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....Welcome to Doc’s Union Pub, an establishment owned and operated by the top brass of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, one of the most powerful construction unions in Philadelphia. The bar is reportedly named after John Dougherty — “Johnny Doc,” as he’s known locally — a high-paid union business agent with a reputation for using intimidation tactics to advance the goals of his union, political or otherwise.

One imagines that the reason the IRS has changed its tune and will now supply all the emails Congress requested eight months ago is that they’ve had the opportunity to go through them and have found nothing incriminating. But the value of of examining all of Lois Lerner’s emails during the months in question has to do with the two-track approach to the IRS investigation that Republicans have initiated. The first track is an examination of the targeting scandal and all the related issues associated with IRS actions. The second, and equally important, track, is getting to the bottom of...

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) on Monday called for criminal charges to be filed against people who defrauded a federal phone subsidy program. McCaskill sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, urging the agency to refer examples of fraud in its Lifeline program to the Justice Department for prosecution. "Knowingly providing false information to a government agency for profit must be investigated. If these companies are found in violation of federal law, I expect the DOJ will prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law," she wrote. She also urged the FCC to more aggressively use its own...

Hard work and smarts do get you ahead. But not everybody plays fair. People frequently bend or break the rules to their advantage and don't get caught. A recent Reddit thread asked for the best unethical life hacks people use to save money or get ahead. We've picked some of the most fascinating and devious examples. These hacks are uniformly unethical. Some veer into fraud. They should be regarded as informational and for entertainment purposes rather than as actual suggestions. You shouldn't do them. Via Reddit user the_girl: "Whenever I go to a big chain movie theater, I get my...

We know about the IRS and the Tea Party. But is there politics in IRS prosecutions? Do IRS agents zero in on red states more than blue? Residents in Montgomery, in the red heart of a red state in the Middle District of Alabama, are 3½ times as likely to have tax cases referred to federal prosecutors than the average Joe in Anytown, USA, according to AL.com analysis of 2012 federal records gathered and maintained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse in Syracuse, NY. In Mobile´s Southern District of Alabama, odds of an IRS referral are 2¾ what you´ll find

(Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius) (CNSNews.com) – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday the second round of about $1 billion in “Health Care Innovation Awards,” as part of the ongoing implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. “We’re going to announce the latest steps we’re taking to spur innovation in our health care system by supporting some of the most promising ideas from around the country from lowering cost by improving the quality of care,” Sebelius said. “Bringing down health care cost is our top priority,” Sebelius said. But Richard Gilfillan, director of...

Guns To Mexico: Once again blaming his own country for Mexico's gun violence without mentioning Fast and Furious, the gun runner in chief pledges to find and jail gun smugglers. Perhaps he should start with his own administration.

The New York Post reports that Eric Boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, has not resigned from the department, as a State Department spokeswoman indicated Dec. 19. Boswell is instead just "switching desks," according to the report. Three other State Department officials, including Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security, were placed on administrative leave after the release of the report. However, according to the Post they are expected to return

(CNSNews.com) – Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) said Tuesday the first presidential debate will “be the biggest tap dance since Fred Astaire,” and that neither political party in Washington is willing to tackle the country’s fiscal problems. "You better get yourself a cave in the Adirondacks," he mirthfully said when asked what would happen if politicians did not deal with the debt. Simpson, who along with Erksine Bowles co-chaired the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, appeared at George Washington University for an event on the upcoming election and the approaching fiscal cliff. After the event CNSNews.com asked Simpson...

How do you win an election? It’s so simple. Just keep your opposition from voting. The Democrats have grasped this concept and are now running with it. They will work double time to keep conservatives from the polls on November 6th. With the media as a willing and devoted support team they may just pull it off. If you add to the mix just a little voter fraud it could be a slam-dunk. We can’t let this happen. The next question or challenge for the Democrats is how do they legally keep opponents from the polls? Again, it’s simple. They...

Progressives and the Obama Administration and this current edition of Congress have put this nation on its back. This is an extraordinary nation, and President Obama and his surrogates have made an extraordinary effort the past four years to fundamentally transform it, to change it to their vision for America. Their vision and their effort includes demolishing free market delivery of health care with the Affordable Care Act, trying to destroy capitalism, and attempting to make the Constitution a useless document. They have set us on a course to European style socialism, crippled our economy, put millions of people out...

