"Taxes, like death, may be inescapable. But, at the very least, taxpayers have always enjoyed the freedom to offload the headache of doing their taxes to the tax-return preparer of their choice. 

"Or rather, taxpayers used to enjoy that freedom. 

"Now, in an outrageous and unlawful power grab, the Internal Revenue Service seeks to control who you may hire to prepare your tax returns and even to nudge you toward a large tax preparation firm by eliminating many of their independent competitors. It has enacted a sweeping new licensing scheme that affects an estimated 350,000 tax professionals nationwide."

"Disapproval of President Obama’s handling of the economy is heading higher -- alongside gasoline prices -- as a record number of Americans now give the president 'strongly' negative reviews on the 2012 presidential campaign’s most important issue, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. 

"Increasingly pessimistic views of Obama’s performance on the economy -- and on the federal budget deficit -- come despite a steadily brightening employment picture and other signs of economic improvement, and they highlight the political sensitivity of rising gas prices. ... 

"Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they disapprove of the way the president is handling the situation at the pump, where rising prices have already hit hard. Just 26 percent approve of his work on the issue, his lowest rating in the poll. Most Americans say higher prices are already taking a toll on family finances, and nearly half say they think that prices will continue to rise, and stay high."

"The U.S. government last year announced a $10 million award, dubbed the 'L Prize,' for any manufacturer that could create a 'green' but affordable light bulb. 

"Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the prize would spur industry to offer the costly bulbs, known as LEDs, at prices 'affordable for American families.' There was also a 'Buy America' component. Portions of the bulb would have to be made in the United States. 

"Now the winning bulb is on the market. 

"The price is $50."

"For members of Congress, the thrill is gone. 

"They don’t make national policy anymore. They can’t earmark money for communities back home. The public hates them. 

"And perks little and big, from private jet travel to a little free nosh now and then, have been locked down by ethics rules. 

"As they head for the exits this year, many leaving Congress say the prestigious job of being a congressman sucks now, and that’s why lawmakers young and old are trading in their member pins for a new life in the private sector."

"I’ll tell you, if you could marry Rick Santorum’s and Mitt Romney’s speeches into a single address, the result would be pretty powerful. Santorum’s great asset is his commitment to his causes. His greatest weakness is that he is clumsy, rambling and dour in how he touts his causes. Romney’s great advantage is that he is utterly disciplined in staying on message and at avoiding giving the sense that he has any scary convictions of any kind. When he’s not on offense against Obama he’s frustratingly anodyne and undefined, offering a fog of America the Beautiful platitudes. If you married the best parts of both men, you’d have something pretty impressive."

"There is no presidential election that is not said to be the most important in our lifetime. It was even said in 1996, when Bill Clinton won a decisive but not particularly consequential victory over Bob Dole. But Clinton had been chastened by the Republican sweep in 1994, and in a period of peace and prosperity, the country could afford to debate the meaning of 'is.' Now, we are truly at an inflection point, between the Barack Obama and Paul Ryan approaches to government, between consolidation of the past three years of historic government expansion and rollback. 

"The downbeat musings on the right are driven by the dreary primary season and the belief that the party’s nominee will be weak. But so is the president, who leads likely nominee Mitt Romney only narrowly even after his season of self-inflicted wounds. For Republicans, the general election is still winnable, and there is no substitute for victory."

"President Barack Obama has a bleak message for House and Senate Democrats this year when it comes to campaign cash: You’re on your own. 

"Democratic congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have privately sought as much as $30 million combined from Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee — a replay of the financial help they received from Obama in 2008 and 2010. 

"But that’s not going to happen, top Obama aides Jim Messina and David Plouffe told Reid and Pelosi in back-to-back meetings on Capitol Hill on Thursday, according to sources familiar with the high-level talks. It was a stark admission from a presidential campaign once expected to rake in as much as $1 billion of just how closely it is watching its own bottom line."

"President Barack Obama looks down on drilling almost as much as he does on people clinging bitterly to their guns and religion.

"At a recent campaign event, he mocked Republicans for their three-point energy plan, every point of which he said is a call for more drilling. ... 

"The president may snicker all he likes. But the first three points of any energy plan worthy of the name should be drill, frack, and repeat."

"Can Afghanistan be stabilized so as not to pose a threat to America and American interests? Probably not, if the surge forces pull out on schedule and America continues to fight under restrictive and self-imposed rules of war while the enemy does not.  

"So what's the point? Are we to stay only until after the election so President Obama won't be asked, 'Who lost Afghanistan?' If our troops are coming out anyway and if the administration can't define victory, or commit the resources necessary to achieve it, waiting longer only ensures more casualties. As with Vietnam, that is a waste of blood and treasure. Ask the ghosts of the more than 58,000 fallen whose names appear on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, or the ghosts of the politicians who are responsible for putting them in their graves."

"Never underestimate the brilliance of our federal bureaucracy. 

"The Department of Health and Human Services has announced that it must delay implementation of new reimbursement codes for Medicare. Those new regulations would have increased the total number of reimbursement codes from the current 18,000 to more than 140,000 separate codes. The delay will undoubtedly come as a relief for physicians who will have additional time to try to understand the bureaucratic complexity of rules that, for example, apply 36 different codes for treating a snake bite, depending on the type of snake, its geographical region, and whether the incident was accidental, intentional self-harm, assault, or undetermined. The new codes also thoroughly differentiate between nine different types of hang-gliding injuries, four different types of alligator attacks, and the important difference between injuries sustained by walking into a wall and those resulting from walking into a lamppost. 

"And Democrats wonder why Americans still resist having the government control our health care?"