IRS wasn’t only agency hassling True the Vote

By   /  May 16, 2013  /  Ethics, Federal Government, News, Politics & Elections, Texas  /  18 Comments

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By Jon Cassidy | Watchdog.org
HOUSTON — Since filing for tax exemption as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2010, the founders of True the Vote, a Houston-based group that tries to prevent elections fraud, have been overwhelmed with scrutiny from a host of government agencies, in particular, by the Internal Revenue Service.
Catherine and Bryan Engelbrecht have suffered through 18 [...]

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Walker, Jindal in letter to Obama call IRS scandal ‘Big Brother come to life’

By   /  May 14, 2013  /  Accountability, Censorship, Ethics, Featured, Federal Government, News, Politics, Scott Walker, Wisconsin  /  14 Comments

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By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON – As he prepared for his meeting Tuesday morning with the peaceful Dalai Lama in Madison, Gov. Scott Walker packed a rhetorical punch in a letter he and fellow Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana penned demanding President Obama call for a special prosecutor to investigate the Internal Revenue [...]

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PA Week in Review: Budget-making in a broke city

By   /  May 10, 2013  /  Accountability, Elections, Ethics, Featured, Finances, Fraud, Issues, Media, News Roundup, Pennsylvania, Pensions, Pensions, Politics & Elections, State Budgets, State Government, Video  /  No Comments

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In a capital city teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and the first city in the nation to be charged by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission with misleading investors, the Pennsylvania state government is beginning the process of putting together a budget.

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Special interests drive Iowa education reforms

By   /  May 10, 2013  /  Accountability, Education, Ethics, Featured, Iowa, Issues, Lobbying, News, State Lobbying  /  1 Comment

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By Tushar Rae | Iowa Watchdog contributor

DES MOINES – Good intentions aren’t the only driving force behind Iowa’s education reform efforts.

State education agencies, special interest groups and for-profit education companies have spent thousands in 2012 and 2013 to hire lobbyists and pad the pockets of lawmakers who sit on key committees.

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McAuliffe’s VA ethics commission idea isn’t new and it may not work

By   /  May 3, 2013  /  Constitution, Elections, Ethics, Governor, News, Politics, State Elections, Uncategorized, Virginia  /  No Comments

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By Carten Cordell │ Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau
ALEXANDRIA — Gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is recycling an old campaign tune from four years ago, calling for an independent ethics commission.
The original call for the ethics commission came  in 2009 from then candidate Bob McDonnell, who laid out an ambitious reform agenda that included creating the state’s first [...]

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