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Stephen Ohlemacher

Hatch Act could be used if there are IRS prosecutions

Last updated Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 9:24am

WASHINGTON -- Don't look for the outcry over the Internal Revenue Service's improper targeting of tea party groups to subside with the ouster of the agency's acting commissioner.

Hatch Act, IRS, Politics, National Read more Comments

Attorney General Eric Holder pauses during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Holder said he's ordered a Justice Department investigation into the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Holder orders criminal probe of IRS

Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - 1:47pm

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation into the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of tea party groups for extra scrutiny over whether they qualified for tax exempt status, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday.

Crime, IRS, Taxes, National Read more Comments

IRS apologizes for targeting conservative groups

Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, May 10, 2013 - 12:53pm

WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately flagged conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday.

Audit, IRS, Politics, National Read more Comments

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters on the campaign charter flight between New York and Washington, Wednesday, May 23, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Romney inches closer to GOP nomination with sweep

Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 9:56am

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney swept the Kentucky and Arkansas Republican presidential primaries Tuesday, inching closer to the GOP nomination he is certain to win.

Mitt Romney, Politics, National Read more Comments

Romney looks to pad delegate lead in 2 primaries

Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - 1:24pm

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney was inching closer to officially claiming the Republican presidential nomination as Arkansas and Kentucky voted in primaries Tuesday.

Mitt Romney, Politics, Republicans, National Read more Comments

(J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/The Associated Press) A statue of a contemplative Benjamin Franklin overlooks the empty hallways of Congress as the deadline of the deficit Supercommittee approaches with no expectations for success, Sunday morning at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 20, 2011. On various talk shows Sunday, Democrats and Republicans on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction exchanged blame for the a deepening impasse that has all but doomed chances for an accord.

Bush tax cut debate dooms deal to cut deficit

Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 10:18am

WASHINGTON — A long-running war between Democrats and Republicans over Bush-era tax cuts doomed the debt supercommittee’s chances of reaching a deal. Efforts to overhaul the tax code may await the same fate as both parties gear up to make taxes a central issue in 2012 elections.

Congress, Debt, Deficit, George W. Bush, Supercommittee, Tax cuts, National Read more Comments

New rule could prolong race for GOP nomination

Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - 8:33am

WASHINGTON — Don’t look for a quick winner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. After watching Democrats successfully ride their historic primary battle between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama all the way to the White House in 2008, the Republicans quietly adopted a new rule designed to extend their nominating process this time around.

Presidential Campaign, Primary, Republican Party, Elections, National Read more Comments

FACT CHECK: Are rich taxed less than secretaries?

Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 6:46am

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama makes it sound as if there are millionaires all over America paying taxes at lower rates than their secretaries.

Debt, Federal Government, Finance, Taxes, Warren Buffett, National Read more Comments

(J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/The Associated Press) The Senate Finance Committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (left), R-Utah, and committee member Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, laugh on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday prior to a hearing with oil company executives.

Hatch calls hearing of oil company execs a dog and pony show

Laurie Kellman, Stephen Ohlemacher, The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 7:20pm

WASHINGTON -- The hearing was for verbally flogging oil company CEOs, and no senator bothered to pretend it was about making gasoline prices more affordable or helping the economy recover. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch set the tone Thursday when he opened with a portrait of a dog sitting on a pony.

Sen. Charles Schumer countered with a reference to a unicorn. Sen. Pat Roberts suggested a rhinoceros. It was a fitting opening for a show where the oil executives served as props for politicians needing to show voters that they, too, are angry about $4 a gallon gasoline.

"This is not going to change the price at the gas pump," Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus admitted as he gaveled the proceedings to a close.

Congress, Economy, National Government, News, Oil, Oil industry, Recession, Rep. Rob Bishop, Sen. Orrin Hatch, U.S. Senate, Utah, Featured Read more Comments

Obama predicts tax bill passage, possible changes

Stephen Ohlemacher, The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, December 10, 2010 - 10:48am

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is predicting congressional approval of the tax-cutting compromise he has reached with Republican leaders, but he's not ruling out that unhappy Democrats will make some changes in the mammoth legislation.

In an interview with NPR released Friday, Obama said that despite a rebellion by many Democrats against his tax deal, it will pass because "nobody -- Democrat or Republican -- wants to see people's paychecks smaller on Jan. 1 because Congress didn't act."

Politics, Tax cuts, National Read more Comments

Lawmakers stand firm on taxes as talks start

Stephen Ohlemacher, The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 10:56am

WASHINGTON -- Democrats and Republicans are working to reach a deal to extend Bush-era tax cuts that expire at the end of the year, but neither side is budging as negotiations begin in earnest.

Even as they talk, House leaders are planning to hold a politically charged vote Thursday to extend middle-class tax cuts while letting taxes for the wealthy rise.

Congress, Politics, National Read more Comments

(The Associated Press) In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Kristen Stewart, starring as Isabella "Bella" Swan and Taylor Lautner, starring as Jacob Black, are shown in a scene from "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."

Name that baby: Mom & Dad choose Isabella, Jacob

Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, May 7, 2010 - 10:30pm

WASHINGTON -- Mom and Dad may be looking to popular vampire books and the first family for baby names: Cullen is on the rise for boys and Malia for girls. But Miley and Jonas are down, proving that acclaim can be fleeting.

Odds & Ends, Twilight Read more Comments

Republicans say nation can't afford Dem policies

Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 10:00pm

For an analysis of Obama's speech, highlights, speech text and more check out our 'State of the Union' page.

WASHINGTON -- The nation cannot afford the spending Democrats have enacted or the tax increases they propose, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday in the Republican response to the State of the Union address.

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