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	<title>Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
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	<description>Political insight from the Beltway and beyond</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 20:38:26 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com</link>
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		<title>Reactionaries in New York</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/18/reactionaries-in-new-york/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/18/reactionaries-in-new-york/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 13:53:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[In the Arena]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95989</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Democratic candidates for mayor in New York are campaigning to win the support of the teachers union. They threaten to return the city to the horrors of the David Dinkins era.  Back at the turn of the 1990s, New York City was a mess. Crime was rampant. The schools were dreadful. Children in foster care were brutalized because&#8211;as the head of the Child Welfare Agency said&#8211;&#8221;oversight is racist.&#8221; The mayor was an incompetent. And, above all, the city was run for the benefit of its employees rather than its citizens. What followed was 20 years of governance by moderate Republicans, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. Crime is now at an historic low. The city is booming. There have been improvements in the schools, especially for those who&#8217;ve been lucky enough to attend a string of brilliant charter schools in poor neighborhoods like Harlem. The public employees unions still remain the major power brokers in the city, but they&#8217;ve been held in check. That progress is severely threatened now. Two weak Republicans are running and seem distinct underdogs. Unless some non-reactionary Democrat stands up as an independent defender of the public good, the way Ed Koch did 35 years ago, a period of backsliding seems imminent for the city. I wonder what Andrew Cuomo, a governor who has been willing to take on the reactionary hacks in the Democratic Party, thinks of this situation.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95989&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Education</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/education/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/164925862-new-york-city-council-speaker-christine-gettyimages-1.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Mayoral candidate Quinn</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
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		<title>Obama Talks Jobs, Says Politics Misplace Focus</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/18/obama-talks-jobs-says-politics-misplace-focus/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/18/obama-talks-jobs-says-politics-misplace-focus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 13:38:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Associated Press</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95990</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — President Barack Obama is calling attention to his economic proposals and efforts to expand the middle class. In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says the U.S. should focus on attracting good jobs, educating workers and ensuring workers get paid a decent living. Obama has been pushing those priorities in recent visits to Baltimore and Austin, Texas. Obama says he&#8217;ll make the case in more U.S. cities soon. Obama says politics in Washington often aren&#8217;t focused on what Americans care about. He&#8217;s alluding to a series of political troubles that dogged him last week and overshadowed his agenda. In the Republican address, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland says red tape in Obama&#8217;s health care law will drive up costs. He says the embattled IRS needs less power, not more. MORE: Obama Pushes Out IRS Commissioner<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95990&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Barack Obama</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/white-house/barack-obama/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Hagel Orders Review of Sex-Abuse Prevention</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/hagel-orders-review-of-sex-abuse-prevention/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/hagel-orders-review-of-sex-abuse-prevention/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 20:12:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Lolita Baldour and Robert Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95984</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday ordered the military to recertify every person involved in programs designed to prevent and respond to sexual assault, an acknowledgement that assaults have escalated beyond the Pentagon&#8217;s control. He said this step is one among many that will be taken to fix the problem of sexual abuse and sexual harassment within every branch of the military. At a news conference with Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hagel said he believes alcohol use is &#8220;a very big factor&#8221; in many sexual assault and sexual harassment cases, but there are many pieces to the problem. Hagel said it has become clear to him since taking office in February that holding people accountable for their actions is important, but simply firing people is not a solution. &#8220;Who are you going to fire?&#8221; he asked. A catalyst for congressional outrage has been the disclosure in recent days of at least two cases in which a military member with responsibility for sexual assault prevention programs has himself been accused of sexual misconduct. Earlier Friday, the Air Force&#8217;s top general said that sexual assaults in his branch of the military typically involve alcohol use and can be traced to a lack of respect for women. &#8220;We have a problem with respect for women that leads to many of the situations that result in sexual assault in our Air Force,&#8221; Gen. Mark Welsh told reporters in a lengthy interview in his Pentagon offices. He spoke one day after he and other military leaders were summoned to the White House to discuss the sexual assault problem with President Barack Obama, who has expressed impatience with the Pentagon&#8217;s failure to solve it. Welsh said combatting the problem, which he characterized as a crisis, is his No. 1 priority as the Air Force chief of staff. He said he reviews every reported case of sexual assault; last year there were 792 in the Air Force. (MORE: A Female Soldier Tells Her Tragic Tale of Abuse) Welsh addressed criticism<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95984&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Battleland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/battleland-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/military-sexual-assau_yang.