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Articles by Stephen Dinan

**FILE** Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican (Associated Press)

Congressman: Medal of Honor system broken

A Marine combat veteran who now serves on the House Armed Services Committee said Monday that in at least two recent cases, the system for evaluating Medal of Honor nominations has gone awry, and he blamed bureaucratic infighting for keeping one of the men from a fair appraisal.

August 13, 2012
**FILE** Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. speaks July 26, 2012, in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. (Associated Press)

GOP sues to force Obama, Holder compliance on Fast and Furious

A civil lawsuit filed Monday by House Republicans asks a federal court to enforce a congressional subpoena of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in his refusal to turn over documents sought in an investigation by a House committee into the failed Fast and Furious gunrunning operation.

August 13, 2012
Republican Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, right, his wife, Ann, second from right, wave to the crowd along with his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., second form left, and his wife, Janna, left, during a rally at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Ryan’s voting record shows conservatism tinged with maverick streak

Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republicans’ presumptive vice presidential nominee, has amassed a very conservative voting record during his seven terms in Congress, including repeated votes against spending bills, unemployment benefit extensions and most of President Obama’s agenda.

August 11, 2012
**FILE** President Obama speaks Aug., 6, 2012, at a campaign fundraiser in Stamford, Conn. (Associated Press)

Obama and Ryan have tangled repeatedly

When Mitt Romney taps Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate on Saturday, he is picking someone who has already tangled toe-to-toe with President Obama on several occasions, and is prepared for the bruising battle ahead.

August 11, 2012
**FILE** President Obama greets people Aug. 2, 2012, outside Lechonera El Barrio, a local restaurant in Orlando, Fla. Obama won the 2008 election with 66% of the Hispanic vote and, according to polls, his popularity among the crucial voting bloc remains the same. (Associated Press)

Conservative ads in Spanish tell a different story to Hispanics

Polls show President Obama holds a clear advantage among Hispanic voters this year, but a new Spanish-language television ad, running in Nevada and sponsored by a conservative group, aims to peel away those supporters by arguing that his administration set records for deporting illegal immigrants.

August 9, 2012
Sen. Chuck Grassley

Judges admit they goofed on taxpayer-funded Hawaii conference

Under fire from prominent Senate Republicans, the chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says that, looking back, they probably made a bad decision when they scheduled a judges' meeting, at taxpayers' expense, in famously expensive Hawaii.

August 8, 2012
**FILE** Petra Falcon, executive director of Promise Arizona, wipes her forehead June 25, 2012, as Arizona politicians and immigration rights groups at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix react to the United States Supreme Court decision regarding Arizona's controversial immigration law, SB1070, after the decision came down. The Supreme Court struck down key provisions of Arizona’s crackdown on immigrants but said a much-debated portion on checking suspects' status could go forward. (Associated Press)

Slow path to progress for U.S. immigrants

Immigrants lag behind native-born Americans on most measures of economic well-being — even those who have been in the U.S. the longest, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies, which argues that full assimilation is a more complex task than overcoming language or cultural differences.

August 8, 2012
**FILE** Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

Dream-Act students will pay $465 fee for legal status document

The Homeland Security Department said Friday that illegal immigrants will have to pay $465 to apply for legal status in the U.S. under President Obama's administration Dream Act, with the fees going to make sure no taxpayer funds are used.

August 3, 2012
Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee pauses following final votes as the Senate leaves for a five-week recess, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. (Associated Press)

Slaying the monstrous tax code is no easy task

From President Obama to House Speaker John A. Boehner, there's broad consensus that Congress needs to unclutter the federal tax code and remove the special breaks that litter its 70,000 pages -- but Thursday's dry run in a Senate committee showed just how tough it will be to slash.

August 2, 2012
** FILE ** Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat

GAO: Tax cheats get millions in Medicaid money

One in every 20 health care providers getting taxpayer money from Medicaid is delinquent on federal taxes, and in some cases the tax cheats are years behind in paying the Internal Revenue Service, according to an audit by congressional investigators.

August 2, 2012
**FILE** Catfish are released into a pond at a Little Rock, Ark., park on July 16, 2008. (Associated Press)

Vietnam threatens trade war over U.S. catfish laws

Vietnam's ambassador to the U.S. pointedly warned the House this week that lawmakers are inviting a battle over free trade if it continues to protect a catfish inspection program that even Congress's own investigators say is useless.

August 1, 2012
Sen. Marco Rubio

Rubio bill eliminates federal tax on Olympic medals

Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a bill Wednesday to eliminate the federal government's tax on Olympic medals, saying the levy amounted to yet another way the government tries to punish those who succeed.

August 1, 2012
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, announces July 31, 2012, at the Capitol in Washingtonto reporters that he and GOP House Speaker John Boehner have reached an agreement to keep the government running on autopilot for six months when the current budget year ends on Sept. 30. (Associated Press)

Democrats: Doomsday; Republicans: Your fault

President Obama's budget director told Congress Wednesday that automatic spending cuts will slash funding for 16,000 school employees, cut the U.S. Border Patrol and kick 100,000 children out of the Head Start program as the White House sought to up the political pain for lawmakers bickering over how to stave off the cuts.

August 1, 2012
** FILE ** Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican (Associated Press)

GOP: White House pressuring defense industry not to warn of layoffs

Republicans on Tuesday accused the White House of trying to "intimidate" defense companies into keeping silent about major job losses if automatic military spending cuts take effect early next year, after the administration said Monday that it would be "inappropriate" for employers to warn workers of layoffs.

July 31, 2012
**FILE** An illegal immigrant from El Salvador is searched June 26, 2012, on the tarmac at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Ariz., as the sun rises prior to boarding an MD-80 aircraft for a repatriation flight of 80 immigrants to their home country. (Associated Press)

Report cites killings blamed on non-deported illegals

The Obama administration released illegal immigrants who went on to commit more crimes, including charges of 19 murders, 3 attempted murders and 142 sex crimes, the House Judiciary Committee said in a report Tuesday.

July 31, 2012