Lew Asks Congress for Debt Increase, Says it’s ‘Not Open to Debate’

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Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Friday urged congressional leaders to raise the debt limit and insisted that the White House is not going to negotiate over the increase because lawmakers have “no choice.”

“We will not negotiate over the debt limit,” Lew wrote. “The creditworthiness of the United States is non-negotiable. The question of whether the country must pay obligations it has already incurred is not open to debate.”

Lew said that while President Obama is willing to discuss plans to reduce the nation’s deficit with Congress, those talks must be kept separate from any effort to raise the nation’s debt cap.

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‘We Could Lose Everything’: Tea Party Groups Prepare to Sue IRS

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Photo Credit: FREEDOMWORKSJay Devereaux hadn’t paid much attention to the daily drumbeat of partisan politics in D.C. He wasn’t a Washington nerd, and didn’t know who said what during congressional hearings — nor did he care.

But when news broke that the government was using taxpayer money to bail out Wall Street banks, he started paying attention and didn’t like what he was hearing.

So the Florida father and information technology specialist decided to form a group, Unite in Action, to educate people in his area about the issues, he said. It was originally formed as a corporation before Devereaux decided to apply for tax-exempt status from the IRS.

That was two years ago. It was never approved.

“It’s all but killed us,” Devereaux told FoxNews.com. “We could lose everything. Today, it’s me and my organization, but tomorrow it could be you.”

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Unbelievable: Obama’s Agenda Marches on Despite controversies

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Photo Credit: TownhallDespite Democratic fears, predictions of the demise of President Barack Obama’s agenda appear exaggerated after a week of cascading controversies, political triage by the administration and party leaders in Congress and lack of evidence to date of wrongdoing close to the Oval Office.

“Absolutely not,” Steven Miller, the recently resigned acting head of the Internal Revenue Service, responded Friday when asked if he had any contact with the White House about targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for special treatment.

“The president’s re-election campaign?” persisted Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.

“No,” said Miller.

The hearing took place at the end of a week in which Republicans repeatedly assailed Obama and were attacked by Democrats in turn — yet sweeping immigration legislation advanced methodically toward bipartisan approval in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The measure “has strong support of its own in the Senate,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a member of the panel.

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Colorado Sheriffs Sue the State Over New Gun Control Laws

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Photo Credit: George FreyA consortium of plaintiffs led by 54 of Colorado’s 62 elected county sheriffs filed a lawsuit in federal court against the state Friday in an effort to overturn two new gun control bills that are set to go into effect on July 1.

The plaintiffs have in their sights one law that effectively bans all firearm magazines, and one that requires a background check for every gun transfer when the gun will be in the possession of someone other than the owner for more than 72 hours.

“On one hand, I’m proud to be part of this historic case,” said Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, who spoke on behalf of 18 sheriffs who attended a press conference announcing the suit.

“But on the other hand, it saddens me that we have to be here at all,” he added. “It should never have gotten to this point in the first place.”

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said the laws are not only unconstitutional, but also confusing and unenforceable.

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Democrat Baucus Warns: More to Come Out on IRS Scandal

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Photo Credit: Center for American Progress Action FundSenior Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, who recently slapped Obamacare as a “train wreck,” believes that the IRS scandal is just beginning and that “a lot more” damaging information will be revealed, likely at congressional hearings.

“I have a hunch that a lot more is going to come out, frankly,” Baucus, whose pending retirement seems to have freed him up to speak bluntly, told Bloomberg Government’s “Capitol Gains” TV show.

“It’s broader than the current focus. And I think it’s important that we have the hearings, and I think that will encourage other information to come out that has not yet come out. I suspect that we will learn more in the next several days, maybe the next couple three weeks which adds more context to all of this,” added Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

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Congress Seeks to Regulate Drone Use, Looks for Bipartisan Ground

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Photo Credit: Ted PoeStates already have begun to tackle the sticky issue of drones and their effect on personal privacy.

