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05/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney opened a new front on Wednesday in his fight against President Barack Obama, accusing him of presiding over a failing U.S. education system that is in the grip of union bosses who refuse to accept reforms.
05/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers on a U.S. Senate-House committee are making progress on finalizing a transportation spending bill, Senator Barbara Boxer said on Wednesday, although a provision that would fast-track the Keystone XL crude pipeline is still unresolved.
05/23/12
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday staunchly defended his foreign policy record against Republican election-year criticism that he has overseen a decline in American power in the world.
05/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell criticized Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday for taking advice from foreign policy advisers who are "quite far to the right" in an sign of lingering strains from his tenure under President George W. Bush.
05/23/12
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona's secretary of state has received information from Hawaii that verifies Barack Obama's birth records, satisfying criteria to put the president on the November ballot in the state, his office said on Wednesday.
05/23/12
SCHAUMBURG, Illinois (Reuters) - Republican Representative Joe Walsh was campaigning recently at a diner in this Chicago suburb when he came across an elderly woman who rebuffed his charms.
05/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wanted for the Treasury Department: a new boss who can fix trillion-dollar-plus budget deficits, overhaul the tax system and spur a reluctant Europe into fixing its debt crisis.
05/22/12
(Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful and presumptive nominee Mitt Romney took a commanding lead on Tuesday in early returns in the Kentucky primary, winning 67 percent of the vote with a majority of counties reporting, an official tally showed.
05/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney is launching a push to appeal to Hispanic voters but has far to go to reverse a huge lead that President Barack Obama holds with this key voting bloc.
05/22/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - A North Carolina jury broke from its third day of deliberations after asking on Tuesday for a closer look at evidence offered to show that former U.S. Senator John Edwards committed a crime as he sought to hide his affair during his 2008 White House run.
05/22/12
KEENE, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Touting his middle-class roots, Vice President Joe Biden took another swipe at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday as he reveled in his role as the president's campaign attack dog.
05/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which helped Republicans make big gains in the 2010 congressional elections, is planning its most aggressive push yet to send business-friendly lawmakers to Washington in the November 6 election.
05/22/12
(Reuters) - Seeking to spur a bold rethinking of the American classroom, the Obama administration on Tuesday will propose divvying up $400 million among local school districts that devise new ways of reaching children, especially students from poor and rural families.
05/22/12
(Reuters) - ATLANTA - When he entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination in May 2011, Newt Gingrich was the prosperous head of a small empire commonly known as Newt Inc, which included both for-profit consultancies and nonprofit foundations. Altogether, these entwined ventures pulled in more than $110 million over the past decade. Now the vestiges of this empire are mired in debt, as is Gingrich's campaign fund. A bankruptcy proceeding under way in Atlanta will determine whether
05/21/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO set an "irreversible" course out of Afghanistan on Monday but President Barack Obama admitted the Western alliance's plan to end the deeply unpopular war in 2014 was fraught with peril.
05/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' upcoming conference on a Hawaiian island sounds more like "a vacation than a business trip" to discuss the administration of justice, two Republican U.S. lawmakers charged on Monday.
05/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' upcoming conference on a Hawaiian island sounds more like "a vacation than a business trip" to discuss the administration of justice, two Republican U.S. lawmakers charged on Monday.
05/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign on Monday stepped up its criticism of Mitt Romney for cutting jobs when he was a business executive, despite a warning from a leading Obama supporter that the attacks have gone too far.
05/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jeffrey Feltman, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, is expected to leave the Obama administration to take a senior post at the United Nations, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.
05/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an Obama administration appeal arguing that attorneys, journalists and human rights groups have no right to sue over a law making it easier for U.S. intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on foreign communications.
05/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Restore Our Future, an outside "Super PAC" backing Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, raised $3.9 million in April, less than half of its haul in March but still far ahead of its Democratic counterpart working to re-elect President Barack Obama.
05/20/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO will hand over the lead role in combat operations to Afghan forces across the country by mid-2013, alliance leaders said on Sunday as they charted a path out of a war that has lost public support and strained budgets in Western nations.
05/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Restore Our Future, an outside "Super PAC" backing Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, raised $3.9 million in April, less than half the haul it collected in March, the group's financial disclosures showed on Sunday.
05/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. banking reforms could not have prevented JPMorgan Chase & Co's trading losses, and those involved in the activities that went awry should be held accountable, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said in an interview aired on Sunday.
05/20/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO leaders gather in Chicago on Sunday for a summit that will chart a path out of Afghanistan, as Western nations seek to fend off fissures in their alliance and ensure Afghanistan can hold a still-potent Taliban at bay when foreign troops withdraw.
05/19/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Hundreds of demonstrators staged raucous protests against Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's budget cuts and other economic issues on the eve of the NATO summit, but police said there were few arrests and only minor clashes.
05/19/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A group of around 50 demonstrators descended on the home of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Saturday to protest the recent closure of mental health clinics as part of a series of rallies and marches timed to coincide with a NATO summit here.
05/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday called on the U.S. Congress to back his efforts for tough new financial industry oversight, saying a $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan underscored the need for such regulation.
05/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the last three weeks, she has sparred on national television with Democrats over Republican policies toward women, been called a "lying mouthpiece" by a liberal blog, and chided former House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
05/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney warned on Friday that the U.S. economy faced a huge fiscal hole and high taxes like the state of California if he did not win November's election against President Barack Obama.
05/18/12
WASHINGTON/TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Is Mitt Romney an out-of-touch elitist and bully who led a rapacious business that killed common folks' jobs?
05/18/12
NASHVILLE, May 17 - When conservative Tea Party activists helped Republicans extend their majority in Tennessee's legislature in 2010, they expected to get the legislation they wanted.
05/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's top health official on Friday took the debate over whether healthcare coverage should include contraceptives to the campus of a Catholic university that has been deeply divided over the administration's policy.
05/18/12
(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a key provision of the landmark U.S. voting rights law aimed at protecting minorities in states and local areas with a history of racial discrimination.
05/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Friday voted to further insulate some service members from home foreclosures and extend borrower protections to disabled veterans and surviving military spouses.
05/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party's fundraising arm working to elect its candidates to the U.S. House of Representatives raised $6.9 million in April, slightly more for the month than its Democratic counterpart.
05/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - War-weary U.S. lawmakers clashed over Afghanistan policy and vented their frustration with Pakistan's border closings on Thursday as they debated an annual defense policy bill that seeks $642.5 billion in military spending for the 2013 fiscal year.
05/17/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A small group of anti-war demonstrators staged a peaceful "die in" on Thursday at President Barack Obama's election campaign headquarters in Chicago to demand an end to the war in Afghanistan and unmanned drone aircraft attacks overseas.
05/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - War-weary lawmakers nudged President Barack Obama to speed the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan on Thursday but Republicans blocked a big debate on the issue ahead of a NATO summit to chart the way forward in the decade-long conflict.
05/17/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former presidential candidate John Edwards knew campaign finance law well enough to concoct a scheme to try to circumvent the law to hide his mistress, a prosecutor said as he and defense attorneys began closing arguments on Thursday in Edwards' federal trial on political corruption charges.
05/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A conservative group backing Republican Mitt Romney on Thursday rejected a planned $10 million ad campaign that would have revived the link between President Barack Obama and his controversial former pastor Jeremiah Wright.
05/17/12
(Reuters) - Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who has renounced his U.S. citizenship, was accused on Thursday by two U.S. senators of dodging taxes on Facebook stock-market profits.
05/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican lawmaker on Thursday stepped up pressure to force action next year on a rewrite of the U.S. tax code, which both major political parties agree has become overly complicated and inefficient.
05/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon will seek to provide Israel with an additional $70 million in the coming months for its short-range rocket shield, known as the "Iron Dome," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said after a meeting with his Israeli counterpart on Thursday.
05/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate is set to vote on a tough new round of economic sanctions on Iran's oil sector on Thursday, including measures meant to shut down any financial deals with the country's powerful state oil and tanker enterprises.
05/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has decided to extend for another year certain U.S. sanctions on investment and trade with Myanmar, saying Washington supports the reform process but remains concerned about human rights and conflict with ethnic groups.
05/17/12
BALTIMORE (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that raising the debt ceiling did not have to be a crisis as it was last year when partisan bickering over how to do so cost the United States its top credit rating.
05/17/12
BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Europe's debt crisis, higher oil prices and the year-end budget cuts and tax increases still remain risks to the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday.
05/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney raised almost as much money as President Barack Obama last month, taking in more than $40.1 million in fundraising efforts, the Romney campaign reported on Thursday.
05/17/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Attorneys are scheduled to give their closing arguments on Thursday in former U.S. Senator John Edwards' federal campaign finance trial on charges he accepted excessive political funds to conceal his extramarital affair while he ran for president.
05/17/12
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In the 2008 presidential race, Barack Obama was famously effective in using new technologies to raise money, mobilize voters and target his message of change.
05/17/12
(Reuters) - Veteran Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, a liberal stalwart who lost his primary race after redistricting forced him to run against another Democratic incumbent, said on Wednesday he had ruled out a congressional bid in Washington state.
05/17/12
NAVARRE, Ohio/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The busy shop floor at Miller Weldmaster Corp could make a great location for an Obama campaign ad.
05/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The November 6 elections are less than six months away, but lawmakers and Washington insiders are already trying to figure out what Congress will do in a post-election session to avoid what is being described as a January 1 "fiscal cliff."
05/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Republican and Democratic leaders want to avoid a reprise of last year's nasty showdown over raising the federal debt limit, they are not off to a good start.
05/16/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mary Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, was found dead on Wednesday at her home in a New York City suburb, an officer at the Westchester County Medical Examiner's Office said. She was 52.
05/16/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mary Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, was found dead on Wednesday at her home in a New York City suburb, an officer at the Westchester County Medical Examiner's Office said. She was 52.
05/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration forged ahead with healthcare reforms on Wednesday, announcing a November 16 deadline for state governments to submit proposals showing how they intend to operate health insurance exchanges in 2014.
05/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats and Republicans are on another collision course over increasing U.S. borrowing authority as President Barack Obama told Republicans on Wednesday that he does not want spending cuts to accompany such legislation.
05/16/12
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Reuters) - Out past the vacant storefronts and abandoned buildings, beyond the shuttered steel mills and decaying industrial plants, residents of eastern Ohio suddenly are seeing dollar signs.
05/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Crossroads GPS, a pro-Republican political group, is planning to spend $25 million in the next month on its largest ad assault against President Barack Obama yet this campaign season.
05/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told top lawmakers on Wednesday he was ready to work with Republicans and Democrats on a "balanced" approach to deficit-cutting but would not permit another down-to-the-wire debt ceiling crisis, the White House said.
05/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While Supreme Court watchers focus on the controversial insurance requirement in President Barack Obama's healthcare law, lesser known is that the court's ruling next month will also decide the fate of billions of dollars in new taxes.
05/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and Democratic groups affiliated with it raised $43.6 million in April, a decrease from the previous month despite the start of a robust general election campaign against Republican Mitt Romney.
05/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For President Barack Obama's re-election team, it's sort of like threading a needle.
05/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has $500,001 to $1 million in a JPMorgan Chase private client asset management checking account, according to financial disclosures released by the White House on Tuesday.
05/15/12
GREENSBORO, NC (Reuters) - Former Senator John Edwards looked surprised when he learned in 2008 that a wealthy donor had funneled money to an aide, an Edwards confidante testified on Tuesday as his defense sought to refute charges that Edwards had solicited the funds.
05/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roughly a third of Americans view President Barack Obama more favorably and a third less favorably as a result of his declaration of support for gay marriage, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday.
05/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday, where he will stress the importance of lawmakers acting on legislative proposals he has made to lift U.S. growth and hiring.
05/15/12
Omaha, Nebraska (Reuters) - A female rancher is banking on a humorous "political bull" ad and a high-profile endorsement to win the Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska, where the party sees a chance to cut into the Democratic majority in November's election.
05/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Tuesday welcomed Europe's shift in its focus to economic growth from the tough budget measures that heavily indebted euro zone nations have put in place to put themselves on a sounder fiscal path.
05/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign said on Tuesday JPMorgan Chase & Co's huge trading losses were an unfortunate part of a free market economy.
05/14/12
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's campaign released a video on Monday calling Mitt Romney's private equity firm a job-killing "vampire" that ran a steel mill into the ground, signaling a new effort to carve into Romney's image of corporate success.
05/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul effectively ended his White House bid on Monday, saying he would no longer campaign actively in states that have yet to hold primary elections.
05/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kathleen and Brett Sache are building a six-bedroom, six-bathroom home of their dreams in a sought-after corner of northern Virginia after taking encouragement from a robust local market.
05/14/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is due to attend a fundraiser hosted by one of private equity's leading lights on Monday evening, the same day his campaign launched a scathing attack against his Republican rival Mitt Romney's private equity record.
05/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said on Monday he was scaling back his White House bid and will no longer campaign actively in states that have yet to hold primary elections.
05/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It has been nearly 20 years since President George H.W. Bush lost his bid for re-election after making a "no new taxes" pledge, and then agreeing to raise taxes. Since then, Republicans have not touched hundreds of tax breaks in tax laws, fearing that doing so could be called a tax hike.
05/14/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will skip an Asia-Pacific summit in Russia hosted by President Vladimir Putin in early September, the White House said on Monday.
05/14/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Eight anti-war demonstrators were arrested on Monday in a surprise protest at President Barack Obama's campaign office in Chicago, a first taste of what is expected to be a week of protests around the NATO summit beginning this weekend.
05/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign opened an assault on Mitt Romney's background as a private equity executive on Monday with a video that seeks to undermine the Republican's central argument for why he is qualified for the White House.
05/14/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Mack McDowell likes to spend time at the local knife and gun show "drooling over firearms," as he puts it. Retired after 30 years in the U.S. Army, he has lined his study with books on war, framed battalion patches from his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, a John Wayne poster, and an 1861 Springfield rifle from an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.
05/14/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former Senator John Edwards' defense is set to begin presenting its case on Monday trying to rebut government charges the two-time presidential candidate violated campaign finance laws.
05/13/12
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - A top aide to Florida Governor Rick Scott has resigned after a recent flurry of media reports focused on his alleged steering of state government contracts to longtime acquaintances or friends.
05/12/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Mack McDowell likes to spend time at the local knife and gun show "drooling over firearms," as he puts it. Retired after 30 years in the U.S. Army, he has lined his study with books on war, framed battalion patches from his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, a John Wayne poster, and an 1861 Springfield rifle from an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.
05/12/12
(Reuters) - California is facing a much deeper budget deficit than expected due to weak tax revenues and slow progress in cutting budgets, Governor Jerry Brown said on Saturday.
05/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden honored 34 police officers at the White House on Saturday for "extraordinary acts of bravery," including two cops from Los Angeles who halted a shooting and one from Chicago who intervened during an armed robbery.
05/12/12
LYNCHBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought on Saturday to calm fears that his Mormon faith would be an obstacle to evangelical Christian voters, stressing shared conservative values while acknowledging religious differences.
05/12/12
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Wisconsin's controversial Republican Governor Scott Walker is under fire from Democrats following the release of a year-old video clip in which he describes to a supporter his "divide and conquer" strategy for dealing with organized labor.
05/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican lawmaker on defense issues on Friday rejected Pentagon chief Leon Panetta's criticism of budget maneuvering in Congress, underscoring the difficulty of finding a compromise on security spending at a time of sharp political polarization.
05/11/12
(Reuters) - There are not many Mitt Romney fan clubs at Liberty University.
05/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney battled to get back on his economic message on Friday after being sidetracked by a debate over gay rights and a reported bullying incident from 1965.
05/11/12
RENO, Nevada (Reuters) - President Barack Obama touted mortgage relief on Friday in Nevada, a battleground state important to his re-election hopes, as he turned his focus back to the economy at the end of a week dominated by his declaration of support for gay marriage.
05/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co made big donations to U.S. presidential campaigns, particularly Mitt Romney's, as it lobbied against financial regulations, according to a Reuters analysis of campaign financial reports on Friday.
05/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since U.S. President Barack Obama's declaration of support for same-sex marriage this week, messages, emails and calls have poured in to Dana Perlman, a major fundraiser for Obama's re-election campaign.
05/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called his decision to support same-sex marriage the result of a personal evolution but it also appears to have been a calculated political choice made with an eye on the November 6 election.
05/11/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tough-on-immigration Arizona sheriff, who resigned as co-chairman of Mitt Romney's campaign in Arizona in February over allegations he threatened a male lover with deportation, announced on Friday he has dropped his bid to run for the U.S. Congress.
05/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's chief budget officer will issue new guidelines on Friday to boost efficiency and protect U.S. taxpayer dollars from being misspent in a move the White House expects will save hundreds of millions of dollars.
05/11/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Lawyers for former senator John Edwards will argue on Friday that federal prosecutors failed to make the case that he violated campaign finance laws during his failed 2008 presidential bid.
05/11/12
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (Reuters) - Last week, President Barack Obama launched his re-election campaign in the university town of Columbus, Ohio. His hopes for a second term, however, likely lie not with the student-heavy crowd but in places like this small city, an hour's drive south.
05/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Republican White House candidate Michele Bachmann sought to withdraw her Swiss citizenship on Thursday and dismissed any questions about her allegiance to the United States.
05/10/12
SEATTLE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama drew cheers and applause for his endorsement of same-sex marriage during a fundraising spree on Thursday that will culminate in a multimillion-dollar extravaganza at the home of Hollywood movie star George Clooney.
05/10/12
DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado's Democratic governor called on Thursday for a special legislative session to consider a civil unions bill that would grant legal rights to same-sex couples, setting up a potential showdown with Republican lawmakers.
05/10/12
(Reuters) - Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker held a narrow lead over Democratic challenger Tom Barrett in the first poll released publicly since a Democratic primary on Tuesday chose Barrett to face the embattled governor in a recall election.
05/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney apologized on Thursday for high school pranks that may have hurt others, after a report that he and other students at a Michigan school bullied a student who was presumed to be gay.
05/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a Republican plan to halt automatic budget cuts and protect military spending next year by cutting social safety net programs and rolling back some financial reforms.
05/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama dismissed Mitt Romney's comments this week claiming credit for the recovery of the U.S. auto industry, saying his Republican rival's plan would have sunk General Motors Co and Chrysler Group LLC.
05/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from declaring his support for same-sex marriage, President Barack Obama heads west on Thursday for a political fundraising spree that will culminate in a multi-million dollar extravaganza at the home of Hollywood star George Clooney.
05/10/12
LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia (Reuters) - December 2011 was a busy month for supporters of presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. The former speaker of the House had surged ahead of his Republican rivals in several polls. Suddenly he was being barraged by negative TV ads produced by Restore Our Future, a Super PAC for rival candidate Mitt Romney.
05/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he believes same-sex couples should be allowed to get married, marking a shift in his evolving position on the issue that is likely to please his political base and upset conservatives.
05/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service said it is abandoning for now its plan to close thousands of post offices in rural locations and will instead keep them operating with shorter opening hours.
05/08/12
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Senator Richard Lugar, a 35-year veteran of the Senate and leading foreign policy voice, was defeated in the Indiana Republican primary by a Tea Party-backed challenger on Tuesday, the first Senate incumbent ousted in the 2012 election year.
05/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, whose campaign has focused heavily on courting Hispanic voters ahead of the November 6 election, reached out to another important and sometimes overlooked voting group on Tuesday: Asian Americans.
05/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tim Kaine, a Democratic candidate for Senate and one of President Barack Obama's closest allies, met with reporters on Tuesday to discuss politics nationally and in his home state, Virginia.
05/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional lawmakers launched efforts on Tuesday to forge a compromise on transportation spending, an uphill journey made even tougher by Republican efforts to include a provision in the bill to speed approval of the Keystone oil pipeline.
05/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Callers heaped insults on leading lobbyist Howard Marlowe when he sat in a television studio on Tuesday taking questions during a call-in program.
05/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congress' top Republican called on Tuesday for deeper economic engagement with Latin America as a bulwark against Iran's attempt to gain influence in the region and the destabilizing effects of international drug cartels.
05/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a White House-backed bill that would end a tax break for the wealthy to fund an extension of low-interest rates for federal student loans.
05/08/12
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Senator Richard Lugar appealed to Democrats to cross party lines and vote for him in the Indiana Republican primary on Tuesday, in a last ditch effort to save his 35-year Senate career from a Tea Party backed rival who accuses him of being too supportive of President Barack Obama.
05/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama extended his lead over Republican Mitt Romney to seven percentage points because of increased support from independent voters and some optimism over the economy, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday.
05/08/12
Raleigh, North Carolina (Reuters) - North Carolina voters could deal a blow to efforts across the country to expand gay marriage rights if they approve a state constitutional amendment on Tuesday to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions.
05/08/12
DETROIT (Reuters) - Rick Snyder is no stranger to being kicked around.
05/08/12
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Wisconsin Democratic primary voters go to the polls Tuesday to pick a challenger to face Republican Scott Walker in a recall election next month, a contest that has captured national attention as a test of labor union strength and a gauge for how the battleground state may vote in November.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - George Soros is pledging $2 million to two outside groups supporting progressive causes and helping President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and other Democrats running in November, a Soros advisor said on Monday.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum endorsed his former rival and the party's presumptive White House nominee, Mitt Romney, late on Monday.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Was it a signal by President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, designed to attract gay and lesbian supporters? A trial balloon to test voters' feelings about same-sex marriage? Or just a case of the vice president wandering from the campaign's message?
05/07/12
EUCLID, Ohio (Reuters) - It was one of the defining moments of the 2008 presidential campaign: A woman at a rally for Republican John McCain, while asking McCain a question, called Democratic contender Barack Obama "an Arab" who couldn't be trusted.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many conservatives are unexcited about Mitt Romney's presidential candidacy, but Republicans are counting on them to come out to vote on issues like abortion and gay marriage, and perhaps tick the Romney box while at the polling station.
05/07/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - A government witness on Monday supported former Senator John Edwards' claim that he didn't know about payments used to conceal his pregnant mistress during his 2008 presidential bid, and the money wasn't intended as a campaign contribution.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said on Monday that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, following a similar comment from Vice President Joe Biden the day before.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives on Monday will fire their first shots of the next deficit-reduction battle, advancing legislation to cut nearly $380 billion largely from social programs while protecting defense spending.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One way or another, the Congress seems certain to prevent a low interest rate for federal student loans from doubling on July 1, aides and analysts say, largely because lawmakers do not want to rile young voters before the November 6 elections.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives is expected to vote on Wednesday on a bipartisan deal to renew the U.S. Export-Import Bank for three years, a House leadership aide said on Monday.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's two nominees to the Federal Reserve appear likely to fall victim to a long-running political feud, which would leave the central bank short-handed as it struggles with tough regulatory and monetary policy questions.
05/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are in a statistical dead heat in Ohio, Virginia and 10 other states up for grabs in the 2012 election, according to a poll released on Monday.
05/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday he was "absolutely comfortable" with allowing same-sex couples to marry, staking a position on a hot-button social issue that appeared to differ from that of his boss, President Barack Obama.
05/05/12
(Reuters) - The last time Republican Senate veteran Richard Lugar stood for election, in 2006, he was so respected that the Democrats did not bother to run against him and he won his Indiana seat with 87 percent of the vote.
05/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With his wife at his side and Air Force One as a campaign plane, President Barack Obama holds his first political rallies of the 2012 presidential race on Saturday, targeting two swing states that could be critical to his bid to retain the White House.
05/04/12
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Democratic candidates vying for a shot at ousting Governor Scott Walker from office in a June recall election aimed their attacks at the Republican incumbent rather than each other during a debate on Friday.
05/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House leaders said they had reached a bipartisan deal to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank and increase its lending cap to $140 billion in 2014.
05/04/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - The Libertarian Party chooses a presidential nominee on Saturday, who it hopes can capitalize on the Republican White House candidacy of Ron Paul and his focus on party values like small government and a non-interventionist foreign policy.
05/04/12
O'HARA TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - They fought bitterly during the Republican presidential primaries, and now nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney and conservative rival Rick Santorum are trying to make amends.
05/04/12
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, a six-term incumbent and a leading voice on foreign policy in Congress, trails his Tea Party-backed challenger by double-digits ahead of Tuesday's Republican primary, a poll showed on Friday.
05/04/12
ARLINGTON, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he would urge Congress next week to implement "common sense ideas" to accelerate job growth, as he sought to deflect blame toward Republican lawmakers for not doing enough to bring down unemployment.
05/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy needs faster employment growth to fill a huge jobs deficit, but was making progress despite a weaker payrolls figure in April, a senior White House economic advisor said on Friday.
05/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Santorum and Marco Rubio are the top two choices among Republican voters as Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.
05/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told Hispanic voters on Thursday he was ready to sign a broad-based immigration fix, blaming his political rivals in Washington for blocking one of his major unmet campaign promises from 2008.
05/03/12
PORTSMOUTH, Virginia (Reuters) - For Republican Mitt Romney, it was another visit to a battleground state, another appearance with a potential running mate - and another endorsement from a former rival who once had seethed at the idea of Romney being elected U.S. president.
05/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress should pass a law to give investigators freer access to certain cellphone records, an Obama administration official said on Thursday, in remarks that raised concern among advocates of civil liberties and privacy.
05/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has invited four African leaders to join the G8 leaders' summit at Camp David later this month for a session on food security, the White House said on Thursday.
05/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Santorum and Marco Rubio are the top two choices among Republican voters as Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.
05/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pulled into a virtual tie with President Barack Obama in the crucial swing states of Ohio and Florida, but Obama retains a solid lead in Pennsylvania, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday.
05/02/12
BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated calls for China to embrace a stronger yuan on Thursday by saying a firmer currency would give Beijing more flexibility in managing future economic growth and inflation.
05/02/12
CHANTILLY, Virginia (Reuters) - In a blast from the past, Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney is likening President Barack Obama's economic record to the weak performance of a Democratic predecessor, Jimmy Carter.
05/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House pledged on Wednesday to help lower-income youth find summer jobs in a move likely to appeal to younger voters crucial to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
05/02/12
CHANTILLY, Virginia (Reuters) - In a blast from the past, Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney is likening President Barack Obama's economic record to the weak performance of a Democratic predecessor, Jimmy Carter.
05/02/12
ARLINGTON, Virginia (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich ended his run for U.S. president on Wednesday after dazzling in televised debates but slumping to defeat in Republican primaries under a barrage of attack ads portraying him as a Washington insider.
05/02/12
Tallahassee, Florida (Reuters) - Florida Governor Rick Scott has shot down a request by Tampa's mayor to allow local authorities to ban guns from the city's downtown during the Republican National Convention in August.
05/02/12
(Reuters) - Federal officials are putting fresh pressure on Congress to take action on the National Flood Insurance Program, whose authorization expires at the end of this month, one day before hurricane season begins.
05/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney's foreign policy spokesman, Richard Grenell, has resigned after only a brief stint on Romney's presidential campaign.
05/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fast-growing Asian American community is largely untapped by the presidential candidates and their political parties even though they are expected to vote in record numbers this fall, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday.
05/01/12
(Reuters) - The 25-year-old former campaign treasurer for New York City Comptroller John Liu, and one of his fundraisers, both pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to fraud charges for violating contribution limits.
05/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The battle for the White House is still in its early, often silly stages - a time when issues such as the economy and national security can be overshadowed by spats over which candidate would be better for dogs.
