http://news.yahoo.com/rss-moody/ en-US Copyright (c) 2013 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved Thu, 23 May 2013 05:39:26 -0400 5 http://news.yahoo.com/rss-moody/ http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/nws/th/main_142c.gif So you're considering college but don't have the dough. Or maybe you're out of college now and still don't have any dough. You're not alone: In the past 30 years, the cost of a college degree has risen 1,120 percent and the number of people taking out loans to pay for it has skyrocketed. The [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/10-things-washington-could-college-more-affordable-093926557.html?.tsrc=attmpThu, 23 May 2013 05:39:26 -0400blogs/lookout/10-things-washington-could-college-more-affordable-093926557Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service official in charge of approving applications for tax-exempt status, denied wrongdoing in response to accusations that the IRS targeted conservative organizations seeking nonprofit status for heavier scrutiny between 2010 and 2012. "I have not done anything wrong," Lerner told the House Oversight Committee during a hearing about the IRS' [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/irs-official-lois-lerner-not-done-anything-wrong-153037583.html?.tsrc=attmpWed, 22 May 2013 11:30:37 -0400blogs/ticket/irs-official-lois-lerner-not-done-anything-wrong-153037583Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner, who leads the exempt organizations division under scrutiny for targeting conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, is refusing to testify before Congress, the Los Angeles Times reports. Lerner was supposed to appear before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday. The Times reports that Lerner's attorney, William W. Taylor III, [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/irs-official-lerner-refuses-testify-congress-210326599.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 21 May 2013 17:03:26 -0400blogs/ticket/irs-official-lerner-refuses-testify-congress-210326599Former Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman said that he was "not personally responsible" for the agency's practice of placing elevated scrutiny on conservative groups that applied for nonprofit status, but that he regrets it occurred during his tenure. "I certainly am not personally responsible for creating a list that had inappropriate criteria on it. [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/former-irs-commissioner-not-personally-responsible-targeting-conservative-164324385.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 21 May 2013 12:43:24 -0400blogs/ticket/former-irs-commissioner-not-personally-responsible-targeting-conservative-164324385Two top Internal Revenue Service officials knew that the agency was using a list to scrutinize applications for tax-exempt status that included the phrase "tea party" as early as the spring of 2012, but did not tell lawmakers until this year. Former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman and outgoing Commissioner Steven Miller told the Senate Finance [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/senator-accuses-irs-officials-withholding-information-2012-agency-154929004.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 21 May 2013 11:49:29 -0400blogs/ticket/senator-accuses-irs-officials-withholding-information-2012-agency-154929004The Republican Party is actively working to recruit more women to run for public office, but they still face "institutional barriers" to getting involved in GOP politics at the ground level, Republican State Leadership Committee President Chris Jankowski said on Monday. As part of the RSLC's Right Women Right Now project, the organization, which specializes [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/gop-official-still-institutional-barriers-republican-women-running-205021143.html?.tsrc=attmpMon, 20 May 2013 16:50:21 -0400blogs/ticket/gop-official-still-institutional-barriers-republican-women-running-205021143While applying with the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status in 2009, an Iowa-based anti-abortion group was asked to provide information about its members' prayer meetings, documents sent by an IRS official to the organization reveal. On June 22, 2009, the Coalition for Life of Iowa received a letter from the IRS office in Cincinnati, [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/irs-conservative-group-2009-members-pray-193833144.html?.tsrc=attmpFri, 17 May 2013 15:38:33 -0400blogs/ticket/irs-conservative-group-2009-members-pray-193833144Outgoing IRS Commissioner Steven Miller apologized Friday on behalf of the federal tax collection agency for unfairly targeting conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. But Miller insisted the practice was "absolutely not illegal." The IRS is under fire for placing heavier scrutiny on organizations with words like "tea