Can IRS Prevent You From Traveling?

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama dismissed the idea of a special prosecutor to investigate the Internal Revenue Service Thursday, saying probes by Congress and the Justice Department should be able to figure out who was responsible for improperly targeting Tea Party groups when they applied for tax-exempt status.

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday that a federal court had authorized the Internal Revenue Service to seek information on U.S. taxpayers who may have accounts at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB).

WASHINGTON — As the investigation into the IRS’ targeting of conservative political groups widens, House Speaker John Boehner says he has a question: “Who’s going to jail over this scandal?”

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday he has ordered a Justice Department investigation into the U.S. tax agency’s targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny. The FBI was co-ordinating with the Department of Justice to see if any laws were broken, Holder said at a news conference at the Justice Department. Holder called the practice, in his words, “Outrageous and unacceptable.”

The U.S. Justice Department has secretly obtained two months of AP reporters' phone records, and the news organization is speculating that it's tied to an investigation into how the AP found out about an al-Qaida bomb plot in Yemen.

We can picture the scene of abject horror at the revelations the President read about the actions undertaken by what must surely have been a rogue element in the IRS. However, as the AP (ironically) reports, Obama believes some IRS employees failed to apply the law fairly and impartially. The blame, it would seem, is being laid at "lax managers'" feet for allowing this practice to continue for 18 months.

A Toronto family has lost their right to have a Canadian passport for five years after a new passport they urgently ordered for their son was used shortly afterward by an imposter to come to Canada. The case and other recent incidents of Canadians allowing others to use their passport, sometimes for large amounts of money, highlights the myriad and mysterious ways Canadian passports are misused.