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Chuck Hagel</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Ousted IRS Chief Regrets Treatment of Tea Party</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/ousted-irs-chief-regrets-treatment-of-tea-party/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/ousted-irs-chief-regrets-treatment-of-tea-party/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 17:49:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Alan Fram and Stephen Olemacher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95977</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — The ousted head of the Internal Revenue Service apologized to Congress on Friday for his agency&#8217;s tougher treatment of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. He said they resulted from a misguided effort to handle a flood of applications, not political bias. &#8220;I want to apologize on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service for the mistakes that we made and the poor service we provided,&#8221; Steven Miller, who has been acting IRS commissioner, told the House Ways and Means Committee as the panel held Congress&#8217; first hearing on the episode. &#8220;The affected organizations and the American public deserve better. Partisanship and even the perception of partisanship have no place at the Internal Revenue Service.&#8221; At a hearing that saw lawmakers from both parties harshly criticize his agency, Miller conceded that &#8220;foolish mistakes were made&#8221; by IRS officials trying to handle a flood of groups seeking tax-exempt status. He said the process that resulted in conservatives being targeted, &#8220;while intolerable, was a mistake and not an act of partisanship.&#8221; Though Miller and another top IRS official are stepping down, the chairman of the committee said that would not be enough. &#8220;The reality is this is not a personnel problem. This is a problem of the IRS being too large, too powerful, too intrusive and too abusive of honest, hardworking taxpayers,&#8221; said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich. At one point, anti-IRS sentiment was voiced by spectators, who included members of grass-roots conservative groups. They broke into cheers after Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., said, &#8220;This is absolutely an overreach, and this is an outrage for all Americans.&#8221; Camp also said the tougher examinations that conservative groups encountered seemed to be part of a &#8220;culture of cover-ups and intimidation in this administration.&#8221; He offered no other examples. Camp&#8217;s remark about cover-ups drew a sharp retort from the committee&#8217;s top Democrat, Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan. Levin said if the hearing became a preview of the 2014 political campaigns, &#8220;we&#8217;ll be making a very, very serious mistake.&#8221; The administration has been<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95977&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/ousted-irs-chief-regrets-treatment-of-tea-party/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Taxes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/taxes/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/irs-political-groups_yang.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/irs-political-groups_yang.jpg?w=200" />
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			<media:title type="html">Steven Miller</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Turkey’s Erdogan Visits the US: 4 Problems That Won’t Be Solved</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/16/turkeys-erdogan-visits-the-u-s-four-problems-that-wont-be-solved/#ixzz2TZ1VzKvm</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/16/turkeys-erdogan-visits-the-u-s-four-problems-that-wont-be-solved/#ixzz2TZ1VzKvm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 15:27:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ishaan Tharoor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95968</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95968&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Foreign Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/bk-obama-20130516-0090.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">President Obama hosts Turkish Prime Minister at the White House</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Michael Crowley on Benghazi</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/michael-crowley-on-benghazi/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/michael-crowley-on-benghazi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 15:23:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TIME Staff</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Viewpoint]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95961</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TIME&#8217;s Michael Crowley stopped by Hardball last night to discuss the historical significance of the White House&#8217;s response to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95961&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Viewpoint</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/miscellany/viewpoint/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-17-at-11-08-43-am.png?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">michael crowley</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">timeadmin</media:title>