party" or "patriots" in their name when [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/irs-commissioner-says-partisanship-not-involved-agency-behavior-134141319.html?.tsrc=attmpFri, 17 May 2013 09:41:41 -0400blogs/ticket/irs-commissioner-says-partisanship-not-involved-agency-behavior-134141319In what has become an annual tradition, the Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday voted again to fully repeal the federal health care law passed by Democrats and signed by President Barack Obama in 2010. The House first voted for full repeal in January 2011 when Republicans took control of the chamber, and again in [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/house-republicans-repealing-obamacare-annual-tradition-222826899.html?.tsrc=attmpThu, 16 May 2013 18:28:26 -0400blogs/ticket/house-republicans-repealing-obamacare-annual-tradition-222826899House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused Republicans of using the alleged scandals involving the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Justice and the State Department as an "evasion" from passing bills she said would increase job growth. Over the past few weeks, the IRS admitted to targeting conservative groups applying for nonprofit status and the Department [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/pelosi-gop-using-irs-benghazi-doj-issues-evasion-173845377.html?.tsrc=attmpThu, 16 May 2013 13:38:45 -0400blogs/ticket/pelosi-gop-using-irs-benghazi-doj-issues-evasion-173845377In May 2011, Drew Ryun, a conservative activist and former Republican National Committee staffer, began filling out the Internal Revenue Service application to achieve nonprofit status for a new conservative watchdog group. He submitted the paperwork to the IRS in July 2011 for a research site called Media Trackers, which calls itself a "non-partisan investigative [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/conservative-activist-green-name-gets-irs-stamp-approval-193457897.html?.tsrc=attmpWed, 15 May 2013 15:34:57 -0400blogs/ticket/conservative-activist-green-name-gets-irs-stamp-approval-193457897House Democrats will begin making robocalls to voters in 10 congressional districts Wednesday that target Republican lawmakers who support a new effort to repeal the 2010 federal health care law. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is paying for the calls, which according to a script obtained by Yahoo News, will warn voters that Republicans support [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/democrats-launch-robocall-effort-against-house-members-support-113353692.html?.tsrc=attmpWed, 15 May 2013 07:33:53 -0400blogs/ticket/democrats-launch-robocall-effort-against-house-members-support-113353692This screen shot is taken from an official review of the Internal Revenue Service's practices for determining which groups were eligible for tax-exempt status between 2010 and 2012. The report, written by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and obtained by Yahoo News on Tuesday, details missteps the IRS took in targeting certain political [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/tea-party-group-got-added-irs-look-list-221015152.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 14 May 2013 18:10:15 -0400blogs/ticket/tea-party-group-got-added-irs-look-list-221015152While the White House remains quiet about whether the Justice Department was right to seize the phone records of Associated Press reporters, on Capitol Hill the top Democrat in the Senate was unequivocal about his opposition. In his weekly press briefing on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., blasted the DOJ for its behavior, [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/top-senate-democrat-doj-action-against-ap-inexcusable-204546359.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 14 May 2013 16:45:46 -0400blogs/ticket/top-senate-democrat-doj-action-against-ap-inexcusable-204546359With the rumbling of so much scandal ripping through Washington this week—woeful stories about Benghazi, the DOJ subpoena of journalists' phone records and the IRS unfairly targeting conservative groups—it's hard to keep track of all the terrible. Even lawmakers sometimes struggle. At Rep. Steny Hoyer's weekly meeting with reporters on Tuesday, the Maryland Democrat was [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/scandal-plagued-washington-lawmaker-struggles-keep-track-issues-175311063.