memeorandum: IRS: ‘We should have done a better job’ (Steven T. Miller/USA Today)

12:20 PM ET, May 14, 2013

Top Items:

IRS officials in Washington were involved in targeting of conservative groups — Internal Revenue Service officials in Washington and at least two other offices were involved with investigating conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, making clear that the effort reached well beyond …

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

Nobody's Laughing Now — How pervasive is the Obama IRS scandal? — David Plouffe had an intriguing comment yesterday on the scandal involving selective tax-law enforcement against Tea Party groups. The manager of the 2008 Obama campaign who served as a top White House aide until this January …

Discussion: USA Today, Jammie Wearing Fools and UrbanGrounds

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

Uneven I.R.S. Scrutiny Seen in Political Spending by Big Tax-Exempt Groups — Over the last two years, government watchdog groups filed more than a dozen complaints with the Internal Revenue Service seeking inquiries into whether large nonprofit organizations like those founded …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, ABCNEWS, Jared Bernstein and Law Blog

Steven T. Miller / USA Today:

IRS: ‘We should have done a better job’ — New procedures will ensure the mistakes won't be repeated. — The Internal Revenue Service recognizes that we should have done a better job of handling the influx of applications by advocacy organizations. — OUR VIEW: ‘Outrageous’ actions violate core principles

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Hill, Democracy in America and National Review

Lauren French / Politico:
IRS head Steven Miller: ‘Mistakes were made’

Discussion: Reuters

New York Times:
The I.R.S. Audits Are Condemned

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NewsBusters, The Public Editor's Journal, Prairie Weather, Red Alert Politics, The Raw Story and The Week

ProPublica:
IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs From Conservative Groups

Discussion: The Week, Sunlight Foundation Blog, Associated Press, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, The Dish, Yourish.com, The PJ Tatler, Yahoo! News, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:
Congress Put Pressure on the IRS to Investigate Conservative Tax-Exempt Groups

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Raw Story and Associated Press

Jeffrey Toobin / News Desk:
The Real I.R.S. Scandal

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Week and The Fix

Daily Mail:
Revealed: The 55 questions the IRS asked one tea party group after more than two years of waiting …

Discussion: Red Alert Politics, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Rule of Law and The Gateway Pundit

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
I.R.S. Targeting of Conservative Groups Could Resonate in 2014

Discussion: Wizbang, msnbc.com, Yahoo! News and Wonkblog

New York Times:
Obama Dismisses Benghazi Furor but Assails I.R.S.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Week, DealBook and CNN

Mark Sherman / bigstory.ap.org:

GOVT OBTAINS WIDE AP PHONE RECORDS IN PROBE — You are here — Home » Government and politics » Govt obtains wide AP phone records in probe — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Washington Monthly, BuzzFeed, Associated Press, Hit & Run, News Desk, Fox News, msnbc.com, emptywheel, Guardian, WorldViews, Patterico's Pontifications, The Huffington Post, Open Channel, USA Today, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, Poynter, Weekly Standard, The Volokh Conspiracy, Erik Wemple, ThinkProgress, Right Wing News, Taylor Marsh, Scared Monkeys, Addicting Info, americanthinker.com, CANNONFIRE, The BLT, PJ Media, NO QUARTER USA NET, The Moderate Voice, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, NationalJournal.com, Hot Air, Wired, Washington Free Beacon, Politico, THE DEFINITIVE SOURCE, Weasel Zippers, Gawker, Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, Ed Driscoll, The Verge, SPJ News, National Republican …, Philly.com, Mother Jones, The PJ Tatler, National Review, Sister Toldjah, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, TalkLeft, White House Dossier, Lawfare and Conservatives4Palin, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

The Panopticon President — A new critique emerges. Fear of a narrow new government power at a scary moment. — Less than four months into President Barack Obama's second term, the hazy perception of a government reaching further and further into individuals' lives in an era of broad …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Capital New York, Instapundit, The Volokh Conspiracy and Yahoo! News

Associated Press:
Dems vow: ‘Hell to pay’ if IRS allegations ring true

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools

Politico:
Scandal politics sweep Capitol Hill

Discussion: Yahoo! News, The Fix, FishbowlDC, BuzzFeed, msnbc.com, Mediaite and VodkaPundit

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Journalists fume over DOJ raid on AP

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Riehl World News, The Hill, Twitchy and Weasel Zippers, more at Mediagazer »

Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald:
Obama knee-deep in Nixon-esque scandal

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

New York Times:
Phone Records of Journalists Seized by U.S.

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, The Maddow Blog, Daniel W. Drezner, msnbc.com and The Caucus

TIME:
The New GOP Case Against Obama: He's Cheney!

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, TheBlaze.com, The Plum Line and Right Wing News

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
A Conflict of Interest? — TPM Reader SS thinks there's …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

John Cassidy / News Desk:
A.P. Scandal Raises Spectre of Big Brother

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
White House stuck on IRS scandal response

Discussion: Guardian, The Hill, Sister Toldjah and Weasel Zippers

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Rep. Issa: ‘How dare’ Obama say he can fairly investigate IRS scandal

Discussion: The Huffington Post

The Week:
Why did the Obama administration spy on the Associated Press?