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		<title>Obama Focusing on Job Creation in Baltimore Visit</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/obama-focusing-on-job-creation-in-baltimore-visit/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/obama-focusing-on-job-creation-in-baltimore-visit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 15:03:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Nedra Pickler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Domestic Policy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95962</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — President Barack Obama is leaving behind scandal-focused Washington to focus on the country&#8217;s slowly improving jobs picture. Obama is to fly by helicopter Friday about 40 miles north to Baltimore, which has had its share of tough times in the move from an industrial to service economy. But Maryland has experienced steady job growth so far this year as part of a nationwide economic recovery. The White House said the trip is designed to focus on three areas of needed investment to grow the middle class — jobs, skills and opportunity. (MORE:  Obama, Perry And The True Source Of The Texas Jobs Miracle) The president plans to highlight one of the manufacturing companies still thriving in the city by speaking at Ellicott Dredges. It makes equipment for excavation under water and on beachfronts around the world. Obama also plans to visit a community center that provides job training to parents and an elementary school that provides early childhood education. Obama has proposed that public preschool be available for all 4-year-olds from low-income families. At Ellicott Dredges, Obama was to announce that he signed a memorandum to cut timelines in half for the permit process for major federal infrastructure projects. The White House said it&#8217;s an important step in his goal of creating jobs by making urgent repairs to roads, bridges and railways. The focus on Obama&#8217;s economic agenda comes at the end of a week that has been consumed by a trio of controversies. They include the targeting of conservative political groups by the Internal Revenue Service, the administration&#8217;s response to last year&#8217;s deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, and the seizure of Associated Press phone records by the Justice Department as part of a leak investigation. Obama&#8217;s turn to the economy comes in a state that added 4,700 jobs in March, according to preliminary data released last month by the U.S. Labor Department&#8217;s Bureau of Labor Statistics. That marked Maryland&#8217;s fourth consecutive month of job growth. The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95962&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Domestic Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>The Roots of Sexual Abuse in the Military</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/17/the-roots-of-sexual-abuse-in-the-military/#ixzz2TYgDWkXv</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/17/the-roots-of-sexual-abuse-in-the-military/#ixzz2TYgDWkXv#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 14:02:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95957</guid>
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		<wfw:commentRss>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/17/the-roots-of-sexual-abuse-in-the-military/#ixzz2TYgDWkXv/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Battleland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/battleland-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168897983.jpeg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Obama Meets With Hagel, Dempsey, Military Leaders At White House</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Morning Must Reads: May 17</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/morning-must-reads-may-17/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/morning-must-reads-may-17/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Must Reads]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95955</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[George Will: Obama&#8217;s tapped out trust Peggy Noonan: Political abuse of the IRS threatens the basic integrity of our government. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius: What&#8217;s at stake if Obamacare is repealed Syria begins to break apart under war&#8217;s pressure House Republicans opened a hearing on the IRS&#8217;s targeting of conservative groups with harsh words. FBI seeks source of prostitution, corruption allegations against Sen. Robert Menendez Debating the legal basis for the War on Terror Obama and the Nixonian Umbrella Rep. Michele Bachmann is back<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95955&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/morning-must-reads-may-17/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Must Reads</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/miscellany/must-reads-miscellany/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/morning-must-reads1.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Morning Must Reads</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Despite President Obama&#8217;s Optimism, No Quick Fix Likely For IRS</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/despite-president-obamas-optimism-no-quick-fix-likely-for-irs/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/despite-president-obamas-optimism-no-quick-fix-likely-for-irs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 09:30:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Scherer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95940</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As he announced the forced resignation of his top tax collector Wednesday, President Obama seemed to find a silver lining on the scandal engulfing the Internal Revenue Service. “The good news,” he said, “is it’s fixable.” A day later, the White House seemed determined to continue radiating the same confidence. At midday, Obama appeared again before his press corps, saying variations of the word “fix” five more times in relation to the IRS mess. Hours later, the Treasury Department announced a replacement for the top job at the IRS, Danny Werfel, a well-respected technocrat who has worked for both Republican and Democratic administrations. And another senior IRS official, Joseph Grant, who recently oversaw the troubled unit that mishandled nonprofit applications, had announced his retirement. But the prospect of a clean or quick resolution to the scandal seemed no closer, especially with a drip of more revelations expected in the coming days and weeks, and the uncertainty of a criminal investigation looming. On Capitol Hill, Republicans made clear that they will not be rushed in their investigations, and that they intended to attempt to broaden the scandal in an effort to hamper the roll out of the 2010 healthcare reform law, called Obamacare, which will require substantive new oversight by the IRS. ABC News named Sarah Hall Ingram, a bureaucrat now charged with implementing Obamacare enforcement at the IRS, as the person in charge of the office that oversaw tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012, during the worst documented abuses. “Now more than ever, we need to prevent the IRS from having any role in Americans’ health care,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in a statement. “After the events of last week, I cannot support giving the IRS any more responsibility or taxpayer dollars to implement a broken law.” He introduced a bill that would bar the IRS from enforcing any part of the new health insurance law, a symbolic measure that has little hope of passage. On the other side of<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95940&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/despite-president-obamas-optimism-no-quick-fix-likely-for-irs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Barack Obama</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/white-house/barack-obama/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/obama1.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/obama1.jpg?w=200" />