05/01/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of politicizing the killing of Osama bin Laden as the first anniversary of the daring raid dominated U.S. presidential politics.
05/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed an order giving the Treasury Department more power to go after individuals and groups who try to evade America's sanctions against Iran and Syria.
05/01/12
"He's not. He's funny," Ann Romney, the Republican presidential candidate's wife, told "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday, defending her husband against public perceptions that he is inaccessible and has a "likeability gap" with voters.
04/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An ethics investigation has found no evidence of insider trading violations involving Representative Spencer Bachus, the chairman of the U.S. House committee that oversees financial markets, his office said on Monday.
04/30/12
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker said on Monday his campaign raised $13 million in just over three months to ward off an attempt by Democrats and unions to remove him from office in a recall election because of his attacks on organized labor.
04/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In October, Texas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress ignited a firestorm by calling Mormonism a "cult" and telling Republicans not to vote for Mitt Romney because the presidential aspirant was not a "competent Christian."
04/30/12
PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on Monday he definitely would have ordered the U.S. military strike that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden if he had been president.
04/30/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - The wife of the campaign aide who claimed paternity for former presidential candidate John Edwards' baby cried on the witness stand on Monday as she recalled why she let her husband say he was the father of someone else's child.
04/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The deadly U.S. campaign of drone strikes against al Qaeda is fully legal under international law, President Barack Obama's counterterrorism chief insisted on Monday in the most extensive justification of a controversial tactic that has eliminated some of the most-wanted militants.
04/29/12
MCLEAN, Virginia (Reuters) - Former U.S. president Bill Clinton campaigned alongside Barack Obama for the first time in the 2012 race on Sunday, making an impassioned appeal to re-elect the White House incumbent and helping his fellow Democrat raise more than $2 million.
04/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It was not just U.S. Democratic voters who were looking forward to "hope and change" when Barack Obama became the 44th U.S. president.
04/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After months of casting Republican Mitt Romney as someone who often changes positions for political convenience, President Barack Obama's campaign is calling Romney a far-right conservative - a contradictory set of messages that essentially invites voters to decide what they don't like about Romney.
04/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama poked fun at his likely presidential rival Mitt Romney and Republican opponents in Congress on Saturday night, including a dig at Romney's treatment of a pet dog, at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
04/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After months of casting Republican Mitt Romney as someone who often changes positions for political convenience, President Barack Obama's campaign is calling Romney a far-right conservative - a contradictory set of messages that essentially invites voters to decide what they don't like about Romney.
04/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton will join President Barack Obama on Sunday to raise money for the Democrat's re-election campaign, the first time the two U.S. political heavyweights have campaigned together in 2012.
04/27/12
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (Reuters) - White House candidate Mitt Romney on Friday kept his focus on attacking President Barack Obama's handling of the economy, in the face of Democrats' attempts to paint the Republican hopeful as weak on national security.
04/27/12
FORT STEWART, Georgia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday carefully alluded to the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden, while his campaign unveiled a new political ad that touted his decision to order the commando raid nearly a year ago as reason to re-elect him in November.
04/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global oil inventories grew over the last two months despite the loss of further supplies from Iran, according to a U.S. report that gave leeway for the Obama administration to press ahead with sanctions on the OPEC nation.
04/27/12
(Reuters) - The campaign treasurer for New York City Comptroller John Liu has been indicted for making a false statement to federal officials, according to a court filing, further weakening Liu's bid to become mayor in 2013.
04/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives defied a veto threat by President Barack Obama on Friday and voted to take money from his healthcare overhaul to pay for an extension of low-interest federal student loans.
04/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a cybersecurity bill on Thursday that would allow the government and companies to share information about hacking, but which has raised privacy concerns and a veto threat from the White House.
04/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Children participating in the State Department's "Take Your Child to Work" day event on Thursday were treated to a discussion of prostitutes and strip clubs as reporters pressed for answers on a widening Secret Service scandal.
04/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Invoking Pope Benedict, Republican Representative Paul Ryan defended his budget plan on Thursday at Georgetown University, where a group of the Jesuit institution's faculty has accused him of misusing Catholic teachings to push cuts to programs that serve the poor.
04/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans on Thursday issued a politically charged report that quoted President Barack Obama's corporate advisers as predicting his 2010 healthcare overhaul would raise - not lower - the cost of care.
04/26/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden will paint Mitt Romney's foreign policy vision on Thursday as backward-looking and tied to George W. Bush, the Democrat's latest effort to define the presumptive Republican presidential nominee as out of touch with Americans.
04/26/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former Senator John Edwards' defense is set to resume its attack on Thursday of the campaign aide who says his ex-boss directed him to get secret payments from donors to conceal Edwards' pregnant mistress during his 2008 presidential run.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race in January and initially threw his support to Newt Gingrich, endorsed presumptive nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans are complaining to a U.S. government watchdog that President Barack Obama's trips for official business are little more than campaign stops funded with taxpayer dollars, a claim dismissed by the White House and Obama's campaign team.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign announced on Wednesday the Democrat and his wife, Michelle, will hold their first campaign rallies of the 2012 campaign season next week, marking a clear beginning of the general election against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the United States should create a "safe haven" for the Syrian opposition but stopped short of urging Washington to arm the rebels, suggesting they were not yet organized enough.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For Mitt Romney, now the hard part begins. With the Republican presidential nomination all but clinched, Romney plans an aggressive strategy to gird for an uphill battle to unseat Democratic President Barack Obama.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, seeking to sharpen contrasts with Mitt Romney, said on Wednesday his presumptive opponent in the November election won't be able to disavow conservative views he embraced in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's top envoy for Pakistan will arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday for two days of meetings aimed at resetting the two countries' fractious relationship after a series of damaging setbacks.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy looms large over November's general election in a basic way for strapped cities and counties: can they afford it?
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich is expected to withdraw next week from the U.S. Republican presidential contest, people familiar with the campaign said on Wednesday, a day after Mitt Romney added to his commanding lead with primary wins in five states.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich is expected to withdraw next week from the U.S. Republican presidential contest, CNN said on Wednesday, a day after Mitt Romney added to his commanding lead in the Republican race with primary wins in five states.
04/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly every day, rush-hour traffic backs up for miles on both ends of the overburdened Brent Spence Bridge, which spans the Ohio River and links Cincinnati with its suburbs in Kentucky.
04/24/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pennsylvania Republican and political newcomer Tom Smith on Tuesday beat out four Republican rivals, including the candidate endorsed by the state party, for the chance to run against U.S. Senator Robert Casey, a Democrat, in the state in November.
04/24/12
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Reuters) - Describing his own struggle to pay off college debt and taking another dig at his likely White House rival's wealth, President Barack Obama sought on Tuesday to expand his popularity among young voters with a call to make education more affordable.
04/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich's wild ride of a presidential campaign could soon be coming to an end.
04/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney rolled to easy wins in presidential primaries in Connecticut and Rhode Island on Tuesday, NBC News projected, moving closer to the delegates needed to clinch the nomination as he shifted his focus to the general election battle with President Barack Obama.
04/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two more U.S. Secret Service agents are resigning over a Colombia prostitution scandal, the agency said on Tuesday, as it sought to close a chapter in its worst case of alleged misconduct in decades.
04/24/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Mitt Romney was to launch himself as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee after an expected sweep of five primaries on Tuesday, turning his attention to the November general election showdown with President Barack Obama.
04/24/12
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday blamed a Colombia prostitution scandal engulfing the U.S. Secret Service on the misconduct of a "couple of knuckleheads" and insisted that the vast majority of agents perform their work admirably.
04/24/12
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Reuters) - Describing his own struggle to pay off college debt and taking another dig at his likely White House rival's wealth, President Barack Obama sought on Tuesday to expand his advantage with young voters with a call to make education more affordable.
04/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans, accused by Democrats of waging "a war on women," are expected to yield to election-year pressure as early as this week and help renew a landmark law to combat domestic violence.
04/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats closed ranks on Tuesday to block quick approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline as they begin negotiations with House of Representatives Republicans on a compromise job-creating transportation construction bill.
04/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tuesday could be the final stop of Newt Gingrich's wild ride of a presidential campaign.
04/24/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Five Pennsylvania Republicans face off on Tuesday for the chance to run against Democratic Senator Robert Casey in November, while two incumbent U.S. Representatives, both Democrats, are competing for the state's newly combined congressional seat.
04/24/12
(Reuters) - In the ornate Chinese Ballroom of Washington's Mayflower Hotel, nine Republican state attorneys general gathered last month at a long, white-cloth covered table for an unusual news conference. One by one, as TV news cameras rolled, they catalogued their many lawsuits against President Barack Obama's administration.
04/23/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Prosecutors in the criminal campaign finance case against former U.S. Senator John Edwards described him on Monday as a manipulative politician who refused to let his affair or his mistress' pregnancy sideline his presidential ambitions.
04/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama imposed U.S. sanctions on Monday on those who help Syria and Iran track dissidents through cell phones and computers, serving notice on technology providers that they could be held responsible for those governments' human rights abuses.
04/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New signs of lower U.S. gas prices could give a boost to President Barack Obama's re-election hopes and blunt a potent weapon that Republicans have used to attack him.
04/23/12
ASTON, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Popular Florida Senator Marco Rubio campaigned with Mitt Romney on Monday, increasing speculation that the conservative Cuban-American might be high on the Republican presidential front-runner's list of potential vice presidential running mates.
04/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. Congress are under a "reign of terror" imposed by the party's conservative wing that also has pushed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to the right, President Barack Obama's senior campaign strategist said on Sunday.
04/22/12
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former U.S. Senator John Edwards goes on trial Monday on charges he used illegal campaign contributions to cover up an affair with a mistress who became pregnant during his failed bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
04/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In picking a vice presidential running mate, Republican Mitt Romney wants to avoid the Sarah Palin syndrome.
04/22/12
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former U.S. Senator John Edwards goes on trial Monday on charges he used illegal campaign contributions to cover up an affair with a mistress who became pregnant during his failed bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
04/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. Congress are under a "reign of terror" imposed by the party's conservative wing that also has pushed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to the right, President Barack Obama's senior campaign strategist said on Sunday.
04/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in Congress are getting ready to answer an election-year question that has dogged the party's campaign for months: How would it replace President Barack Obama's healthcare law if the measure is overturned or repealed?
04/22/12
SANDY, Utah (Reuters) - Veteran U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah will face a Republican primary fight after delegates to a party convention on Saturday denied him the nomination, forcing him into an election with a Tea Party-backed challenger who finished second.
04/21/12
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - As Utah Republicans head for a state nominating convention on Saturday, a poll suggests that veteran U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch will survive a bid by Tea Party challengers to unseat him as delegates take a more moderate turn.
04/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New state laws designed to fight voter fraud could reduce the number of Americans signing up to vote in this year's presidential election by hundreds of thousands, a potential problem for President Barack Obama's re-election bid.
04/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney had his best fundraising month yet in March, but the presumed Republican nominee remained far behind Democratic President Barack Obama in the money game, filings with the Federal Election Commission showed on Friday.
04/20/12
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (Reuters) - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney worked on Friday to rally party leaders behind his cause and overcome lingering suspicions that he is too moderate, but failed to get all to pledge allegiance.
04/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday said it has resolved a three-year internal debate over how strongly to press countries such as China and India to protect workers' rights and the environment in negotiations on treaties to protect U.S. foreign investment.
04/20/12
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney raised nearly $12.6 million in March, his best fund-raising month yet, even before the Republican front-runner and outside backing groups began to amass cash in earnest for the costly fight to unseat Democratic President Barack Obama.
04/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will use a tour of three election battleground states next week to push Congress to prevent the doubling of interest rates on federal student loans -- an effort aimed at re-energizing his support among younger voters.
04/20/12
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Musician and gun-rights advocate Ted Nugent said on Thursday he had a positive meeting with U.S. Secret Service agents investigating his recent criticism of President Barack Obama, and the agency confirmed the issue had been resolved.
04/20/12
(Reuters) - Legendary Boston baseball venue Fenway Park has been a theater of drama and heartbreak for Red Sox fans in its century-long history, but this year it is entering a whole new league.
04/20/12
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (Reuters) - Mitt Romney raised nearly $12.6 million for his primary battle in March, his campaign announced on Friday, in a sign of the Republican front-runner's growing strength toward winning the party's presidential nomination.
04/20/12
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's bid to dampen the influence of oil speculators by having regulators set trading margins could backfire, potentially making prices even more volatile and leaving crude dominated only by those with the deepest pockets.
04/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly a decade ago he was dubbed "Bush's Brain," for his influence in guiding Republican George W. Bush to the U.S. presidency.
04/19/12
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's bid to dampen the influence of oil speculators by having regulators set trading margins could backfire, potentially making prices even more volatile and leaving crude dominated only by those with the deepest pockets.
04/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Now that Mitt Romney is the presumptive Republican nominee for president, the names of people he might appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court are starting to roll off the tongues of conservative activists, lawyers and former Republican administration aides.
04/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives was on track on Thursday to pass a tax break for small businesses, pushing back against President Barack Obama's politically popular "Buffett Rule" that would put a new minimum tax on the very wealthy.
04/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will renominate Republican Kristine Svinicki to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, defying opposition from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a White House official told Reuters on Thursday.
04/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A toxic internal battle that has scarred the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as it works on historic reforms now threatens to hold up the work of the U.S. Senate as leaders spar over an opening on the five-member panel.
04/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday advanced a proposal to repeal a major section of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law as part of a broader deficit reduction effort, a move Democrats derided as a misguided budget gimmick.
04/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has trimmed the U.S. Congress' decades-long role in vetting billions of dollars in proposed arms sales in a move that will result in more congressional efforts to block deals, key lawmakers said in a letter made public Wednesday.
04/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 2012 presidential election is more than six months away, but here is what we know so far: It is going to be close, it is going to be nasty, and the outcome could turn on a series of unpredictable events.
04/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama's re-election campaign launched a series of Spanish-language ads and a new program to win over Latino voters on Wednesday in an effort to expand the Democratic president's growing advantage with Hispanics.
04/18/12
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta apologized on Wednesday for photographs that appeared in an American newspaper of U.S. soldiers posing with the maimed bodies of dead Afghan insurgents.
04/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the Keystone XL project for the fourth time in two years on Wednesday, but the Nebraska Republican who has championed the oil pipeline from Canada knows it well may not be the last.
04/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government official at the center of an election-year spending scandal kept traveling far and wide at taxpayers' expense - long after his boss was advised a year ago of suspected abuses, according to a congressional review released on Tuesday.
04/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A year ago, organized labor was threatening a break with President Barack Obama for being too willing to compromise with Republicans on issues like the debt ceiling, Bush tax cuts, free trade and workplace legislation.
04/17/12
BETHEL PARK, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - After years of mistrust, Republican Mitt Romney is slowly beginning to convince reluctant conservatives to unite behind him ahead of the November 6. presidential election.
04/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would veto a small business tax cut proposal by Republicans in the House of Representatives that his Democrats complain is biased toward helping the rich.
04/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. women favor President Barack Obama by a 14-point margin over Republican Mitt Romney, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, after the recent "Mommy Wars" partisan flap over the role of women in public life.
04/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama proposed higher penalties for companies accused of oil market manipulation and sought more money for government oversight on Tuesday, trying to blunt the impact of high energy prices on his re-election chances.
04/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's lead over Mitt Romney has narrowed to 4 percentage points from 11 points a month ago, now that Romney has established himself as the probable Republican presidential nominee, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday.
04/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Was it case of a politician being candid behind closed doors? Or was he merely leading a provocative discussion of tax proposals?
04/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Diversification has long been a preferred investment strategy for uncertain times - and now, U.S. political investors are diversifying, too.
04/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans on Monday blocked President Barack Obama's "Buffett Rule" legislation, which would have put a 30-percent minimum tax on millionaires, in a debate that is likely to resonate through the November general election.
04/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Was it case of a politician being candid behind closed doors? Or was he merely leading a provocative discussion of tax proposals?
04/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's lead over Mitt Romney has narrowed to 4 percentage points from 11 points a month ago, now that Romney has established himself as the probable Republican presidential nominee, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday.
04/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barney Frank and 16 other House of Representatives Democrats have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in defense of a new rule curbing speculation in the commodities market that has been challenged by a financial industry lawsuit.
04/16/12
CARTAGENA, Colombia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama patiently sat through diatribes, interruptions and even the occasional eye-ball roll at the weekend Summit of the Americas in an effort to win over Latin American leaders fed up with U.S. policies.
04/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and Democratic groups affiliated with it raised more than $53 million in March, showing a jump in fundraising over the previous month as the general election gets under way.
04/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are laying a political trap for Republicans to be sprung on Monday when the U.S. Senate is slated to vote on the proposed "Buffett Rule," which would slap a minimum tax on the highest-income Americans.
04/15/12
CARTAGENA, Colombia (Reuters) - Unprecedented Latin American opposition to U.S. sanctions on Cuba left President Barack Obama isolated at a summit on Sunday and illustrated Washington's declining influence in a region being aggressively courted by China.
04/14/12
CARTAGENA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama attacked Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney on Saturday over his stance on illegal immigrants and promised to pursue broad immigration reform if he wins another term.
04/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to release more of his tax returns, in an interview with Univision released on Saturday.
04/14/12
CARTAGENA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama attacked Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney on Saturday over his stance on illegal immigrants and promised to pursue broad immigration reform if he wins another term.
04/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to release more of his tax returns, in an interview with Univision released on Saturday.
04/14/12
CARTAGENA, Colombia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama stressed on Saturday the "great promise" for business growth in the Americas, seeking to play up the economic heft of the region he has paid little attention to in his first three years in office.
04/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday his likely Republican opponent Mitt Romney's argument that women had been disproportionately affected by job losses under Obama's administration was "bogus."
04/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican National Committee said on Friday it raised $13.7 million in March, its biggest haul so far this campaign season.
04/13/12
TAMPA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made a pitstop in the 2012 election battleground state of Florida on his way to a summit in South America on Friday, reaching out to Hispanic voters who could make or break his November re-election bid.
04/13/12
ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney vowed to gun owners on Friday he would reverse what he called the restrictive gun policies of President Barack Obama.
04/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle paid an effective federal tax rate of 20.5 percent on income of $789,674 in 2011, the White House said on Friday amid a debate over tax burdens that is likely to shape the November presidential election.
04/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the U.S. presidential campaign took shape this week, Mitt Romney's staff made what it hopes will be a momentous move: Ann Romney, the candidate's wife, joined Twitter.
04/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It began with a Democratic pundit's comment late Wednesday on cable news that seemed to criticize Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, for choosing to stay home and raise their five sons rather than work.
04/13/12
(Reuters) - Three weeks ago, President Barack Obama stood in front of a sea of gleaming solar panels in Boulder City, Nevada, to celebrate his administration's efforts to promote "green energy."
04/12/12
(Reuters) - A divided U.S. appeals court struck down a federal ban on political advertising on public TV and radio stations, a decision that could open the public airwaves to a heavy dose of campaign ads leading up to the November elections.
04/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. administration official asked civil rights activists on Thursday to help defend President Barack Obama's embattled healthcare law, saying the reform package faces an "enemy" determined to set American health policy back half a century.
04/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich's path to the Republican presidential nomination looks as hard as a mission to the moon, but he is still dreaming of the skies.
04/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Obama administration task force established to investigate misconduct that fueled the financial crisis is turning to a little-used statute that may make such cases easier to bring, according to people familiar with the matter.
04/12/12
(Reuters) - A divided U.S. appeals court struck down a federal ban on political advertising on public TV and radio stations, a decision that could open the public airwaves to a heavy dose of campaign ads leading up to the November elections.
04/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will take direct aim at probable Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Thursday, accusing him of promoting what amounts to a "Romney Rule" of tax protection for the rich.
04/11/12
HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Less than a day into the U.S. general election campaign, probable Republican nominee Mitt Romney stumbled on a key issue on Wednesday in an early warning that he needs to sharpen up quickly to compete with President Barack Obama.
04/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney fired sharp attacks at each other on Wednesday as they opened a seven-month battle for the White House that got ugly fast.
04/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney fired a series of sharp attacks at each other on Wednesday as they opened a seven-month battle for the White House that is getting ugly fast.
04/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Representative Michael Grimm's office was filled with conservative Tea Party activists one day last month and they weren't happy.
04/11/12
BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's campaign blasted Mitt Romney on Tuesday for not paying his "fair share" of taxes, escalating the rhetoric against the leading Republican presidential contender to try to paint him as an elitist who is out of touch with ordinary Americans.
04/10/12
GETTYSBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Rick Santorum ended his improbable run for the White House on Tuesday after leading a Republican tilt to the right that could dog the more moderate front-runner, Mitt Romney, in November's election.
04/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama tops his main Republican rival in everything from personality to diplomacy - but when it comes to the economy, a new poll shows a potential weak spot in his bid to hold onto the White House.
04/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Taxes for America's highest earners have fallen sharply since 1995, according to a White House report on Tuesday, released ahead of a speech by President Barack Obama on fairness in the tax code that is a key part of his campaign for reelection.
04/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's healthcare law could sharply exceed its cost-savings targets and add up to $530 billion to the federal budget deficit, a leading authority on U.S. government benefit programs said on Tuesday.
04/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff complained about U.S. monetary policy and expressed concern that sanctions against Iran could backfire in a meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday, highlighting strains between the Western Hemisphere's two biggest democracies.
04/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defying personal and professional pressures, Rick Santorum is returning to the U.S. presidential campaign trail in his uphill battle against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
04/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With his Republican opponent now almost certain to be Mitt Romney, a multi-millionaire, President Barack Obama is trying to put fairer taxes at the center of his re-election campaign, but a new poll suggests the message may fall flat in swing states.
04/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff complained about U.S. monetary policy and failed to make major progress on trade in a White House meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday, highlighting strains between the Western Hemisphere's two biggest economies.
04/08/12
CLAREMONT, New Hampshire (Reuters) - At home in New Hampshire, the land of Yankee skepticism, U.S. congressman Charlie Bass was being asked to explain his support for the new Republican budget.
04/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel will investigate a lavish federal conference that featured a spoof video joking about wasteful spending and predicting it would never be investigated, a Senate leader said on Sunday.
04/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When President Barack Obama criticized Mitt Romney by name this week for embracing a controversial Republican budget proposal, he worded his attack carefully and with bite.
04/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, leading in the polls among women voters, said on Friday he wants to help working women fight discrimination and juggle the demands of motherhood but stopped short of making promises on gender equality if he wins re-election.
04/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two months after President Barack Obama reluctantly embraced fundraising for big-money "Super PACs," many major Democratic donors still have not given to such political groups because they are dismayed by how PACs are being used in the presidential campaign.
04/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that budget cuts proposed by congressional Republicans would hurt American women more than men, tailoring criticisms from President Barack Obama to one of his key voting demographics.
04/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday called out his likely opponent for the White House by name for the second time this week and said he "cannot wait" for the chance to pit his vision for America against the Republicans in this year's election.
04/05/12
Tumbling in the polls and under increasing pressure to abandon his White House campaign, Republican Rick Santorum huddled with conservative leaders and aides on Thursday to plot strategy.
04/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed into law on Thursday a bipartisan bill to kickstart small business growth, and he promised rigorous oversight to make sure the measure does not harm investors, as critics have warned.
04/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - During three days of arguments over the Obama healthcare plan, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan put on a display of rhetorical firepower, reinforcing predictions that the newest liberal justice is best equipped to take on the conservative, five-man majority controlling the bench.
04/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. courts have authority to decide whether President Barack Obama's healthcare law is valid under the Constitution, his attorney general told a court on Thursday in a further bid to defuse a controversy Obama ignited earlier this week.
04/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, in what may be a grim development for his campaign, has lost the lead in his home state of Pennsylvania to front-runner Mitt Romney, according to a poll released on Thursday.
04/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House was forced on the defensive on Wednesday as it sought to explain controversial remarks President Barack Obama made earlier in the week about the Supreme Court's review of his signature healthcare reform law.
04/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Liberal activists on Wednesday criticized new voter registration requirements in dozens of states, saying millions of people could be deterred from voting in the November U.S. presidential election - a claim their opponents disputed.
04/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House was forced on the defensive on Wednesday as it sought to explain controversial remarks President Barack Obama made earlier in the week about the Supreme Court's review of his signature healthcare reform law.
04/04/12
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - A controversial voter photo ID requirement will be on the ballot in Minnesota in November after the Republican-led legislature gave its approval on Wednesday.
04/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He hasn't held office since 1989. In fact, he's been dead since 2004. But former President Ronald Reagan has been a regular presence on the campaign trail this year.
04/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican candidate Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of being "intent on hiding" his true positions, in a growing war of words between the two men who are increasingly likely to face off in November's presidential election.
04/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on Wednesday for stricter controls on lawmakers to confront "the corrosive influence" of money in Washington as he signed into law an insider trading ban he said was needed to help restore trust in the U.S. government.
04/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With a sweep of three presidential primaries on Tuesday, Mitt Romney graduated from Republican front-runner to underdog in a November match-up against Democratic President Barack Obama.
04/03/12
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Mitt Romney won contests in Maryland and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday to tighten his grip on the race for the Republican presidential nomination and looked to land a big blow on rival Rick Santorum with an expected victory in Wisconsin.
04/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney won the Republican presidential primary in Maryland on Tuesday, boosting his momentum as front-runner in the drawn-out battle for his party's nomination for the White House, TV networks projected.
04/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney won the Republican U.S. presidential primary in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, NBC projected, giving the front-runner for his party's White House nomination a second victory of the night after winning in Maryland.
04/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney plans to start raising money jointly with the Republican National Committee, people involved in the campaign said on Tuesday, as he shifts focus from the party nomination battle to an expensive election campaign against Democratic President Barack Obama.
04/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was not spending "a whole bunch of time" preparing contingency plans should the Supreme Court overturn his healthcare overhaul law because he is confident the justices will uphold it.
04/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, seizing on Republican plans to slash deficits that the White House sees as a potent vote winner for Democrats in this year's election, slammed his opponents on Tuesday to reinforce his claim that they favor the rich.
04/03/12
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Mitt Romney can take a big step toward the Republican U.S. presidential nomination on Tuesday with victories in Wisconsin and two other contests that would increase the pressure on rival Rick Santorum to drop out of the race.
04/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, seizing on Republican plans to slash spending that the White House sees as a potent vote winner for Democrats in this year's election, will use a speech on Tuesday to reinforce his message that his opponents favor the rich.
04/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama took an opening shot at conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, warning that a rejection of his sweeping healthcare law would be an act of "judicial activism" that Republicans say they abhor.
04/02/12
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin., (Reuters) - As Mitt Romney sought to land a knockout blow against Rick Santorum in the race for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination, the difficulty of a general election matchup against Democratic President Barack Obama became clearer.
04/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appeared set to defeat his chief rival Rick Santorum in the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, according to a Public Policy Polling survey.
04/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Women voters helped President Barack Obama take a large lead over Republican front-runner candidate Mitt Romney in a dozen battleground states, a USA TODAY/Gallup poll said on Monday.
04/01/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A top fundraiser for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has been accused of fraud, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.
04/01/12
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. (Reuters) - For Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, it is shaping up to be a cold and lonely spring.
04/01/12
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney likes to play the occasional prank on his staff. On Sunday, his aides got him back.