Discussion: The Daily Caller, msnbc.com, CNN, The Huffington Post and Israpundit, more at Mediagazer »

Angelina Jolie / New York Times:

My Medical Choice — MY MOTHER fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, msnbc.com, Mediaite, Guardian, Telegraph, Taylor Marsh, Bangor Daily News, CNN, Yahoo! News, Daily Mail, KDVR.com, canada.com, Forbes, Feministing, News Desk, Shakesville, Wizbang, CBS DC, Althouse, Wonkette and The Jawa Report

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Obama's claim he called Benghazi an ‘act of terrorism’ — “The day after it happened, I acknowledged that this was an act of terrorism.” — Once again, it appears that we must parse a few presidential words. We went through this question at length during the 2012 election, but perhaps a refresher course is in order.

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, Wonkette, Scared Monkeys, Patterico's Pontifications, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Conservatives4Palin, Althouse, Power Line, This ain't Hell …, ThinkProgress, The PJ Tatler, CNN, National Review and The Lonely Conservative

FLNation / The Florida Nation:

RNC FL Hispanic Director is Now a Democrat — I've known Pablo Pantoja for years. We were both in the same graduate program at Florida State University. We bonded because we were both also state employees at the time. However, Pantoja had another, another job.

Discussion: Tampa Bay Times, The Plum Line, Hullabaloo, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, The Maddow Blog, Yahoo! News, Taegan Goddard's …, Naked Politics and First Read

Adam Peck / ThinkProgress:
RNC Director Of Hispanic Outreach Quits Party And Registers As A Democrat

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Chris Gentilviso / The Huffington Post:
Pablo Pantoja Turns Democrat: RNC Florida Hispanic Director Cites GOP ‘Intolerance’ In Making Party Switch

Discussion: Rumproast and TheBlaze.com

M.L. Johnson / greenbaypressgazette.com:

7-year-old boy gets handwritten letter from Biden — MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin boy wrote Vice President Joe Biden with an unusual suggestion for making the nation safer: Create guns that shoot chocolate bullets. — On Monday, he got an unusual response: A handwritten note from Biden on vice presidential stationery.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, Wonkette and Jammie Wearing Fools

RT:

CIA agent trying to recruit Russian intelligence officer detained in Moscow - FSB — Russia's counterintelligence agency has detained a CIA agent in Moscow trying to recruit an officer of the Russian secret service, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced. The agent was operating under guise of career diplomat.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, bigstory.ap.org, The Week, New York Times, WorldViews and BBC

CBS News:
Russia spy agency claims CIA agent arrested for trying to recruit Russian agent in Moscow

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and The Hinterland Gazette

Tara Palmeri / New York Post:

Rich Manhattan moms hire handicapped tour guides so kids can cut lines at Disney World — They are 1 percenters who are 100 percent despicable. — Some wealthy Manhattan moms have figured out a way to cut the long lines at Disney World — by hiring disabled people to pose as family members …

Discussion: The Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Janine Stanwood / WPLG-TV:

North Miami mayoral candidate touts endorsement from Jesus Christ — Anna L. Pierre is one of seven candidates vying to replace Andre Pierre — Author: Steve Owen, Assistant News Director, sowen@local10.com — Benjamin Candea, Senior Web Producer, bcandea@local10.com … NORTH MIAMI, Fla. -

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Taegan Goddard's …, Juanita Jean's, The Hinterland Gazette and Gawker

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senate Democrats: Nuclear option for filibuster is back on the table — Senate Democrats frustrated with the GOP's blocking of a string of President Obama's nominees are seriously weighing a controversial tactic known as the “nuclear option.” — The option — which would involve Democrats …

Jonathan Bernstein / The Plum Line:
You want a scandal? Here's a scandal.

Discussion: ACS Blog

Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:

Bill Hader to Leave ‘Saturday Night Live’ — With just one departure, “Saturday Night Live” is losing its excitable “Weekend Update” city correspondent, Stefon; its frenetic incarnations of James Carville, Al Pacino, Vincent Price and Julian Assange; and any number of unctuous, self-satisfied game-show hosts.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Pew Global Attitudes Project:

The New Sick Man of Europe: the European Union — Overview — The European Union is the new sick man of Europe. The effort over the past half century to create a more united Europe is now the principal casualty of the euro crisis. The European project now stands in disrepute across much of Europe.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Forbes, Pew Research Center, Via Meadia, Guardian and New York Times

Hayes Brown / ThinkProgress:

Dick Cheney: Benghazi ‘One Of The Worst Incidences I Can Recall In My Career’ — Former Vice President Dick Cheney weighed in on Benghazi last night, saying the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya was “one of the worst incidences” he could recall.

Discussion: AMERICAblog