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			<media:title type="html">U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a statement about the Internal Revenue Service in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 15, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a467a0981ef8e059913a0aa44ba7df1b?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">michaelscherer</media:title>
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		<title>Groundhog Day in the House: A Gift to Republican Freshmen, and Possibly Democrats Too</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/groundhog-day-in-the-house-a-gift-to-republican-freshmen-and-possibly-democrats-too/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/groundhog-day-in-the-house-a-gift-to-republican-freshmen-and-possibly-democrats-too/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 22:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95912</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The House of Representatives voted Thursday to repeal Barack Obama&#8216;s health-care reform law. You have read that sentence before. It was the 37th time Republicans have voted to repeal or defund all or part of the President&#8217;s signature legislative achievement since taking control of the House in 2011. Democrats still hold the Senate, and Obama was re-elected, so the bill is doomed to die. Republicans are well aware of this. &#8220;Obamacare is the law of the land,&#8221; Speaker John Boehner conceded after the President won a second term. So why bother to go through the rigamarole of passing a bill that has zero chance of becoming law? As a sop to House GOP freshmen, mainly. Unlike the rest of the GOP majority, the three-dozen Republican rookies had yet to register a vote against the law. Nearly all of them blistered the health-care bill on their way to Washington, and they wanted an opportunity to live up to the rhetoric. The 112th Congress may have spent dozens of hours litigating the point, &#8220;but this is my first time,&#8221; said Tom Rice, a Republican freshman from South Carolina. &#8220;The constituents who sent me here want my vote recorded.&#8221; Republican leaders decided to throw him a bone. Many conservatives also expect the issue to be a boon on the campaign trail during the 2014 midterm elections, particularly if the law&#8217;s implementation is bumpy. Democrats view it as a gift as well. They&#8217;ve spent the week slamming their opponents for squandering time and money on symbolic votes, noting the opportunity cost of devoting valuable time on the floor to a purely symbolic measure. &#8220;You can repeal it 37 more times, and it’ll be just as dead when it gets to the Senate,&#8221; scoffed Democratic Congressman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania. &#8220;This is a waste of time…you should be ashamed of yourself.&#8221; Just as Republicans believe they benefit from going on the record against a controversial law, Democrats are convinced the effort will boost their image with the very people the GOP are vying to court.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95912&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/groundhog-day-in-the-house-a-gift-to-republican-freshmen-and-possibly-democrats-too/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168874407.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Speaker of the House John Boehner at a news conference on Capitol Hill with a printed version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
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		<title>2nd IRS Official to Leave Amid Tea Party Scandal</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/2nd-irs-official-to-leave-amid-tea-party-scandal/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/2nd-irs-official-to-leave-amid-tea-party-scandal/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 20:58:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Stephen Olemacher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95915</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — As second top Internal Revenue Service official has announced plans to leave the agency amid the controversy over the targeting of tea party groups. An internal IRS memo says Joseph Grant, commissioner of the agency&#8217;s tax exempt and government entities division, will retire June 3. Grant joins Steven Miller, who was forced to resign as acting IRS commissioner on Wednesday. As part of his duties, Grant oversaw the IRS division that targeted tea party groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. Grant joined the IRS in 2005. MORE: New IRS Scandal Echoes a Long History of Political Harassment<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95915&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/2nd-irs-official-to-leave-amid-tea-party-scandal/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Taxes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/taxes/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Obama Picks Budget Official to Run Troubled IRS</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/ap-source-obama-to-tap-werfel-as-acting-irs-head/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/ap-source-obama-to-tap-werfel-as-acting-irs-head/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 19:14:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Stephen Olemacher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95887</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — President Barack Obama picked a senior White House budget official on Thursday to become the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service even as he dismissed the idea of naming a special prosecutor to investigate the troubled agency for targeting conservative groups. Obama named Daniel Werfel as the acting IRS commissioner. Werfel, 42, currently serves as controller of the Office of Management and Budget. &#8220;Throughout his career working in both Democratic and Republican administrations, Danny has proven an effective leader who serves with professionalism, integrity and skill,&#8221; Obama said in a statement. &#8220;The American people deserve to have the utmost confidence and trust in their government, and as we work to get to the bottom of what happened and restore confidence in the IRS, Danny has the experience and management ability necessary to lead the agency at this important time.