04/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday came under political fire from two of Democratic President Barack Obama's top lieutenants, who dismissed Romney's tough talk on Russia as being behind the times.
04/01/12
(Reuters) - For all the derision U.S. Republican presidential hopefuls have heaped on the Federal Reserve, a November win by lead contender Mitt Romney would likely change little at the U.S. central bank, at least in the short term.
04/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate's top Republican called on his party to unite behind leading presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday as rival Rick Santorum vowed to stay in the race beyond a likely defeat in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary.
03/31/12
FITCHBURG, Wisc. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Saturday predicted a victory on Saturday in Wisconsin's upcoming primary contest and said he believed it could help put him on a path to clinching the nomination.
03/31/12
BROOKFIELD, Wisc. (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum vowed on Saturday that the race for the Republican nomination is far from over but signaled that he would not be "unrealistic" if the time ever came to step aside for rival Mitt Romney.
03/30/12
APPLETON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Closing in on the Republican nomination, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney turned his attention on Friday to a general election fight with President Barack Obama over the U.S. economy.
03/30/12
SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - A Democratic campaign treasurer accused of draining up to $20 million from the coffers of her clients, including U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, pleaded guilty on Friday to fraud-related charges in a deal with prosecutors.
03/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Paul Ryan, a leader in Republican efforts to slash government spending, endorsed presidential candidate Mitt Romney, calling him the party's best chance to beat Democratic President Barack Obama.
03/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. diplomats filed into North Korea's grim embassy in Beijing last month they found an unlikely surprise: Starbucks.
03/29/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for the Obama administration were put to the test by a U.S. judge on Thursday to explain why civilian activists and journalists should not fear being detained under a new anti-terrorism law.
03/29/12
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Step by step, Mitt Romney is tightening his grip on the Republican presidential nomination race despite a continued penchant for gaffes on the campaign trail.
03/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congress averted a weekend shutdown of thousands of transportation construction projects on Thursday by passing a stopgap funding bill that buys time for House Speaker John Boehner to resolve Republican differences over long-term financing.
03/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The conventional wisdom is that it would be a political disaster for Democratic President Barack Obama, and a boon for Republicans, if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down all or most of Obama's healthcare overhaul.
03/29/12
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Much of the talk around the Jobs Act has centered on the technology sector, but the biggest impact could land on far more prosaic ventures, investors and analysts say.
03/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Thursday it would expect hundreds of thousands of layoffs across the defense industry if lawmakers did not take action to avert an additional $500 billion in defense budget cuts that could take effect in January 2013.
03/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republicans passed Congressman Paul Ryan's deficit-cutting budget plan on Thursday, setting it up as a central theme for their election-year campaign efforts and as a massive target for Democratic attacks over healthcare cuts.
03/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee voted to approve two nominees to the Federal Reserve Board on Thursday, although there was opposition from two Republican senators.
03/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama challenged Congress on Thursday to repeal billions of dollars in tax breaks for the biggest U.S. energy companies, saying they are raking in record profits while Americans struggle with higher gasoline prices.
03/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton departs on Thursday for fresh diplomacy aimed at halting Syria's bloodshed, but there is little sign the Obama administration is ready to deviate from its hands-off approach.
03/28/12
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A squawking crow. A single shoe turned on its side. Dark skies. A slow-spinning carousel on an empty playground. All the ingredients of a horror movie come together in a Rick Santorum presidential campaign video that depicts a terrifying "Obamaville".
03/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on Wednesday endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination during an appearance on Fox News.
03/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's top courtroom lawyer made an impassioned plea on Wednesday for the Supreme Court to save President Barack Obama's healthcare law, capping three days of historic arguments that left it unclear how the nine justices would rule.
03/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Wednesday it was moving toward allowing private companies to begin assessing the oil and gas potential off the country's Atlantic coast, but full exploration is likely still years away.
03/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies and the federal government would be able to share information about cybersecurity threats more easily under a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.
03/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats tried to squeeze Republican House Speaker John Boehner into accepting their U.S. Senate-passed transport bill on Wednesday, less than four days before federal funding for road, bridge and mass transit projects expires.
03/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system remains popular even though Americans are not enamored with the law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.
03/28/12
MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - The presidential nomination race has been gripping Republicans across the nation, but it's just a sideshow for many voters in Wisconsin's primary next week.
03/28/12
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will pick up the formal endorsement of former President George H.W. Bush during a visit to Houston on Thursday, a Romney campaign official said.
03/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said on Wednesday he is not quitting the race for his party's nomination even though he has had to lay off staff and funds are low.
03/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court opened its final day weighing the fate of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul, considering on Wednesday whether the entire law can stand should the court rule against its centerpiece mandate that most people buy insurance.
03/28/12
(Reuters) - The first-ever U.S. proposal to restrict carbon dioxide emissions would have once been a major shock to electricity companies by making it uneconomic to build new coal-fired power plants.
03/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney has erased rival Rick Santorum's lead among voters in Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania which holds a crucial primary next month, a poll on Wednesday showed.
03/27/12
BURBANK, California (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had this assignment for Rick Santorum on Tuesday to make light of his chief rival's frequent tussles with the news media: "Press secretary."
03/27/12
BEAVER DAM, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Under pressure to pull off a big primary victory, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum vowed on Tuesday to make a stand in Wisconsin next week despite a poor record in large Midwestern states.
03/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is handling high gasoline prices, although most do not blame him for them, according to a Reuters/Ipsos online poll released on Tuesday.
03/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. campaign finance system is so heavily influenced by big-spending interest groups and wealthy individuals that it will take "huge scandals" to change it - and those scandals are looming, Senator John McCain said Tuesday.
03/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is looking at ways to increase pressure on China over what he sees as currency manipulation and unfair subsidy practices, a Romney campaign adviser said on Tuesday.
03/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate may soon consider a new package of proposed sanctions targeting Iran's oil revenues, Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday.
03/27/12
SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama voiced doubt on Tuesday on the prospects for progress with Moscow on missile defense until after the November U.S. election as he staunchly defended remarks caught on camera the day before with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
03/27/12
SEOUL (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday a comment by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, branding Russia the "number one geopolitical foe", smacked of Hollywood.
03/27/12
SEOUL (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made clear on Tuesday he expects election-year politics to prevent a breakthrough with Moscow on missile defense before 2013 as he staunchly defended remarks caught on camera the day before with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
03/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court confronts the core of President Barack Obama's healthcare law on Tuesday when it hears arguments on whether Congress had the power to require most people in the United States to buy medical insurance.
03/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Rick Santorum began his presidential campaign by roaming Iowa in a pickup truck, boosted by peppy television ads that showed him walking through a garden with his wife and holding his youngest daughter.
03/26/12
President Barack Obama's campaign has embraced the term "Obamacare," seeking to turn the negative name Republicans assigned to his healthcare reform effort into a positive branding tool just as the Supreme Court studies the law's constitutionality.
03/26/12
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich's Southern strategy to get back into the race for the Republican presidential nomination has collapsed, and his campaign is in the red, but the former U.S. House of Representatives speaker is marching on.
03/26/12
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Mitt Romney scrambled on Monday to raise campaign money to help him fend off the lingering challenge from rival Rick Santorum for the Republican presidential nomination, and he acknowledged that the battle could extend into June.
03/26/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors have yet to break a sweat over November's U.S. elections. That's likely to change soon.
03/26/12
SEOUL (Reuters) - President Barack Obama was caught on camera on Monday assuring outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev he will have "more flexibility" to deal with contentious issues like missile defense after the U.S. presidential election.
03/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two years after President Barack Obama signed into law a healthcare overhaul, the Supreme Court on Monday takes up a historic test of whether it is valid under the country's Constitution.
03/25/12
VILLANOVA, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - A staunch conservative from a moderate state, Rick Santorum is unlikely to get much home comfort in Pennsylvania as he tries to stay near the front of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
03/25/12
JANESVILLE, WI. (Reuters) - Republican Representative Paul Ryan's budget-cutting vision has made him a hero to conservatives across the country. It's less popular in his home town.
03/24/12
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Rick Santorum won the Louisiana Republican primary on Saturday, CNN projected based on exit polls, adding an 11th state to his total but still trailing Mitt Romney by a wide margin in the national delegate count.
03/24/12
WASHINGTON/SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama weighed into the controversial killing of a black teenager in Florida in very personal terms on Friday, comparing the boy to a son he doesn't have and calling for American "soul searching" over how the incident occurred.
03/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged lawmakers in the House of Representatives to pass a bill that would extend funding for infrastructure and transportation projects, warning that failure to do so would hurt U.S. economic recovery.
03/23/12
WASHINGTON/SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama weighed into the controversial killing of a black teenager in Florida in very personal terms on Friday, comparing the boy to a son he doesn't have and calling for American "soul searching" over how the incident occurred.
03/23/12
WEST MONROE, Louisiana (Reuters) - Rick Santorum tried on Friday to clarify his remarks that Americans might as well stick with President Barack Obama rather than elect Republican rival Mitt Romney, and accused reporters of swallowing the Romney camp's spin on the White House race.
03/23/12
COCONUT CREEK, Florida (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden joked about his age with Florida retirees on Friday and portrayed Republican attempts to cut Social Security and Medicare as an attack on the dignity of aging Americans.
03/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul faces its biggest court test next week, capping a legal battle that could reshape the powers of the U.S. government, redefine medical care for most Americans and transform the 2012 election campaign.
03/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday it was "absolutely imperative" that police investigate every aspect of the killing of an unarmed black teenager in Florida by a neighborhood watch captain.
03/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney, sensing the Republican presidential nomination will be his, is working behind the scenes to try to unify conservatives behind him and he may be gaining some traction.
03/22/12
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Rick Santorum attacked presidential rival Mitt Romney on Thursday for creating "the template" for President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul, spotlighting the issue ahead of crucial Supreme Court arguments on the law's constitutionality.
03/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to send President Barack Obama legislation imposing new curbs on insider trading by members of Congress, even though the measure was weaker than a version it passed in February.
03/22/12
CUSHING, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Standing in front of a row of pipes, President Barack Obama pledged on Thursday to accelerate approval for part of the Keystone XL pipeline, seeking to deflect criticism that his rejection of the full project helped create a climate for high gasoline prices.
03/22/12
(Reuters) - The United States will require "significant combat power" next year in Afghanistan, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces said on Thursday, as debate heats up in Washington about the pace of the American exit from the over decade-long war.
03/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roy Blunt approached a fellow Republican on the U.S. Senate floor a few weeks back and made a pitch for Mitt Romney, their party's presidential front-runner, who is pushing to nail down the elusive Republican nomination.
03/21/12
BOULDER CITY, Nevada (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will direct federal agencies on Thursday to speed approvals of one portion of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, in a move designed to ease political pressure on the White House as the industry frets about a glut of oil trapped in the region.
03/21/12
(Reuters) - Actor Robert De Niro on Wednesday apologized for joking at a Democratic fundraiser with Michelle Obama about the possibility of having a "white first lady" at the White House after November's presidential elections.
03/21/12
ARBUTUS, Maryland (Reuters) - Call it the great "Etch A Sketch" controversy of 2012.
03/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Santorum is running out of time and opportunities to stop front-runner Mitt Romney's slow, grinding march to the Republican presidential nomination.
03/21/12
(Reuters) - Americans are increasingly uneasy with the mingling of religion and politics, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center, in the midst of a campaign season punctuated by tussles over the role of faith in the public square.
03/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will issue a memo on Thursday directing federal agencies to prioritize permitting of TransCanada's southern leg of the Keystone oil pipeline, a senior White House official said on Wednesday.
03/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it appears to be on track to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan charting their future relations during or before a late May NATO summit.
03/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on Wednesday endorsed Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee for president and urged the party to unite behind the former Massachusetts governor as the best choice to unseat President Barack Obama.
03/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Shiny solar panels, sprawling gas fields and the site of a future oil pipeline will give President Barack Obama a set of convenient photo backdrops this week as he launches a campaign-like tour to tout his energy policies to Americans.
03/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Blown out in Illinois, Rick Santorum now has a far tougher path to the Republican presidential nomination and looks more like he is reduced to playing the role of spoiler against rival Mitt Romney.
03/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney and his backers spent money more quickly in February than they took in, ending the month with less than half the cash they had at the end of the year and trailing far behind Democratic President Barack Obama's war chest.
03/20/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney easily won the Illinois primary on Tuesday over top rival Rick Santorum, U.S. television networks projected, moving him one step closer to clinching the party's presidential nomination.
03/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republicans placed a major election-year bet on Tuesday on a deficit-slashing budget proposal the party hopes will win over voters and quell any concerns about the plan's most controversial element - a sweeping revamp of Medicare.
03/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, seeking to increase pressure on North Korea to abandon its atomic weapons, will visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on South Korea's tense border on Sunday before a nuclear security summit in Seoul.
03/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's top commander in Afghanistan will make recommendations about how quickly the United States should pull out of that long and costly war late this year, probably after November's elections, according to a timetable given on Tuesday.
03/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. farm and crop insurance subsidies would be cut by $30 billion over 10 years under a proposal made by the House of Representatives Budget Committee chairman on Tuesday, far larger reductions than agricultural-state lawmakers suggested.
03/20/12
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas should be playing a role in Republican politics this year as big as, well, Texas.
03/20/12
MOLINE, Illinois (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Rick Santorum said on Monday he did not care about the U.S. unemployment rate, perhaps the nation's most closely watched economic indicator, despite being embroiled in a campaign largely focused on the still-sputtering economy.
03/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republicans unveiled an ambitious plan on Tuesday to cut and simplify taxes, slash spending and make a fresh run at overhauling the Medicare health program in a bid to draw a stark election-year contrast between their budgetary vision and that of President Barack Obama.
03/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Shortly after taking office, U.S. President Barack Obama set the goal of eventually ridding the world of nuclear weapons as a central theme of his presidency and pledged dramatic steps to lead the way.
03/20/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Front-runner Mitt Romney appears poised to widen his lead in the Republican presidential race with a victory on Tuesday in Illinois, where polls show he has a comfortable edge over top rival Rick Santorum.
03/19/12
EFFINGHAM, Illinois (Reuters) - In Tuesday's Republican primary in Illinois, most votes will be cast in the suburbs and towns ringing Chicago, but Rick Santorum has his eye elsewhere.
03/19/12
EFFINGHAM, Illinois (Reuters) - In Tuesday's Republican primary in Illinois, most votes will be cast in the suburbs and towns ringing Chicago, but Rick Santorum has his eye elsewhere.
03/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney may be headed for an important victory in Illinois on Tuesday that would help him put more distance between himself and Rick Santorum, his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination.
03/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election campaign raised more than $45 million in February, increasing its financial haul month-on-month as worries mount that Republicans could outspend Democrats in 2012.
03/19/12
WASHINGTON/HONG KONG (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration is expected to throw its weight behind U.S. solar panel producers on Tuesday in their battle against lower-priced imports from China that they say threaten the future of the industry in the United States. A coalition of seven U.S. manufacturers has asked for duties topping 100 percent on Chinese-made solar cells and panels, which they say are subsidized by the Chinese government and "dumped" in the United States at unfairly
03/18/12
SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was sweeping to victory in his party's primary in Puerto Rico on Sunday, bolstering his position as front-runner in the race to determine who will face Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election.
03/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives will try this week to seize control of the election-year spending debate by rolling out a plan to slash trillion-dollar deficits and revive controversial reforms to the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly.
03/18/12
(Reuters) - So many friends. So little love. Such is the state of the amicus, or "friend of the court," briefs that have piled up in the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case involving President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law. In all, some 136 amicus briefs have been filed with the high court in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act litigation. That's a stack about 2 feet (61cm) high, according a Reuters estimate, or two full carts, as Solicitor General Donald Verrilli put it in a rece
03/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday called for President Barack Obama to fire three top administration officials as he sought to harness voter anger over rising gas prices ahead of nominating contests in Puerto Rico and Illinois.
03/18/12
SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Puerto Rico held its Republican presidential primary on Sunday, with 20 of the U.S. territory's 23 delegates up for grabs in a race in which an upcoming vote on statehood has taken central stage.
03/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday is expected to propose official language laying out its plan to accommodate the moral concerns of religiously affiliated institutions that oppose birth control, according to sources familiar with the matter.
03/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 188 lawmakers on Friday urged President Barack Obama to crack down on "predatory" Chinese pricing practices, which they said are threatening the auto parts industry.
03/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pressure is mounting on Republican Mitt Romney to win next Tuesday's presidential primary in Illinois, a state considered friendly territory as he seeks to fend off a growing challenge from conservative rival Rick Santorum.
03/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives is again urging President Barack Obama to aggressively use the threat of releasing oil from emergency reserves to rain on speculators driving up oil prices.
03/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The deficit for the next fiscal year would reach $977 billion if President Barack Obama's latest budget plan were enacted, the Congressional Budget Office said on Friday, slightly higher than the White House's own estimate.
03/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In November 2010, supporters of George W. Bush gathered on a college campus in Dallas, Texas, to mark the groundbreaking of Bush's presidential library.
03/15/12
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Reuters) - Veteran U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch faces what may prove to be the toughest re-election bid of his 36-year tenure, as he battles a challenge on Thursday by two younger Tea Party candidates in Utah's Republican caucus.
03/15/12
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is poised to cooperate with the United States on a release of strategic oil stocks that is expected within months, two British sources said, in a bid to prevent fuel prices choking economic growth in a U.S. election year.
03/15/12
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Reuters) - Veteran U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch faces what may prove to be the toughest re-election bid of his 36-year tenure, as he battles a challenge on Thursday by two younger Tea Party candidates in Utah's Republican caucus.
03/15/12
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has decided to cooperate with the United States in a bilateral agreement to release strategic oil stocks, two British sources said, in an effort to prevent high fuel prices derailing economic growth in an election year.
03/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican senator on Thursday warned the White House that passing legislation to bolster trade relations with Russia won't be a "slam dunk" because of concerns over that country's record on human rights and foreign policy actions.
03/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron discussed the possibility of releasing emergency oil reserves during a meeting on Wednesday, two sources familiar with the talks said, the first sign that Obama is starting to test global support for an effort to knock back near-record fuel prices.
03/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fate of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul will be debated at the Supreme Court this month, reviving controversy over his signature domestic policy achievement in a year when Americans vote on whether to give him a second term.
03/14/12
(Reuters) - The Obama administration has been quietly negotiating with representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in an effort to tamp down their furious opposition to a federal mandate that insurance companies cover birth control, according to sources familiar with the talks.
03/14/12
That is the question in this month's U.S. Supreme Court case testing the validity of President Barack Obama's controversial healthcare system overhaul.
03/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Wednesday passed a two-year, $109 billion transportation bill to rebuild roads, bridges and rail systems after rejecting numerous attempts to load the measure with provisions ranging from the Keystone XL oil pipeline to waivers from Obama administration health insurance policies.
03/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Forty percent of Americans said the shooting spree by a U.S. soldier stationed in Afghanistan which resulted in the deaths of 16 villagers had weakened their support for the war, a poll showed on Wednesday.
03/14/12
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich may not be ready to admit it, but his presidential hopes are all but over and calls will be getting louder for him to step aside.
03/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the House of Representatives are ready to break a hard-fought budget deal with Democrats as they try to quell a revolt by conservatives who are insisting on deeper spending cuts ahead of the November elections.
03/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the first time since early July, more Americans approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing than disapprove, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll that shows his approval rating now at 50 percent.
03/13/12
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Republicans Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich faced off in a pair of high-stakes Deep South presidential primaries on Tuesday, with exit polls showing a very tight race.
03/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of Americans would support military action against Iran if there were evidence that Tehran is building nuclear weapons, even if such action led to higher gasoline prices, a Reuters/Ipsos polled showed on Tuesday.
03/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the first time since early July, more Americans approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing than disapprove, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll that shows his approval rating now at 50 percent.
03/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan proposal in the Senate to give tax incentives to natural gas vehicles failed to attract enough support on Tuesday in a vote to amend the Senate's highway funding bill.
03/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised on Tuesday that a U.S. soldier's shooting rampage in Afghanistan would be investigated as if the dead were "our own citizens and our own children," and pledged a responsible end to the war in the country.
03/13/12
(Reuters) - The world's largest accounting and auditing firms, known as the Big Four, have been pumping more money than ever before into U.S. lobbying and political campaigns as they confront new challenges from their regulator and Congress.
03/12/12
BILOXI, Mississippi (Reuters) - Republicans Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney battled on Monday for conservative support in Mississippi and Alabama ahead of presidential primaries that polls showed have turned into tense three-way ties.
03/12/12
BILOXI, Mississippi (Reuters) - Republicans Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney battled on Monday for conservative support in Mississippi and Alabama ahead of presidential primaries that polls showed have turned into tense three-way ties.
03/12/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama faces a vexing decision this spring that is forcing him to weigh the pain of high gasoline prices for swing voters in Pennsylvania against the loyalty of his union base: whether to allow foreign oil tankers to carry fuel between U.S. ports.
03/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday blocked a new Texas law requiring voters to show photo identification before they can cast a ballot out of concerns it could harm some Hispanic voters who lack such identification.
03/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new poll Monday showed Mitt Romney is surprisingly strong in two Republican presidential primary contests in the South this week that are crucial to his conservative rivals Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.
03/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama receives a report on Monday showing a one million barrel per day decline in U.S. oil imports in 2011, as the White House arms itself against election-year attacks on his energy policies, which Republicans blame for high gas prices.
03/10/12
TOPEKA, Kansas (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum swept the Kansas caucuses on Saturday with 51 percent of the vote, giving him a boost going into crucial primary votes in the South next week.
03/10/12
(Reuters) - Democratic Representative Jay Inslee said on Saturday he would step down from Congress later this month to focus on his campaign for governor of Washington state.
03/10/12
TOPEKA, Kansas (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum swept the Kansas caucuses on Saturday with 53 percent of the vote, giving him a boost going into crucial primary votes in the South next week.
03/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration is exploring options to halt the bloodshed in Syria but is deeply skeptical of military intervention out of fear it could worsen the humanitarian crisis, according to a White House official.
03/09/12
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - South Carolina Republican Lieutenant Governor Ken Ard resigned on Friday just hours before the state attorney announced his indictment on seven counts of violating ethics laws by misusing campaign money.
03/09/12
DETROIT (Reuters) - The state of Michigan has not received any request from Detroit for short-term funding to help the city avoid running out of money soon, the governor's office said on Friday.
03/09/12
JACKSON, Mississippi (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is laying it on as thick as a syrupy Southern drawl as he tries to break through in the South, a region that has been unkind to him in the past and may soon turn its back on him again.
03/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a rare display of election-year bipartisanship, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to make it easier for small businesses, the engine of the economy, to raise capital and eventually hire workers.
03/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign would like to be focusing its attacks on Democratic President Barack Obama around now.
03/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A battle among Republicans in the House of Representatives over government spending laid bare on Thursday deep divisions that threaten the party's hopes of major gains in the November congressional elections.
03/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats on Thursday defeated a Republican proposal to give a permit to the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline in a vote that will give Republicans more ammunition to criticize President Barack Obama's energy policies on the campaign trail.
03/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Republican leaders are looking for a way to reshape the debate over the administration's new rule on birth-control insurance coverage before moving ahead with a bid to nullify the requirement.
03/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama summons the image of a scrappy auto worker or high-tech engineer when he calls for expanding a major corporate tax break for manufacturing, but he might just as well evoke the coffee-shop barista or the cable guy.
03/08/12
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook's original friends are moving into politics.
03/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, struggling to gain Republican support for a $260 billion transportation bill, said on Thursday he intended to pursue a less ambitious version under consideration by the Democratic-controlled Senate instead.
03/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's working group this week will discuss rising gasoline prices as it investigates possible fraud and manipulation in the energy markets, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Thursday.
03/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate could vote as early as Thursday on a plan to fast-track the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, a bid that is unlikely to attract enough Democratic support to pass but will give its Republican supporters an opening to criticize President Barack Obama's energy policies.
03/08/12
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - New Hampshire's Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to exempt religious institutions from having to include contraceptive coverage in health insurance plans.
03/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate is under the gun to pass a transportation bill that would rev up road construction and create or save millions of jobs.
03/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives are not satisfied with spending caps mandated by last year's debt limit deal and are seeking deeper cuts - even if this raises the risk of another government shutdown fight.
03/07/12
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida's Republican budget leaders said on Wednesday they were not panicked by a court ruling that could cost the cash-strapped state $2 billion in additional pension payments, because they were confident it will be overturned on appeal.
03/07/12
PORTSMOUTH, Virginia (Reuters) - Virginia's Republican Governor Bob McDonnell signed a law on Wednesday requiring women to have an ultrasound before an abortion but which left out a controversial requirement for a more invasive vaginal probe.
03/07/12
MOUNT HOLLY, North Carolina (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, under Republican attack for high gas prices that could harm his re-election bid, urged Americans on Wednesday to have faith in alternative fuels and accused rivals of not telling the truth about the rising cost of energy.
03/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner implored fellow Republicans on Wednesday to pass a $260 billion transportation bill, their party's flagship job creation measure, which has fallen victim to internal squabbling.
03/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The sharp winter decline in the unemployment rate has put a spring in President Barack Obama's step ahead of his re-election bid. But some economists think quirks in the jobless data mean progress could stall out soon.
03/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday disagreed over President Barack Obama's push for legislation this year to strengthen trade ties with Russia by repealing a largely symbolic Cold War provision that conflicts with today's global trade rules.
03/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senator attacked on Wednesday an industry-backed fund that covers claims for investors of failed brokerages, saying the fund was failing to help people who had been victimized by convicted financier Allen Stanford's $7 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney survived another near-death campaign experience, but a narrow win in Ohio and five other "Super Tuesday" victories did little to ease doubts about the shaky front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.
03/07/12
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich kept his presidential bid alive on Tuesday with a landslide win in his home state of Georgia, but his southern strategy to fight back to the top in the Republican White House race looked shaky.
03/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney has single women, working women, and arguably, Rush Limbaugh, to thank for his narrow win in the Ohio presidential primary, but that won't defuse the Republican Party's "woman problem" in November's general election.
03/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It might be difficult to upstage Republican presidential candidates on the most important day of their primary election, but President Barack Obama tried to do just that on Tuesday.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney scored a narrow victory over Rick Santorum to win the Republican presidential primary in Ohio, television networks projected.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney took a lead of about 5,000 votes over Rick Santorum in the Republican presidential primary in Ohio - the most closely watched state voting on Super Tuesday - with 87 percent of the vote counted.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney won the Republican presidential caucuses in Idaho on Tuesday, Fox News projected.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney were virtually tied in the Ohio Republican presidential primary with 85 percent of the vote counted.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, won the Republican presidential caucuses in North Dakota on Tuesday, CNN projected.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Santorum held a slight lead over Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary in Ohio with a quarter of the vote counted on Tuesday.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Santorum won the Republican presidential primary in Tennessee on Tuesday, U.S. television's NBC and CNN networks projected, defeating rival Mitt Romney.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama invoked his young daughters on Tuesday to hit back at Rush Limbaugh over the conservative talk show host's incendiary comments about a birth control activist.
03/06/12
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Mitt Romney notched early wins as he fought to establish his dominance in the race for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination on Tuesday but Ohio, the biggest prize of the evening, was too close to call.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. television networks said the Republican presidential race between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum was too close to call in Ohio, the most closely watched of the 10 nominating contests being held on Super Tuesday, television networks said.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans' push for a vote on approval of the delayed $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline project gained momentum on Tuesday after Democrats failed to end debate on a major transportation bill.
