Bachmann: Scandals Facing White House 'Far Worse Than Watergate'
 Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Congressman Michele Bachmann Thursday called the various scandals facing the White House “far worse than Watergate,” blaming the Obama administration for “direct actions taken against Americans who sought to exercise their free speech rights under the First Amendment.”Bachmann, who ran for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination and currently chairs the Tea Party caucus, held a press conference on Thursday attended by vari
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President Obama Golfing with Cabinet Secretaries
 Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) -- After a week of hearings in Washington and despite cloudy skies, President Obama is spending his Saturday afternoon on the golf course.For the first time this year, Obama's foursome included a woman, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Also on the links with the president are Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Senior Policy Advisor Sam Kass. Sebelius was seen getting into the president's SUV before the motorcade left
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President Obama's Weekly Address: Building a Thriving Middle Class
 Patrick Smith/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama says he believes "the true engine of economic growth" is a "rising, thriving middle class." But in order to build on progress made over the last four years, he says in his weekly address, government should invest in three areas: jobs, skills and opportunities.President Obama has been visiting cities across the country as part of his "Middle Class Jobs and Opportunities Tour" to highlight the innovations taking place in the U.S. to c
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GOP Weekly Address: Rep. Andy Harris Argues for Obamacare Repeal
 US House of Representatives(WASHINGTON) -- Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland delivers this week's Republican address, joined by Sen. Mitch McConnell's Red Tape Tower, a seven-foot tall collection of "all the regulations already associated with President Obama's health care law." Harris, also a physician, argues for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and claims the law only limits job opportunities for Americans."Obamacare is knocking American off the ladder of opportunity, and the so
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Top Air Force General Apologizes for 'Hook-up' Comments
 Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh apologized Friday for comments he made last week that a “hook-up mentality” among America’s youth might be responsible for some sexual assaults in the military. The comments were criticized by members of Congress and victims’ advocacy groups.In a meeting with reporters, the Air Force’s top general said he was sorry to the victims of sexual assault who saw his comments as blaming vic
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IRS Planted Question About Tax Exempt Groups
 iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The Internal Revenue Service planted a question at an American Bar Association conference in order to reveal that it had inappropriately targeted conservative groups prior to the 2012 elections. But members of Congress are questioning why they weren’t told earlier.The question that prompted Lois Lerner, IRS director of tax exempt organizations, to apologize for the agency’s actions came from Celia Roady, a prominent Washington lawyer in pri
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Treasury Secretary Told of IRS Probe in March, Learned Details Last Week
 Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was first informed in March that there was an investigation into the IRS’ screening of nonprofit groups, but did not learn the details of that probe until last week, he said today.“In mid March, I had had a conversation, just a getting-to-know-you conversation, with the inspector general right after I started, and he went through a number of items that were matters they were working on. And the topic of a project on th
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Obama Talks Jobs, Says He Isn't 'Distracted'
 SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images(BALTIMORE) -- Trying to change the subject after a week of political scandals, President Obama on Friday said the nation’s “focus cannot drift” from rebuilding the economy and that lawmakers should focus their attention on putting Americans back to work.“I know it can seem frustrating sometimes when it seems like Washington's priorities aren't the same as your priorities. I know it often seems like folks down there are more concerned with their
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IRS Defends Agency 'Obamacare' Official
 Comstock Images/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Despite her congressional testimony, the Internal Revenue Service on Friday denied that the former commissioner of tax exempt and government entities -- now running the agency’s health care office -- was in charge of the unit’s day-to-day operations after Dec. 2010.Sarah Hall Ingram retained the title of commissioner, with oversight over tax-exempt groups, but the IRS says she moved to the agency’s Affordable Care Act office full time b
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Members of Congress Want Answers from Google
 Comstock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- While some members of Congress might have been excited to try on Google's Glass this week, others are concerned about their privacy implications. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and seven other members of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus have sent a letter to Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page requesting answers to a series of privacy-related questions and concerns raised by the camera-equipped glasses. "As members of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Priva
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IRS Scandal: Steven Miller Grilled at House Hearing
 ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Irate lawmakers grilled Steven Miller on Friday, demanding to know who was responsible for the IRS' targeting of Tea-Party groups, why it continued, and why no one told Congress about it.Miller apologized but maintained that politics did not motivate the targeting.“First and foremost, as acting commissioner I want to apologize on behalf of the IRS for the mistakes that we made and the poor service that [we] provided,” Miller told the House Ways and Means Commi
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Leader of Targeted Tea Party Group 'Pissed Off' by IRS Questioning
 ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Susan McLaughlin knows first-hand what it’s like to be targeted by the IRS. Her Tea Party group in Liberty Township, Ohio was among those subjected to intense questioning after applying for tax-exempt status.McLaughlin tells ABC News, “It just pisses you off” to be questioned by the IRS in such detail.“It's intrusive; it is clearly a fishing expedition,” McLaughlin says.McLaughlin reads aloud a question from a seven-page-long letter The
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Watergate Hearings Televised 40 Years Ago
 David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Richard Milhous Nixon was “not a crook,” or so the 37th U.S. president would have us believe. But such denials at a Nov. 17, 1973, news conference meant little or nothing by then, six months to the day after North Carolina Sen. Sam Ervin opened two weeks of often-riveting, live televised hearings on the Watergate scandal.Millions of U.S. households bore witness to the Senate Watergate Committee’s tactical destruction of Whit
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Immigration Overhaul: House Has Agreement in Principle
 iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The House bipartisan “Gang of Eight” has reached an agreement in principle on immigration overhaul, including major points such as a pathway to citizenship, border security, health care and guest workers, a member of the group told ABC News Thursday night.The lower chamber now expects to work out details next week before taking the Memorial Day break and introducing the bill June 4.Over hoagie sandwiches, a two-hour meeting of a bipartisan group
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