech foreign workers is an attempt to dilute a lucrative job market with cheap, indentured labor.

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Thai ghost film remake appeals with funny twist

In this photo taken Friday, May 10, 2013, Banjong Pisanthanakun, the director of the movie "Pee Mak Phra Khanong," poses with a cutout of a scene from his film during an interview in Bangkok, Thailand. The movie has broken box office records and became an all-time highest-grossing film in the country’s history, collecting more than 560 million baht ($18.8 million) in Bangkok and major cities. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

BANGKOK (AP) — Thais’ deep affection for ghost stories and laughter has brought a new phenomenon to movie theaters — comic touches added to an oft-told tragedy of true love, which have made the latest adaptation of the Mae Nak legend into the all-time highest-grossing Thai film.

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House panel set to OK cut in food stamp program

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., center, flanked by the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., left, and Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, prior to the start of the committee's hearing to consider proposals to the 2013 Farm Bill, including small cuts to the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program in an effort to appease conservatives who say the food aid has become too expensive. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday approved a sweeping farm bill that would trim the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program.

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A timeline of the IRS’s scrutiny of the right

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/Jacquelyn Martin)

A look at events leading to the disclosure that the Internal Revenue Service placed conservative groups under special scrutiny for 18 months before the 2012 elections, a practice that has prompted congressional inquiries, a Justice Department criminal investigation and the ouster of the agency’s acting chief:

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IRS commissioner ousted over tea party targeting

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/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hurrying to check a growing controversy, President Barack Obama ousted the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service late Wednesday amid an outcry over revelations that the agency had improperly targeted tea party groups for scrutiny when they filed for tax-exempt status.

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