03/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates competed to be the most hawkish on Iran and favorable to Israel before the powerful pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC on Tuesday, telling Iran it would be in real danger if it goes nuclear while they are in the White House.
03/06/12
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Mitt Romney can take a big step toward finishing off chief rival Rick Santorum and seizing command of the Republican presidential race on Tuesday as 10 states hold contests with Ohio at ground zero.
03/05/12
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich appears likely to win the Republican presidential primary in his home state of Georgia on Tuesday but his plan to launch a wider "Southern Strategy" to recover his front-runner status looks less of a sure thing.
03/05/12
CANTON, Ohio (Reuters) - In the final hours before Tuesday's critical Republican presidential primary in Ohio, Mitt Romney's strategy was clear: "Focus, focus, focus" on blue-collar and women voters.
03/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama appealed to Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to give sanctions time to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, but the Israeli prime minister offered no sign of backing away from possible military action, saying his country must be the "master of its fate."
03/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday appealed a decision that a U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation requiring tobacco companies put large, graphic health warnings on cigarette packages and advertising was unconstitutional.
03/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should lead an international effort to protect key population centers in Syria through air strikes on President Bashar al-Assad's forces, Senator John McCain said on Monday.
03/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, aiming to head off any premature Israeli strike on Iran, sought to assure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that the United States would always "have Israel's back" but said there was still time for diplomacy.
03/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney closed in on Rick Santorum in Ohio and picked up a crucial endorsement in Virginia on Sunday as he grows in strength ahead of "Super Tuesday," the biggest day yet in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
03/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul expressed doubt on Sunday that conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh truly meant it when he apologized for calling a law student a "slut" over her support for President Barack Obama's new policy on insurance coverage of contraceptives.
03/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney closed in on Rick Santorum in Ohio and picked up a crucial endorsement in Virginia on Sunday as he grows in strength ahead of "Super Tuesday," the biggest day yet in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
03/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama warned on Sunday against "loose talk" of a war with Iran ahead of a crucial meeting where he plans to press Israel's prime minister to avoid a premature strike on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.
03/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Sunday endorsed Mitt Romney's presidential bid, citing the economy as the top issue on the minds of voters and giving another boost to the Republican frontrunner.
03/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has surged into a dead heat with Rick Santorum in the Ohio primary, setting up a cliffhanger race on Tuesday, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.
03/03/12
ARLINGTON, Virginia (Reuters) - Here are three safe bets on Virginia's presidential primary on Tuesday: Mitt Romney will win, turnout will be low and a lot of Republicans will be discouraged, which could help President Barack Obama in the battleground state in November.
03/03/12
BLUE ASH, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican Rick Santorum lashed out at chief rival Mitt Romney on Saturday as "uniquely unqualified" to challenge President Barack Obama in November's election and urged Ohio voters to join him in rejecting the party's old-boy establishment.
03/03/12
BELLEVUE, Washington (Reuters) - Turnout was heavy at the Washington state Republican caucuses on Saturday as Mitt Romney took an early lead in the non-binding straw poll he hopes will propel his campaign to a strong showing on Super Tuesday.
03/03/12
(Reuters) - Mitt Romney, who regained front-runner status in the Republican presidential race with three state wins this week, could build on that momentum with a victory in the Washington state caucuses on Saturday just three days before crucial Super Tuesday voting.
03/03/12
BLUE ASH, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican Rick Santorum lashed out at chief rival Mitt Romney on Saturday as "uniquely unqualified" to challenge President Barack Obama in November's election and urged Ohio voters to join him in rejecting the party's old-boy establishment.
03/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican legislation to limit the Federal Reserve's mandate to fighting inflation would restrict the types of bonds the U.S. central bank could buy and potentially force sooner-than-expected sales of mortgage-backed securities.
03/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called a law student on Friday to express his support after she was branded a "slut" by controversial right-wing talk-show host Rush Limbaugh for her outspoken support of Obama's new policy on contraception coverage.
03/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called a law student on Friday after she was branded a "slut" by right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh for her outspoken support of Obama's new policy on contraception.
03/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday threw out a challenge to President Barack Obama's recent recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, refusing to add the issue to a lawsuit on another topic.
03/02/12
PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - The two major U.S. political parties have a responsibility to end the "dysfunction and political paralysis" gripping Washington, Senator Olympia Snowe said on Friday as she returned to her home state of Maine after saying she would not seek a fourth term.
03/02/12
March 2, LONDON (Reuters) - A Credit Suisse executive set off an email chain seeking donations from subordinates for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that ended up in the hands of non-U.S. citizens, prompting concerns that it could violate laws barring foreign contributions, according to bank sources.
03/02/12
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Just days before what could be the most consequential meeting of U.S. and Israeli leaders in years, aides to President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scrambling to bridge stark differences over what Washington fears could be an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites.
03/01/12
NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Facing intensifying election-year attacks over rising gasoline prices, President Barack Obama sought to shift the spotlight onto oil and gas companies on Thursday by pushing for the repeal of U.S. tax breaks that benefit the industry.
03/01/12
MISSOULA, Montana (Reuters) - A federal judge in Montana who acknowledges using official court email to circulate a racist joke about President Barack Obama has apologized and initiated a process to bring a misconduct complaint against himself, court officials said on Thursday.
03/01/12
She is aware that her husband, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, has an image problem. Critics say he often seems stiff and reserved on the campaign trail, and has difficulty connecting with voters.
03/01/12
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - The federal campaign finance case against former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will go to trial in April, U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles said on Thursday.
03/01/12
NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday his administration will lay out "as many steps as we can" in coming weeks to unclog bottlenecks that are helping to push up the price of gasoline and other fuels.
03/01/12
NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Facing intensifying election-year attacks over rising energy prices, President Barack Obama will seek on Thursday to shift the spotlight onto oil and gas companies by calling for the repeal of tax breaks that benefit the industry.
03/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. conservative activist Andrew Breitbart, a larger-than-life author and publisher, died unexpectedly of natural causes in Los Angeles early on Thursday, a representative for his website confirmed. He was 43.
03/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama travels to New Hampshire on Thursday to talk about energy, swooping into Republican front-runner Mitt Romney's backyard to discuss an issue that his opponents hope they can use to deny him a second White House term.
02/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly two-thirds of Americans favor President Barack Obama's policy requiring birth control coverage for female employees, including clear majorities of Roman Catholic, Protestant evangelical and independent voters, a poll showed on Thursday.
02/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led Senate is expected Thursday to defeat a largely symbolic measure that would exempt employers such as Roman Catholic hospitals, universities and charities from a controversial White House rule requiring free birth control coverage.
02/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican presidential hopefuls are heading into next week's "Super Tuesday" contests with different game plans but the same goal: find the most friendly terrain to make a stand.
02/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea agreed on Wednesday to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches, and to allow checks by nuclear inspectors, in an apparent policy shift that paves the way for resuming long-stalled disarmament talks.
02/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders briefly put aside their election-year attacks on each other on Wednesday for a rare working lunch that the White House billed as an effort to find common ground on strengthening the economy.
02/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders briefly put aside their election-year attacks on each other on Wednesday for a working lunch that the White House billed as an effort to find common ground on strengthening the economy.
02/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea agreed on Wednesday to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches, and to allow checks by nuclear inspectors, in an apparent policy shift that paves the way for resuming long-stalled disarmament talks.
02/29/12
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has decided to lift a travel ban preventing American pro-democracy activists from leaving the country, judicial sources said on Wednesday, a move that is likely to defuse a standoff that has plunged U.S.-Egyptian ties into a crisis.
02/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's narrow win in Michigan is unlikely to ease lingering doubts about his candidacy or head off the possibility of a long and divisive presidential nominating fight that is damaging Republican chances in November's general election.
02/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will announce on Wednesday that it is ready to meet with North Korea to finalize the details of a food aid package, a key confidence building measure amid ongoing discussion of Pyongyang's nuclear program, a U.S. official said.
02/28/12
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney accused rival Rick Santorum of trying to "kidnap" Michigan's Republican presidential contest on Tuesday as he faced the possibility of a humiliating defeat in the Rust Belt state where he grew up.
02/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Olympia Snowe, one of the few remaining Republican moderates in Congress, stunned both parties on Tuesday by announcing she will not seek re-election for a fourth six-year term in November, citing partisan gridlock.
02/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans turned up the heat on President Barack Obama's energy policies on Tuesday, hammering an election-year issue that they view as his weak spot amid rising gasoline prices.
02/28/12
DETROIT (Reuters) - With his presidential hopes riding on a win in Michigan's pivotal Republican primary on Tuesday, Rick Santorum is taking a page from the playbook of influential conservative talkshow host Rush Limbaugh.
02/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate leader Harry Reid on Tuesday said he hoped the Federal Trade Commission would look into rising domestic gasoline prices, noting "rampant speculation" in oil markets.
02/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama attacked White House contender Mitt Romney on Tuesday over his opposition to the 2009 bailout of the auto industry, seizing on a vulnerability for the Republican candidate on a crucial voting day.
02/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. government report on the global oil markets due on Wednesday could help determine how tough the Obama administration will be enforcing sanctions against Iran and provide information it needs to combat rising oil prices.
02/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Republican in Congress wrote to President Barack Obama on Tuesday to urge him to "change course" and approve a controversial oil pipeline, seeking to keep up election-year pressure on the Democrat amid rising gasoline prices.
02/28/12
SOUTHFIELD/GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (Reuters) - Mitt Romney accused rival Rick Santorum of dirty tricks for encouraging Democrats to defeat him in Michigan's primary on Tuesday, when voters will determine whether Romney gets a big win or a humiliating defeat in his home state.
02/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A "Super PAC" supporting Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich received a new cash infusion from billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, according to a source familiar with the donation.
02/28/12
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana (Reuters) - Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana is one of the Senate's conservative titans, the courtly, silver-haired elder of the state's Republican Party who has been unopposed in primary elections for 35 years.
02/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, following through on a promise to beef up enforcement of trade agreements, on Tuesday will sign an executive order creating a new government team to make sure China and others play by the rules, the White House said.
02/27/12
OSLO (Reuters) - Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning, and former President Bill Clinton may be among the hundreds of nominees for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, rights activists say.
02/27/12
EASTLAKE, Ohio (Reuters) - U.S. factories are hiring again, and Democratic President Barack Obama and some of his Republican rivals are pitching tax breaks to fuel a rebound in manufacturing and help rebuild a battered middle class.
02/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican presidential race faces a potential turning point on Tuesday in contests in Arizona and Michigan, where upstart Rick Santorum threatens to plunge an already unpredictable nominating battle into chaos.
02/26/12
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (Reuters) - In a tight race to win the Michigan primary, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney strongly defended his wealth on Sunday and challenged voters to support someone else if they did not like his success.
02/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican presidential race faces a potential turning point on Tuesday in contests in Arizona and Michigan, where upstart Rick Santorum threatens to plunge an already unpredictable nominating battle into chaos.
02/26/12
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - For more than a century, the Democratic Party has dominated Arkansas politics.
02/26/12
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (Reuters) - In a tight race to win the Michigan primary, U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney strongly defended his wealth on Sunday and challenged voters to support someone else if they did not like his success.
02/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who had a finger-pointing confrontation with President Barack Obama last month, on Sunday endorsed Mitt Romney's bid to become the Republican nominee to challenge Obama in the November 6 U.S. election.
02/26/12
RABAT (Reuters) - The United States is evaluating the outcome of legal proceedings in Egypt, where 16 Americans are among dozens of democracy activists being put on trial, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday.
02/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should do more to encourage Saudi Arabia to boost its oil production to make up for lost Iranian oil, Senator Charles Schumer said on Sunday, urging renewed diplomacy as a way to ease the run-up in oil prices.
02/25/12
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Only a month ago, Newt Gingrich was atop the Republican presidential race. Now he is in a fight for a win even in his home state of Georgia as his campaign stakes its future on the Super Tuesday primaries.
02/25/12
DETROIT (Reuters) - After a week in which Rick Santorum's presidential campaign often seemed focused on issues like pre-natal testing, abortion and religion, the message from the Republican Party's establishment was becoming clear on Friday: We've had enough.
02/24/12
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has raised oil exports and the United States is considering releasing crude from its strategic reserves as oil prices hit nine-month highs on Friday and concerns deepened over Iran's nuclear program.
02/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has the authority to bar lobbyists from serving on government boards because doing so reduces "special interest influence," lawyers for his administration said on Friday.
02/24/12
DETROIT (Reuters) - Mitt Romney on Friday declared himself the Republican presidential candidate with "the only chance" to defeat President Barack Obama as he seized on signs that rival Rick Santorum's grip on Michigan appears to be slipping.
02/24/12
COLONIA JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - In the craggy desert of northern Mexico, U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's relatives turned an arid valley into lush agricultural land and prospered after being chased from the United States for their Mormon beliefs.
02/24/12
TUNIS (Reuters) - The administration of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will have even more blood on its hands if it does not agree to an international demand to allow in urgent humanitarian relief, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday.
02/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is weighing the circumstances that could warrant tapping the nation's strategic oil reserve, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday as he defended sanctions on Iran.
02/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama is close to becoming the first president in at least half a century to finish a full term without making an appointment to a U.S. appeals court, considered second in importance only to the Supreme Court.
02/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tucked in his left breast-coat pocket where he can pull it out to wave before TV cameras is ammunition that House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner believes his Republicans can use to achieve victory in the November 6 elections.
02/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers in the Republican-led House of Representatives urged the White House on Thursday to drop consideration of a rule that would cut emissions of greenhouse gases from new power plants, saying it would harm the economy.
02/23/12
MILFORD, Michigan (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney assailed presidential rival Rick Santorum on Thursday for abandoning his conservative principles, pushing a line of attack that polls show is helping him close the gap on his rival in the battleground state of Michigan.
02/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seeking to make good on past threats in Congress to rein in the Federal Reserve's powers, a prominent Republican lawmaker said on Thursday he will introduce legislation to focus the U.S. central bank on a single mandate to fight inflation and protect the dollar's value.
02/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. national debt will swell further under tax-cut plans floated by three of the top four Republican presidential candidates, according to an independent analysis of their fiscal policy proposals released on Thursday.
02/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Republican presidential candidates toss barbs at Barack Obama over expensive gasoline, the president and his team are going on the offensive with a strategy to divert blame and prepare voters for higher costs.
02/23/12
MIAMI (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hit back on Thursday at election-year Republican criticism of his energy policy, offering a staunch defense of his attempts to wean Americans off foreign oil and saying there was no 'silver bullet' for high gas prices.
02/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, expressing confidence he will win re-election in November, told a Hispanic audience he would use a second term to seek comprehensive immigration reform.
02/23/12
LONDON (Reuters) - Pakistan welcomed the idea of resuming cooperation with the United States on counter-terrorism and Afghanistan after its parliament reviews badly strained ties, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.
02/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sent a letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday apologizing for the burning of copies of the Koran at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, the White House said.
02/23/12
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is ready to work with the United States to advance military ties, a defense ministry spokesman said Thursday, following a U.S. trip by China's vice president that featured a visit with top Pentagon officials.
02/22/12
MESA, Arizona (Reuters) - Rivals piled criticism on U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum at a testy debate on Wednesday, attempting to blunt his surprise surge at a pivotal period in the Republican race.
02/22/12
MESA, Arizona (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on Wednesday lent their support to the idea of arming the Syrian opposition in its fight to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
02/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made an opening offer in what could be a long negotiation with corporate America on Wednesday, putting forward his first detailed plan to cut the corporate tax rate.
02/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three members of Congress have received threatening mail over the last two days and law enforcement officials on Wednesday warned that more may be coming.
02/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday urged the White House to signal it is ready to tap the nation's oil stockpiles to combat surging fuel prices, arguing an "aggressive" strategy could tamp down speculation.
02/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are running neck-and-neck but neither would beat incumbent President Barack Obama, according to several polls released on Wednesday.
02/22/12
(Reuters) - The Obama administration will propose slashing the top income tax rate for corporations to 28 percent from the current 35 percent, as part of a corporate tax reform plan that is set to be announced on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal said.
02/22/12
MESA, Arizona (Reuters) - After months on the sidelines, Rick Santorum finally gets his chance at center stage in a debate of Republican candidates on Wednesday, and the increased scrutiny that comes with it.
02/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum's hard-charging focus on social issues has created a quandary for rival Mitt Romney, who usually prefers to steer clear of such sensitive topics and stress his business credentials.
02/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury Department on Wednesday will roll out a corporate tax reform plan from President Barack Obama, administration officials said on Tuesday, with expectations low for any major tax code overhaul in an election year.
02/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign regularly rips Mitt Romney, long viewed as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, for his economic policies. On Tuesday, it added Romney's rival Rick Santorum to its list of top targets.
02/21/12
(Reuters) - The Treasury Department will roll out President Barack Obama's corporate tax reform plan on Wednesday, administration officials said on Tuesday.
02/21/12
LONDON (Reuters) - Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Tuesday she would meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in London on Thursday to discuss relations that have been damaged by a cross-border NATO air attack last November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
02/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign regularly rips Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney for his economic policies. On Tuesday, it added former Senator Rick Santorum to its list of top targets.
02/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans raised and spent money for the presidential race at a frenetic pace in January, according to new financial disclosures that also show why Democrats are concerned about the flagging "Super PAC" that supports President Barack Obama.
02/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In early January, President Barack Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina called David Axelrod, the president's top strategist, into his Chicago office and started writing on a white board.
02/20/12
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum accused Democratic President Barack Obama's administration on Monday of implementing healthcare policies that discourage marriage and hurt families.
02/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spoke on Monday with his Afghan counterpart to discuss regional support for Afghan-led reconciliation, the White House said.
02/20/12
CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. senators said in Cairo on Monday they hoped for a swift end to a row over U.S. pro-democracy activists accused of working illegally in Egypt and said they were committed to help Egypt nurture its democratic institutions and rebuild its economy.
02/20/12
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Sporting his signature sweater vest and telling stories of his coal miner grandfather, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has struck a chord in the Rust Belt that is helping propel his once long-shot candidacy.
02/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 5, the White House said on Monday.
02/18/12
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Struggling to remain the Republican favorite for the White House, Mitt Romney tried on Saturday to return to his glory days as CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic organizing committee.
02/18/12
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A local sheriff resigned as a co-chair of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign in Arizona on Saturday after he was accused of threatening a former male lover with deportation to Mexico if he talked about their relationship.
02/18/12
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum challenged President Barack Obama's Christian beliefs on Saturday, saying White House policies were motivated by a "different theology."
02/18/12
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum challenged President Barack Obama's Christian beliefs on Saturday, saying White House policies were motivated by a "different theology."
02/18/12
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping on Friday swiped away fears that his country's economic growth could stumble, and turned to courting American companies, film-makers and governors hungry for a slice of that growth on the final day of his U.S. visit.
02/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Winning The Future. Greater Together. We Don't Quit.
02/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress on Friday passed legislation extending a tax cut for 160 million workers through December and continuing long-term jobless benefits, handing President Barack Obama a major victory in this election year.
02/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. job creation will pick up this year as a moderate economic recovery continues, the White House said on Friday, but it faces a key risk from the debt crisis in Europe.
02/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One month after taking office, President Barack Obama summoned the nation's top lawmakers and budget experts to the White House for a summit to figure out how to tame huge federal deficits.
02/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Friday passed legislation to extend a tax cut for 160 million workers through December and continue long-term unemployment benefits, giving President Barack Obama a major victory.
02/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and its Democratic allies raised a combined $29.1 million in January, accelerating their fundraising pace as the White House race draws closer.
02/17/12
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Thursday to stoke enthusiasm in California about his 2012 re-election drive, saying he wanted another chance to overhaul immigration and tackle climate change with a second term.
02/16/12
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will stay focused on China on Friday with an announcement of streamlined financing for U.S. exporters that compete against foreign firms that are afforded "unfair advantages," White House officials said.
02/16/12
LOS ANGELES/DES MOINES (Reuters) - China's leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, gathered with U.S. agricultural officials in America's grainbelt on Thursday and stressed their shared interests in fostering increased food security and trade in farm goods.
02/16/12
DETROIT (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Rick Santorum defended himself against attacks from Mitt Romney on Thursday as his hopes rose of dealing a heavy blow in Michigan to his main rival, who was the party front-runner before falling behind in national polls.
02/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A planned March 1 debate of Republican presidential candidates in Atlanta was canceled on Thursday after Mitt Romney and Ron Paul dropped out of it and the campaign for Rick Santorum expressed doubt he would attend.
02/16/12
DETROIT (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Rick Santorum defended himself against attacks from wounded front-runner Mitt Romney on Thursday as Santorum's hopes rose of dealing a heavy blow in Michigan to his main rival.
02/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An attorney challenging President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law before the U.S. Supreme Court said on Thursday that Congress could require Americans to buy a car or other product if people were compelled to obtain medical insurance.
02/16/12
DES MOINES (Reuters) - China's leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, and U.S. agricultural officials in a gathering in America's grainbelt on Thursday stressed their shared interests in fostering increased trade in farm goods.
02/16/12
BOSTON (Reuters) - Joseph Kennedy III, the grandson of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, announced on Thursday his candidacy for the Congressional seat from Massachusetts long held by retiring Representative Barney Frank.
02/16/12
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Political money has poured into Wisconsin in recent months - not for the presidential or Senate races but for a state vote getting national billing as a battle for the interests of the middle class.
02/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney lashed out at what he called President Barack Obama's weak policy on China, criticizing it on Thursday for going in "precisely the wrong direction" and calling meetings this week with China's vice president "empty pomp and ceremony."
02/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Negotiators on Wednesday reached a sweeping tax cut deal that provides a victory to President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats in Congress and frees Republicans of an issue that threatened to stalk them to the November elections.
02/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Mitt Romney wins the Republican presidential nomination, he will have the backing of several wealthy donors who together have contributed millions of dollars to his rivals in the race.
02/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta tried to defuse concerns in Congress on Wednesday about potential cuts to America's nuclear arsenal, as details emerged about options under consideration that include an 80 percent reduction in the number of warheads.
02/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led Senate is expected reject as early as Thursday a largely symbolic Republican challenge to a White House rule guaranteeing free birth control for women who work for religiously affiliated employers.
02/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has confirmed that she has no intention of becoming a candidate to head the World Bank following the June departure of outgoing President Robert Zoellick, the State Department said on Wednesday.
02/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama takes his election-year economic message to the Midwestern heartland on Wednesday, touring a Wisconsin padlock factory and stressing the potential of "insourcing" jobs back to the United States from overseas.
02/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Beijing must play by the same trade rules as other major world powers and vowed to keep pressing China to clean up its human rights record.
02/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers were close to a deal on Tuesday on legislation aimed at boosting the economy in the short term by extending a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers through this year and continuing long-term jobless benefits, congressional aides said.
02/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Faced with a new surging rival, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is returning to a familiar playbook to try to put down what may be his toughest challenge yet in opponent Rick Santorum.
02/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and China agreed on Tuesday to open talks on setting guidelines for export-credit financing, an area where Beijing's aggressive practices have raised U.S. concerns.
02/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers were nearing a deal on Tuesday on legislation that would boost the economy in the short term by extending a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and long-term jobless benefits for a full year, congressional aides said.
02/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Tuesday clarified how it would enforce recently passed Iran sanctions legislation, including how the United States would determine if another country has significantly reduced oil purchases from Iran.
02/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he had seen "hopeful signs" that Congress would pass a payroll tax cut extension for the full year, as he kept pressure on lawmakers to take action he said was needed to keep the U.S. recovery on track.
02/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping will hold talks on Tuesday that could help boost the international stature of China's leader-in-waiting while testing Obama's ability to balance U.S.-China diplomacy with election-year pressures.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum has surged into a virtual tie in opinion polls with Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, setting up a tough fight in the party's primary in Michigan on Feb 28.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - His campaign is running low on money, he's falling behind in voter surveys and he has begun to aim his biting criticism at the leadership of his own political party.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on Monday for new spending to boost growth and higher taxes on the rich, laying out an election-year vision for America in a budget that drew heavy fire from Republicans for failing to curb huge deficits.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - His campaign is running low on money, he's falling behind in voter surveys and he has begun to aim his biting criticism at the leadership of his own political party.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has surged into a virtual tie with front-runner Mitt Romney in a national poll on Monday, becoming the clear favorite of Tea Party voters and white evangelicals.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, on the eve of a high-level Chinese visit to the United States, proposed $26 million in new funding to make sure China and other countries play by the rules of international trade.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite a battle over birth-control policy between the White House and Roman Catholic leaders, U.S. Catholics' political views differ little from those of non-Catholic voters, according to Reuters/Ipsos poll results released on Monday.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and North Korean officials will meet in Beijing next week for talks Washington hopes may clarify whether Pyongyang's new leadership is willing to curb its nuclear programs, the State Department said on Monday.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday proposed limiting tax breaks given to high-income earners on the interest paid by municipal bonds, a change that could rock the $3.7 trillion market if approved.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's budget proposal released on Monday stands little chance of becoming law but it lays out a stark contrast with the tax and spending proposals of Republican presidential candidates.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. financial bailout program will add $21 billion to the budget deficit next year largely due to lower valuations of the government's stock in General Motors Co and American International Group, the Obama administration said on Monday.
02/13/12
PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney grabbed back some momentum after midweek losses in three states, scoring a narrow win in Maine's caucuses on Saturday, hours after winning a straw poll of Republican conservative activists.
02/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even as he greets China's vice president in the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Barack Obama is quietly overhauling U.S. economic policy toward Beijing, looking for new ways to extract results on issues such as market access and currency manipulation that have bedeviled him and his predecessors.
02/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will propose an election-year budget on Monday that raises taxes on millionaires and seeks billions of dollars for job-creating infrastructure projects, drawing a populist battle line with his Republican opponents.
02/12/12
PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has a Rick Santorum problem that can't be easily swept aside, even with wins in the sparsely attended Maine caucuses and a poll of conservative activists.
02/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will not make any more changes to the rule announced last week requiring health insurance plans to provide women with coverage for contraception, although U.S. Catholic bishops have said it violates the Church's religious principles.
02/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget plan calls for spending of $178.8 billion to develop and buy new warships, fighter jets and other major weapons, a 7.5 percent drop from the level initially projected for the coming year, according to a detailed budget document obtained by Reuters.
02/11/12
PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney bounced back from midweek losses in three states to narrowly win Maine's caucuses on Saturday, hours after winning a straw poll of Republican conservative activists.
02/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney won a presidential straw poll of Republican conservative activists on Saturday in a boost to his suddenly hard-fought battle against Rick Santorum.
02/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's $525 billion budget plan for fiscal 2013 calls for spending of $178.8 billion to develop and buy new warships, fighter jets and other major weapons, a 7.5 percent drop from the level initially projected for the coming year, according to a detailed budget document obtained by Reuters.
02/11/12
PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - Maine's Republican presidential caucuses look like a two-man race between Mitt Romney, the party's current front-runner, and libertarian Ron Paul in a small-state contest that has taken on new importance for Romney after his losses in three states this week.
02/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will seek billions of dollars for jobs and infrastructure in his 2013 budget, an appeal to voters that draws election-year battle lines over taxes and spending as Republicans slammed him for "debt, doubt and decline."