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 14 May 2013 13:53:11 -0400blogs/ticket/scandal-plagued-washington-lawmaker-struggles-keep-track-issues-175311063The House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a formal hearing Friday to probe the Internal Revenue Service for placing heavier scrutiny on conservative groups that applied for nonprofit status between 2010 and 2012. IRS Commissioner Steve Miller and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George are expected to testify Friday morning during [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/house-panel-formally-irs-commissioner-friday-204016469.html?.tsrc=attmpMon, 13 May 2013 16:40:16 -0400blogs/ticket/house-panel-formally-irs-commissioner-friday-204016469News reports about how the Internal Revenue Service applied heavier scrutiny on conservative political organizations applying for tax-exempt status have pointed to a March 22, 2012, House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee hearing in which IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman denied any wrongdoing. But that wasn't the first time lawmakers grilled him about the IRS' practices. [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/georgia-lawmaker-grilled-irs-commissioner-agency-practices-two-145438634.html?.tsrc=attmpMon, 13 May 2013 10:54:38 -0400blogs/ticket/georgia-lawmaker-grilled-irs-commissioner-agency-practices-two-145438634Jason Richwine, a Heritage Foundation analyst and the co-author of a study that measured the cost of an immigration reform bill, resigned from the conservative public policy organization after news organizations reported he had authored a dissertation asserting that Hispanics had lower IQs than whites and wrote for a website founded by white nationalists. "Jason [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/heritage-foundation-analyst-questioned-hispanic-intelligence-wrote-nationalist-202820452.html?.tsrc=attmpFri, 10 May 2013 16:28:20 -0400blogs/ticket/heritage-foundation-analyst-questioned-hispanic-intelligence-wrote-nationalist-202820452White House spokesman Jay Carney and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell on Friday called for an investigation into the Internal Revenue Service after the federal agency apologized for placing heavier scrutiny on conservative groups than other applicants that applied for tax-exempt status between 2010 and 2012. "What we know about this is of concern and we [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/top-senate-republican-calls-irs-investigation-175210457.html?.tsrc=attmpFri, 10 May 2013 13:52:10 -0400blogs/ticket/top-senate-republican-calls-irs-investigation-175210457Heritage Foundation analyst Jason Richwine, the co-author of a study claiming the immigration reform bill pending in the Senate would cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion, wrote two articles in 2010 for a website founded by Richard Spencer, a self-described "nationalist" who writes frequently about race and against "the abstract notion of human equality." Richwine's two stories [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/heritage-immigration-study-co-author-penned-articles-nationalist-174301703.html?.tsrc=attmpThu, 09 May 2013 13:43:01 -0400blogs/ticket/heritage-immigration-study-co-author-penned-articles-nationalist-174301703MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. -- Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford defeated Democratic businesswoman Elizabeth Colbert Busch in a special House election for South Carolina's first congressional district, despite an expansive effort among Democrats to turn the district blue for the first time in more than 30 years. The seat, which was left open when Gov. [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mark-sanford-wins-election-south-carolina-house-seat-003247017.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 07 May 2013 20:32:47 -0400blogs/ticket/mark-sanford-wins-election-south-carolina-house-seat-003247017CHARLESTON, S.C.—Before Mark Sanford walked into the local school district headquarters here to cast his ballot for Tuesday's special election, he took a moment to embrace Jason Cunningham, a 34-year-old local hip-hop artist and friend who came to show his support for the former governor. Cunningham, a well-built man in a red tank top who [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/ex-con-finds-inspiration-mark-sanford-quest-redemption-185803286.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 07 May 2013 14:58:03 -0400blogs/ticket/ex-con-finds-inspiration-mark-sanford-quest-redemption-185803286CHARLESTON, S.C.—With a saga like Mark Sanford's, it is difficult to determine where to begin. If you're just now joining us for Sanford's long road to redemption tour, let's start at the beginning and warp-speed to now. Sanford was once the popular Republican governor of South Carolina who in 2009 mysteriously disappeared from the state [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mark-sanford-long-road-redemption-tour-leads-tuesday-095402356.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 07 May 2013 10:31:30 -0400blogs/ticket/mark-sanford-long-road-redemption-tour-leads-tuesday-095402356CHARLESTON, S.C.