##"Cheating that’s rampant today in everything from education to finance to government. The financial meltdown of 2008 was a bonfire of bad behavior on all sides. Fannie Mae is built on the lie that every American is capable of paying a mortgage. Mortgage lenders steered victims into loans they could never pay. But the victims were not all innocent. Many lied on loan applications, claiming incomes they never had. President Obama wrote a biography based on fabrications, which he admitted to this year. The oddest of those lies concern the “girlfriend” he now says was a “compression” of real people....

While President Obama exhorts Americans to support tax hikes on high income individuals, families and businesses, he could stand to look inside the halls of the White House for some extra revenue. Andrew Malcolm over at Investor's Business Daily points us to the hard numbers: three dozen Obama executive advisers and aides owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes - and federal workers as a whole owe the IRS $3.4 billion in unpaid taxes. A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama's executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in...

China’s attempt at a high-speed rail network is fraught with corrupt officials, impossible costs, and deadly safety failures. But U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wishes America would follow it as a model. LaHood told The Cable last week: The Chinese are more successful [in building infrastructure] because in their country, only three people make the decision. In our country, 3,000 people do, 3 million. In a country where only three people make the decision, they can decide where to put their rail line, get the money, and do it. We don’t do it that way in America. His comments are...

INDIANAPOLIS - Congressman Dan Burton (R – Ind) is frustrated – very frustrated – after learning the details of an Eyewitness News investigation. "Why in the world are we doing this?" he asked. "Are you kidding me? The cost to the American tax payer is huge!" The veteran lawmaker is responding to what 13 Investigates discovered all across Indiana: illegal immigrants getting big tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service thanks to a loophole in federal law. MORE: Tax loophole costs billions The loophole allows undocumented workers to collect what's called an additional child tax credit. The credit – up...

The number of black and Hispanic registered voters has fallen sharply since 2008, posing a serious challenge to the Obama campaign in an election that could turn on the participation of minority voters. Voter rolls typically shrink in non-presidential election years, but this is the first time in nearly four decades that the number of registered Hispanics has dropped significantly. That figure fell 5 percent across the country, to about 11 million, according to the Census Bureau. But in some politically important swing states, the decline among Hispanics, who are considered critical in the 2012 presidential contest, is much higher:...

Stratfor, the US-based private intelligence company, says that Senator John McCain's campaign knew that electoral fraud was going on in 2008 but chose to do nothing. What is going on now as President Obama faces changed circumstances?

The San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings may have clinched a playoff spot well before Thursday's game ended, but they certainly didn't play like it. It was a hard-fought battle right to the final horn and then some, with the Sharks narrowly edging their divisional rivals 6-5 in a shootout. But don't let the high score fool you into thinking there weren't any big defensive plays. Why, Ryane Clowe's pokecheck on Jarrett Stoll with 3 minutes to go in the 3rd period stands out, and not just because it broke up a very threatening-looking 3-on-2 rush and potentially saved...

OK we're not allowed to source to Bloomberg, but this one is worth alluding to, just with a few facts: America and the commie Chinese began "trade talks" today. That means, America once again gives crap away, with nothing in return. The "trade talks" (which mean America gives crap away, with nothing in return) are being held in the commie Chinese city of Chengdu; ironically in a hotel with a clothing store named "Amornini". Which features, according to the article summarized for this thread: "a bird logo that closely resembles that of the Milan-based Giorgio Armani SpA fashion house. "...

Shocking voter fraud allegations are rocking the mayor's race in San Francisco. District Attorney George Gascon has launched an investigation and demands are growing for federal authorities to move in. One campaign official fears the election could be stolen if nothing is done. Supporters of incumbent Mayor Ed Lee, who is running for a full four-year term next month, are accused of illegally handling vote-by-mail ballots. Witnesses say workers for the group, SF Neighbor Alliance, set up a makeshift sidewalk voting site in the city's Chinatown and accuse it of illegally casting absentee ballots for elderly Chinese voters. Read more:...