Posts Tagged Government policy

GOP hopes IRS scandal will snag health care law

In this May 16, 2013 file photo, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Political scandals have strange ways of causing collateral damage, and Republicans are hoping the furor over federal tax enforcers singling out conservative groups will ensnare their biggest target: President Barack Obama’s health care law. But no one appears to have connected the factual dots yet, and it’s unclear whether they will. “Now we’ve learned that the IRS, which is tasked with enforcing this very unpopular bill of Obamacare, the IRS admitted they targeted Americans,” Bachmann said during floor debate this week on repealing the health care law.  (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Political scandals have strange ways of causing collateral damage, and Republicans are hoping the furor over federal tax enforcers singling out conservative groups will ensnare their biggest target: President Barack Obama’s health care law.

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AP Impact: Myanmar sanctions list languishes

In this March 8, 2013 photo, Tay Za, foreground left, attends an opening ceremony of a branch office of his bank in Yangon, Myanmar. If you're American and want to do business in Myanmar, there's a list of people and companies that by law you have to steer clear of, including Tay Za. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — If you’re American and want to do business in Myanmar, there’s a list of people and companies you have to steer clear of by law. But it leaves off a former minister’s son U.S. officials suspected of brokering arms deals with North Korea, and high-rolling relatives of the man who led the repressive military government for 19 years.

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CBO: Obama budget cuts deficits $1.1T by 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s budget would trim projected federal deficits by $1.1 trillion over the coming decade, using nearly $6 in higher revenues for every $1 in reduced spending to achieve it, Congress’ nonpartisan budget analyst said Friday.

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

House committee to grill ousted head of embattled IRS for targeting tea party groups

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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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