—Mark Sanford is going to be rude and say hello. That is, at least, how he describes it when he introduces himself to strangers in grocery stores, ice cream parlors, diners and auto repair shops throughout South Carolina's First Congressional District. On Monday, the day before polls open for a special election here that [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mark-sanford-talks-buddhism-daily-meditation-practice-unique-000939600.html?.tsrc=attmpMon, 06 May 2013 20:09:39 -0400blogs/ticket/mark-sanford-talks-buddhism-daily-meditation-practice-unique-000939600BEAUFORT, S.C.—Campaign fever has swept the lower region of South Carolina's first congressional district, but the anticipation for next week's election has little to do with Mark Sanford or Elizabeth Colbert Busch. It's for Beaufort-born Candice Glover, a 23-year-old finalist on the hit reality television show "American Idol." Over the weekend, storefronts along Main Street [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/forget-sanford-colbert-busch-american-idol-candice-glover-170006428.html?.tsrc=attmpSun, 05 May 2013 13:00:06 -0400blogs/ticket/forget-sanford-colbert-busch-american-idol-candice-glover-170006428COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Just two miles apart here on Friday night, Vice President Joseph Biden and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz addressed their own party faithful, both outlining two wildly different visions for the future of the nation. It may be early, but both men are considered possible presidential prospects in the next national election, [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/joe-biden-vs-ted-cruz-south-carolina-024341930.html?.tsrc=attmpFri, 03 May 2013 22:43:41 -0400blogs/ticket/joe-biden-vs-ted-cruz-south-carolina-024341930In preparation for a new round of Senate hearings on bipartisan legislation to overhaul the nation's immigration system, bill co-author Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is urging skeptical conservatives who oppose it to instead work to toughen measures such as border security. Rubio, a Republican with one of the most conservative voting records in the chamber—and [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/rubio-pitch-conservatives-immigration-reform-don-t-act-140103261.html?.tsrc=attmpFri, 03 May 2013 10:01:03 -0400blogs/ticket/rubio-pitch-conservatives-immigration-reform-don-t-act-140103261Shots all around, and Mitch McConnell's buying. The re-election campaign for the top Republican in the Senate launched a contest Thursday, and the winner gets to kick back some booze with the lawmaker. The contest is part of the launch of a new McConnell campaign Tumblr page that invites supporters to submit pictures of themselves [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/throw-back-j%C3%A4gerbomb-mitch-mcconnell-215815209.html?.tsrc=attmpThu, 02 May 2013 17:58:15 -0400blogs/ticket/throw-back-j%C3%A4gerbomb-mitch-mcconnell-215815209Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, currently mulling whether to launch a bid for the Senate, hired a political consultant who raised money for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and several other conservative candidates, a decision that could offer a clue about his future plans. The Des Moines Register reported last month that King recently hired DeLullo [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/senate-bound-steve-king-hires-ted-cruz-fundraiser-202655362.html?.tsrc=attmpWed, 01 May 2013 16:26:55 -0400blogs/ticket/senate-bound-steve-king-hires-ted-cruz-fundraiser-202655362All the pieces of a formal congressional hearing were in place. A row of lawmakers with furrowed brows were seated in wide, leather chairs behind an elevated table with microphones. Water pitchers and engraved nameplates were in front of them. A second, smaller table was set up below for witnesses to deliver their expert testimonies. [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/ex-lawmakers-search-signs-intelligent-life-washington-d-225559027.html?.tsrc=attmpWed, 01 May 2013 12:22:31 -0400blogs/ticket/ex-lawmakers-search-signs-intelligent-life-washington-d-225559027Three gubernatorial campaigns released television ads this week in preparation for the November 2013 elections, signs of a grueling state election season ahead. Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe, Virginia Republican Ken Cuccinelli and New Jersey Republican Chris Christie all unveiled TV spots Wednesday in an effort to define their candidacies in the early days of their [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/off-election-ads-live-virginia-n-j-152919132.html?.tsrc=attmpWed, 01 May 2013 11:29:19 -0400blogs/ticket/off-election-ads-live-virginia-n-j-152919132Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul formally endorsed South Carolina Republican House candidate Mark Sanford Tuesday. Sanford is running against Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch to represent the state's first congressional district. "More than anything, Washington needs strong and consistent voices for fiscal responsibility and liberty," Paul said in a statement released to reporters by the Sanford [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/rand-paul-endorses-mark-sanford-statement-144645892.