02/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) President Barack Obama will call for cutting the top 35 percent corporate tax rate as early as this month, according to two sources close to the administration.
02/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will project a $901 billion deficit for fiscal 2013 in his upcoming budget proposal, a sharp drop from the funding gap this year, a White House official said on Friday.
02/10/12
RESTON, Virginia (Reuters) - Mitt Romney slammed China's "autocratic model" of capitalism in a speech to technology executives on Friday, keeping up attacks on the economic powerhouse days before a visit from a Chinese official expected to be the country's next leader.
02/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Santorum tried to raise doubts about the electability of Mitt Romney on Friday at a conservative gathering where he openly attacked his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination.
02/10/12
(Reuters) - Four years ago, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stood at the gates of a Michigan factory and vowed to fight for the U.S. auto industry as it slid toward collapse.
02/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many Republicans may have growing concerns about their presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, but no one is pushing the panic button - yet.
02/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Foster Friess, the wealthy investor who is fueling Rick Santorum's presidential campaign, is enjoying his new-found fame.
02/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Spencer Bachus, which oversees the U.S. banking and financial services industries, is under investigation for possible violation of insider trading laws, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
02/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday the White House was working to address concerns raised by the Catholic Church over a new rule on contraceptives, and he believed an escalating election-year battle over the issue would be resolved.
02/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans expressed frustration on Thursday at the slow pace of negotiations over extending a tax break for workers that expires at the end of the month, accusing President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats of blocking agreement.
02/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Timothy Dolan, a senior U.S. Roman Catholic leader, said on Thursday President Barack Obama "gave me promises" during a White House meeting in November as Dolan pressed the Church's criticism of a new Obama administration rule requiring health insurance plans to cover birth control.
02/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many U.S. Republicans may have growing concerns about their presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, but no one is pushing the panic button - yet.
02/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's new rule on contraceptives amounts to an attack on religious freedom and Congress will act, if needed, to stop it, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday.
02/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered that a 500-page special report detailing federal prosecutors' misconduct in the 2008 corruption trial of the late Senator Ted Stevens be released next month, despite objections by some of the subjects of the report.
02/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite his strong showing in early state contests in the race for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination, Mitt Romney's support nationwide has dipped slightly during the past month, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.
02/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's march to a possible Republican presidential nomination just got a lot longer and harder.
02/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Senator Rick Santorum won the non-binding Republican presidential primary in Missouri, television networks projected, in the first result from the three state nominating contests being held on Tuesday.
02/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A plan to fast-track the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline was passed by a key committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, as Republicans made yet another attempt to spur approval of the project that has become a major issue in the 2012 elections.
02/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A plan to fast-track the stalled the Keystone XL pipeline was passed by a key committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, as Republicans made yet another attempt to spur approval of the project that has become a major issue in the 2012 elections.
02/07/12
(Reuters) - Dr. Joe Casillas, an obstetrician in Southern California, routinely prescribes birth control for his patients. Though he's a practicing Catholic, he doesn't follow his church's stern warning that contraception is a sin. He believes women should have access.
02/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite his strong showing in early voting contests in the race for the U.S. Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney's support among Republicans nationwide has dipped slightly during the past month, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.
02/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday warned Congress that putting off a decision on the fate of expiring Bush administration tax cuts could unsettle businesses and households, undercutting the U.S. economic recovery.
02/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will seek $80 million in new funding for a program to boost science and math education in U.S. schools, the White House said on Tuesday.
02/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, worried about the influx of money to groups supporting Republican candidates, said on Monday it would start supporting the struggling Super PAC designed to help Obama stay in office.
02/07/12
BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the United States suffer a "trust deficit" that Vice President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington could help ease, a Chinese diplomat said in a speech published on Tuesday, playing down Chinese fears about a U.S. "pivot" towards Asia.
02/06/12
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney on Monday focused his campaign's firepower on Rick Santorum to head off the former senator's surge in two of three states with nominating contests this week.
02/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives will try to force quick approval of the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline using a highway funding bill, but the plan's author said on Monday there may be more than one avenue for advancing the project.
02/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate approved a $63 billion bill on Monday that funds U.S. aviation programs for four years and authorizes new steps for the government to modernize the air traffic system.
02/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives will try to force quick approval of the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline using a highway funding bill, but the plan's author said on Monday there may be more than one avenue for advancing the project.
02/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress went beyond its powers by requiring Americans to buy insurance under President Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare overhaul, opponents told the Supreme Court on Monday in arguing the law's centerpiece provision should be struck down.
02/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed an executive order imposing stricter sanctions on Iran and its central bank, saying new powers to freeze assets were needed because Iranian banks were concealing transactions, the White House said on Monday.
02/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Monday imposing new, stricter sanctions on Iran and its central bank, saying a broader asset freeze was necessary because Iranian banks were concealing transactions.
02/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama - bolstered by a stronger economic outlook and recent job growth - would win in a match-up against the two leading Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, a poll on Monday showed.
02/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed to apply sanctions and step up pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government to leave power but said the Syrian crisis could be resolved without outside military intervention.
02/06/12
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Stung by election-year criticism of a program used by one in seven Americans, administrators of U.S. food stamp benefits are intensifying efforts to combat fraud and protect the $75.3 billion plan from the budget axe.
02/05/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Republican Newt Gingrich vowed on Sunday to press ahead with his struggling presidential bid after a big loss in Nevada, saying he will focus on drawing a contrast with "timid" rival Mitt Romney.
02/05/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. And Republican Newt Gingrich certainly will hope the disarray that marred his campaign in Nevada last week will not doom his White House bid as he heads toward a possible Super Tuesday last-stand next month.
02/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Sunday that Israel has not yet decided how to respond to concerns about Iran's nuclear program and said there was no evidence that Iran has the "intentions or capabilities" to wage attacks on U.S. soil.
02/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It does not guarantee him re-election in November, but it is an advantage President Barack Obama is likely to carry into the fall: a broad base of supporters who have given him the symbolic vote of confidence with a donation of less than $200.
02/05/12
TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States and Japan have agreed to tweak a six-year-old agreement on Marines based on the southern island of Okinawa, allowing Washington to deploy forces to the Pacific island of Guam regardless of the debate over moving a disputed airbase.
02/04/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A defiant Newt Gingrich vowed on Saturday to continue in the 2012 Republican primary race and predicted that he could pull even with Mitt Romney in the delegate count within two months.
02/04/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Mitt Romney appeared headed to an easy win in Nevada on Saturday that would put him in firm command of the party's see-sawing presidential nominating race.
02/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Missile defense, an issue that has poisoned U.S.-Russia relations, could be a "game-changer" that transforms ties if the two sides cooperate on a shared system, says a report by former top officials from both sides of the Atlantic.
02/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday urged the U.N. Security Council to take a stand against what he called the "relentless brutality" of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
02/04/12
MUNICH (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reassured European allies on Saturday that Washington remains committed to their security despite an austerity drive, as NATO pushed for new ways for alliance members to maintain capabilities at lower cost.
02/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday pressed lawmakers to pass his proposal to provide up to $10 billion in aid to struggling homeowners, saying a failure to address the housing crisis would put the rest of the economy at risk.
02/04/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich inserted himself into the long-running controversy about whether religious groups should be allowed to hold services in New York City public schools, and accused Mayor Michael Bloomberg of being "anti-religious."
02/04/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - With a huge lead in polls, Republican front-runner Mitt Romney appears poised for an easy win in Nevada on Saturday that would put him in firm command of the party's see-sawing presidential nominating race.
02/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unexpectedly strong jobs report on Friday boosted President Barack Obama's re-election prospects, but the trend must last to deny his opponents the biggest cudgel they have to bash him before the November election.
02/03/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Susan G. Komen for the Cure said on Friday it was retreating from a decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion and birth control services, and apologized for a move that thrust the world's largest breast cancer charity into a deeply politicized controversy.
02/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to emphasize his Christian faith on Thursday, telling a key election-year voting bloc that he prays every morning and has crafted elements of his economic policies in line with Jesus' teachings.
02/03/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - After stumbling with remarks suggesting he was indifferent to America's poor, Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney was endorsed on Thursday by one of the country's most famous wealthy businessmen - real estate mogul and reality television star Donald Trump.
02/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Thursday approved new curbs aimed at preventing lawmakers from trading shares based on inside information, but also extended the bill's disclosure requirements to more than 300,000 other federal employees.
02/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force said Thursday it plans a $2.8 billion upgrade of about 350 of its aging F-16 multi-role fighter planes to help offset slower purchases of the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
02/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A decision by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut funding for Planned Parenthood erupted into a crisis over abortion rights on Thursday, fueling an angry public debate about the future of the leading breast cancer charity.
02/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers are steeling for a public battle against the possible transfer of Taliban detainees out of Guantanamo Bay prison, a key step in the Obama administration's bid to broker a peace deal ending the war in Afghanistan.
02/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Republican on the Senate energy committee on Thursday acknowledged passing legislation to boost domestic energy production will be a tough task this year, even as Republicans maneuver to keep the focus on energy issues ahead of the November elections.
02/02/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Real estate mogul Donald Trump re-injected himself and his wealth into the Republican presidential race by endorsing Mitt Romney on Thursday, a day after the front-runner stumbled with remarks suggesting he was indifferent to America's poor.
02/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Thursday senior Justice Department officials should have known about the controversial tactics that led to a bungled operation to track guns to Mexico because some details were practically at their fingertips.
02/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama sought to emphasize his Christian faith on Thursday, telling a key election-year voting bloc that he prays every morning and has crafted elements of his economic policies in line with Jesus' teachings.
02/02/12
(Reuters) - The top contenders in the U.S. presidential race seem to have a simple plan for the gaping budget deficit: use it to strike fear into the hearts of voters.
02/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Businessman and reality TV personality Donald Trump is endorsing Mitt Romney in the race for the 2012 Republican nomination, sources said on Thursday, a day after U.S. media reported the real estate mogul would be endorsing Romney's rival Newt Gingrich.
02/02/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wide-ranging U.S. spending cuts set to kick in next year for domestic and military programs would be scrapped by a proposal that some top Republicans plan to outline on Thursday.
02/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Businessman and reality TV personality Donald Trump will endorse former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, U.S. media reported on Wednesday.
02/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives, seeking to cut the U.S. deficit and burnish its own tarnished image, passed a bill on Wednesday to extend a pair of pay freezes for federal workers, including one for lawmakers.
02/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to repeal a provision of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul setting up a home-care program for the elderly and disabled that regulators said was unworkable.
02/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millionaires would pay a minimum 30 percent effective tax rate under a law introduced on Wednesday in the Senate with the backing of President Barack Obama and named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
02/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on Congress to approve a $5 billion to $10 billion effort to help U.S. homeowners refinance as part of a wider package of proposals to shore up the depressed housing market.
02/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Whenever Republican U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been down and in need of an enforcer, one has been there.
02/01/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Groups known as "Super PACs" raised more than $42 million to back Republican U.S. presidential contenders in 2011, according to campaign filings that show how new donation rules are allowing a relatively few wealthy Americans to shape the race.
01/31/12
PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A former Oregon state lawmaker won a special election on Tuesday night to fill the congressional seat vacated in August by disgraced fellow Democrat David Wu, who resigned in a sex scandal, according to official returns.
01/31/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran is feeling the bite from economic sanctions imposed over its nuclear program, which is capable of producing a weapon although Iranian leaders have not yet decided to do so, top intelligence chiefs told Congress on Tuesday.
01/31/12
TAMPA/ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Mitt Romney was poised on Tuesday for a victory in Florida that would give him significant momentum toward the Republican presidential nomination and send chief rival Newt Gingrich scrambling to fight back.
01/31/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Midwestern lawmakers and union groups on Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to restrict imports of auto parts from China that they said benefited from massive illegal subsidies and threatened hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
01/31/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Midwestern lawmakers and union groups on Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to restrict imports of auto parts from China that they said benefited from massive illegal subsidies and threatened hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
01/31/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday sought to blunt political attacks on the Obama administration over a botched gun sting operation, finding that the idea of allowing weapons to go across the border to Mexico came from field agents and prosecutors.
01/31/12
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - The next state in the Republican nominating contest, Nevada, is friendly turf for front-runner Mitt Romney, who easily won here four years ago and is perhaps even stronger in the state this time round.
01/31/12
COCOA BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - Florida's Republican voters go to the polls on Tuesday in a high-stakes presidential primary election that could determine the direction of the race.
01/31/12
MIAMI (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates courting Florida's influential Latino vote have hit the campaign trail lambasting Cuba's Fidel Castro and heaping criticism on U.S. policy toward the communist island.
01/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republicans will propose legislation on Tuesday calling for $260 billion in spending on transportation infrastructure for up to five years, an election-year proposal touted as a job creator in a tough economy.
01/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday played down the use of U.S. drones in Iraq, saying the program was very limited and focused mainly on protecting the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
01/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday that the economy appeared to be "picking up."
01/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The possible release of detained Taliban leaders is likely to join Iran's nuclear ambitions at the top of a busy agenda when the top seven American intelligence chiefs testify before the Congress this week.
01/30/12
(Reuters) - An Oregon special election in which national Democrats have sought to paint the Republican congressional candidate as a Tea Party radical foreshadows a tactic the party will employ in its quest to take back Congress seats lost in the 2010 election.
01/30/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 44 senators, all but one Republican, have signed on to proposed legislation that would authorize the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline despite the refusal of President Barack Obama to advance the project.
01/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney's lead over rival Newt Gingrich edged up to 12 percentage points in Florida, according to Reuters/Ipsos online poll results on Sunday, as Romney's front-runner status stabilized and Gingrich continued to slip.
01/29/12
HIALEAH, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Newt Gingrich struggled to halt surging rival Mitt Romney's momentum on Sunday, accusing him of launching false attacks as polls showed Romney widening his lead two days before Florida's presidential primary.
01/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers will try to force the Obama administration to approve the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline by attaching it to a highway bill that Congress will consider next month, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday.
01/29/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Republican lawmakers on Sunday said they expect to forge a deal with Democrats to extend the payroll tax cut before it expires at the end of February but offered no specifics on how they would pay for it.
01/28/12
PANAMA CITY/ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich received the endorsement of former rival Herman Cain on Saturday and vowed to fight until the end no matter what happens in Florida's upcoming primary vote.
01/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House hopeful Mitt Romney widened his lead over rival Newt Gingrich to 11 percentage points in Florida, according to Reuters/Ipsos online poll results on Saturday, up from 8 points a day earlier, as he cemented his front-runner status in the Republican nomination race.
01/28/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House hopeful Mitt Romney widened his lead over rival Newt Gingrich to 11 percentage points in Florida, according to Reuters/Ipsos online poll results on Saturday, up from 8 points a day earlier, as he cemented his front-runner status in the Republican nomination race.
01/27/12
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - Is it too late for another Republican to jump into the 2012 U.S. presidential race?
01/27/12
MIAMI (Reuters) - Two prominent Florida Republicans urged their party to tone down its rhetoric on illegal immigration or risk driving away Latino voters who may be a important bloc in this year's presidential election.
01/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator John Hoeven is set to introduce legislation on Monday seeking to bypass President Barack Obama and empower Congress to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, an aide said on Friday.
01/27/12
MIAMI (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich struggled to regain momentum in the Republican presidential race on Friday as two new polls showed him falling behind rival Mitt Romney, who was seen as the winner of the final debate before the Florida primary.
01/27/12
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has opened up a lead of 8 percentage points over rival Newt Gingrich in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in Florida, as he regains front-runner status in the Republican race.
01/27/12
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has opened up a lead of 8 percentage points over rival Newt Gingrich in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in Florida, as he regains front-runner status in the Republican race.
01/27/12
CAMBRIDGE, Maryland (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats have complained in the past that they have not felt the love from President Barack Obama and accuse the White House of not consulting them on key policies. But when Obama addressed them on Friday it was a love-fest.
01/27/12
BOSTON (Reuters) - Senator John Kerry said on Friday he had contacted British officials, hoping to end their quest to subpoena confidential interviews of Irish Republican Army (IRA) veterans kept under seal at Boston College in Massachusetts.
01/27/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Friday that nearly all of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul can survive if the court declares unconstitutional the law's centerpiece provision requiring health coverage.
01/27/12
PALM HARBOR, Florida (Reuters) - There's one small-government idea that Republican presidential candidates are reluctant to discuss in this retiree-heavy state: their plans to rein in health care costs for the elderly.
01/27/12
CAMBRIDGE, Maryland (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden took a rare public swipe at Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on Friday, criticizing them for comments about the poor and about the federal government's automaker bailout.
01/27/12
ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, appearing before thousands of cheering students at the University of Michigan, touted his plan on Friday to reward colleges that keep their tuition under control with more federal aid as he makes school affordability a top election-year priority.
01/27/12
Less than a week after a stinging setback in South Carolina, Romney moved ahead of rival Newt Gingrich again in Florida polls on Thursday and turned in his strongest debate performance yet in a seesawing Republican presidential race.
01/26/12
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - Republicans presidential candidates have taken a hands-off policy on the U.S. housing crisis. At a debate on Thursday in Florida, it devolved into finger pointing.
01/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tense airport exchange with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, in which she wagged her finger in his face, was blown out of proportion, President Barack Obama said in an ABC News interview on Thursday.
01/26/12
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - This time, the cheering will be back. Five days before their showdown in Florida's Republican presidential primary, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney headed into a debate on Thursday night that had the makings of a raucous encounter between increasingly bitter rivals.
01/26/12
AURORA, Colorado (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pitched a plan on Thursday to boost U.S. use of natural gas and open more land for drilling during a campaign-style tour aimed at bolstering confidence in his economic stewardship in an election year.
01/26/12
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - This time, the cheering will be back.
01/26/12
BOSTON (Reuters) - Barney Frank, a gay 16-term congressman from Massachusetts, plans to marry his partner, his office said on Thursday.
01/26/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amid tears, salutes and standing ovations, Representative Gabrielle Giffords submitted her resignation from Congress on Wednesday to focus on her recovery from an assassination attempt in Tucson, Arizona, last year.
01/26/12
MIAMI (Reuters) - He could be the Republican vice presidential candidate from central casting: telegenic, Hispanic and a fiscal conservative who has been embraced by the Tea Party.
01/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army chief told Reuters on the eve of a major Pentagon budget announcement that he's comfortable with plans to shrink the size of his force and shift the military's focus to Asia, saying the Army will remain relevant and capable.
01/25/12
MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Newt Gingrich, cranking up the campaign rhetoric, mocked White House rival Mitt Romney's plan for self-deportation of illegal immigrants as a "fantasy" on Wednesday and assailed President Barack Obama's tax ideas as "stupid."
01/25/12
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sought to calm fears that the Obama administration's bank reforms were hostile to the U.S. financial industry, saying on Wednesday the reforms were "tough where they need to be tough."
01/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amid tears, salutes and standing ovations, Representative Gabrielle Giffords submitted her resignation from Congress on Wednesday to focus on her recovery from an assassination attempt in Tucson, Arizona, last year.
01/25/12
TUCSON, Ariz (Reuters) - Representative Gabrielle Giffords, gravely wounded a year ago in a deadly Tucson shooting spree, submitted her resignation from Congress on Wednesday to focus on her recovery.
01/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Chevy Volt became a political punching bag on Wednesday, with Republicans accusing the Obama administration of hiding fire risks from the public, and General Motors saying its signature electric vehicle unfairly got caught in political crosswinds.
01/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican proposal in the House of Representatives that would strip President Barack Obama of his authority to rule on the permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline raises "serious" legal questions, a top State Department official said on Wednesday.
01/25/12
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, coming off one of his most subdued debate performances of the campaign, signaled on Tuesday he may skip future debates unless his supporters are given full license to clap, cheer and roar.
01/25/12
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - The rich and powerful of the world were divided at their annual huddle on Wednesday over Barack Obama's threat to raise their taxes, with some saying policies that go after the wealthy will hurt growth, but others saying Obama was right to address capitalism's imbalances.
01/25/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama threw red meat to his political base on Tuesday with a promise to do the nearly impossible: solve the problem of widening U.S. income inequality.
01/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon will unveil a five-year budget proposal this week that begins to implement $487 billion in spending cuts over the next decade by trimming the size of the military and canceling or scaling back some weapons programs.
01/24/12
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich has come a long way. After his stunning victory in South Carolina, the Republican presidential hopeful who was tearing around Iowa two months ago in a rental car with a couple of aides has established himself in Florida with the apparatus worthy of a front-runner.
01/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will frame an election-year State of the Union address on Tuesday in starkly populist terms by calling for sweeping tax reforms to get rid of inequalities that allow the wealthy to pay a lower rate than middle-class Americans.
01/24/12
(Reuters) - Republican candidate Newt Gingrich attacks President Barack Obama as a "radical" and "community organizer," but as a Tulane University graduate student in 1968, he helped lead an anti-censorship protest in defense of sexually explicit photographs.
01/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coalition of over 80 U.S. business groups on Tuesday raised concerns about President Barack Obama's plan to create a new department of trade by consolidating the relatively small office of the U.S. Trade Representative with five other agencies.
01/24/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will pitch new initiatives on jobs, taxes and housing in an election-year State of the Union address on Tuesday as he seizes his biggest moment yet on the national stage to make a sweeping case for a second term.
01/23/12
TAMPA, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released tax records on Tuesday indicating he will pay $6.2 million in taxes on a total of $42.5 million in income over the years 2010 and 2011.
01/23/12
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Rising Republican Newt Gingrich and rival Mitt Romney squared off on Monday at a debate that will help determine which of them has the best shot at winning the pivotal Florida presidential primary on January 31.
01/23/12
(Reuters) - In the wake of news reports last week that presidential contender Mitt Romney owns an individual retirement account worth as much as $101 million, questions are growing over how it could have gotten so big when contribution limits are capped at $5,000 or $6,000 a year.
01/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In an attempt to deflect attention over his involvement with Freddie Mac, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's former consulting firm on Monday released a contract he had with the troubled mortgage firm.
01/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will encourage the country's booming natural gas output in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, while defending his administration's energy record, according to sources familiar with the matter.
01/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coalition of environmental groups plans to stage a rally against "Big Oil's corruption" on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, hours before President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to Congress.
01/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney promises to unveil his 2010 tax return on Tuesday, a filing his rivals will scrutinize for insights into how he became one of the wealthiest people to run for president in U.S. history.
01/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that police cannot put a GPS device on a suspect's car to track his movements without a warrant, a test case that upholds basic privacy rights in the face of new surveillance technology.
01/23/12
BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives will put forward a budget plan this year that will seek substantial reforms to health benefits for the elderly and make aggressive strides toward reducing deficits, a senior lawmaker said on Friday.
01/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Rand Paul, son of presidential candidate Ron Paul, was detained on Monday by security officials at an airport in Nashville, Tennessee, an aide said.
01/23/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will host Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Washington on February 9 and will discuss efforts to tackle the debt crisis that has threatened Italy and the wider euro zone, the White House said on Monday.
01/23/12
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States is still flouting international law at Guantanamo Bay, despite President Barack Obama's election pledge to shut the facility, the United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Monday.
01/22/12
Columbia, South Carolina (Reuters) - Humbled by a stunning loss in South Carolina, Mitt Romney said on Sunday he would release this week the tax returns demanded by rivals as he bids to regain the upper hand in the volatile Republican presidential race.
01/22/12
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Representative Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head during a shooting spree in Tucson, Arizona, last year, said Sunday she will step down this week from Congress to focus on her recovery.
01/22/12
CORAL SPRINGS, Florida (Reuters) - He may not have much money or a ground game to speak of in Florida but Republican Rick Santorum will not pull out of the presidential race - much to the chagrin of rival Newt Gingrich and probably to the delight of a bruised Mitt Romney.
01/22/12
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Representative Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head in a shooting spree in Tucson a year ago, said Sunday she will step down this week from the U.S. Congress to focus on her recovery,
01/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday that Republicans may use an upcoming payroll tax cut bill to force President Barack Obama to approve the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.
01/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on Sunday blamed political opponents for much of the uproar set off after he pardoned more than 200 criminals.
01/22/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney said on Sunday he will release tax returns for the last two years this week and admitted the flap over his returns hurt him in South Carolina, where he lost a primary to Newt Gingrich.
01/21/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich didn't just beat Mitt Romney in Saturday's South Carolina primary, the former House speaker kicked away one of the main pillars of his rival's election campaign.
01/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's expected romp to the Republican presidential nomination turned into a long and hard slog on Saturday, and he leaves South Carolina as a damaged and suddenly vulnerable candidate.
01/21/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Decisively beaten in South Carolina, Republican Mitt Romney signaled a tougher approach to newly resurgent rival Newt Gingrich on Saturday to get his 2012 presidential campaign back on track.
01/21/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - In the heart of the Bible Belt, Newt Gingrich, the winner of Saturday's South Carolina primary, evoked comparisons to a familiar scriptural tale: Lazarus, the man who rose from the dead.
01/21/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich scrapped his way to victory in South Carolina on Saturday as voters in the conservative state rejected frontrunner Mitt Romney's pitch that he is the best bet to fix a broken economy and defeat Democratic President Barack Obama.
01/21/12
ABOARD THE USS ENTERPRISE (Reuters) - The United States will not cut America's fleet of 11 aircraft carriers to help trim the budget deficit, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Saturday, citing tensions with Iran as an example of why the massive ships are so critical to national security.
01/21/12
BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives, having seen their 2010 election victory dissolve into a near-suicidal tax fight, are promoting a repackaged jobs message they hope carries them to victory in the 2012 elections.
01/21/12
GREENVILLE, South Carolina (Reuters) - A Ham House Showdown between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich was averted Saturday, but not without them aiming a few shots at each other.
01/21/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, in the first glimpse of his keynote State of the Union address next week, said Saturday it would focus on manufacturing jobs, energy and education, alongside an election themed message for a "return to American values."
01/21/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney must overcome wily political veteran Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina primary on Saturday to keep his march toward the party's nomination on track.
01/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers stopped anti-piracy legislation in its tracks on Friday, delivering a stunning win for Internet companies that staged an unprecedented online protest this week to kill the previously fast-moving bills.
01/20/12
LEXINGTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum made his closing argument on Friday to South Carolina primary voters: Vote for me because I won't leave you hot and I won't leave you cold.
01/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate is looking to strengthen the economic chokehold on Iran with even stricter measures to cripple Tehran's oil revenues and possibly its shipping in legislation that is expected in the coming weeks.
01/20/12
BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives will put forward a budget plan this year that will seek substantial reforms to health benefits for the elderly and make aggressive strides toward reducing deficits, a senior lawmaker said on Friday.
01/20/12
(Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's tax return, dramatically released on Thursday during a candidates debate, shows that his wealth comes from a media and consulting empire he built after leaving government, but yields more questions than answers about how he earns his money.
01/20/12
GILBERT, South Carolina (Reuters) - With the crucial Republican presidential primary in South Carolina just hours away, longtime front-runner Mitt Romney is acknowledging what some opinion polls are suggesting: He could lose Saturday.
01/20/12
(Reuters) - Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's grants of commutations or pardons to more than 200 prisoners, all but eight in his final days in office, disproportionately benefited white offenders among a predominantly black prison population, a Reuters analysis found.
01/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States warned on Friday that it may soon close its embassy in Syria due to the worsening security situation, a move that could exacerbate tensions between Washington and Damascus over its bloody crackdown on protests.
