Independent voices from the TWT Communities

Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee said Tuesday the IRS, while engaging in "unacceptable" targeting of conservative groups, may have been set up for failure by campaign finance law ambiguities that allowed tax-exempt groups to engage in partisan politics without disclosing their donors.

A spate of Democratic lawmakers are using March Madness to raise some campaign funds as the NCAA men's basketball tournament arrives in the nation's capital.

Senate Republicans used the confirmation hearing for the head of President Obama's new Consumer Financial Protection Board to air their continued unhappiness with the agency's funding and what they said was its lack of accountability.

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved Jack Lew as the nation’s next secretary of the Treasury amid a bruising confirmation process that delved into his years as a Wall Street executive and a million-dollar payout he received from a bailed-out bank.

Senate Democrats worked toward picking up Republican allies Monday as they launched a new attempt to broaden a law protecting women from domestic abuse by expanding its provisions to cover gays, lesbians and American Indians.

Idaho Republican Sen. Michael Crapo pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of driving while intoxicated and then apologized for his actions and asked forgiveness from his constituents.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Michael Crapo, the Idaho Republican arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, doesn't plan to fight the charges when he appears in court in January, a spokesman said Friday.

Ben Affleck is taking his name off the list of possible candidates for Sen. John F. Kerry’s seat, which would be open if the Democratic senator from Massachusetts is confirmed as secretary of state.

U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo's arrest early Sunday in a Washington, D.C., suburb on suspicion of drunken driving suggests a private life that departed from his public persona as a teetotaling member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Some who lost their homes or businesses in Superstorm Sandy have turned to crowd-funding websites to elicit a faster response than they might get from the government or traditional charities.

The Senate on Thursday handily passed a bill to renew the federal government's main program to prevent domestic violence, but many Republicans declined to support it because they said it was loaded up with too many new provisions that were unneeded or unconstitutional.

House Republicans said Wednesday that they intend to swiftly pass a domestic-violence law and remove the issue from election-year politicizing, though the Democrat-led Senate is prepared to vote on a different bill on the issue Thursday.

The Senate is poised to take up this week a bill addressing domestic violence, but past bipartisan support for reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has frayed and two Republican lawmakers are preparing their own alternative measure.

Hailed as a "superhero" by taxpayer watchdogs, Republican Sen. Mike Crapo quietly petitioned the George W. Bush administration to award a massive loan guarantee to a wireless company that just went bankrupt, owing U.S. taxpayers more than $70 million.

For the past few years, fear of China's predatory mercantilism has been growing steadily in America, both among the public and in privileged business and political circles. But last week, for the first time, one could discern the genuine possibility that America might actually do something about it - even if it means a trade war.
He noted the inspector general had to rely on the word of people implicated in the scandal, and they weren't under oath when they provided information for the audit.
"I think it is almost beyond belief," he said, that officials had nonpartisan reasons for scrutinizing conservative organizations.