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Articles by Stephen Dinan

** FILE ** In this Feb. 16, 2012, file photo, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Romney extends lead in GOP fundraising

Mitt Romney's campaign raised $6.4 million in January, Newt Gingrich raised $5.6 million, and Rick Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul each raised $4.5 million, showing all four men competitive in the fundraising segment of the Republican presidential fight.

February 20, 2012
Mitt Romney is among a pack of repeat Republican presidential contenders in the past 50 years. The former Massachusetts governor speaks to a crowd gathered Friday at Guerdon Enterprises in Boise, Idaho. (Associated Press_

Romney shows trouble keeping supporters from 2008

Mitt Romney's second go-round at a presidential run is not going so well. Nine states have voted so far, and in six of them the former Massachusetts governor has received fewer votes than he did four years ago.

February 19, 2012
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Associated Press)

Justice says Supreme Court should revisit campaign finance

The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a Montana law that had banned corporations from running political ads, but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the case makes it likely the Supreme Court will have to revisit the Citizens United ruling that has unleashed a flood of ads this year.

February 17, 2012
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus (left), Montana Democrat, and House Ways and Means Committee Charman Rep. David Camp, Michigan Republican, raise their hands Feb. 16, 2012, on Capitol Hill as the bipartisan House and Senate conferees gather to sign the compromise agreement. (Associated Press)

Congress passes payroll tax cut

Acting with striking bipartisanship, Congress on Friday passed a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut and renewed enhanced unemployment benefits, sending the bill on to the White House and delivering a major victory to President Obama.

February 17, 2012
Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin listens during a news conference about a compromise deal on the payroll tax cut, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Deficit is loser in payroll tax deal

After a year of budget-hawking, Congress last week undid much of that progress in one swoop, adding more than $100 billion to the federal deficit in 2012 by extending the payroll tax cut but not paying for it.

February 17, 2012
** FILE ** Douglas W. Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

CBO says jobless benefits encourage joblessness

Generous unemployment benefits are a great way to boost the economy in the short term but are leading hundreds of thousands of workers to stay out of the workforce longer than they would otherwise, according to the latest report by Congress's official scorekeeper.

February 16, 2012

CASA de Maryland faces challenge over tax-exempt status

A public interest group that pushes for immigration controls has asked Maryland to investigate the tax-exempt status of CASA de Maryland, a high-profile immigrant rights group that the Immigration Reform Law Institute says repeatedly engaged in political advocacy, breaking the law governing nonprofits.

February 14, 2012
**FILE** Morgan the cow stops to eat grass on her way to being milked at a rally held by Grassfed on the Hill at Upper Senate Park in Washington on May 16, 2011. The rally was held to protest the sting operation the FDA conducted against Pennsylvania dairy farmer Daniel Allgyer and his private buying customers. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Feds shut down Amish farm for selling fresh milk

The FDA has won its two-year fight to shut down an Amish farmer who was selling fresh, raw milk to eager consumers in the Washington region, after a judge this month banned Daniel Allgyer from selling his milk across state lines, and he told his customers he'll shut his farm down altogether.

February 13, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a caucus, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Romney wins Maine caucuses by slim margin

Mitt Romney won Maine's caucuses on Saturday, with the announcement coming just hours after he also won The Washington Times/CPAC Presidential Straw Poll in Washington — a one-two punch that boosts him during the next two weeks, when there are no more contests.

February 11, 2012
** FILE ** Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Romney wins The Washington Times/CPAC Straw Poll in 2012

Mitt Romney won The Washington Times/CPAC Presidential Straw Poll on Saturday, and also nipped Rick Santorum as the top choice of conservatives nationwide, according to a new version of the poll conducted for the first time this year that suggests Mr. Romney retains strong support among self-identified conservatives.

February 11, 2012
House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican

Boehner: Congress will undo contraception rule

House Speaker John A. Boehner said Wednesday his fellow Republicans are already working on legislation to undo President Obama's new health care rule forcing religiously affiliated institutions to provide insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and other procedures they may morally oppose.

February 8, 2012
BIG MOMENT: Children wait to shake hands with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at a campaign rally in Loveland, Colo., on Tuesday, a day for caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota. Critics say it's time to take a look at the value of caucuses. (Associated Press)

Voters rebelling against caucuses

As dozens of voters roamed the hallways of Green Valley High School in Henderson, Nev., on Saturday looking for their caucus precincts, one woman summed up the experience: "We should have a primary."

February 7, 2012
Newly printed $20 notes are seen at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

Government runs deficit for 40th straight month

The federal government ran a deficit for the 40th straight month in January, according to the latest estimate from Congress' scorekeeper, continuing a record streak that dates back to the end of the George W. Bush administration and covers every month President Obama has been in office.

February 7, 2012
Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, shakes hands, as a Ron Paul supporter, right, carries a campaign sign behind Santorum, during a campaign stop at the Bemidji, Minn., Woolen Mills store, the manufacturer of the official Santorum for president sweater vest. Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Romney rivals brush off losses in Nevada

Mitt Romney's victory in Nevada's Republican presidential caucuses Saturday set him up for a delegate-rich run through February, but did nothing to whittle down the field of four who say there's plenty of time to catch up.

February 5, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters at his Nevada caucus victory celebration in Las Vegas on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Romney wins Nevada, builds momentum for February

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney powered to his second straight victory in the Republican presidential nomination battle Saturday, easily winning Nevada's caucuses and building momentum likely to carry him through this month's series of contests.

February 4, 2012
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, greets supporters at a campaign rally in Henderson, Nev., Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Romney seeks to maintain momentum in Nevada vote

It was chaos, but voting began Saturday in Nevada's Republican presidential caucuses as Mitt Romney sought to continue his momentum and three other candidates tried to derail his bid.

February 4, 2012

Senators join suits on recess appointments

Republican senators said this week they will file papers supporting lawsuits trying to overturn President Obama's recess appointments and demanding that the Senate's top Democrat explain his own change of heart on the constitutional questions raised by the president's move.

February 2, 2012
Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks Feb. 2, 2012, at Xtreme Manufacturing in Las Vegas. (Associated Press)

Nevadans feel their issues ignored

Nevada fought hard to be the first Western state to vote in the Republican presidential primary, offering the chance to break out of East Coast issues and let candidates hone their appeals to the Wild West on everything from water rights to nuclear energy. So far, that just hasn't happened.

February 2, 2012