&#8221; Werfel replaces Steven Miller as acting IRS commissioner. Miller was forced to resign Wednesday amid the growing scandal, though he is still scheduled to testify Friday at a congressional hearing. Werfel agreed to serve through the end of September, the White House said. Presumably, Obama will nominate a new commissioner by then. (MORE: Obama Pushes Out IRS Commissioner) IRS commissioners serve five-year terms and must be confirmed by the Senate. Werfel won&#8217;t need Senate approval because he is a temporary appointment. The Senate, however, confirmed Werfel for his current position without opposition in 2009. Werfel served has had several jobs at the Office of Management and Budget. He has also been a trial attorney in the Justice Department&#8217;s Civil Rights Division. &#8220;He is an immensely talented and dedicated public servant who has ably served presidents of both parties,&#8221; Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a statement. &#8220;Danny has a strong record of raising his hand for — and excelling at — tough management assignments.&#8221; Werfel takes over an agency in crisis and under investigation. The IRS apologized last week for improperly targeting conservative political groups for additional, sometimes burdensome scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. The practice went on<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95887&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/ap-source-obama-to-tap-werfel-as-acting-irs-head/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Taxes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/taxes/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ap1111090192469.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ap1111090192469.jpg?w=200" />
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			<media:title type="html">Danny Werfel</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Timeline: The Benghazi E-Mails</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/timeline-the-benghazi-emails/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/timeline-the-benghazi-emails/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 18:20:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zeke Miller and Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Controversies]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95806</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Eight months after the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi was attacked, leaving four Americans dead including Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, new internal documents have provided a fuller sense of how the Obama Administration approached the aftermath. The e-mails confirm White House statements that they did not substantively edit the talking points over the description of the attack in Benghazi or potential perpetrators. However, press secretary Jay Carney&#8217;s assertion that the Administration made just a single semantic edit to the talking points appears to have been false. According to senior Administration officials, Carney had not reviewed the full e-mail chain when he said in November that &#8220;the single adjustment that was made to those talking points by either of those two institutions were changing the word consulate to diplomatic facility because consulate was inaccurate.” In fact, White House officials had a longer back-and-forth with the intelligence community, and the State Department objected to a substantial portion of the talking points that CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell ultimately cut. The following timeline has been compiled from the 100 pages of e-mails released to the press by the White House on Wednesday. Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, 11:15 a.m. After members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) ask for unclassified talking points on what happened in the Benghazi attack, the director of the CIA’s Office of Terrorism Analysis writes an initial draft for the CIA. The White House is first notified at 11:17 a.m., but is not yet presented with the draft. Sept. 14, 12:23 p.m. The CIA&#8217;s Office of General Counsel recommends an edit to the first bullet point, so as not to impede any future criminal prosecution. Sept. 14, 3:04 p.m. These talking points are sent to then White House national-security spokesman Tommy Vietor, deputy national-security adviser for strategic communication Ben Rhodes, and other Administration officials. Sept. 14, 3:27 p.m.  A CIA official e-mails, &#8220;We still have a number of components coordinating here on these points and we will have further edits. We are multi-tasking due to the time constraints.&#8221; The official promises another version of the talking points around<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95806&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Controversies</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/2012-election/controversies/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/carney-benghazi.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Carney Benghazi</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/b456c5209a547a000e0b869f3333aa77?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">zekemiller</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-3-11-09-pm.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 1</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-3-14-05-pm.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 2</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-3-16-54-pm.png?w=531" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 3</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-3-21-10-pm.png?w=596" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 4</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-12-46-21-pm.png?w=600" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 12.46.21 PM</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-3-49-28-pm.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP Denis</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-3-24-10-pm.png?w=518" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 5</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 1.10.42 PM</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 1.00.00 PM</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 1.12.37 PM</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-3-29-46-pm.png?w=494" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 7</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-11-52-44-am.png?w=600" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 11.52.44 AM</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 11.54.21 AM</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 11.56.00 AM</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-3-34-06-pm.png?w=513" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 7</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-16-at-1-16-33-pm.png?w=600" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 1.16.33 PM</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 11.58.48 AM</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Screen Shot 2013-05-16 at 11.59.54 AM</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Benghazi USUN</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 8</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 9</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Benghazi TP 10</media:title>
