Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement

Articles by Stephen Dinan

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama spar during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012, in Hempstead, N.Y. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Obama, Romney clash on jobs, energy and Libya at second debate

A combative President Obama, seeking to redeem himself from an earlier poor debate performance, went toe-to-toe with Mitt Romney Tuesday night at their second debate and accused the Republican nominee of fabricating attacks and distorting both of their records on everything from energy policy to terrorism.

October 16, 2012
**FILE** Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican (Associated Press)

Coburn calls out Senate cohorts as biggest waste in government

The Senate's top waste-watcher says the federal government is bloated with extra spending — including in the halls of Congress itself, where he says senators and staffers are collecting salaries while failing to do very much work.

October 15, 2012
**FILE** Former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (Associated Press)

Arlen Specter, former Pa. senator, dies at 82

Former longtime Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, who as a Republican pushed two conservative justices onto the Supreme Court and then later switched to the Democratic Party and became a deciding vote for the health care law, died Sunday.

October 14, 2012
**FILE** A statue of former Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin stands outside the Treasury Building in Washington on Aug. 8, 2011. (Associated Press)

Final 2012 federal deficit tops $1 trillion — again

The federal government officially closed out the fiscal year with a $1.089 trillion deficit — the fourth straight trillion-dollar year in the red — according to the Treasury Department's final count, released Friday afternoon.

October 12, 2012
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney walks with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, as he arrives in Richmond, Va., Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Romney says Biden ‘doubling down on denial’ on Libya

Mitt Romney said Friday that Vice President Joseph R. Biden raised more questions than he answered in this week's debate when he denied he had been told about security warnings in Libya ahead of the terrorist assault that killed four Americans, including the ambassador.

October 12, 2012
Vice President Joe Biden listens to Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, of Wisconsin, during the vice presidential debate at Centre College, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, in Danville, Ky. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Biden muffs Obama’s tax plans during debate

Vice President Joseph R. Biden on Thursday seemed to open the door to adjusting President Obama's tax increases to only apply to those making $1 million or more a year — a much higher threshold than the $250,000 level they had pushed previously.

October 12, 2012
President Obama does the sign of “The U” as he arrives at a campaign event at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday. Mr. Obama tried to explain away his stumble during last week’s debate, which most voters say he lost handily. (The Associated Press)

Romney dogs Obama with response to Libya attack

Mitt Romney on Thursday elevated the Benghazi terrorist attack to the forefront of the presidential campaign, saying President Obama and his campaign are politicizing the issue rather than explaining why the administration botched the initial response.

October 11, 2012
**FILE** President Obama stops for a photo with members of the Vox Harmonia Visual and Performing Arts Academy Salem High School during a Sept. 27, 2012, campaign event at Farm Bureau Live in Virginia Beach, Va. (Associated Press)

Democrats claim lead in battleground voter registration

Led by a surge in Hispanic voters, President Obama's campaign said Thursday that Democrats are leading the party registration fight in nearly every battleground state this fall as campaign officials try to combat disillusionment among Democrats after last week's presidential debate.

October 11, 2012
**FILE** President Obama speaks Oct. 7, 2012, at the "30 Days to Victory" fundraising concert in Los Angeles. (Associated Press)

Round of polls 
shows tight race 
after Obama-Romney debate

Powered by his widely-acclaimed debate performance last week, Mitt Romney has closed a 9 percentage-point gap and is once again tied with President Obama in the latest The Washington Times/Zogby Poll conducted by Zogby Analytics, released Monday.

October 8, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, campaign at Tradition Town Square in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Romney 
to slam 
Obama 
on warfare

Mitt Romney on Monday will accuse the Obama administration of fundamentally misunderstanding the threat of radical Islam, using a major foreign-policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute to say President Obama is rejecting six decades of bipartisan consensus by not flexing more U.S. muscle on the world stage.

October 8, 2012
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gets a hug from a patron as he campaigns with his wife Ann during an unscheduled stop at La Teresita, a Cuban restaurant, in Tampa, Fla., Friday, Oct. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Romney tries personal touch on campaign stump

Fresh off a debate performance he spent highlighting American stories, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Friday peppered his campaign stump speech with those same kinds of personal anecdotes.

October 5, 2012
FILE - This February 2005 file photo shows trays of printed social security checks, in Philadelphia, waiting to be mailed from the U.S. Treasury. People retiring today are part of the first generation of workers who have paid more in Social Security taxes during their careers than they will receive in benefits after they retire. Itís a historic shift that will only get worse for future retirees, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Previous generations got a much better bargain, mainly because payroll taxes were very low when Social Security was enacted in the 1930s and remained so for decades. (AP Photo/Bradley C. Bower, File)

Feds end 2012 with $1.1 trillion deficit

The federal government notched a $1.1 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2012 — the fourth straight year over $1 trillion — according to a preliminary estimate that the Congressional Budget Office released Friday.

October 5, 2012
President Obama takes the stage on Friday, Oct. 5, 2012, during a campaign event at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. (Associated Press)

Obama hails job picture; Romney says improvement too slow

President Obama hailed a modest improvement in job growth last month as evidence his policies are working and pleaded with voters not to risk handing control of the country to GOP rival Mitt Romney, whose supply-side economics he said are the same policies that caused the financial crisis.

October 5, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney boards his campaign plane at Weyers Cave-Shenandoah Valley Airport in Weyers Cave, Va., on Oct. 5, 2012. (Associated Press)

Romney: Jobs growth not enough to re-elect Obama

The jobs picture improved in September, but Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said the fall in the nation's jobless rate still is not enough to justify giving President Obama another term in office.

October 5, 2012
GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is applauded by sons Josh (center) and Tagg (left) as he speaks Thursday at a Conservative Political Action Conference in Denver. Attendees hailed his debate performance of the night before. (Associated Press)

Romney energizes GOP base with debate showdown

Far from running to the political middle, Republican nominee Mitt Romney used this week's first presidential debate to embrace exactly the same kinds of spending cuts he talked about throughout the GOP primary, including backing trims that House Republicans tried to push through Congress last year.

October 4, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters Oct. 4, 2012, as he takes the stage during a rally at the Augusta Expoland in Fishersville with running mate Paul Ryan. (Associated Press/Michael Reilly, Daily News-Record)

Romney energizes GOP base with debate showdown

Far from running to the political middle, Republican nominee Mitt Romney used this week's first presidential debate to embrace exactly the same kinds of spending cuts he talked about throughout the GOP primary, including backing trims that House Republicans tried to push through Congress last year.

October 4, 2012
President Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney participate Oct. 3, 2012, in the first presidential debate at the University of Denver in Denver. (Associated Press)

Romney attacks Obama’s ‘trickle down government’ in first debate

Claiming he's the true champion of a middle class that's being "crushed" under President Obama, Mitt Romney went straight at the president Wednesday in the first debate of the campaign, saying his four years in office have doubled the deficit and left the economy gasping.

October 3, 2012