Government in Action

• The predawn line in March actually started forming at midnight, snaking around the building in Maitland, Florida, but it wasn't for concert tickets. The dozens of people needed coveted visitor passes just to speak to an IRS agent -- because budget cuts and personnel reductions have limited services. "I just came here to verify my identity," said one frustrated taxpayer, who arrived at 8 a.m. and would not be served that day. The agency said its budget had been cut by $1 billion since the congressional "sequestration" in 2011. [News 13 (Orlando), 3-16-2015]

• Nope, They Haven't Grown Back Yet: Canada's Department of Veterans Affairs requires any vet receiving disability benefits to have a doctor recertify the condition annually -- including people like Afghan war double-leg amputee Paul Franklin. He complained to Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News in March that he had been harshly threatened with loss of benefits if he failed to file (even though the department told CBC News that it might perhaps relax the certification requirement to "every third year").

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