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		<title>Dems Rally Behind White House on Benghazi</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/dems-rally-behind-white-house-on-benghazi/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/dems-rally-behind-white-house-on-benghazi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 18:15:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Donna Cassata</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[White House]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95872</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Democrats rallied behind President Barack Obama in the long-running, bitter dispute over the administration&#8217;s handling of the Benghazi attack, arguing that the White House&#8217;s latest email disclosure undermines Republican claims of a cover-up. &#8220;Let&#8217;s be honest about what&#8217;s happening here,&#8221; Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said Thursday in speech on the Senate floor. &#8220;It&#8217;s not about doing all we can to find the truth and making sure it never happens again; it&#8217;s about political-gamesmanship and finding someone to blame.&#8221; (MORE: The Lingering Questions About the Benghazi Controversy) The White House released some 100 pages of emails and notes on Wednesday about interagency discussions on how to describe the Sept. 11, 2012, attack in which militants struck the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya, killing four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the emails &#8220;prove there simply was no cover-up.&#8221; &#8220;Yet Republicans, with full knowledge of these emails, claimed the White House was hiding the truth,&#8221; Reid said. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed with Obama that the GOP focus was a &#8220;sideshow.&#8221; Yet Republicans made clear they have no plans to back down, with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, telling reporters that the GOP members on five committees were &#8220;working overtime&#8221; on the Benghazi issue. Republicans have accused the Obama administration of misleading the American people about the circumstances of the attack, playing down a terrorist strike that would reflect poorly on Obama in the heat of a presidential race. Obama has dismissed charges of a cover-up and suggested on Monday that the criticism was politically motivated. Eight months after the attack, the issue remains a political winner with the Republican base as conservatives have been ferocious in assailing Obama. Rank-and-file GOP members and outside groups have pressured Boehner to appoint a special select committee to investigate. Instead, Republicans are pursuing their own inquiries and promising to call more witnesses to testify publicly, including the veteran diplomat and retired admiral who led an independent review of the attack that widely criticized<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95872&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>White House</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/white-house/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Turkish PM Talks Syria With Obama at White House</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/turkish-pm-talks-syria-with-obama-at-white-house/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/turkish-pm-talks-syria-with-obama-at-white-house/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 18:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Desmond Butler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95871</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — President Barack Obama said Thursday that the U.S. and Turkey will keep ramping up pressure to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, but there&#8217;s &#8220;no magic formula&#8221; to stop his violence. At a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the White House Rose Garden, Obama says the only way to resolve the crisis is for Assad to hand over power to a transitional government. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to keep increasing the pressure on the Assad regime and working with the Syrian opposition,&#8221; Obama said. &#8220;We both agree that Assad needs to go.&#8221; Erdogan says the U.S. and Turkey have overlapping goals when it comes to Syria. Neither leader mentioned that the U.S. and Turkey remain far apart on just how to handle Syria&#8217;s bloody civil war. Erdogan did not directly answer a question about what he asked from Obama on Syria. Obama said the United States can&#8217;t act alone to bring peace to Syria and needs the cooperation of international partners. &#8220;There&#8217;s no magic formula for dealing with an extraordinarily violent and difficult situation like Syria,&#8221; Obama said. (MORE: Savage Online Videos Fuel Syria’s Descent Into Madness) Erdogan is visiting Washington just days after two car bombs in Turkey killed dozens in the deadliest terrorist attack there in years. Turkish authorities have blamed Syrian intelligence, and Erdogan has been calling for more aggressive steps to topple Assad&#8217;s government. Obama extended condolences for what he called the &#8220;outrageous bombings&#8221; and said the United States stands with Turkey in fighting terror threats. But the Obama administration remains reluctant to take the kind of action Turkey would like to see, including establishing a no-fly zone in Syria. The disagreement was unlikely to spoil a day of pomp for Erdogan, who arrived at the White House under the flags of a U.S. military honor guard lining the north driveway. He met withObama in the Oval Office for three hours focusing largely on Mideast security issues, but Obama said they also agreed to create &#8220;a new high level committee&#8221; to focus on increasing trade and investment between the two countries. Erdogan also was being treated to a formal<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95871&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/turkish-pm-talks-syria-with-obama-at-white-house/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/syria-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>America the Isolated?</title>