Eventually, courts will step in and have their say on the matter, determining how the unmanned aircraft fit into existing expectation of privacy standards and limits on government surveillance.

But members of Congress from both parties believe it’s important, perhaps vital, for federal lawmakers to also get ahead of the issue before drones become commonplace in American skies.

“Congress, in the area of drones, needs to set the standards rather than let the courts, down the road, set the standards,” said Rep. Ted Poe, Texas Republican and author of one of several pieces of drone privacy legislation, none of which have been passed. He made the comments at a Friday morning House Judiciary subcommittee crime, terrorism, homeland security investigations hearing on the subject.

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Rubio Questions State Department’s Enforcement of Human Trafficking Laws

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Photo Credit: Douglas Graham/CQ Roll CallSen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is raising questions about whether the State Department is failing to enforce human trafficking provisions when it comes to foreign dignitaries on U.S. soil, in the wake of recent allegations of human slavery against a Saudi diplomat in Washington.

The high-profile incident at the Saudi diplomat’s home in Northern Virginia is reportedly under federal investigation; two female Filipino domestic workers have claimed they were victims of human trafficking there, with the diplomat confiscating their passports and forcing them to work long hours without pay.

In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry obtained by CQ Roll Call, Rubio noted that the problem is not a new one.

“In 2008, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia entered a $1 million final judgment against a Tanzanian diplomat” who “had trafficked a young woman from Tanzania and held her in forced labor for four years.”

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Taxes on Some Wealthy French Top 100 Percent of Income

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Photo Credit: Images_of_MoneyMore than 8,000 French households’ tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data.

The newspaper said that the exceptionally high level of taxation was due to a one-off levy last year on 2011 incomes for households with assets of more than 1.3 million euros ($1.67 million).

President Francois Hollande’s Socialist government imposed the tax surcharge last year, shortly after taking office, to offset the impact of a rebate scheme created by its conservative predecessor to cap an individual’s overall taxation at 50 percent of income.

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Lawmakers to Investigate EPA FOIA Scandal

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Photo Credit: dantekgeekRepublican lawmakers are launching an investigation into claims that the Environmental Protection Agency, while giving preferential treatment to environmental groups, made it harder for conservative groups to obtain government records.

“According to documents obtained by the Committees, EPA readily granted FOIA fee waivers for environmental allies, effectively subsidizing them, while denying fee waivers and making the FOIA process more difficult for states and conservative groups,” wrote Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Darrell Issa and Sens. David Vitter, Chuck Grassley and Jim Inhofe in a letter to the EPA.

Citing a report by The Daily Caller News Foundation, Republicans are asking the EPA to hand over all Freedom of Information Act fee waiver requests, responses to requests, and FOIA officer training materials since the beginning of the Obama administration.

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Congress Receives Irrefutable Evidence of IRS Harassment of Pro-Life Organizations

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Photo Credit: thomasmoresocietyToday, the Thomas More Society offered over 150 pages of analysis and evidence to the House Ways and Means Committee about repeated IRS harassment of pro-life organizations. At the request of Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL), Thomas More Society President Thomas Brejcha, Executive Director Peter Breen, and Special Counsel Sally Wagenmaker, prepared the legal memorandum with solid evidence of IRS harassment of pro-life organizations dating back to 2009.

The memo details the history of IRS misconduct in the cases of three organizations represented by the Thomas More Society. The abuse dates back further than the now publicized 2010 complaints and extends beyond the IRS’s recently exposed Cincinnati office to also include the tax agency’s California operations in the charges of blatant bias.

The IRS office in El Monte, California, began harassing Christian Voices for Life of Fort Bend County, Texas in 2011. In a series of questions penned by Exempt Organization Specialist Tyrone Thomas from the California office, the IRS asked a series of unwarranted questions ordering Christian Voices for Life without any foundation, to explain its content, message, and prayers as if they were engaging in highly offensive or criminal behavior.

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