Opponents of an Internet sales tax bill on Tuesday called it a "21st century version of taxation without representation," warning it raises the prospect of taxing online retailers in jurisdictions where the owners of those businesses cannot vote. Strongly supported by state governments, the "Marketplace Fairness Act" sailed through the Senate last month on bipartisan [...]

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Attention Los Angeles shoppers: The plastic bag is disappearing from more than just the supermarket. L.A. on Tuesday became the newest and by far the largest city to back a ban on plastic grocery bags, approving an ordinance that applies not just to food stores and mini marts but also big retail chains with their [...]

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WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says his office has learned that the IRS is executing an agreement with [...]

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WASHINGTON - A scrappy Vice President Joe Biden vowed Tuesday to "beat the gun lobby" by ultimately passing stronger firearm laws and said some lawmakers who voted against background checks have privately told him they want another chance. With President Barack Obama away in Europe, Biden held a White House event to announce progress on [...]

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Taking yet another step in its struggle to distance itself from the National Security Administration's controversial PRISM data-mining program, Google Tuesday asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to relax gag orders over data requests it makes. Claudia Rast, a privacy attorney at Butzel Long, says the move may gain the search giant public relations benefits. [...]

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An IRS supervisor working in Washington told congressional investigators that she personally reviewed applications from groups for tax-exempt status, in testimony that appears to show the agency's scrutiny of conservative groups extended beyond the confines of the office in Cincinnati. Holly Paz, who was a supervisor in the Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt status division, indicated [...]

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The number of Americans who think the White House ordered the Internal Revenue Service to target conservative political groups is growing, a poll found. The CNN/ORC International survey, released Tuesday, found a majority of respondents think the controversy, related to enhanced IRS scrutiny of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, is very important to the nation. [...]

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Voter registration for hundreds of Kansans will remain in limbo because they did not provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. The 7-2 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the citizenship documentation law in Arizona won't free those Kansans of the proof required here. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach expressed confidence Monday in [...]

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The food bank at Meet Each Need with Dignity in Pacoima was bustling on a recent day with people reaching for donated fruits, vegetables, juice and other goods. And yet, when a volunteer grabbed a microphone to ask the hungry crowd, "Who wants to apply for food stamps?" no one raised a hand. The scene [...]

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A politically charged competition for jobs in the firearms and financial services industries resembled a modern-day duel of honor Monday, with Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy showing up uninvited to a Hartford reception hosted by rival Texas Gov. Rick Perry for businesses that are considering leaving the state. But only one governor was packing heat. [...]

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