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 30 Apr 2013 10:46:45 -0400blogs/ticket/rand-paul-endorses-mark-sanford-statement-144645892Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul plans to endorse Republican nominee Mark Sanford ahead of a special election to fill the first district House seat in South Carolina, Yahoo News has confirmed. Paul's decision to endorse Sanford comes after national Republicans all but abandoned the former South Carolina governor after his ex-wife accused him of trespassing [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/rand-paul-endorse-mark-sanford-221123571.html?.tsrc=attmpMon, 29 Apr 2013 18:11:23 -0400blogs/ticket/rand-paul-endorse-mark-sanford-221123571Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is ready to take President Barack Obama up on that drink. Unfortunately, he's nowhere near the president. The Kentucky Republican posted a picture of himself Monday at a Kentucky bar, nestling a glass of beer next to an empty chair and a glass of wine, both presumably meant for Obama. [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mcconnell-eastwoods-obama-kentucky-bar-202943311.html?.tsrc=attmpMon, 29 Apr 2013 16:29:43 -0400blogs/ticket/mcconnell-eastwoods-obama-kentucky-bar-202943311There's a helium shortage in the United States, and Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson is almost as worried as he was when he thought Guam might tip into the ocean if the U.S. expanded its military presence on the island. During a speech on the House floor Thursday, Johnson urged his fellow lawmakers to act [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/democratic-lawmaker-warns-world-without-balloons-190758202.html?.tsrc=attmpFri, 26 Apr 2013 15:07:58 -0400blogs/ticket/democratic-lawmaker-warns-world-without-balloons-190758202We learned this week, yet again, that if you make enough noise (and have the ear of members of Congress and a well-funded lobby shop in the nation's capital) you can be spared the pain caused by government belt-tightening. As part of sequestration, which has forced the federal government to slow the growth of spending [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/lawmakers-fix-flight-delays-caused-sequestration-going-airport-164454939.html?.tsrc=attmpFri, 26 Apr 2013 12:44:54 -0400blogs/ticket/lawmakers-fix-flight-delays-caused-sequestration-going-airport-164454939The lead authors of the Senate immigration reform bill are dug in on the question of whether the final product must include a "pathway to citizenship" for many of the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The bill will die if it does not include such a pathway, Republican Sen. John McCain of [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/immigration-bill-authors-pathway-citizenship-bust-151543776--politics.html?.tsrc=attmpThu, 25 Apr 2013 11:15:43 -0400blogs/ticket/immigration-bill-authors-pathway-citizenship-bust-151543776--politicsMore than a week after two ethnic Chechen men allegedly detonated two deadly bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, a House panel plans to examine Islamist radicalism in Chechnya. The House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, and the subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats have scheduled a joint [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/boston-top-mind-house-panels-hold-hearing-islamist-211012297--politics.html?.tsrc=attmpWed, 24 Apr 2013 17:10:12 -0400blogs/ticket/boston-top-mind-house-panels-hold-hearing-islamist-211012297--politicsAs it turns out, there may be junk in that trunk. A Republican presidential campaign worker who was charged this week with cyberstalking young women often bragged about about dressing up as "Ellis the Elephant," a character in Callista Gingrich's children's books who would appear during book signings with her husband, former Republican presidential candidate [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/campaign-worker-charged-blackmailing-women-bragged-playing-ellis-165025961--election.html?.tsrc=attmpWed, 24 Apr 2013 12:50:25 -0400blogs/ticket/campaign-worker-charged-blackmailing-women-bragged-playing-ellis-165025961--electionAuthorities are investigating whether a poisonous substance was sent to a U.S. military base in Washington, D.C., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday. Reid told reporters there was "an alleged ricin incident" at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, which serves the Navy and Air Force and is located in the southeastern part of the city. [...]http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/potentially-harmful-substance-sent-u-military-near-washington-194353907--politics.html?.tsrc=attmpTue, 23 Apr 2013 15:43:53 -0400blogs/ticket/potentially-harmful-substance-sent-u-military-near-washington-194353907--politics