01/20/12
MARION, South Carolina (Reuters) - Amid the flurry of campaigning before Saturday's South Carolina Republican presidential primary, not a single candidate has shown up in Marion County, a sleepy rural stretch that represents the bottom of the U.S. economy.
01/20/12
GILBERT, South Carolina (Reuters) - With the crucial Republican presidential primary in South Carolina just hours away, front-runner Mitt Romney on Friday lowered expectations for how well he will do and acknowledged he is in a neck-and-neck race with Newt Gingrich.
01/20/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - South Carolina Republican operative Lee Atwater wrote the book on dirty campaigning before his death in 1991, but this year, another Atwater is stirring up the political scene with hours to go before the polls open here.
01/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Friday postponed a showdown vote in his chamber on the PIPA online anti-piracy bill that pits Hollywood against Silicon Valley.
01/20/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in a Texas political dispute, rejecting judge-drawn election maps favoring minority candidates and Democrats in the 2012 congressional and state legislature elections.
01/20/12
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich hit back forcefully on Thursday at an allegation that he asked his second wife to tolerate an "open marriage", angrily denying the claim at a presidential debate in South Carolina.
01/19/12
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Mitt Romney is still the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, but if he wins the South Carolina primary on Saturday, he might be limping across the finish line.
01/19/12
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates meet again on Thursday for perhaps the most crucial debate yet in the 2012 campaign, with front-runner Mitt Romney beginning to look shaky and likely to face fire from nearest challenger Newt Gingrich.
01/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is gaining ground in South Carolina, but rival Mitt Romney still leads in the state by a 12-point margin and would beat the former lawmaker handily in a one-on-one race, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
01/19/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - For Mitt Romney, a miserable week in South Carolina of dodging questions about his wealth and income taxes got worse on Thursday.
01/19/12
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates meet again on Thursday for perhaps the most crucial debate yet in the 2012 campaign, with front-runner Mitt Romney beginning to look shaky and likely to face fire from nearest challenger Newt Gingrich.
01/19/12
ORLANDO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered the streamlining of applications for foreign tourist visas to the United States, focused on increasingly affluent Chinese and Brazilian visitors, in an effort to boost tourism and create jobs.
01/19/12
GREER, South Carolina (Reuters) - Rick Perry rode into the Republican nomination high in the saddle, with Marlboro Man good looks, strong financial backing from home state loyalists and a record of economic success as Texas governor.
01/19/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich's second wife said in an interview the Republican presidential candidate asked her to have an "open marriage" during his affair with another woman in the 1990s, a statement that might damage his chances in South Carolina's primary vote.
01/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats in upcoming talks to extend a tax cut for workers will to try to extract concessions from Republicans who are anxious to avoid a repeat of last month's battle over the payroll tax that left them in disarray.
01/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign sought to manage fallout on Thursday from his decision to nix a new oil pipeline, putting up its first television ad of 2012 to promote his energy record.
01/19/12
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry is dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and is likely to endorse Newt Gingrich, two Perry campaign sources said on Thursday.
01/19/12
DES MOINES (Reuters) - Former Senator Rick Santorum won the January 3 Iowa caucuses by 34 votes, according to certified results released on Thursday by the Iowa Republican party.
01/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry was poised to drop his run for the Republican presidential nomination later on Thursday, CNN reported, and he scheduled a news conference in South Carolina for 11 a.m. EST.
01/19/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Iowa Republican Party will certify this month's presidential caucuses as a split decision between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, citing missing data from eight precincts, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Independent voters, who helped propel President Barack Obama to victory in the 2008 election, could be an obstacle in his bid for a second term in the White House, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll published on Wednesday.
01/18/12
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Critics of Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker showed on Tuesday how unpopular he is with many voters, filing more than 1 million signed petitions -- nearly twice the number needed -- to force the first-term Republican to defend himself in a special election.
01/18/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney struggled to regain his footing on Wednesday as his once formidable lead in the South Carolina presidential primary appeared to contract and he faced increased pressure to reveal more about his vast financial holdings.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Using a practice that made him eligible for large tax deductions, Mitt Romney gave the Mormon church substantial stock holdings that he obtained through his private equity firm, according to documents filed with the government and to Romney associates.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives rejected a $1.2 trillion increase in the federal debt limit on Wednesday in a largely symbolic vote that allowed Republicans to stake out election-year positions to bash President Barack Obama's spending record.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON/CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The Obama Administration rejected the Keystone oil pipeline on Wednesday, a move that Republicans decried for sacrificing jobs and energy security in order to shore up the president's environmental base before elections.
01/18/12
(Reuters) - Some members of the U.S. Congress switched sides to oppose antipiracy legislation as protests blanketed the Internet on Wednesday, turning Wikipedia dark and putting black slashes on Google and other sites as if they had been censored.
01/18/12
(Reuters) - Wikipedia, the world's free online encyclopedia, went dark on Wednesday and other Internet players including Google put black censorship bars on portions of their websites in protest of pending U.S. legislation designed to curb online piracy.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration, still grappling with how to punish a nuclear-ambitious Iran, is focusing on making countries cut their purchases of Iranian oil, rather than allowing them to avoid sanctions simply by winning price cuts.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives voted to reject a $1.2 trillion increase in the federal debt limit on Wednesday in a largely symbolic vote aimed at staking out election-year positions on government spending.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner said on Wednesday Republicans in Congress will continue to fight for the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline that the Obama administration rejected.
01/18/12
SPARTANBURG, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought on Wednesday to stay away from the issue of how much he pays in taxes a day after acknowledging that his income tax rate is about 15 percent, but a key ally joined rivals' calls for Romney to release his tax returns.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration was poised on Wednesday to reject the Keystone crude oil pipeline, according to sources, a decision that would be welcomed by environmental groups but inflame the domestic energy industry.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said it may release more information on its Keystone XL pipeline decision later on Wednesday, as it reiterated its stance that Republicans jeopardized the review process with their legislative deadline.
01/18/12
(Reuters) - As the Congress enters the latest battle in the budget wars, states once again fear they will become fiscal collateral damage.
01/18/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a key ally of Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, on Wednesday joined Romney's rivals in urging the candidate to release his income tax forms after he said he pays roughly a 15 percent tax rate.
01/17/12
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney acknowledged Tuesday that his income tax rate is "probably closer to 15 percent than anything," suggesting that one of the wealthiest people to ever run for president pays a much lower rate than most Americans.
01/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Perry's comment that Turkey is ruled by "Islamic terrorists" is the latest gaffe by a Republican White House hopeful on foreign policy, which has been a minefield for the candidates vying to oppose President Barack Obama's re-election this year.
01/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An appeals court on Tuesday rejected a request by candidates Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich to be added to the Virginia ballot in the state's March 6 Republican presidential primary election, saying they knew the rules and failed to qualify.
01/17/12
(Reuters) - All New Jersey income tax brackets should be cut 10 percent, Governor Chris Christie proposed on Tuesday, saying the state was on the comeback trail due to harsh budget measures taken last year.
01/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's jobs council called on Tuesday for a corporate tax overhaul, expanded domestic drilling and new regulatory reforms, a set of proposals unlikely to provide a quick fix for high unemployment or gain much traction in an election year.
01/17/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When President Barack Obama unveils his annual budget next month, the blueprint will reveal a lot about his re-election strategy but probably little about the spending and tax policies the Congress will adopt in the coming year.
01/16/12
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Reuters) - The Republican presidential hopefuls attacked front-runner Mitt Romney's business record and his failure to release his tax returns on Monday, looking to halt his growing momentum during the early stages of a debate in South Carolina.
01/16/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A record 84 percent of Americans say they disapprove of the way the Congress is doing its job compared with just 13 percent who approve of how things are going, according to a Washington Post/ABC News public opinion poll published on Monday.
01/16/12
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Reuters) - Everybody was waiting for Jim DeMint. Mitt Romney had reason to hope the South Carolina senator would repeat his 2008 endorsement of his presidential bid.
01/16/12
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Reuters) - Everybody was waiting for Jim DeMint. Mitt Romney had reason to hope the South Carolina senator would repeat his 2008 endorsement of his presidential bid.
01/16/12
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Reuters) - A newly trimmed field of five Republican presidential hopefuls meets on Monday in a South Carolina debate that gives front-runner Mitt Romney's rivals one of their final chances to derail his growing momentum.
01/16/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, appearing at a Martin Luther King holiday rally in South Carolina, warned on Monday that voting rights laws are still at risk and said aggressive enforcement of those laws is "a moral imperative."
01/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama celebrated the legacy of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with his family on Sunday, clapping and swaying to the boisterous strains of "Amazing Grace" at a historic Washington D.C. Baptist church.
01/15/12
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman will drop out of the White House race on Monday and endorse former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a senior Huntsman campaign official said on Sunday.
01/15/12
FLORENCE, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum took aim at front-runner Mitt Romney on Sunday as he sought to build on a late endorsement from evangelical leaders and narrow the crucial South Carolina contest to a two-man race.
01/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama celebrated the legacy of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with his family on Sunday, clapping and swaying to the boisterous strains of "Amazing Grace" at a historic Washington D.C. Baptist church.
01/15/12
NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum touted an 11th-hour endorsement from conservative Christian leaders on Sunday ahead of South Carolina's crucial nominating contest but it appeared to have little influence on churchgoers.
01/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry, scrambling to keep his U.S. presidential bid alive, accused the Obama administration on Sunday of over-reacting to a videotape that shows four Marines appearing to urinate on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
01/15/12
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media baron Rupert Murdoch used his new Twitter account this weekend to attack the Obama administration's opposition to parts of proposed legislation designed to combat Internet piracy.
01/15/12
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Rick Santorum's last-minute surge in the Iowa caucus brought him neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney in the first contest of the 2012 race to select a Republican presidential candidate. But it came too late to attract the harsh scrutiny usually visited on front-runners.
01/15/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - The state that fired the first shot in the Civil War is once again battling the government in a racially charged conflict that is drawing heated rhetoric from Republican presidential candidates.
01/15/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - UK-based Diageo, the world's biggest liquor company that sells Captain Morgan's rum, is enjoying a $2.7 billion subsidy from the U.S. Virgin Islands, aided in part by a tax break rubber-stamped by Congress annually with little public debate.
01/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has opened a wide lead over his rivals in the South Carolina primary election race, trouncing Newt Gingrich and gaining momentum in his march toward the party's nomination, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.
01/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has opened a wide lead over his rivals in the South Carolina primary election race, trouncing Newt Gingrich and gaining momentum in his march toward the party's nomination, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.
01/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Myanmar's foreign minister and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a call on Saturday the United States is "committed to walking down the path of reform" with the Southeast Asian nation.
01/14/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House officials raised concerns on Saturday about online piracy legislation in the works in Congress that top technology companies have decried as heavy-handed, saying a lighter touch would be better.
01/14/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - A group of 150 influential Christian conservative leaders on Saturday backed former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum as their choice for Republican U.S. presidential nominee.
01/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Virginia on Friday refused to order that candidates Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman be added to the ballot in the state's March 6 Republican presidential primary election after they failed to qualify.
01/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He is being maligned as a "vulture" capitalist who enjoyed firing workers - while amassing his own huge fortune - but rivals' attacks on Mitt Romney's business record may be one of the best things that ever happened to his presidential campaign.
01/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked Congress on Friday for broad powers to overhaul the U.S. government and untangle what he called an "outdated bureaucratic maze" that makes it hard for U.S. businesses to sell their goods abroad.
01/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Eric Holder plans to deliver a speech on voting rights on Monday at a Martin Luther King holiday rally in South Carolina, a state where just weeks ago his Justice Department blocked a new voter identification law.
01/13/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Frances Woodard is so sick of being bombarded by political commercials, especially the negative ads, that she thinks she will skip voting in South Carolina's upcoming presidential primary.
01/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Virginia on Friday refused to order that candidates Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman be added to the ballot in the state's March 6 Republican presidential primary election after they failed to qualify.
01/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He is being maligned as a "vulture" capitalist who enjoyed firing workers - while amassing his own huge fortune - but rivals' attacks on Mitt Romney's business record may be one of the best things that ever happened to his presidential campaign.
01/13/12
ORLANDO (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called on a group of his supporters on Friday to correct mistakes or scrap altogether a newly released documentary portraying rival Mitt Romney as a corporate raider who cost thousands of Americans their jobs.
01/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked Congress on Friday for sweeping authority to consolidate trade and business-related parts of the federal government to untangle what he called an "outdated bureaucratic maze" and help boost exports.
01/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will ask Congress for authority to merge the agency that negotiates U.S. trade deals into the Commerce Department, a White House official said on Friday, in an effort to trim the government amid voter concerns about deficits.
01/13/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Speaker John Boehner, hoping to spare fellow Republicans a second embarrassing defeat over payroll tax cuts, is prepared to navigate around rebellious Tea Party-aligned lawmakers to get a deal, according to congressional aides.
01/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama formally notified Congress on Thursday that he plans a $1.2 trillion increase in the U.S. debt limit, prompting Republicans to level election-year charges that deficits are out of control.
01/12/12
BLUFFTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Looking to recapture the magic of his Iowa surge, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is bringing to South Carolina the shoe-leather strategy that propelled him to a near-win in the Midwest state.
01/12/12
GREER, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Mitt Romney defended his leadership on Thursday of a private equity firm at the center of a raging campaign battle in South Carolina over whether while its chief executive he was a job killer.
01/12/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - The Republican Party is faced with a dilemma: how to handle a popular, unorthodox presidential candidate who wants to do away with the Federal Reserve and end U.S. military presence overseas.
01/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday issued a formal request to the U.S. Congress for the next increase in the national debt ceiling.
01/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that reviewing an alternate route for the proposed Keystone oil pipeline would take time and said that any effort to circumvent the approval process would be "counterproductive."
01/12/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - As Mitt Romney inches toward the Republican Party's presidential nomination, many conservative activists are increasingly focused on a different political prize for 2012: the Senate.
01/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama was within his constitutional authority when he made recess appointments to two agencies, even though the U.S. Senate was holding periodic pro forma sessions, the Justice Department said in a legal opinion released on Thursday.
01/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States' latest sanctions on Iran target Tehran's ability to sell crude oil but they give President Barack Obama wide latitude to pull his punches and avoid imposing penalties.
01/12/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday condemned a video that apparently shows U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Afghan men, promising to punish those involved.
01/12/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential contenders brought buckets of cash and sharp rhetoric to South Carolina on Wednesday for an intense 10-day battle that may determine whether anyone can stop front-runner Mitt Romney's march to the party's nomination.
01/12/12
(Reuters) - Mitt Romney, the frontrunner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, is promising Americans deep spending cuts, smaller government, trade penalties on China, a new Federal Reserve chairman and sweeping deregulation.
01/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans, who are urging President Barack Obama to give a permit to the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline project, are working on a plan to take the reins of approval from the president should the White House say no.
01/11/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, got some help from South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley on Wednesday in pushing back against charges from his rivals that he was a corporate raider.
01/11/12
CHICAGO (Reuters) - As Mitt Romney inches toward the Republican Party's presidential nomination, many conservative activists are increasingly focused on a different political prize for 2012: the Senate.
01/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans, who are urging President Barack Obama to back the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline, are now working on plans to take the reins of approval from the hands of the president should the White House say no.
01/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans who are urging President Barack Obama to approve the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline have signaled they will not give up on the issue if the White House says no.
01/11/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, under pressure in an election-year to boost the economy and tackle high unemployment, plans to unveil tax proposals aimed at encouraging U.S. firms to keep jobs at home, the White House said on Wednesday.
01/10/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Despite 42 years of marriage, New Hampshire couple Belinda and Eddie Carr were worlds apart on this primary voting Tuesday as they argued over how to get the U.S. economy moving again.
01/10/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Rick Santorum never showed up for a scheduled Election Day stop at the busiest voting ward in this New Hampshire city on Tuesday.
01/10/12
Outside of his campaign, few people think he is a threat to win the Republican nomination for president.
01/10/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire Republican U.S. presidential primary on Tuesday by a comfortable margin - his second straight victory in the race to become his party's choice to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama on November 6.
01/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Senate Republicans are weighing whether to file a lawsuit to challenge President Barack Obama's controversial use of recess appointments, but such a suit looks legally shaky and could ultimately backfire with voters.
01/10/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has sailed ahead of rival Republican candidates nationally but still trails President Barack Obama in the White House race, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday.
01/10/12
BEIJING (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is making Washington's case for stricter sanctions on Iran during a visit this week to China, the largest consumer of Iranian oil.
01/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama announced an election year shake-up at the White House on Monday, choosing budget director Jack Lew to replace chief of staff Bill Daley, who resigned after a troubled one-year tenure.
01/09/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - On the cusp of a widely expected victory in New Hampshire, Republican front-runner Mitt Romney struggled to repel attacks on his business record on Monday as rivals in the U.S. presidential race tried to weaken him before a tighter vote in South Carolina.
01/09/12
WOLFEBORO, New Hampshire (Reuters) - If Mitt Romney gets his wish, the ranks of presidential retreats that include Crawford, Texas, and Rancho del Cielo near Santa Barbara, California, could soon be joined by Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
01/09/12
HENNIKER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - About 90 minutes before Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman arrived at Mary's Bakery and Cafe on Monday, the three young volunteers who were his advance team struggled to get a campaign sign into the frozen ground.
01/09/12
(Reuters) - U.S. authorities are investigating allegations that an Indian government spy unit hacked into emails of an official U.S. commission that monitors economic and security relations between the United States and China, including cyber-security issues.
01/09/12
(Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday defended a tax break under scrutiny that is aimed at boosting consumer interest in electric vehicles, which fell short of modest U.S. sales expectations last year.
01/09/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - On the cusp of a widely expected victory in New Hampshire, Republican front-runner Mitt Romney fought to repel attacks on his business record on Monday as rivals in the presidential race tried to weaken him before a tighter vote in South Carolina.
01/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley is stepping down after only one year in office and will be replaced by budget director Jack Lew, U.S. officials said on Monday.
01/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court rejected on Monday a free-speech challenge to the longtime ban on campaign contributions by foreign citizens who temporarily live and work in the United States.
01/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it is aware of reports that an Iranian court has sentenced American citizen Amir Mirza Hekmati to death and is working to verify them.
01/09/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum appeals to the party's hunger for low taxes, but earns poor grades from economists across the U.S. political spectrum who say the plan will bloat the already intractable U.S. deficit.
01/09/12
CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Mitt Romney emerged on Sunday from back-to-back debates in New Hampshire a bit dinged but not seriously dented as rivals stepped up attacks to slow his march toward the presidential nomination.
01/09/12
(Reuters) - Lee Bandy knows more about politics in South Carolina than just about anybody. For 40 years, Bandy has been among the best political prophets in a state whose primary has correctly picked every Republican candidate for U.S. President since 1980.
01/08/12
EXETER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Mitt Romney might want to take a lesson from Chris Christie on how to handle protesters at his Republican presidential campaign events.
01/08/12
GREENVILLE, South Carolina (Reuters) - Religious conservative voters in South Carolina, shaking off months of indecision, are showing signs of movement toward surging Rick Santorum but are still badly split in the Republican presidential race.
01/08/12
Concord, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Sleeper Republican candidate Rick Santorum wants to show voters he is more than just a social conservative in a sweater vest, and judging by a pair of debate performances this weekend, he might be making headway.
01/08/12
CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates were given one last chance to pounce on front-runner Mitt Romney in a televised debate on Sunday, just two days before voters in New Hampshire head to the polls.
01/08/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta cautioned global rivals on Sunday not to misjudge U.S. plans to slash military spending over the next decade, saying America would still field the world's strongest military and nobody should "mess with that."
01/08/12
GOFFSTOWN, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Most of the Republican presidential candidates laid out their credentials as social conservatives in a debate on Saturday as the 2012 campaign prepares to move from moderate New Hampshire to church-going South Carolina.
01/07/12
MANCHESTER (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman is gaining support in New Hampshire at the right time, days before Tuesday's key primary election, but he still trails front-runner Mitt Romney by a prohibitive margin.
01/07/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - The knives will come out at back-to-back debates this weekend as Republican presidential hopefuls frantically jockey for position days before New Hampshire's key primary.
01/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Elton Gallegly, a Republican who has represented his Southern California district for 25 years, will retire after his current term, his office said on Saturday.
01/07/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - The knives will come out at back-to-back debates this weekend as Republican presidential hopefuls frantically jockey for position days before New Hampshire's key primary.
01/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama kicked off an effort to encourage businesses to keep jobs at home instead of outsourcing them overseas, as he rolled out a new election-year theme on Saturday aimed at courting middle-class voters.
01/07/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The obscure groups behind the spending spree in the race for the Republican nomination for president are about to take it up a notch.
01/06/12
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state media stepped up its criticism on Saturday of the United States' planned strategic shift into Asia, accusing Washington of being a "troublemaker" responsible for mounting tensions in the region.
01/06/12
MANCHESTER, N.H./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The sudden rise of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who has emphasized his Christian faith on the campaign trail, is threatening to draw front-runner Mitt Romney into difficult territory - the culture wars.
01/06/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman and members of his family expressed outrage on Friday at an advertisement targeted at his adopted daughters by a group supporting rival Ron Paul.
01/06/12
DUBLIN, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum faced a barrage of questions from a skeptical crowd on Friday in a sign that New Hampshire is a tougher sell for his conservative views than Iowa.
01/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It was New Year's Eve when President Barack Obama reluctantly signed into law the legislation he had earlier threatened to veto: a mammoth U.S. defense bill with a multitude of restrictions on the administration's handling of detainees.
01/06/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, on the attack against Republicans, visited his new consumer financial protection agency chief on Friday to praise the agency's mission while urging Congress to extend a payroll tax cut through the end of the year.
01/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama unveiled a defense strategy on Thursday that would expand the U.S. military presence in Asia but shrink the overall size of the force as the Pentagon seeks to slash spending by nearly half a trillion dollars after a decade of war.
01/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's tax plan would cut revenues and increase the government's budget deficit, while benefiting wealthy taxpayers more than others, said a report from a non-partisan think tank released on Thursday.
01/05/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Even as the Republican presidential candidates fight it out in New Hampshire, a bigger showdown is looming in South Carolina, a conservative state with a history of nasty politics and picking winners.
01/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six months into his tenure as U.S. defense secretary, Leon Panetta has simultaneously been branded an unreasonable defender of Pentagon spending and an ax-man who is forging ahead with dangerous cuts to the American military.
01/05/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Even as the Republican presidential candidates fight it out in New Hampshire, a bigger showdown is looming in South Carolina, a conservative state with a history of nasty politics and picking winners.
01/05/12
SALEM/MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republicans hoping to be chosen to run against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election blasted him on Thursday for bypassing Congress to fill politically sensitive posts.
01/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will unveil a "more realistic" vision for the military on Thursday, with plans to cut tens of thousands of ground troops and invest more in air and sea power at a time of fiscal restraint, officials familiar with the plans said on Wednesday.
01/05/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even as Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign gains momentum, some conservative groups are voicing frustration with tax proposals they say he has purposely kept vague to try to gain political advantage on an issue that demands bolder action.
01/04/12
(Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday gave three Republican presidential candidates permission to join Texas Governor Rick Perry's lawsuit seeking a spot on Virginia's primary election ballot.
01/04/12
DES MOINES, Iowa/MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Michele Bachmann was out, Rick Perry was back and Rick Santorum was up in the most volatile Republican presidential nominating contest in decades on Wednesday, as conservative Republicans searched for an alternative to frontrunner Mitt Romney.
01/04/12
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Rick Santorum's last-minute surge in the Iowa caucus brought him neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney in the first contest of the 2012 race to select a Republican presidential candidate. But it came too late to attract the harsh scrutiny usually visited on front-runners.
01/04/12
DES MOINES, Iowa/CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, angry over his poor performance in the Iowa caucuses, may have a new and unlikely partner in his quest to tarnish rival Mitt Romney: President Barack Obama.
01/04/12
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Rick Santorum's last-minute surge in the Iowa caucus brought him neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney in the first contest of the 2012 race to select a Republican presidential candidate. But it came too late to attract the harsh scrutiny usually visited on front-runners.
01/04/12
JOHNSTON, Iowa (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum scored a major victory by taking Iowa's Republican nominating contest right down to the wire on Tuesday. Now all he needs are money, staff, and infrastructure to keep his momentum going.
01/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the top oil and gas lobbying group said on Wednesday that the Obama administration will face serious political consequences if it rejects a Canada-to-Texas oil sands pipeline that has been opposed by environmental groups.
01/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will join top Pentagon commanders to unveil a new "more realistic" vision for the military, including cuts to ground force numbers as a result of budget strains, officials familiar with the plans said on Wednesday.
01/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to use a recess appointment to install Richard Cordray as head of the country's new consumer financial protection watchdog, sidestepping Republican congressional opposition to his pick.
01/04/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congresswoman Michele Bachmann cancelled a campaign trip to South Carolina on Wednesday, a campaign official said, after finishing a disappointing sixth in the Iowa caucuses with only 5 percent of the vote.
01/04/12
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Mitt Romney held a strong lead ahead of next week's race in New Hampshire, while Rick Santorum, who came out of the Iowa's contest nipping at his heels, was gaining ground, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
01/04/12
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - After a dramatic, confusing night of suspense in the Republican Party's Iowa caucuses, the big winner may well have been a Democrat: Barack Obama.
01/04/12
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Bruised, battered and defiant, Newt Gingrich limped out of Iowa after a fourth-place finish in the state's Republican presidential contest on Tuesday. But he is still alive.
01/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will start setting the tone on Wednesday for an election-year strategy that attempts to capitalize on voter frustration with Congress but which could also mean further legislative gridlock as he seeks a second term.
01/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Republicans began voting to choose a nominee to face off against him, President Barack Obama sought to rally his Democratic supporters on Tuesday by telling them he had delivered on many promises and needed another term to accomplish more.
01/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican senator on Tuesday questioned President Barack Obama's commitment to new sanctions on Iran's central bank, noting the president had claimed the right to sidestep some of the requirements when he signed them into law last week.
01/03/12
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - While Republican presidential candidates dominate headlines in Iowa with their caucus quest, President Barack Obama's Democrats have quietly built a massive organizational structure to round up voters and win the state in November's general election.
01/03/12
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican candidates crisscrossed Iowa in a last-minute bid for support on Tuesday ahead of the first contest of the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign, and at least three - Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul - appeared to have a shot at victory.
01/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican senator on Tuesday questioned President Barack Obama's commitment to new sanctions on Iran's central bank, noting the president had claimed the right to sidestep some of the requirements when he signed them into law last week.
01/03/12
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - While Republican presidential candidates dominate headlines in Iowa with their caucus quest, President Barack Obama's Democrats have quietly built a massive organizational structure to round up voters and win the state in November's general election.
01/03/12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will this week unveil the results of a strategic review of security interests which will guide billions of dollars in military spending cuts over the next decade, officials said on Tuesday.
01/03/12
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - The long and sometimes quirky drama of electing a U.S. president, marked by obscure rules and long-held traditions, begins on Tuesday in more than 800 schools, libraries, churches and homes across Iowa.
01/02/12
DES MOINES (Reuters) - With time running out, rivals of surging Republican Rick Santorum raised doubts about his conservative record on Monday in hopes of heading off a last-minute victory by the former senator a day before Iowa kicks off the 2012 presidential election season.
