QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We spend that money locally to help energize the local economy … and it allows us to spend it on items we need.”
Salvation Army spokesman Jennifer Dodd, who urged people who want to aid those affected by the tornado in Moore, Okla., to send money instead of clothes or household items Article, 2A
More IRS hearings on tap; lawsuit filed
WASHINGTON - At least two congressional panels are planning more hearings next week on the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. Meanwhile, 25 Tea Party and conservative groups filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against the government, saying the IRS illegally obstructed their efforts.
When Congress returns from a week-long recess on Monday, Danny Werfel is scheduled to appear before a House Appropriations subcommittee in his first congressional testimony since becoming acting IRS commissioner last week. Also appearing will be J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general whose report detailed the IRS tactics.
On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee plans a hearing with groups targeted by the IRS. The panel did not identify which organizations would testify.
Meanwhile, the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal organization, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the groups in U.S. District Court in Washington.
The suit accuses the Obama administration of using a “comprehensive, pervasive, invidious and organized scheme” to deny tax-exempt status based on the groups’ political views.
Report: Tax breaks help high, low earners
WASHINGTON - The highest-income and lowest-income households receive the most benefit from 10 of the largest U.S. tax breaks, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released Wednesday.
Households in the bottom 20 percent of U.S. income distribution receive 11.7 percent of their after-tax income from the breaks, relying on benefits such as the earned-income tax credit.
On the income scale’s other end, those in the top 20 percent receive 9.4 percent of after-tax income from breaks, with those in the top 1 percent getting 13.1 percent of their income from such breaks. The highest-income taxpayers rely on different provisions; 68 percent of the tax benefit from lower rates on investment income goes to the top 1 percent.
Traces of ricin in letters to NYC mayor
NEW YORK - Two threatening letters containing traces of the deadly poison ricin were intercepted on their way to Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York and his gun-control group in Washington, police said Wednesday.
The anonymous letters were opened in New York on Friday at the city’s mail facility in Manhattan and in Washington on Sunday at an office used by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the nonprofit started by Bloomberg, police said.
Chief New York Police spokesman Paul Browne said preliminary testing indicted the presence of ricin in both letters but that more testing would be done. He said the threats contained references to the debate on gun laws and an oily pinkish-orange substance.
The people who initially came into contact with the letters showed no symptoms of exposure to the poison, but three officers who later examined the New York letter experienced minor symptoms that have since abated, police said.
Browne would not comment on what specific threats were made or where the letters were postmarked. He also wouldn’t say whether they were handwritten or typed or if investigators believe they were sent by the same person.
3 convictions, 1 mistrial for Nevadan
RENO, Nev. - A judge Wednesday declared a mistrial on one charge against a former Nevada developer who was convicted earlier in the day of three counts of making illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid.
A federal jury reached the verdicts in the case against real-estate developer and once powerful lobbyist Harvey Whittemore.
Jurors had reported they were deadlocked on a charge of lying to the FBI, but U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks initially instructed them to continue deliberating. He later declared the mistrial.
Whittemore was convicted of making excessive campaign contributions, making contributions in the name of another, and causing a false statement to be made to the Federal Election Commission.
PReid was not accused of any wrongdoing. He has said he was unaware of any potential problems with the money he received.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 05/30/2013