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Articles by Stephen Dinan

**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
Rep. Barney Frank, a member of the committee drawing up the Democratic Party platform, said the draft document includes language backing gay marriage. The Republican platform is expected to still define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. (Associated Press)

Democratic platform to endorse gay marriage

Democrats said Monday their party's platform will support extending marriage rights to gay couples, marking the first time one of the two major parties has endorsed it.

July 30, 2012
** FILE ** Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia meets with editors and reporters of The Washington Times on Friday, July 27, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Va. Gov. McDonnell sees Paul platform influence

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said the rise of the tea party and Rep. Ron Paul's supporters within the Republican Party will push the GOP platform this year to focus more on matters such as the deficit and constitutional liberties.

July 29, 2012
President Obama walks from Marine One after returning to the White House on the South Lawn in Washington, Friday, July 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

White House downgrades GDP numbers

President Obama quietly downgraded his own evaluation of the U.S. economy last week, issuing an updated budget that showed slower growth than he'd projected just five months ago — a striking acknowledgment of what he called economic "head winds."

July 29, 2012
**FILE** A statue of former Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin stands outside the Treasury Building in Washington on Aug. 8, 2011. (Associated Press)

Federal deficit to reach $1 trillion for fifth straight year

The federal government will flirt with its fifth-straight trillion-dollar deficit next year and is still on track to notch $25 billion in debt within a decade, the Obama administration predicted on Friday as it released an update of the country's fiscal picture.

July 27, 2012
**FILE** Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican (Associated Press)

Democrats fume after Coburn stops spending bill

For years, it's been the budget secret of Washington — the rules allow Congress to spend money in one year and then take 10 years to refill the government's coffers, all the while piling up the national debt because the money has to be borrowed.

July 26, 2012
President Obama addresses the National Urban League convention at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans on July 25, 2012. (Associated Press)

Congress pressures Obama to lay out spending cuts

Senators on Wednesday passed and sent to President Obama a bill that would force him to lay out exactly which federal programs he would cut if the automatic trims put in place by last year’s debt deal go into effect in January.

July 25, 2012
**FILE** Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Republican, speaks April 5, 2012, in Berkeley, Calif. (Associated Press)

House passes Ron Paul’s Fed audit measure

In a move that serves as a capstone to Rep. Ron Paul's colorful career, the House on Wednesday voted to have Congress' chief investigators conduct a full audit of the Federal Reserve's shrouded decision-making process.

July 25, 2012
**FILE** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat (Associated Press)

Senate succeeds at something: Futility

In terms of basic legislating, this year's Senate isn't the worst on record — but it is the second-worst, trailing only last year's historic calcification, according to The Washington Times' third semiannual Legislative Futility Index.

July 24, 2012
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, interviewed at The Washington Times, says he will not release his tax returns because he has suffered losses in recent years. debates. He also said he has more executive experience than Mitt Romney and President Obama combined, but needs to get into national debates for voters to understand that he’s the choice for voters unhappy with both of them. (Raymond Thompson/The Washington Times)

Johnson to voters: Give Libertarian a chance

Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson said Monday that he won't release his tax returns, joining his voice to that of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who has declined to release more than the two most recent years.

July 23, 2012
FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2012, Ryan Newman drives his car during qualifying for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. The U.S. Army will not return to Stewart-Haas Racing next season, citing a reallocation of its marketing budget that does not include a presence in NASCAR. SHR said Tuesday, July 10, 2012, it is pursuing a new sponsor. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay, File)

NFL, NBA and NASCAR fight for federal dollars

Fast cars, young — mainly — men and the U.S. military. For years, America's armed forces counted on that combination to boost recruitment, spending tens of millions of dollars to sponsor NASCAR teams to get its brand name in front of the kinds of young men who provide the backbone of the country's fighting forces.

July 17, 2012
Washoe County Sheriff's Office This HH-1H Huey helicopter, the jewel of the Regional Aviation Enforcement Unit in Washoe County, Nev., failed to act during the Pinehaven wildfire last week because of a tangle of federal rules.

Federal obstacles hamper battle on wildfires

The fire didn't care what kind of federal land it was burning, but for sheriff's deputies hovering over a blaze in northwestern Nevada last week, it made all the difference: If it was Bureau of Land Management property, they could legally drop the water they were carrying, but if it was Forest Service land, they were out of luck.

July 12, 2012
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, says GAO's letter proves the Obama administration is trying an illegal workaround. (Associated Press)

Bonuses for Medicare stretch law, GAO says

Congress' nonpartisan investigators said Wednesday that President Obama is stretching the law to give bonuses to mediocre private Medicare plans - an $8 billion program the auditors already had urged the administration to cancel.

July 11, 2012

Both parties set to vote on plans for tax-cut extensions

Republicans and Democrats in the Senate both say they're eager to vote on President Obama's plan to extend tax cuts for most Americans and raise rates on the wealthy - but they can't seem to agree on how or when to hold the vote.

July 11, 2012