01/02/12
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - In South Carolina, the governor's mansion is on the grounds of a former arsenal that was burned down by the Union army during the Civil War.
01/02/12
OSKALOOSA, Iowa (Reuters) - Facing colossal odds in the Republican nomination race, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann cast her struggle in Biblical terms on Sunday in a late attempt to win over conservative voters.
01/01/12
WATERLOO, Iowa (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich pledged on Sunday to stay in the race for the Republican nomination regardless of the results of this week's caucuses in Iowa where he is dropping dramatically in opinion polls.
01/01/12
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - The Republican White House hopefuls launched a two-day dash to the finish in Iowa on Sunday, with front-runner Mitt Romney poised for a strong showing that could set him on the path to the nomination.
01/01/12
OSKALOOSA, Iowa (Reuters) - Facing colossal odds in the Republican nomination race, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann cast her struggle in Biblical terms on Sunday in a late attempt to win over conservative voters.
01/01/12
(Reuters) - Dysfunctional politics threatens to deliver a protracted period of slow global growth, possibly lasting well beyond 2012, which will only deepen the political and economic problems for the West.
01/01/12
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's crowds are larger now.
12/31/11
LEMARS, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney said on Saturday he would veto a proposal granting U.S. citizenship to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children, a pledge that won hearty applause from Iowa conservatives he hopes to win over.
12/31/11
DES MOINES (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has a narrow lead in Iowa over rival Ron Paul with days to go before the state holds the first contest of the 2012 presidential election season, an influential poll found on Saturday.
12/31/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican White House hopefuls scoured Iowa for undecided voters on Saturday and front-runner Mitt Romney ignored his rivals and focused on President Barack Obama three days before the first votes of the 2012 election campaign.
12/31/11
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama, striking a hopeful note in a year-end weekly address, hailed foreign policy milestones while keeping pressure on Congress to further extend payroll tax cuts through the end of 2012.
12/31/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed into law on Saturday a defense funding bill that imposes sanctions on financial institutions dealing with Iran's central bank, while allowing for exemptions to avoid upsetting energy markets.
12/31/11
ATLANTIC, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates who were unable to meet Virginia's requirements to qualify for the state's 2012 primary election joined a lawsuit on Saturday to get on the ballot.
12/31/11
HAMPTON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - It was standing room only as Mitt Romney briefly took time out from Iowa to campaign in Republican strongholds in New Hampshire, where he holds a wide lead approaching the state's first-in-the-nation primary.
12/31/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican voters in Iowa open a long and grueling 2012 presidential race on Tuesday, with polls showing Mitt Romney battling Ron Paul for a momentum-generating win in the party's kickoff nominating contest.
12/30/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - White House hopeful Mitt Romney brought in help from New Jersey on Friday to bolster his prospects for a win in Iowa next week that would put him in the lead in the Republican presidential race.
12/30/11
AMES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum criticized his main rivals in Iowa on Friday in hopes a last-minute wave of support will carry him to victory on Tuesday in the first U.S. election contest of 2012.
12/30/11
(Reuters) - Opinion polls come and go, but for those with money on the line Mitt Romney is now a heavy favorite to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and go on to challenge President Barack Obama.
12/30/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - White House hopeful Mitt Romney brought in a hired gun from New Jersey on Friday to bolster his prospects for a win in Iowa next week that would put him in the lead in the Republican presidential race.
12/30/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - The long and sometimes quirky drama of electing a U.S. president, marked by obscure rules and long-held traditions, begins on Tuesday in more than 800 schools, libraries, churches and homes across Iowa.
12/30/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has agreed to delay submitting a debt ceiling increase request to allow lawmakers time to consider it while they are in session, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday.
12/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virginia plans to print and mail absentee ballots for its upcoming Republican presidential primary with just two contenders listed, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, a state official said on Friday, despite a court challenge from Rick Perry.
12/30/11
(Reuters) - Mitt Romney holds a narrow lead in Iowa in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to a poll released on Friday that also showed significant concern on whether his closest rival, Ron Paul, would be an acceptable nominee.
12/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has lost a second top campaign staffer in another setback before the Iowa caucuses on January 3, NBC News reported on Thursday.
12/29/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry, down in the polls and failing to find a winning campaign strategy, is relying on folks from back home to help lift his struggling presidential election bid in Iowa.
12/29/11
AMES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign has a hint of a swagger about it as a good showing looks more likely next week in the Iowa caucuses, where his 2008 campaign crashed badly.
12/29/11
DES MOINES (Reuters) - Signs that Rick Santorum is suddenly a contender in the race for the Republican nomination for president were all over Iowa on Thursday.
12/29/11
CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Square-jawed and clean-cut, four of Mitt Romney's five sons made a campaign swing through New Hampshire on Thursday to push their father's presidential bid and try to boost his credentials as a family man.
12/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's new opposition to abortion in almost any situation may appease conservatives in Iowa, but it moved his views further from those of a sexual abuse organization supported by his wife, Anita.
12/29/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's campaign manager on Thursday rejected speculation that the president's 2012 re-election effort will raise $1 billion, saying the goal is to build a "real grassroots" operation.
12/28/11
NORTH LIBERTY/MASON CITY, Iowa (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's campaign did its best on Wednesday to lower expectations, but no one was really buying it.
12/28/11
MASON CITY, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said on Wednesday his failure to meet the requirements to take part in Virginia's presidential nominating contest resulted from fraud by a worker hired by his campaign.
12/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney has clinched a lead in the Iowa caucuses vote next week and Rick Santorum is surging, according to a new poll commissioned by CNN and Time magazine.
12/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Ben Nelson said on Tuesday that he will retire next year, dealing a significant blow to his party's hopes of keeping control of the Senate after the November 2012 elections.
12/27/11
Davenport, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney kicked off the last week before the Iowa caucuses warning that November's presidential contest will be "an election to save the soul of America."
12/27/11
HONOLULU/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will nominate Harvard economist Jeremy Stein and Jerome Powell, an investment banker and former Treasury official, to the two empty seats on the Federal Reserve's policy-setting board of governors.
12/27/11
(Reuters) - Democratic Senator Ben Nelson will retire next year, news reports said on Tuesday, dealing a significant blow to his party's hopes of keeping control of the Senate after the November 2012 elections.
12/27/11
DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec 27 - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's campaign struggled to fend off more bad news on Tuesday after he was quoted supporting main rival Mitt Romney's healthcare reform in Massachusetts.
12/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's job approval rating climbed steadily this month as he fought Republicans to extend the payroll tax cut and is now above his disapproval rating for the first time since July, a Gallup report showed on Tuesday.
12/27/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will nominate Harvard economist Jeremy Stein and Jerome Powell, an investment banker and former Treasury official, to the two empty seats on the Federal Reserve's policy-setting board of governors.
12/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House plans to ask Congress for an increase in the debt limit before the end of the week, according to a senior Treasury Department official.
12/26/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - The U.S. government is trying to decide whether to let Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh travel to the United States for medical treatment, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday.
12/26/11
WASHINGTON, Iowa (Reuters) - The man who might win the Republican Party's first presidential nominating contest fears that the United Nations may take control of the U.S. money supply.
12/26/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - The U.S. government would only allow Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to travel to the United States for "legitimate" medical treatment, and is now considering the request, a senior Obama administration official said on Monday.
12/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration cleared the way for U.S. states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling.
12/25/11
HONOLULU, Hawaii (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spent a low-key Christmas Day with his wife and daughters in Hawaii, going to church and thanking U.S. troops for their service before hosting friends for dinner at the first family's rented beach house.
12/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration cleared the way for states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling.
12/25/11
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden spoke by telephone on Sunday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki about violence in Baghdad and a political crisis that has erupted in the week since the last American troops left Iraq.
12/24/11
TILTON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - - Ten days before the first votes in the 2012 Republican presidential race, Mitt Romney's well-funded campaign machine has held off the most serious challenge to his White House bid and is keeping him near the top of the pack.
12/24/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's campaign set a goal of raising $60 million in the fourth quarter of the year to benefit the Democratic incumbent's re-election and the Democratic National Committee, a campaign official said on Saturday.
12/24/11
CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) - Third-party political money is already pouring into Ohio again after the state had one of the most expensive election fights ever in November.
12/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has failed to meet the requirements to be in the primary election in his home state of Virginia, the state's Republican Party said.
12/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Businessman and reality TV personality Donald Trump has left the Republican Party, changing his voter registration to independent in his home state of New York, in a move that could facilitate a potential third-party presidential run in 2012, U.S. media reported on Friday.
12/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul apologized on Friday for not paying enough attention to "ghost writers" he said were responsible for racist and anti-gay messages in newsletters and an ad published under his name two decades ago.
12/23/11
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich on Friday urged rival Ron Paul to explain his links to newsletters two decades ago that carried the Texas congressman's name and contained racist, anti-homosexual and anti-Israel rants.
12/22/11
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday attacked U.S. President Barack Obama for a "signature failure" to keep some troops in Iraq to prevent the country falling back into sectarian conflict.
12/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A direct-mail solicitation for Ron Paul's political and investment newsletters two decades ago warned of a "coming race war in our big cities" and of a "federal-homosexual cover-up" to play down the impact of AIDS.
12/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday caved in to a growing chorus of criticism from both within and outside his Republican party and agreed to a short-term deal to extend a payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans.
12/22/11
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday attacked President Barack Obama for a "signature failure" to keep some troops in Iraq to prevent the country falling back into sectarian conflict.
12/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who dashed many Republican hopes when he said he would not run for president in 2012, said on Thursday he had not ruled out running for vice president.
12/22/11
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's defense minister extolled what he called Barack Obama's resolve and risk-taking on Thursday, remarks likely to help the president's re-election bid after the Pentagon beefed up warnings to Iran over its nuclear program.
12/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a bid to end a worsening standoff over extending a tax break for Americans, President Barack Obama called on Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday to pass a short-term extension and return to talks on a year-long deal in the New Year.
12/21/11
(Reuters) - They began this year vowing to slash spending and reduce government.
12/21/11
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Congressman Ron Paul is one of the favorites to win the Iowa caucuses vote on January 3 but his libertarian and isolationist message may to be too much for Republican voters and party grandees as the nomination process moves to other states.
12/20/11
OTTUMWA, Iowa (Reuters) - Slipping in polls under an onslaught of attacks, Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich promises to wage a sharper and more aggressive campaign in the final two weeks before Iowa kicks off the party's nominating race.
12/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama demanded on Tuesday that Republicans in the House of Representatives pass a short-term extension of a payroll tax cut, showing an unwillingness to back down in a fight that could result in higher taxes for 160 million Americans.
12/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In Congress' tense drama over how to extend payroll tax cuts for 160 million Americans, it may be the most intriguing subplot: whether Republican House Speaker John Boehner is losing his grip on members of his own party.
12/20/11
OTTUMWA, Iowa (Reuters) - Slipping in polls under an onslaught of attacks, Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich promises to wage a sharper and more aggressive campaign in the final two weeks before Iowa kicks off the party's nominating race.
12/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While party leaders battle over a last-minute payroll tax deal, the two top tax writers in Congress are quietly reaching across the partisan divide to build a bridge for what could become a major restructuring of U.S. tax law.
12/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two prominent Iowa religious conservative leaders endorsed Republican Rick Santorum on Tuesday, bolstering his longshot presidential candidacy and dealing a blow to front-runner Newt Gingrich two weeks before the state's kickoff nominating contest.
12/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney unloaded on rival Republican Newt Gingrich on Tuesday on a liberal television network, comparing him to former candidate Herman Cain and others who have led the field briefly before flaming out.
12/19/11
CARACAS (Reuters) - The United States believes that increasingly warm ties between Venezuela, Iran and Cuba do not benefit the Venezuelan people, U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview published on Monday.
12/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With a tax cut for 160 million workers set to expire in less than two weeks, Republicans and Democrats in Congress on Monday were mired in a last-ditch battle over extending it.
12/19/11
DAVENPORT, Iowa (Reuters) - Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich's status as the front runner for the 2012 Republican U.S. presidential nomination is fading after weeks of attacks by rivals and intense media scrutiny of his political record and personality.
12/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the United States hoped for improved ties with the people of North Korea after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and was in touch with its partners in the six-party nuclear talks.
12/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich suffered a big drop in support in Iowa with Ron Paul taking the lead weeks before a key caucus in the state, according to a Democratic polling firm.
12/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney receives millions of dollars a year in a retirement agreement with Bain Capital, nearly 13 years after he left the private equity firm he helped start, the New York Times said on Monday.
12/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tax break for 160 million American workers was in doubt on Monday in the face of strong opposition from Republicans in the House of Representatives who have rejected a two-month extension overwhelmingly approved by the Senate over the weekend.
12/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House accused House of Representatives Republicans on Sunday of playing politics with the fate of the payroll tax cut and warned that Americans could face a "devastating" tax hike if Republicans do not act.
12/18/11
DES MOINES/MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich's marital problems have come back to haunt him in Iowa where Christian conservatives are split over whether they can look beyond his past infidelities and endorse him for the January 3 caucuses.
12/18/11
(Reuters) - Republican Jon Huntsman, who has based his 2012 campaign for the White House almost exclusively on a strong showing in New Hampshire, has been rewarded with endorsements from two newspapers in the state with an early primary election.
12/18/11
DES MOINES (Reuters) - Republican elder statesman and former Senate leader Bob Dole on Sunday endorsed Mitt Romney to be the Republican presidential nominee, a day after the former Massachusetts governor received the backing of Iowa's main newspaper.
12/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has signed into law a short-term spending bill that Congress approved to keep the government running until a full agreement is finalized, the White House said on Saturday.
12/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday threw into doubt an extension of a popular tax break for wage earners, saying he and his fellow House Republicans opposed the two-month extension passed by the Senate.
12/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Saturday approved a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut and a $1 trillion bill to fund the government, resolving the latest in a year-long series of tense political stand-offs but setting up fresh battles for 2012.
12/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has signed into law a spending bill that Congress approved to keep the government running, the White House said on Saturday.
12/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate on Saturday postponed until next year decisions on whether to approve President Barack Obama's choices to lead agencies that oversee the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.
12/17/11
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A panel of three federal judges late on Friday approved a plan to delay the Texas primary elections from March 6 to April 3, a move that could be a blow to Republican Governor Rick Perry's presidential hopes.
12/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday welcomed a deal worked out by divided lawmakers to extend a payroll tax cut for U.S. workers by two months and to continue emergency jobless aid.
12/17/11
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney sought to create doubts about rival Newt Gingrich among South Carolina conservatives on Saturday by criticizing his high-paid work for mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
12/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Saturday passed a $915 billion bill to fund most federal agency activities through next September and avert a government shutdown.
12/17/11
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Libya Saturday it faced a "long and difficult" road in moving on from 42 years of one-man rule and uniting the fractious rebel groups that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.
12/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers on Friday agreed to extend a payroll tax cut for two months after Democrats bowed to Republican demands to expedite approval of a controversial oil pipeline.
12/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama assured Jewish voters on Friday he remains committed to Israel's security and a two-state solution with the Palestinians as he defended himself against attacks on his policy from Republican presidential challengers.
12/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama assured Jewish voters on Friday he remains committed to Israel's security and a two-state solution with the Palestinians as he defended himself against attacks on his policy from Republican presidential challengers.
12/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, once the leader and presumed nominee, is back in front-runner mode.
12/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the final weeks of Mitt Romney's term as Massachusetts governor, his office sought and received permission to destroy 150 boxes of paper records of his tenure, according to documents obtained by Reuters.
12/15/11
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Reuters) - Front-runner Newt Gingrich was braced for attacks from rival Republican presidential candidates at a debate on Thursday as they make their case one last time before Iowa launches the U.S. 2012 election season.
12/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers on Thursday were close to a deal on a massive spending bill to keep the government running through the fiscal year ending on September 30 and avert a shutdown when current funds run out at midnight on Friday.
12/15/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - As the war in Iraq draws to a close, U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has quietly enlisted an army of veterans to urge other military men and women to vote for him in November.
12/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress on Thursday approved a defense bill requiring the military to handle suspected foreign militants allied with al Qaeda, sending it to President Barack Obama for his expected signature into law.
12/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmaker Paul Ryan, who caused an uproar this year by proposing to privatize Medicare, unveiled a new bipartisan approach on Thursday to cut costs in the government's $525 billion health plan for the elderly.
12/15/11
DES MOINES (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Newt Gingrich, buffeted by attacks, gets his chance to fight back on Thursday at a debate that may help clarify who will win Iowa's looming contest to choose a presidential candidate.
12/15/11
LONDON (Reuters) - The ancient Mayans attached special significance to 2012, possibly the end of time. That has spawned a rush of apocalyptic literature for the holiday season.
12/15/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. envoy for North Korean policy said on Thursday Washington was making no linkage between talks between the two countries on food aid and trying to get the reclusive nation back to the table to discuss its nuclear program.
12/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans introduced a $915 billion spending bill in the House of Representatives early on Thursday in an attempt to force Democrats to finalize legislation that would keep the U.S. government operating beyond the weekend.
12/14/11
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Reuters) - For insight into the conservative Tea Party movement's battle plan in 2012, check out Joe Dugan's Google spreadsheets.
12/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday that would expand sanctions on Iran, cracking down on a wider range of energy issues and closing some loopholes in existing energy and financial sanctions.
12/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats on Wednesday considered dropping their proposed surtax on millionaires in a bid to reach a deal with Republicans to extend a payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans set to expire at year's end.
12/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican on Wednesday introduced legislation to protect the military from automatic budget cuts despite stiff opposition from Democrats and a veto threat from President Barack Obama.
12/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday that one of his top wishes for the new year is to help win passage of a bill to cut the record - and still mounting - U.S. debt.
12/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has taken a commanding lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, hitting the 40 percent mark for the first time in the campaign, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released on Tuesday.
12/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives defied a White House veto threat on Tuesday and passed a bill to expedite approval of the Keystone XL Canada-to-Texas pipeline project.
12/13/11
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Lawmakers are ready to freeze up to $700 million in aid to Pakistan until Congress gets assurances that Islamabad is helping fight the spread of homemade bombs in the region, a move one Pakistani senator called unwise and likely to strain ties further.
12/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "Mission Accomplished" are two words President Barack Obama will not use as he winds down the most unpopular U.S. military venture since Vietnam and declares an end to another war without victory.
12/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic lawmakers are locked in an end-of-year fight that threatens a government shutdown, an effective tax hike for 160 million Americans and the loss of benefits for millions of unemployed.
12/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - So much for that focused anti-Mitt strategy.
12/13/11
KABUL (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Kabul on Tuesday for an unannounced visit at a time of persistent violence and as the United States and its Western allies are reducing troop levels in Afghanistan.
12/12/11
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A crisis in relations looked set to deepen after a House-Senate negotiating panel agreed to freeze $700 million in U.S. aid to Pakistan until it gives assurances it is helping fight the spread of improvised explosive devices in the region.
12/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers agreed on Monday to fund the government through next year, potentially avoiding a shutdown that would have further eroded Congress' tattered reputation ahead of the 2012 election.
12/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With Iranian influence and Syria's instability looming over Iraq as U.S. troops pack up to go, President Barack Obama assured Baghdad on Monday the United States would remain a strong partner beyond the withdrawal.
12/12/11
HOLLIS, New Hampshire (Reuters) - The tense campaign between Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney heated up further on Monday in New Hampshire, where Romney's lead in opinion polls has shrunk in recent weeks.
12/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich leads other Republican presidential candidates in the key state of Iowa but his support could be slipping, according to a University of Iowa poll released Monday.
12/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to the White House on Monday, showcasing the end of the American war in Iraq as he campaigns for reelection next year.
12/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former national manager of Jon Huntsman's presidential campaign said on Monday she was endorsing Mitt Romney for president.
12/11/11
HUDSON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney was back on familiar turf in New Hampshire on Sunday, looking to steady his White House campaign after a potentially damaging gaffe over a wager he offered at a candidate's debate in Iowa.
12/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama defended his leadership style on Sunday and said he would keep standing up to Congress as another stand-off over taxes and deficits brewed on Capitol Hill.
12/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell predicted on Sunday that Congress will renew a popular payroll tax cut, but it remained unclear how lawmakers will resolve deep differences before the December 31 deadline.
12/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday that Congress will somehow reach an agreement to renew a popular payroll tax cut set to expire at the end of this month.
12/11/11
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt urgently needs a massive cash injection and should strike a deal with the International Monetary Fund as soon as possible to reassure investors, said John Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
12/10/11
DES MOINES (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney put his money where his mouth was on Saturday in a quip at a presidential debate that may have backfired.
12/10/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - The budding rivalry between surging Newt Gingrich and former frontrunner Mitt Romney will take center stage on Saturday in the first of two Republican presidential debates in Iowa over the next five days.
12/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The embattled chief of the U.S. nuclear safety regulator found some powerful political support on Saturday ahead of Capitol Hill hearings next week that will scrutinize his bid to enact sweeping safety reforms.
12/10/11
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A referendum issue which Ohio Democrats hope could help President Barack Obama's chances of winning the battleground state will appear on the November 2012 ballot.
12/10/11
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The approval of a specialty Texas vehicle license plate which says "One State Under God" and shows three crosses has again put Texas Governor Rick Perry on the spot in the Republican presidential race.
12/10/11
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - Frozen by indecision, Iowa's politically powerful religious conservatives are still on the sidelines in the Republican presidential race less than a month before the state's kick-off nominating contest.
12/10/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - The budding rivalry between surging Republican Newt Gingrich and former frontrunner Mitt Romney will take center stage on Saturday in the first of two presidential debates in Iowa over the next five days.
12/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday said he will not take "no" for an answer on his nominee to head a new consumer watchdog agency, despite Republicans vowing to block him.
12/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic and Republican lawmakers skirmished on Friday over plans to extend a payroll tax cut seen as crucial to a fragile U.S. economic recovery, but aides predicted a last-minute deal.
12/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deep-seated infighting within the five-member U.S. nuclear safety regulator was exposed on Friday after Democrats and Republicans in Congress separately released complaints about misconduct at the highest levels of the agency.
12/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite some recent signs the sluggish U.S. economy might be improving, President Barack Obama warns it could be years before the country is on a sound footing.
12/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic and Republican lawmakers skirmished on Friday over plans to extend a payroll tax cut seen as crucial to a fragile U.S. economic recovery, but aides predicted a last-minute deal.
12/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich thrust himself into controversy on Friday by declaring that the Palestinians are an "invented" people who want to destroy Israel.
12/09/11
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - South Carolina might be the last stand for Texas Governor Rick Perry if he fails to kick-start his U.S. presidential bid soon.
12/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House rejected on Friday the latest proposal from Republicans in Congress on a payroll tax cut, saying its costs needed to be offset in a balanced away and not with budget cuts exempting the rich.
12/09/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Reality TV star and real estate mogul Donald Trump on Friday said he was unsure if he would still host a Republican presidential debate, which now has only two participants.
12/09/11
BOSTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign calls rival Newt Gingrich a formidable opponent, but aides to the former Massachusetts governor believe their better organized and well-financed organization can outlast Gingrich.
12/08/11
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court appeared skeptical on Thursday toward attempts by California gay marriage opponents to overturn a landmark court decision because the judge overseeing the case did not disclose his own long-term homosexual relationship.
12/08/11
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is ramping up his campaign in the key early primary state of New Hampshire in an attempt to undercut a stronghold of Republican rival Mitt Romney.
12/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans grilled Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday over a botched gun-smuggling sting in Mexico, with one lawmaker comparing Holder to Nixon-era Attorney General John Mitchell and another saying "heads should roll."
12/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top lawmakers are aiming to forge a deal to keep the government operating beyond next week, even as Republican measures to restrict funding for abortions and the Obama administration's health care act threaten to derail it.
12/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives began to fall into line on Thursday behind a bill to extend an expiring payroll tax break after their leaders sweetened the measure with a provision that President Barack Obama has threatened to veto.
12/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's choice to run criminal tax prosecutions will not get a quick confirmation vote due to an unrelated dispute involving the Justice Department, a senior senator said on Thursday.
12/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans grilled Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday over a botched gun-smuggling sting in Mexico and called on him to make personnel changes at the Justice Department in response.
12/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The campaign trail did not end at the White House for Herman Cain, but it might yet lead him to a pot of gold.
12/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives were falling into line on Thursday behind a bill to extend a payroll tax break for workers after leaders sweetened the legislation with a provision that has drawn a veto threat from President Barack Obama.
12/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday the United States was considering all options on Iran and would work with allies, including Israel, to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
12/08/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Could Republican Ron Paul, the libertarian longshot with a loyal army of supporters, steal the first big prize of the 2012 presidential race in Iowa?
12/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich has taken double-digit leads over his Republican rivals in three states, according to a poll on Thursday.
12/08/11
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday she had expressed "well-founded" concerns about the conduct of Russia's parliamentary election earlier this week.
12/08/11
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia warned on Thursday time was running out to conclude a missile defense deal with NATO after the two failed again to bridge differences on a project the alliance says is aimed at countering threats from states like Iran.
12/08/11
(Reuters) - The gay half-sister of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich slammed his position on gay rights on Wednesday and said she will support President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in the 2012 election.
12/08/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States has sought to reassure China that expanding military U.S. ties with Australia are not aimed at containing China, a U.S. defense official said on Thursday, a day after talks with the Chinese army.
12/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The answer to the Final Jeopardy! question of who will be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will not become known on Thursday.
12/07/11
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie campaigned in Iowa on Wednesday for Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney, who trails in the state a month before it kicks off presidential nominating contests.
12/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Is it time for Mitt Romney to come up with a new plan?
12/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will hold a town hall meeting in Iowa on Friday in a marked effort to raise his profile in a key nominating state where rival Newt Gingrich is surging.
12/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Charles Grassley said on Wednesday that Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, should step down over a troubled program to stop gun smuggling in Mexico.
12/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates rattled sabers against Iran and skewered President Barack Obama for being soft in his support for Israel on Wednesday as they vied for the backing of Jewish Republicans.
12/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Wednesday it wants to make it easier for credit card holders to understand the interest rates and fees they are charged to avoid more financial strain on the middle class.
12/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration does not know Israel's intentions regarding potential military action against Iran, and the uncertainty is stoking concern in Washington, where the preferred course for now is sanctions and diplomatic pressure.
12/06/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese and U.S. defense officials met on Wednesday for their highest-level talks since Washington's arms sales to Taiwan in September, state news agency Xinhua said, a sign the countries are trying to keep relations on an even keel despite tensions.
12/06/11
OSAWATOMIE, Kansas (Reuters) - President Barack Obama blasted his Republican foes and Wall Street on Tuesday as he portrayed himself as a champion of the middle class and laid out in the starkest terms yet the populist themes of his 2012 re-election bid.
12/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts will allow some public access to hundreds of previously off-limits boxes of official records generated by Mitt Romney's office when he was governor from 2003 to 2007, a state official said on Tuesday.
12/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on Tuesday that he will not attend a controversial December 27 debate to be moderated by real estate magnate Donald Trump, as have candidates Ron Paul and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman.
12/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senator is calling on federal securities regulators to take legal action against a brokerage industry-backed fund for failing to cover claims for the victims of Allen Stanford's alleged Ponzi scheme.
