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May 24, 2013 | 09:37 AM
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Paul Bedard

Washington Secrets

No one knows Washington secrets like Paul Bedard. This longtime DC reporter joined The Washington Examiner in early 2012 after penning U.S. News & World Report's premiere political column, "Washington Whispers," for more than a decade. Be sure to follow Paul on Twitter at @SecretsBedard, subscribe to him on Facebook -- he's facebook.com/SecretsBedard -- and sign up for his email newsletter to get all of Paul's Washington Secrets delivered to your inbox every morning.
  • Gallup: Scandal-sacked Obama sinks 9 points since post-election high

    Paul Bedard

    Updated: Thu, May 16, 2013

    The thrill of President Obama's reelection is gone--and now so are his highest Gallup approval ratings since right after his first election in 2008. Obama, whose approval rating was 56 percent around Christmas, has sunk to 47 percent approve with an equal percentage disapproving of the...

  • Cruz: Obama pets like Solyndra evade IRS audits

    Paul Bedard

    Updated: Thu, May 16, 2013

    It was meant to be funny, but Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's humorous opening line at a meeting of conservatives Wednesday night packed a punch in highlighting the reality that in the escalating IRS scandal, no Obama pet project or supporting group was audited by the tax agency--only critics. In...

  • Soledad O'Brien's new target: 'White in America'

    Paul Bedard

    Published: Wed, May 15, 2013

    CNN correspondent Soledad O'Brien, known for her "Black in America" documentaries that sometimes irk viewers, is now turning her cameras on whites. She says in a statement to Secrets: "We're not just working on 'BIA,' but also developing a 'White in America.' Stay tuned for that one." Her...

  • John Kerry picks 'Buddha' as his top Asia aide

    Paul Bedard

    Updated: Wed, May 15, 2013

    Secretary of State John Kerry is finally getting his team together in Foggy Bottom. And as he has scoured the halls of the State Department, other agencies and Congress in his search for top aides, Kerry has been looking at more than just jobs-packed resumes. Take Danny Russel, for example....

  • Sen. Lee: 'We are no longer citizens but subjects'

    Paul Bedard

    Published: Wed, May 15, 2013

    As all 45 GOP senators today united in a letter to President Obama demanding cooperation with congressional investigations into the IRS scandal, outspoken conservative Sen. Mike Lee said that the combined IRS and Benghazi affairs and the seizure of Associated Press source files prove the...

  • 10 of 12 IRS offices implicated in scandal are in Washington

    Paul Bedard

    Updated: Wed, May 15, 2013

    The Treasury Inspector General's damaging report on the IRS-Tea Party scandal has destroyed the administration's claim that low-level workers in a Cincinnati, Ohio office are to blame, revealing that 10 of 12 agency offices referenced in the affair are in Washington. The report repeatedly...

  • 17 years later, 'It Takes A Village' becomes a federal program

    Paul Bedard

    Published: Wed, May 15, 2013

    It's been over 17 years since former first lady Hillary Clinton urged a new community spirit in her book "It Takes A Village." Now President Obama's administration is doing something even her husband didn't--turning it into a $600,000, three-year federal program. "It Takes A Village: Building...

  • Obamacare socks union health plans with 40% tax

    Paul Bedard

    Published: Wed, May 15, 2013

    Deep in the list of taxes that the president's Obamacare plan will hit Americans with is a 40 percent excise tax on health plans typical union members have, especially in Midwest states, according to a new analysis. The Obamacare tax won't take place until 2018, but when it does it will smack...

  • House GOP, Democrats agree: IRS lied

    Paul Bedard

    Published: Tue, May 14, 2013

    It took the IRS scandal to finally bring warring House leaders together in a rare display of bipartisanship. In the latest example, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee said that the IRS lied to their committee in recent testimony about allegations the...

  • President Taft crashes Labor Department's centennial bash

    Paul Bedard

    Published: Tue, May 14, 2013

    The centennial celebration at the Labor Department's annual Honor Awards event should have been a glitzy affair this year, but the sequester and furloughs got in the way. Gone were the lavish flower arrangements, the red carpet, cash awards of up to $10,000, fancy trophies and glossy programs....