Economic conservatism has hit a five year low, according to a Gallup poll released Friday.

And, the survey suggests, "ideological attitudes in the country may be shifting."

The poll found that social liberalism is up six points since 2001 and is embraced by about half the Democrats and those who lean Democrats.

"It is possible that Americans are returning to a certain sense of normalcy on economic ideology, while social ideology continues to charter new ground," said a poll analysis.

Here's more from Gallup:

Lois Lerner, who headed the Internal Revenue Service office at the center of controversy for
targeting conservative groups, was placed on administrative leave Thursday, the second IRS official to face disciplinary action.

Acting Commissioner Steven Miller was asked to resign last week by President Barack Obama.

Lerner is being replaced by Ken Corbin, who will become acting director, exempt organizations,
tax exempt/government entities division.

A veteran IRS official, Corbin was touted by Danny Werfel, the new acting IRS commissioner, for a “track record of leading large work groups.” Those skills, said Werfel, “make him an ideal choice to help lead the Exempt Organizations area through this difficult period.”

If Republicans are going to target President Barack Obama for not knowing more about the Internal Revenue Service controversy, says House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, consider this:

"Well," she told a news conference Thursday, "The president doesn't know about everything that is going on in every agency of government.  Should Mr. Boehner have known because this is his neighboring district, and since -- Cincinnati, where the IRS office is?

"I don't think you can hold him accountable for what happened in that IRS office."

Asked if Democrats will be hurt politically, Pelosi, D-Calif, noted, "It happened under the appointment of the head of the IRS, who was appointed by President Bush; his length of stay extended into President Obama's stay." She referred to former IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.

"But," she said, "I think that that points to the fact that why is this, you know, a politicized issue because the -- we all are concerned about how the IRS does what it's supposed to do, supports the law but does not do it in a selective way.  I've said before what they did was wrong.  The inspector general has said over and over it is not illegal."

The Republican National Committee Wednesday formally requested a series of documents related to the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups.

The request, filed under the federal Freedom of Information Act, seeks a host of data, including "any and all documents and correspondence"  between Treasury officials and the White House from January 1, 2010 and Monday. The documents would include terms like tea party and patriot.

The RNC also wants documents related to "be on the lookout criteria" the IRS used.

"As each day passes, Americans find ourselves with more questions about the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups and donors—and what the White House and Treasury Department knew and when,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “Because the administration refuses to be forthright with the American people, I instructed the RNC counsel’s office to file a FOIA request with the IRS to make the facts available for the public.

Priebus noted that Lois Lerner, the head of the tax exempt organizations division of the IRS, is expected to take the Fifth Amendment before a congressional committee Wednesday.

"There’s clearly something serious the American people are not being told,'' Priebus said.

Congressional leaders will dedicate a statue of civil rights leader Frederick Douglass June 19 at the Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall.

Here's some of the announcement:

"Pursuant to H.R. 6336, the United States Congress is proud to accept a statue of Frederick Douglass as a gift from the District of Columbia and its more than 600,000 residents. Douglass, widely considered to be the father of the civil rights movement, led the fight for equality, advised President Abraham Lincoln, and was a powerful voice for freedom in America.

"Additional details regarding the dedication of the statue will be announced closer to the date of the ceremony."

The Internal Revenue Service and Benghazi stories may be consuming Washington, but in the rest of America, not so much.

"The amount of attention Americans are paying to the IRS and the Benghazi situations is well below the average for news stories Gallup has tracked over the years," a new Gallup poll found.

Democrats are not paying much attention, nor are independents, said the survey released Friday--though Republicans are paying a lot of attention.

"Republicans are also much more likely than Democrats to strongly agree that both situations are serious enough to require investigation," according to a Gallup analaysis.

Here's reaction to the White House release of Benghazi emails from Brendan Buck, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio:

"The House interim report found that senior State Department officials requested the talking points be changed to avoid criticism for ignoring the threat environment in Benghazi’ and that those changes were ultimately made.

"Those findings are confirmed by the emails released today, and they contradict statements made by the White House that it and the State Department only changed one word in the talking points. The seemingly political nature of the State Department’s concerns raises questions about the motivations behind these changes and who at the State Department was seeking them.

"This release is long overdue and there are relevant documents the Administration has still refused to produce.  We hope, however, that this limited release of documents is a sign of more cooperation to come.”

The top Republican and top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee joined forces Tuesday to express outrage at the news that the Internal Revenue Service has targeted certain conservative organizations.

Reps. Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Sander Levin, D-Mich., noted that "despite repeated calls for cooperation, the agency failed to be completely truthful in its resposnse to the committee during its nearly two-year invesigation of this matter in testimony before the committee."

It was "especially concerning," they wrote, that the new came out on the eve of an inspector general's report on the matter.

The two lawmakers asked the IRS a series of questions, including what the White House knew and when. And, they asked, "Did the IRS single out other organizations based on their political views?"

Ways & Means plans a hearing Friday morning. The letter to the IRS: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/camp-levin_5_4_13.pdf

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul found an appreciate crowd Saturday morning at the North Liberty, Iowa, Community Center, the last stop on his whirlwind Iowa tour.

Paul told fellow Republicans to be inclusive and look beyond primary victories. "You have to be able to present what we stand for in a way to appeal to people who haven’t heard that message," he said.

He noted that "If you’re an evangelist or a pastor you don’t go beating people over the head to get into your church...it’s the same way with a political party."

Paul, a first-term senator, concluded his trip to the state that traditionally holds the nation's first presidential caucus Saturday. Friday, he met with pastors, Republican women and the media, and spoke at the Lincoln Day Dinner in Cedar Rapids.

His 20 minute talk Saturday was wide ranging. One his biggest applause lines: "Not one penny more to countries that are burning our flag."

He segued into a critique of what he termed government waste. Look at the Commerce Department Paul advised. "You wouldn’t notice if you woke up tomorrow and it was gone," he said.

Paul also urged tax reform that cuts taxes, and spoke about his plan for a 17 percent corporate and income tax with few deductions.

If the nation adopted Reagan-era economic policies, he said, 12 to 13 million jobs could be created.

"It is not inherently unfair to pay the same rate. It would stimulate economy," Paul insisted.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Wednesday urged colleagues to include strong measures to help sexual assault victims in the military as part of the next major defense bill.

“As you prepare the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, I strongly urge you to include additional legislation to ensure justice for victims of sexual assault in the military and to prevent these horrific acts against service members in the future," the Nevada Democrat wrote.

The letter, addressed to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and top Republican James Inhofe, R-Okla., is a response to Tuesday's Pentagon report that found sexual assaults reported by members of the militarywere up 6 percent over 2011.

A survey of personnel who could remain anonymous found that number of incidents could be as many as 26,000 annually, or 70 every day.

The figure comes from a survey that had replies from 22,792 active-duty military personnel, or 2 percent of the active-duty military strength.