If you've just finished writing a check to the Internal Revenue Service, this report might give you some heartburn. As of September 30, 2014, almost 305,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3.5 billion in unpaid taxes. Congress should throw that into the face of the agency's director the next time he comes looking for higher appropriations.


Afghanistan has a new president, Ashraf Ghani, who exuded a spirit of cooperation with the U.S. in a visit to the White House. It's too bad President Obama, in a joint press conference, referred to him as "President Karzai" - the name of his predecessor.

Laura Dowling didn't receive a bouquet of red roses for Valentine's Day. Instead it was her bad luck on Friday, February 13 to be handed her walking papers  In fact, the Washington Post reports, Dowling was "escorted" out of the White House after serving almost six years as the Chief Florist. The paper's gossip column, Reliable Source, devoted two successive days to probing the mystery of her departure. Some sources said her floral arrangements were too "fussy" for the first lady's "emerging modern and clean aesthetics."