		<link>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143560,00.html#ixzz2TTlGgO00</link>
		<comments>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143560,00.html#ixzz2TTlGgO00#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 17:49:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Fareed Zakaria</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Magazine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95867</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95867&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Angered Tea Party Groups Call IRS Process &#8216;Nightmare&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/angered-tea-party-groups-call-irs-process-nightmare/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/angered-tea-party-groups-call-irs-process-nightmare/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 15:37:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Stephen Braun and Steve Peoples</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Domestic Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95822</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Anger over President Barack Obama&#8216;s policies drove businessman Tom Zawistowski to file paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service nearly three years ago to create the Ohio Liberty Coalition. His nonprofit organization largely attracted conservatives who were new to politics but concerned about the growth of government, fiscal issues and perceived threats to Americans&#8217; constitutional protections. It eventually swelled to more than 20,000 members, becoming one of the region&#8217;s largest groups affiliated with the national tea party movement that emerged in the early months of Obama&#8217;s first term. (MORE:  Obama Pushes Out IRS Commissioner) Over the next few years, the Ohio Liberty Coalition would raise thousands of dollars to bus activists to rallies, run phone banks, rent a tent at a local fair, and knock on roughly 40,000 doors across Ohio to challenge the president and his fellow Democrats in the 2012 elections. All the while, the organization was locked in a battle with the nation&#8217;s tax enforcement agency over whether it should be granted tax-exempt status. &#8220;They expected me to turn over the names of our members to the IRS. You&#8217;d have to kill me to get me to do that,&#8221; said Zawistowski, who was among the first tea party leaders to formally protest the agency&#8217;s actions last year. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t accept tyranny.&#8221; It often takes a year for &#8220;social welfare organizations&#8221; to get tax-exempt status, which requires them to prove they&#8217;re not primarily devoted to politics. But the IRS acknowledged last week that it inappropriately applied heightened scrutiny to conservative groups even though it&#8217;s supposed to regulate the nation&#8217;s tax laws without political interference. The revelation drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats, sparked a Justice Department investigation and prompted Obama to call the allegations &#8220;outrageous&#8221; if true. The episode has pumped new energy into the tea party movement after a disappointing 2012 election season and created a bipartisan political headache for Obama at a critical time as he looks to get as much of his agenda passed as possible before all the focus shifts to next year&#8217;s<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95822&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Taxes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/taxes/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Morning Must Reads: May 16</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/morning-must-reads-may-16/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/morning-must-reads-may-16/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 12:09:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Must Reads]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95796</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Take the money and run: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew asked IRS Commissioner Steve Miller to resign after it was revealed that the IRS Cincinnati office targeted conservative groups for additional scrutiny. Obama Administration releases 100 pages of Benghazi emails  Prettier in Print Cover: &#8220;The Angelina Effect&#8220; Joe Klein: &#8220;Sorting Out the Scandals&#8220; Alex Altman: Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley may be to blame if immigration reform doesn&#8217;t pass Fareed Zakaria: &#8220;America the Isolated?&#8220; Michael Grunwald on the failure of Fisker Automotive and the green revolution Michael Scherer: &#8220;Auditing the IRS&#8220; Mitch McConnell&#8216;s legacy will be his defeat The Economist debates breaking up big banks The Fix in defense of fun journalism National Review: Scandal is not an agenda Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and Attorney General Eric Holder battle it out at yesterday&#8217;s hearing.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95796&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/morning-must-reads-may-16/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Must Reads</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/miscellany/must-reads-miscellany/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/morning-must-reads1.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Sorting Out the Scandals</title>
		<link>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143562,00.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143562,00.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 11:40:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[In the Arena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magazine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95793</guid>
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	<primary_category>Magazine</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/magazine/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/360_cklein_0527.jpeg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">President Obama Takes Questions From The Press During News Conference</media:title>
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