The woman in charge of the tax-exempt division during the time window of IRS tea-party targeting has since been put in charge of implementing Obamacare, and has accepted some hefty bonuses in the process.

Obamacare will eat another incredible chunk of taxpayer money starting in October with a program whose sole purpose is to help people sign up for their ‘free’ healthcare benefits.

Montana Sen. Max Baucus announced Tuesday that he would retire at the end of his current term rather than seeking a seventh term in the 2014 elections. With Montana trending strongly toward Republicans — Mitt Romney carried the state by nearly a 14-point margin last fall — the 71-year-old Democrat would have faced a tough race had Baucus chosen to run again. As an Obamacare co-sponsor, Baucus would have been hit hard by Republicans for his involvement in the drafting and passage of the President’s health-care measure that is deeply unpopular in Montana. Baucus himself last week called Obamacare a “train wreck.”

Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) led the charge this weekend to pass the first budget in four years in the United States Senate

There is a lot of political posturing going on in DC right now in regards to Senators up for reelection in 2016. As a caveat to such posturing, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) was happy to announce this weekend that for the first time in over four years the US Senate has successfully passed a budget. The vote stuck almost strictly to party lines with a 50-49 vote, ending with a $3.7 trillion budget proposal. The Senate’s budget proposal included 70 amendments that were voted on as well as over 500 that were offered. The budget proposal was led by Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) and included votes on the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline as well as an opt out of the Medical device tax included in the Affordable Care Act which would, if imposed, create a 2.3% tax on medical devices. Miraculously, both of these amendments passed with bi-partisan support.

Friday night, US Senators symbolically voted to repeal a portion of ObamaCare — the medical device tax. The particular provision, if imposed, creates a 2.3% tax on medical devices, which could lead to the loss of some 43,000 jobs.
Senators voted overwhelmingly in favor of repealing the provision, passing by a vote of 79 to 20. The new tax is projected to raise nearly $2 billion in new revenue in 2013 and $20 billion over the next seven years according to United Liberty.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) addressed CPAC attendees this afternoon in the Potomac Ballroom, after an introduction from Al Cardenas, Chairman of the American Conservative Union.  In his remarks, Senator Scott stressed the importance of understanding the “why” of our problems rather than simply the “what.”  ObamaCare, he stated, will add a new tax of at least 25% and expands the federal government’s reach much further than it has ever been before.  Regarding this, he said, “We’re heading in the wrong direction.”

Senator Scott expounded on the fact that the federal government acts recklessly and irresponsibly when they handle taxpayer dollars.  ”Nobody in America who sits at their kitchen table, who understands that they make $22,000 per year, would choose to spend $34,000 per year.”  He stressed the importance of the economy over the government:  ”We need to grow our economy and not our government.”

Scott, a former congressman, was appointed last December by South Carolina governor Nikki Haley to the post left vacant by retiring Senator Jim DeMint. At the time, Scott was the only black member of the Senate from either party.

Optimism rang from Senator Scott’s speech; in his own words, “I believe that America’s greatest hour is still ahead of us.”

Today, Ohio Gov. John Kasich moved his state into the column with those of four other Republican governors, by accepting additional federal dollars for Medicaid under Obamacare.

Although some stories on Kasich’s decision highlight his praise of White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, there was another, crucial part of their conversation: