Stephen Dinan

Hoyer raps TV comic’s testimony

A top House Democrat said Sunday that TV comic Stephen Colbert's in-character testimony at a congressional hearing Friday was "an embarrassment" to the comedian and wrong for the House.

September 26, 2010

Democrats to postpone tax-cut vote until after elections

Democrats said Sunday they'll put off until after the elections a vote on whether to extend the Bush tax cuts, leaving most taxpayers in limbo for months as to whether they'll face tax increases at the beginning of next year.

September 26, 2010

Hoyer: Colbert’s testimony ‘an embarrassment’

A top House Democrat said Sunday that TV comic Stephen Colbert's in-character testimony at a congressional hearing Friday was "an embarrassment" to the comedian and wrong for the House.

September 26, 2010

GOP makes a ‘Pledge’ to voters

House Republicans on Thursday promised to cancel unspent stimulus funds, stop suspected terrorists from being tried in civilian courts, cut lawmakers' own budgets and impose a hiring freeze on civilian federal workers if Americans vote for the GOP in November.

September 23, 2010

House Republicans offer ‘Pledge’ contract

Fighting back against the Democrats' charge that they are the "party of no," House Republicans on Thursday sought to become the party of "No, but" by offering a broad blueprint for spending cuts and government rollbacks ahead of the November midterm elections.

September 23, 2010

Obama calls health-care repeal good politics, bad policy

President Obama acknowledged Wednesday that Republicans' push to repeal the health care overhaul is good politics for the GOP, but said such a move would cause people to lose insurance they've gained under the law over the past six months.

September 22, 2010

Republicans block moves on gays, immigration

Congressional Democrats' last-ditch, pre-election effort to pass gay rights and immigration legislation fell victim to a Republican-led filibuster Tuesday, dealing a setback to those trying to lift the ban on openly gay troops serving in the U.S. military.

September 21, 2010

GOP senators demand assurance of no ‘backdoor’ illegals amnesty

A series of new administration memos have effectively created a backdoor amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, Senate Republicans charged Tuesday in a letter demanding that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano explain the policies.

September 21, 2010

Senate blocks bill to lift military gay ban

Democrats' last-ditch pre-election effort to pass gay-rights and immigration legislation fell short Tuesday after the Senate blocked the defense policy bill and as Republicans questioned Democrats' motives, arguing that now isn't the time for those politically charged debates.

September 21, 2010

Senators say DHS allows backdoor amnesty

A series of new internal rules has effectively created a possible backdoor amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, Senate Republicans charged on Tuesday in a letter demanding that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano explain the new policies.

September 21, 2010

Economic worries shove security aside in minds of voters

Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Iranian nuclear weapons - they dominated elections in recent years, but they're nowhere to be found in this year's broad national campaign debate.

September 20, 2010

Politics is local for U.S. Senate candidates

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's re-election hinges in part on his efforts to stop the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository from being built. But a fellow Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray, could hurt her re-election chances if she can't show that she's trying hard enough to get the project restarted.

September 12, 2010

Pa. town’s immigration law falls in court

A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a Pennsylvania town's immigration ordinances as infringing on the federal government's right to control immigration rules, adding more fuel to the heated battle over how far states and localities can go in trying to push out illegal immigrants.

September 9, 2010

Budget dilemma pits raising revenues vs. spending cuts

President Obama says the federal government needs more revenue, while House Minority Leader John A. Boehner says it needs to spend less.

September 8, 2010

Obama says raise revenue; Boehner says lower spending

Countering President Obama's call for tax rates to return to their past levels, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner said Wednesday morning that Congress should strike a bipartisan deal to lower spending to what it was in 2008.

September 8, 2010

Obama hits bump in road spending

President Obama is not finding many allies in his latest call for bipartisan cooperation on new infrastructure spending and tax breaks, and even Democrats say nothing will get done in the two months before congressional elections.

September 7, 2010

Political stars born of Arizona law

Despite being waylaid by the courts, Arizona's immigration law is still growing as a powerful political force, shaping elections across the country and creating a new generation of campaign stars in and out of the state.

September 6, 2010

GOP poised for big gains, political scientists say

The Ivory Tower has weighed in on the chances that Republicans win back the House in November's elections, and the outlook is decidedly rosy for the GOP.

September 5, 2010

Draft alien-detention rules could run afoul of the law, senators say

The Obama administration could be breaking the law if it follows through on guidance that would mean the government detains fewer illegal immigrants, two top Republican senators said in a warning letter to the Department of Homeland Security this week.

September 2, 2010

Conviction overturned for leaving water for illegals

In a test case with border-wide implications, a federal appeals court on Thursday reversed the littering conviction of a man who left gallon jugs of water on a national wildlife refuge to help illegal immigrants cross the remote federal land safely.

September 2, 2010