National Journal Online


Why Republicans Think the IRS Scandal Is More Politically Potent Than Benghazi Scandals for the Obama administration offer political opportunities for Republicans. But while GOP strategists acknowledge it’s tempting to use continued questions over Benghazi as fodder for attack ads or fundraising, many are arguing it's not effective politics. Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 11:00am
How to Get Google Fiber—Without Google Blair Levin was sitting in a Costa Rica hotel bar in 2011 when an idea struck him. Google was moving ahead with its plan to roll out free, high-speed Internet access in Kansas City, Kan.—the result of a competition that drew in more than 1,000 applications from cities nationwide. The demand for Web connectivity clearly outstripped even Google’s gargantuan capabilities. What if, instead of waiting for Mountain View or for the telecom companies to catch up, these cities started building their own next-generation fiber-optic Internet networks themselves? Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 10:05am
Obama Forces Out Acting IRS Commis.; Bachmann on the Air; Tancredo Mulling Another CO GOV Bid Wake-Up Call! is Hotline's daily morning briefing on campaigns and elections. Click here to subscribe. WHAT'S NEWS Pres. Obama said late Wednesday he was "angry" that the IRS singled out conservative groups for extra vetting and announced that the agency's acting commis. had been forced out (National Journal). Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 9:00am
Scandals Tailor-Made For Republican Base When a president's party has a difficult time in midterm elections, it's usually because the campaign has become about the president himself. As Democrats look towards an already-challenging midterm election cycle in 2014, they can thank, or blame, President Obama for handing Republicans several opportunities to focus voter attention -- and anger -- at the White House. Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 6:00am
Next Stops for Farm Bill: Senate and House Floors The House Agriculture Committee prides itself on bipartisanship, but when the panel met Wednesday to consider a new farm bill, the deep cultural divides between its Republican majority and Democratic minority members were in full relief. Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., are centrists who are managing, as they did last year, to get the committee to approve a bill. A markup of the bill was nearing completion Wednesday evening with panel approval virtually assured. Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 10:30pm
Holder Holds Up in House Judiciary Hearing, but More Attacks Coming The face-off between Attorney General Eric Holder and some Republican House members during Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing seemed more like the opening shots of a battle than any real showdown. Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 10:15pm
You Want Angry? I'll Show You Angry. Says President Obama on IRS Scandal Under pressure to show who's boss, President Obama called a press conference late Wednesday to say he was “angry” that the IRS singled out conservative groups for extra vetting and to announce that the agency’s acting commissioner had been forced out. "Its inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," he said. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives." Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 7:20pm
You Want Angry? I'll Show You Angry, Obama Says on IRS Scandal Under pressure to show who's boss, President Obama called a press conference late Wednesday to say he was “angry” that the IRS singled out conservative groups for extra vetting and to announce that the agency’s acting commissioner had been forced out. "It's inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," he said. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives." Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 7:20pm
Benghazi E-Mails Reveal CIA Handling of Talking Points The White House, in an effort to calm the swirl of controversy about the reaction to last year’s attacks on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, late Wednesday released more than 100 pages of emails that led to the development of talking points that attempted to explain the violence that left four Americans dead. The emails had earlier been shown to members of Congress but the White House had resisted releasing them, citing the precedent of protecting internal discussions within an administration. Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 6:20pm
Under Pressure, the White House Releases More Than 100 Pages of Benghazi E-Mails The White House, in an effort to calm the swirl of controversy about the reaction to last year’s attacks on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, late Wednesday released more than 100 pages of e-mails leading to the development of talking points that attempted to explain the violence that left four Americans dead. The e-mails had earlier been shown to members of Congress but the White House had resisted releasing them, citing the precedent of protecting internal discussions within an administration. Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 6:20pm

Why Republicans Think the IRS Scandal Is More Politically Potent Than Benghazi

Scandals for the Obama administration offer political opportunities for Republicans. But while GOP strategists acknowledge it’s tempting to use continued questions over Benghazi as fodder for attack ads or fundraising, many are arguing it's not effective politics.

Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 11:00am

How to Get Google Fiber—Without Google

Blair Levin was sitting in a Costa Rica hotel bar in 2011 when an idea struck him. Google was moving ahead with its plan to roll out free, high-speed Internet access in Kansas City, Kan.—the result of a competition that drew in more than 1,000 applications from cities nationwide. The demand for Web connectivity clearly outstripped even Google’s gargantuan capabilities. What if, instead of waiting for Mountain View or for the telecom companies to catch up, these cities started building their own next-generation fiber-optic Internet networks themselves?

Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 10:05am

Obama Forces Out Acting IRS Commis.; Bachmann on the Air; Tancredo Mulling Another CO GOV Bid

Wake-Up Call! is Hotline's daily morning briefing on campaigns and elections. Click here to subscribe.

WHAT'S NEWS

Pres. Obama said late Wednesday he was "angry" that the IRS singled out conservative groups for extra vetting and announced that the agency's acting commis. had been forced out (National Journal).

Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 9:00am

Scandals Tailor-Made For Republican Base

When a president's party has a difficult time in midterm elections, it's usually because the campaign has become about the president himself. As Democrats look towards an already-challenging midterm election cycle in 2014, they can thank, or blame, President Obama for handing Republicans several opportunities to focus voter attention -- and anger -- at the White House.

Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 6:00am

Next Stops for Farm Bill: Senate and House Floors

The House Agriculture Committee prides itself on bipartisanship, but when the panel met Wednesday to consider a new farm bill, the deep cultural divides between its Republican majority and Democratic minority members were in full relief.

Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., are centrists who are managing, as they did last year, to get the committee to approve a bill. A markup of the bill was nearing completion Wednesday evening with panel approval virtually assured.

Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 10:30pm

Holder Holds Up in House Judiciary Hearing, but More Attacks Coming

The face-off between Attorney General Eric Holder and some Republican House members during Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing seemed more like the opening shots of a battle than any real showdown.

Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 10:15pm

You Want Angry? I'll Show You Angry. Says President Obama on IRS Scandal

Under pressure to show who's boss, President Obama called a press conference late Wednesday to say he was “angry” that the IRS singled out conservative groups for extra vetting and to announce that the agency’s acting commissioner had been forced out.

"Its inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," he said. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives."

Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 7:20pm

You Want Angry? I'll Show You Angry, Obama Says on IRS Scandal

"It's inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," he said. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives."

Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 7:20pm

Benghazi E-Mails Reveal CIA Handling of Talking Points

The White House, in an effort to calm the swirl of controversy about the reaction to last year’s attacks on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, late Wednesday released more than 100 pages of emails that led to the development of talking points that attempted to explain the violence that left four Americans dead. The emails had earlier been shown to members of Congress but the White House had resisted releasing them, citing the precedent of protecting internal discussions within an administration.

Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - 6:20pm

Under Pressure, the White House Releases More Than 100 Pages of Benghazi E-Mails

The White House, in an effort to calm the swirl of controversy about the reaction to last year’s attacks on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, late Wednesday released more than 100 pages of e-mails leading to the development of talking points that attempted to explain the violence that left four Americans dead. The e-mails had earlier been shown to members of Congress but the White House had resisted releasing them, citing the precedent of protecting internal discussions within an administration.