BostonGlobe.com Political Headlines - May 16, 2013

• IRS chief out; Obama vows new oversight: National political reporter Matt Viser with the latest on the Internal Revenue Service controversy and the ousting of its commissioner.

• GOP presses EPA pick with 1,000 questions: In the sixth installment of the Broken City series, Washington bureau reporter Noah Bierman details the tortured and bitter nomination battle over Gina McCarthy's selection as the new EPA administrator. Some Democrats are calling it harassment.

• Gomez unclear on some aspects of abortion: Political reporter Stephanie Ebbert interviewed the US Senate candidate specifically on his views on abortion, since his nuanced stance has created some confusion.

• A seat at the Arctic table: The Arctic is melting and that's creating a foreign policy challenge for the US and other nations, but it's easy to put off dealing with it. But now summer is coming and the ice is melting. National security reporter Juliette Kayyem writes.

• The magical mogul: Columnist Joan Vennochi shared her thoughts on Steve Wynn and Everett as a casino target.

BostonGlobe.com Political Headlines - May 15, 2013

• Obama tries to control damage on three fronts: The White House sought to insulate itself from fallout yesterday as a trio of political controversies developed - Benghazi, IRS and AP phone records. National political reporter Matt Viser details.

• Terrorism is never justified: Columnist Jeff Jacoby writes about how there have always been Westerners who are quick to see the US as culpable in every crisis, but that it's not part of constructive self-criticism to make excuses for those who commit acts of terrorism.

• Act dropped from Markey event over Confederate flag: US Congressman and Senate candidate Edward Markey dropped Ben Jones, who was on "Dukes of Hazzard," from a fundraiser when he learned he was a Confederate flag defender. Boston.com political editor Jim O'Sullivan reports.

• The Obama scandals: In fretting about the Tea Party and leaks to the press, the Obama administration is showing an unprecedented display of paranoia and abridgement of freedom. What era is it, anyway, asks columnist Derrick Z. Jackson.

• The good and the bad of Gabriel Gomez: Columnist Scot Lehigh writes about the dueling perspectives of the Republican US Senate nominee.

BostonGlobe.com Political Headlines - May 13, 2013

• Proposed budget cuts imperil defense jobs in Mass.: Two plants in Massachusetts fear hundreds of layoffs when the Pentagon informs Congress that it plans to strip Army communications contract spending and use it instead for war spending. National security reporter Bryan Bender has more from Washington.

• Pentagon's sexual assault conundrum: National security columnist Juliette Kayyem writes about how the only real solution to the military sex assault epidemic will come with the complete integration of women into an armed services that has, for too long, treated them as second-class citizens.

• Casino firms face complications in Southeastern Mass.: Some disadvantages in this part of the state could discourage investors and competition, Mark Arsenault reports.

• Gabriel Gomez an outsider or preset insider?: Columnist Adrian Walker writes about the GOP Senate candidate. Gomez has styled himself as an outsider who wants to shake things up, but his recent behavior smacks of everything he professes to dislike about Washington.

BostonGlobe.com Political Headlines - May 14, 2013

•  O'Malley's reasoning on BC graduation boycott is flawed: Columnist Kevin Cullen writes about the cardinal's opposition to the Prime Minister of Ireland receiving an honorary degree at Boston College's graduation, citing proposed legislation to allow abortion in cases where it would save the mother's life. 

• First deadline passes with 24 in Boston mayoral field: The two dozen people officially signed up for the race range from career politicians to radio station founders to a justice of the piece. City Hall bureau reporter Andrew Ryan and correspondent Lauren Dezenski report.

• McCain to stump for Gomez's Senate bid: US Senator John McCain is scheduled to come to Boston next week to raise campaign cash for a fellow US Navy veteran and Republican, Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez. Plus, other Mass. political updates from the Globe politics staff.

BostonGlobe.com Political Headlines - May 9, 2013

• PACs key source of Markey funds: Between Jan. 1 and April 10 PACs gave US Representative Edward J. Markey more than $500,000, according to a Globe analysis. Boston.com politics editor Jim O'Sullivan and reporter Matt Carroll break it down.

• Keeping home as is paid off for Gomez: State House Bureau chief Frank Phillips explains how US Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez claimed a "historic façade easement" tax deduction - later considered a tax scam by the IRS.

•  Poll puts Markey 17 points over Gomez in US Senate race: Democrat Markey heads into the general election with a significant advantage over Republican nominee Gomez in their Senate race, according to a poll released Wednesday by Suffolk University/7News.

•  To bury, not to praise: He came to bury his nephew, not to praise him. But some of us won't allow it. Columnist Yvonne Abraham shares her thoughts on the bombings suspect's burial controversy.

• Publicity raises UMass funding hackles: The ties between alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and the state's public higher education system are coming to light at the worst possible time for UMass, says columnist Joan Vennochi.

• Tragedy's cold calculations: National security columnist Juliette Kayyem discusses the process of money from the One Fund being distributed to Marathon victims.