12/06/11
OSAWATOMIE, Kansas (Reuters) - President Barack Obama turned up the heat on his Republican foes on Tuesday as he portrayed himself as a champion of the middle class and laid out in the starkest terms yet the populist themes of his 2012 re-election bid.
12/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five senators urged Harry Reid to reject Republican efforts to make approval of the Keystone XL pipeline part of a payroll tax cut bill expected to pass through Congress in the next two weeks.
12/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama prodded congressional Republicans on Monday to extend a payroll tax cut, and his fellow Democrats proposed to fund it with spending cuts and a "tiny surtax" on the rich.
12/06/11
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arrived in Germany on Tuesday for a three-day blitz of euro zone officials to urge them to take decisive action to backstop their currency union and resolve a crushing debt crisis.
12/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney spent nearly $100,000 in state funds to replace computers in his office at the end of his term as governor of Massachusetts in 2007 as part of an unprecedented effort to keep his records secret, Reuters has learned.
12/05/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich paid a visit to Donald Trump on Monday, becoming the latest Republican presidential hopeful to seek the endorsement of the real estate mogul and reality television star.
12/05/11
VILNIUS (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet members of the Syrian opposition in Geneva on Tuesday in a gesture of support for them in the face of an eight-month crackdown by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
12/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former pizza magnate Herman Cain will not endorse former rival Newt Gingrich for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination on Monday, contrary to a media report, a spokesman for Gingrich's campaign said.
12/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - During his quick ride to the top of voter surveys, Newt Gingrich has cast himself as the more conservative alternative to a flip-flopping Mitt Romney, the other leading Republican candidate for president.
12/05/11
BONN (Reuters) - The United States is ready to support Afghanistan over the long haul but the country must carry through on reforms, take responsibility for its own security and build a democracy rooted in the rule of law, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday.
12/05/11
ATHENS (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden joked during a visit to debt-choked Athens on Monday about bringing money to help Greece out of its deepest financial crisis in decades.
12/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Obama's aides have persistently tried to paint Republicans as the party of the rich, with mixed results.
12/04/11
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Rick Santorum, pulling single-digit support in Iowa, said on Sunday that the race to win the state's leadoff caucuses remains wide open, with Newt Gingrich's new edge surmountable.
12/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will begin a media campaign this week to seek support for his nomination of banking industry critic Richard Cordray to head a new financial watchdog agency.
12/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - During his quick ride to the top of voter surveys, Newt Gingrich has cast himself as the more conservative alternative to a flip-flopping Mitt Romney, the other leading Republican candidate for president.
12/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats plan to offer a new proposal on Monday to extend a popular payroll tax cut amid signals that Republican leaders would accept a compromise that covers the cost to the federal Treasury.
12/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Sunday called Pakistan's president to offer condolences over Pakistani soldiers killed in a NATO air strike.
12/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican brand, built on a rock-solid "no new tax" pledge to voters, is showing a few cracks as internal party divisions erupt in the face of rapidly escalating U.S. government debt.
12/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will offer a compromise on Monday to extend a popular payroll tax cut, a fellow Democrat said on Sunday.
12/03/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - A surge in support for Republican White House hopeful Newt Gingrich has made him the new front-runner in Iowa, which holds the first of next year's presidential nominating contests, according to a closely watched opinion poll published on Saturday.
12/03/11
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Former pizza magnate Herman Cain dropped out of the presidential race on Saturday after accusations of sexual misconduct overwhelmed his bid to win the Republican nomination as an anti-Washington tax reformer.
12/03/11
CARACAS (Reuters) - A new Latin American and Caribbean organization backed Argentina's claim to sovereignty over the British-ruled Falkland Islands and slammed U.S. sanctions on Cuba at Saturday's end of a two-day summit.
12/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former pizza magnate Herman Cain's bid for the White House was an unconventional long shot from the start, but behind the colorful Cain Train a dysfunctional team has always been on the verge of running off the tracks.
12/03/11
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain effectively ended his 2012 White House race on Saturday, saying "false and unproved" sexual accusations have made it impossible for him to carry on a credible campaign.
12/03/11
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney flexed his campaign's organizational muscle in the key early voting state of New Hampshire on Saturday, unleashing hundreds of volunteers to knock on doors and make phone calls on his behalf.
12/03/11
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday chided Arab leaders who restrict freedom of expression and warned that nations cannot thrive when people are not allowed to think for themselves.
12/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to boost pressure on Republican lawmakers to back an extension of a tax cut for U.S. workers that he views as vital to help the fragile economy.
12/03/11
(Reuters) - George McGovern, the longtime U.S. senator from South Dakota who ran as the Democratic Party candidate for president in 1972, was hospitalized on Friday in South Dakota after falling and striking his head.
12/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has signaled it will cooperate with a controversial congressional inquiry into alleged threats posed by "home-grown" Islamic militants that critics have branded a "witch hunt."
12/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives pushed ahead on Friday to extend a popular payroll tax cut for another year despite opposition within their own ranks.
12/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain heads home from the campaign trail to Atlanta on Friday for an unconventional strategy meeting that could decide the fate of his White House bid - with his wife.
12/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to push ahead with efforts to pass a payroll tax-cut extension, even if the negotiations disrupt holiday plans for lawmakers and himself.
12/02/11
(Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney toughened his rhetoric against Newt Gingrich on Friday in a sign he is starting to take seriously the challenge from his surging rival.
12/02/11
ANKARA (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden has urged Turkey to pass new sanctions against Iran, increasing pressure on Washington's Middle East ally to join a tightening web of sanctions aimed at forcing Tehran to stop work on its nuclear activities.
12/02/11
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia denied on Friday it was pushing for a joint security pact with India and the United States, a tie-up that would likely add to China's fears that wary neighbors were trying to encircle it.
12/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After a poor showing among female voters in the 2008 presidential election, the Republican Party might again have a women problem.
12/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate voted on Thursday to broaden the armed forces' powers over suspected militants, requiring that foreigners allied with al Qaeda be held in military custody even if they are captured in the United States.
12/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the Senate on Thursday blocked a one-year extension and expansion of the payroll tax cut that was coupled with a plan to impose a new tax on the wealthy.
12/01/11
YANGON (Reuters) - The United States will support more aid for Myanmar and consider installing an ambassador after an absence of some two decades, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday, offering the first rewards for reform.
12/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. Republican in Congress, in an abrupt shift, agreed with President Barack Obama on Thursday that extending a popular payroll tax cut would boost the struggling U.S. economy.
12/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that Republican proposals to extend a popular payroll tax cut fell substantially short of what President Barack Obama was proposing.
12/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. officials revived talk on Thursday of sanctioning Iran's central bank but made clear they would only seek to do so in a carefully calibrated way so as not to roil oil markets or harm U.S. allies.
12/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will set a new goal in the worldwide fight against AIDS with an announcement on Thursday of a target to provide treatment for an additional 2 million people by the end of 2013.
12/01/11
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is not aware of a proposal to enter into a security pact with the United States and Australia, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, pouring cold water on statements made by Australia's foreign minister.
12/01/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - Businessmen in sober suits leapt to their feet, jostling with cameras and mobile phones to snap a quick shot as the new U.S. ambassador to China strode to the podium at a hotel ballroom in Jinan, in coastal Shandong province.
12/01/11
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered Myanmar the first rewards for reform on Thursday, saying the United States would back more aid for the reclusive country and consider returning an ambassador after an absence of some two decades.
11/30/11
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain, battling allegations of infidelity, said on Wednesday he would decide whether to continue his campaign after a face-to-face talk with his wife.
11/30/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked U.S. voters on Wednesday to keep believing in the "hope and change" he promised in 2008, saying he needed more time to turn America around.
11/30/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama struck an optimistic note on Wednesday night that lawmakers in Congress could reach agreement to extend payroll tax cuts he said earlier were needed to avoid a "massive blow" to the economy.
11/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A pay freeze for federal workers would be extended for another three years as part of a Senate Republican plan offered on Wednesday to cover the cost of President Barack Obama's call to extend a popular payroll tax cut.
11/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal worker pay freeze would be extended as part of a Senate Republican plan to cover the cost of President Barack Obama's call to extend a popular payroll tax cut, congressional sources said on Wednesday.
11/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic members of a divided U.S. labor board succeeded on Wednesday in advancing a politically charged proposal that could make it easier for unions to organize.
11/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Herman Cain's departure from the presidential campaign would do little to change the 2012 primary race, as his support would be carved up among the Republican field, an analysis of Reuters/Ipsos poll data said on Wednesday.
11/30/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese Defense Ministry criticized on Wednesday the United States and Australia for upgrading their military ties, warning that such steps could undermine trust and reflected Cold War thinking.
11/30/11
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years Wednesday, launching an historic mission to press the reclusive country's new leaders to sever illicit contacts with North Korea and deliver on reforms.
11/30/11
NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - Myanmar's new capital, Naypyitaw, translates as "Abode of Kings," fitting for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to begin historic talks that could restore some luster to one of the world's most reclusive states.
11/30/11
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the United States was keeping its promise to withdraw its troops by the end of the year and the countries were beginning a new phase in their relationship.
11/29/11
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney opened fire on surging rival Newt Gingrich on Tuesday, calling him a "lifelong politician" who lacks credibility on how the U.S. economy works.
11/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in Congress on Tuesday threw their support behind a payroll tax cut extension, trying to blunt charges ahead of 2012 elections of favoring wealthy Americans over middle-class workers.
11/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential contender Herman Cain told aides on Tuesday he would reassess the viability of his struggling campaign after an Atlanta woman accused him of conducting a 13-year extramarital affair.
11/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Barney Frank hit back at speculation on Tuesday that his departure next year would undermine the sweeping Wall Street reform law he sponsored.
11/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Allowing payroll tax cuts to expire would hurt the U.S. economy and further dent hiring, and may make the United States more vulnerable to outside shocks, President Barack Obama's top economist said on Tuesday.
11/29/11
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Rick Perry vowed to deport all illegal immigrants detained in the country if elected president as he sought on Tuesday to burnish his conservative credentials on immigration ahead of the 2012 Republican contest.
11/29/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jimmy Lee, a veteran Wall Street investment banker, and three other top executives at JPMorgan Chase & Co are hosting a $2,500-per-person reception for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in two weeks.
11/29/11
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday in a visit to mark the end of the U.S. war in Iraq as troops complete withdrawal by year-end.
11/29/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - Heads of China's solar industry on Tuesday said they strongly oppose an investigation by the U.S. into Chinese-made solar panels and asserted that competitive advantages alone explain their success on the global market.
11/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden travels to Turkey this week amid deepening concern over Syria, before visiting a new Greek leader battling a debt crisis that could unravel the euro zone and sink the U.S. recovery.
11/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A woman accused Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain on Monday of having a 13-year affair with her that ended just months ago, a new charge that could derail his campaign for the White House.
11/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said on Monday a woman will soon emerge to accuse him of having a 13-year affair with her, hinting for the first time that allegations about his past might force him to quit the White House race.
11/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least one Republican member of the congressional debt reduction panel is promising to forge ahead with tax reform after the panel failed to reach a deal to reduce the U.S. deficit.
11/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday expressed concern about the impact of a cross-border attack that killed Pakistani soldiers on relations between the two countries, but said their ties have weathered difficult times in the past.
11/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barney Frank, one of the most colorful members of the House of Representatives, is expected to announce he is quitting after 32 years of representing his Massachusetts district, congressional aides said on Monday.
11/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Representative Barney Frank, who helped to craft the landmark overhaul of financial regulations that bears his name, will not seek re-election in 2012, Democratic aides said on Monday.
11/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will press European Union officials on Monday to reach a definitive solution to their sovereign debt crisis which is emerging as a major 2012 U.S. election worry.
11/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the economy to prosper, major tax reform is emerging as a vital ingredient toward lowering the budget deficit and increasing America's competitiveness.
11/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans will try to spare defense programs by reconfiguring the $1.2 trillion in spending cuts that are to be triggered starting in 2013 by the collapse of a congressional deficit-cutting committee, a leading Republican senator said on Sunday.
11/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Hampshire's largest newspaper endorsed Newt Gingrich in the Republican presidential campaign on Sunday, giving the former House speaker a boost in a state where Mitt Romney has been expected to excel.
11/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, eager to spur growth and hiring, took his daughters on an early Christmas shopping trip on Saturday in Washington as the U.S. retail sector got its vital holiday season underway.
11/26/11
ABOARD THE USS WASP (Reuters) - The 16-ton fighter jet slowed to a stop off the warship's port beam, where it hovered like a floating rock as thousands of pounds of thrust from its engine and lift fan stirred up a cloud of mist from the Atlantic Ocean 100 feet below.
11/25/11
ABOARD THE USS WASP (Reuters) - The 16-ton fighter jet slowed to a stop off the warship's port beam, where it hovered like a floating rock as thousands of pounds of thrust from its engine and lift fan stirred up a cloud of mist from the Atlantic Ocean 100 feet below.
11/24/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's leaders, upstaged by President Barack Obama's "pivot" to Asia, may hope they end up resembling famed basketball player Yao Ming, who while not as nimble as his rivals, smothered them with his size and doggedness.
11/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate plan requiring that all foreign al Qaeda suspects found in the United States be turned over to the military instead of civilian law enforcement could gravely damage counter-terrorism investigations, the Obama administration warned.
11/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was accused on Wednesday of flip-flopping for comments he made in 2007 indicating he was open to a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
11/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official who helped lead President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul will step down from the helm of the Medicare program after Republicans blocked his Senate confirmation for the job.
11/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's campaign said on Wednesday it will not pull a television ad criticized for being dishonest in its use of an out-of-context quote by President Barack Obama.
11/23/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's Mormonism could hurt the Republican candidate with evangelical voters in his fight for party's presidential nomination, but those voters would favor him over President Barack Obama in the general election, a poll released Wednesday concluded.
11/23/11
(Reuters) - In October 1984, Iowa's governor, Terry Branstad, made his first trip to China. He and his wife flew to Beijing and took an old steamer train about 200 miles southwest to Shijiazhuang, a city in the Hebei province.
11/23/11
(Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will pick up the endorsement of Senator John Thune in Iowa later on Wednesday in a boost to his campaign for the 2012 White House race, a local newspaper reported.
11/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich finally reached front-runner status this week after a long climb and may now have drawn the wrath of conservatives by professing a moderate position on illegal immigration.
11/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican presidential hopefuls meet on Tuesday for their second foreign policy debate in 10 days, with Newt Gingrich looking to extend a campaign surge that has propelled him to a lead over Mitt Romney in polls for the 2012 race.
11/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans blame the failure of the debt "super committee" on everyone involved, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday, despite the best efforts of Democrats and Republicans to point fingers at each other.
11/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans blame the failure of the U.S. congressional debt "super committee" on Republican and Democratic lawmakers and President Barack Obama, although more than a third said it lowered their opinion of the president, according to Reuters/Ipsos poll results on Tuesday.
11/22/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday sentenced Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a former Chicago fundraiser for President Barack Obama, to 10-1/2 years in prison for corruption and extortion.
11/22/11
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will offer what guidance he can on how to resolve the European debt crisis when he meets the EU's top officials at a summit in Washington next week, the U.S. ambassador to the EU said on Tuesday.
11/22/11
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's ruling conservatives rammed a controversial free trade deal with the United States through parliament on Tuesday as legislators scuffled and one opposition MP let off a tear gas device, briefly clearing the chamber.
11/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican presidential hopefuls meet on Tuesday for their second foreign policy debate in 10 days, with Newt Gingrich looking to extend a campaign surge that has propelled him to a lead over Mitt Romney in polls for the 2012 race.
11/22/11
By Richard Cowan, Thomas Ferraro, Tim Reid and Donna Smith
11/21/11
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (Reuters) - By the late 1990s, Mitt Romney had succeeded in business, failed in politics, and reached a crossroads. The path he took was to the Olympics.
11/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers abandoned their high-profile effort to rein in the country's ballooning debt on Monday in a sign that Washington likely will not be able to resolve a dispute over taxes and spending until 2013.
11/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic strategists are wasting no time in trying to package the failure of the deficit-cutting "super committee" to their advantage as they look ahead to the 2012 U.S. elections.
11/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday ordered new U.S. sanctions on Iran's energy and petrochemical sectors that would punish anyone who helped Iran develop and expand its petroleum resources, the White House said.
11/21/11
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Monday called for the creation of private Social Security accounts for younger workers as a way to spur economic growth through new investment in stocks and bonds.
11/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury Department plans to designate Iran as an area of "primary money laundering concern" on Monday, a U.S. official said, a move allowing it to take steps to further isolate the Iranian financial sector.
11/21/11
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - China confirmed to visiting U.S. officials that Beijing plans to pour $1.7 trillion into the so-called "strategic sectors" over the coming five years, U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson told reporters on Monday.
11/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A months-long effort to set U.S. finances on a sustainable course appeared likely to end in failure on Monday as lawmakers in Congress were unable to bridge a deep divide over taxes and benefits.
11/20/11
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney, looking to close the deal in the early primary state of New Hampshire, picked up an important endorsement on Sunday from U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte.
11/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House urged a congressional deficit-reduction committee on Sunday to make "tough choices" to complete its task, as the panel remained deadlocked amid widespread expectations of failure.
11/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of a congressional deficit-reduction committee voiced little hope on Sunday with no sign of a breakthrough as they headed toward a widely anticipated failure this week in their bid to cut a deal to reduce the U.S. deficit.
11/20/11
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - Chinese and U.S. officials started meeting on Sunday to grapple with trade disputes that have strained ties between the world's two biggest economies, carrying forward concerns exchanged between leaders at back-to-back Asian summits in the past week.
11/20/11
SURKHROD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Around 1,000 people, mostly students, took to the streets in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday to protest against plans for a long-term partnership deal with the United States, which they fear could lead to an extended presence of U.S. troops.
11/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has roared into the lead of the Republican nominating race, brushing off concerns about his work for a troubled housing company, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
11/19/11
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - China pushed back on Saturday against a week of U.S. pressure to resolve a rancorous dispute over territorial claims in the South China Sea, a crucial, mineral-rich commercial shipping lane at the heart of growing tensions among Asian leaders.
11/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key member of a stalemated congressional panel urged Democrats Saturday to join an attempt by his fellow Republicans to craft a deal to cut the U.S. deficit before next week's deadline.
11/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday the United States has relied too much on buying, consuming and amassing debt in the past decade and must now work harder to restore its manufacturing might to spur exports and create jobs.
11/19/11
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to charm Asia-Pacific leaders this week with Australian slang and memories from his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia in his bid to boost U.S. ties with the fast-growing region.
11/18/11
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - The United States and China are set to face off on Saturday at a regional summit over the thorny issue of how to resolve competing claims to sovereignty of the South China Sea, the latest point of friction between the two powerful nations.
11/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans to sanction Iran's petrochemical industry, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, seeking to raise pressure on Tehran after fresh allegations it may be pursuing nuclear weapons.
11/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A high-profile congressional effort to trim stubborn budget deficits appeared near collapse on Friday as Democrats rejected a scaled-back proposal from Republicans that contained few tax increases.
11/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Energy Secretary Steven Chu is taking the heat for government decisions on Solyndra, but he is unlikely to take the fall for taxpayer losses on a $535 million loan guarantee to the failed solar company.
11/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A measure that would amend the Constitution to require the government to balance its books each year fell short in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday.
11/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House welcomed a resolution on Iran's nuclear program on Friday by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, and said it will increase pressure on Tehran to abandon its drive for an atomic bomb.
11/18/11
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he saw "flickers of progress" in Myanmar, dispatching Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a historic visit that could draw the country out of half a century of global isolation.
11/18/11
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama welcomed on Friday a $21.7 billion jet deal his administration helped broker between Boeing and an Indonesian airline, calling it a "win-win" for U.S. workers and Asian consumers.
11/17/11
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Tensions between the United States and China threaten to spill over into meetings of Asia-Pacific leaders from Friday, with President Barack Obama declaring his intention on the eve of the gathering to assert U.S. influence in the region.
11/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress on Thursday found a rare moment of accord in the budget fights that have paralyzed Washington this year as lawmakers voted to extend government funding through December.
11/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of a U.S. Congress deficit-reduction committee considered scaling back their efforts Thursday amid a Republican split over taxes and mounting doubts of reaching a deal by next week's deadline.
11/17/11
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Tensions between the United States and China threaten to spill over into meetings of Asia-Pacific leaders from Friday, with President Barack Obama declaring his intention on the eve of the gathering to assert U.S. influence in the region.
11/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday found a rare moment of accord in the white-knuckle budget fights that have paralyzed Washington this year as lawmakers voted to extend government funding through December.
11/17/11
GROTON, Connecticut (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta appeared to call China and India "threats" on Thursday, in comments that the Pentagon quickly sought to correct.
11/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans on Thursday sought to lift a U.S. ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling and use related royalties to help finance road and bridge construction.
11/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An advertising campaign that depicts President Barack Obama kissing two male world leaders on the mouth drew a critical response from the White House on Thursday.
11/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans probing how a now-bankrupt solar panel company received a $535 million federal loan guarantee excoriated Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Thursday for his decisions on Solyndra at a hearing packed with media and spectators.
11/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich now leads the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination as support for businessman Herman Cain slips, according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday.
11/16/11
CANBERRA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama announced Thursday that the U.S. military would expand its role in the Asia-Pacific, despite budget cuts, declaring America was "here to stay" as a Pacific power which would help shape the region's future.
11/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Budget talks in the Congress were locked in stalemate on Wednesday amid the disclosure of a Democratic offer last week that drew no Republican interest.
11/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a rare display of cooperation, Republicans and Democrats in Congress overwhelmingly approved a limited jobs bill on Wednesday that would help some veterans find work but otherwise do little to bring down the nation's 9 percent unemployment rate.
11/16/11
NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican Rick Perry sought on Wednesday to boost his lagging presidential campaign by sounding a populist note in New Hampshire.
11/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 140 millionaires asked a divided U.S. Congress on Wednesday to increase their taxes for the sake of the nation.
11/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Energy Department wants to sell $500 million worth of oil from strategic reserves to help generate revenue, a little-noticed provision in a spending bill highlighted by two senators on Wednesday.
11/16/11
URBANDALE, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich acknowledged on Wednesday that he had received consulting fees from troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac for providing "strategic advice."
11/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said it may take similar skills to navigate Washington politics as it does to make advances in physics research, a field in which he won a Nobel Prize in 1997.
11/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Contributors to President Barack Obama's campaign did not influence the decisions on government aid to the now-bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra, Energy Secretary Steven Chu told National Public Radio.
11/16/11
CANBERRA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama landed in Australia on Wednesday where he is expected to announce a deepening of U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific, starting with U.S. Marines rotating in and out of the Australian port of Darwin -- a gateway to Asia.
11/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat in Congress said on Tuesday he saw few signs of progress on a U.S. deficit-cutting deal, as negotiators struggled to bridge their differences on tax increases and benefit cuts.
11/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. cable TV network and a senior Republican senator asked the Supreme Court Tuesday to allow its first live broadcast when it hears arguments in the legal dispute over President Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare overhaul law.
11/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta rejected accusations at a heated Senate hearing on Tuesday that U.S. politics helped drive the decision to completely withdraw from Iraq this year without leaving any troops behind as trainers.
11/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The air may finally be coming out of Herman Cain's 2012 balloon.
11/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional leaders huddled on Tuesday to see if a deficit-cutting deal is possible as negotiators sought a way to bridge a divide over tax increases and benefit cuts.
11/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill to block multi-million dollar executive pay packages at government-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moved forward on Tuesday even as their regulator defended them as needed to retain top talent and limit taxpayer losses.
11/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jack Lew, President Barack Obama's White House budget chief, said on Tuesday the congressional debt-reduction "super committee" was struggling to reach a deal before its November 23 deadline.
11/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's top economic adviser said on Tuesday that the European debt crisis was the leading risk to the U.S. recovery, and Obama's jobs bill would provide important insurance against further risks.
11/15/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will unveil plans to deepen America's military presence in the Asia-Pacific region during a trip this week to Australia, where he hopes to bolster ties with a staunch U.S. ally.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional negotiators agreed late on Monday to extend funding for many U.S. government programs to mid-December in a bipartisan move to avert any shutdown of agency operations that would otherwise occur by this weekend.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide the fate of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, with an election-year ruling due by July on the U.S. healthcare system's biggest overhaul in nearly 50 years.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's sharp words on China may burnish a tough image as the United States heads into the 2012 election but they carry risks as both Washington and Beijing face a tricky period of political transition.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spelled out a doomsday scenario Monday that he said could occur if Congress fails to take action to avoid a $1 trillion cut in defense spending over the next decade.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's sharp words on China may burnish a tough image as the United States heads into the 2012 election but they carry risks as both Washington and Beijing face a tricky period of political transition.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich leads the field in a national survey released on Monday, the latest boost for the former house speaker's surging campaign for the White House.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain faced possibly damaging new allegations on Monday from the former boyfriend of a woman who had accused Cain of sexually inappropriate behavior.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor predicted on Monday that a deficit-reduction committee of Congress will reach a deal by its November 23 deadline.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took a verbal swing at President Barack Obama on Monday, saying that the Democrat and his allies have an "obsession" with attacking him.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide the fate of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, with an election-year ruling due by July on the healthcare system's biggest overhaul in nearly 50 years.
11/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will announce a $1 billion program on Monday to support healthcare innovation to lower costs and boost the training and deployment of workers, a White House official said.
11/14/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hit back on Sunday at criticism by Republican presidential candidates of his handling of Iran and other international issues, and said a new Congress may be needed to heal the U.S. economy.
11/13/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - China and Russia share the United States' objective of ensuring Iran does not make weapons via its nuclear program and Washington will consult with them on how to achieve that, President Barack Obama said on Sunday.
11/13/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - The head of Boeing chose his words carefully as he explained to President Barack Obama the "dilemma" that Corporate America faces in trying to do business in China.
11/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is not the type of person who would sexually harass women, his wife Gloria Cain, said in excerpts of a Fox News interview released on Sunday.
11/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers on the deficit-reduction "Super Committee" said on Sunday they were at a difficult point in negotiations but had not given up reaching an agreement by this month's deadline.
11/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney has a growing lead in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, and almost half of the party's voters expect him to be the nominee, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
11/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's disastrous debate performance last week has hurt his campaign, but may not be fatal, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
11/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan took a lot of criticism in Saturday's Republican presidential debate, with a leading candidate saying it was nearly a failed state and another suggesting the United States cut its foreign aid to zero.
11/12/11
SPARTANBURG, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates said on Saturday they would stop Iran from developing an atomic bomb but differed over how to do it in a debate that tested their knowledge of world hotspots.
11/12/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday that he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed Afghanistan, Iran and Syria in their meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
11/12/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and eight other leaders said on Saturday they have made good progress on a groundbreaking pan-Pacific trade deal and expected to finish in 2012.
11/12/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said Saturday the broad outlines of a deal had been reached on the TranspAcific Partnership trade initiative and he predicted success for the agreement.
11/12/11
(Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates hold another debate on Saturday, this one at Wofford College in South Carolina. Here are six things to consider before the 90-minute gathering, which is sponsored by CBS News and National Journal.
11/12/11
GREENVILLE, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Mitt Romney has a new challenge to contend with as presidential candidates brace for another debate on Saturday -- the rise of Newt Gingrich.
11/11/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded on Friday that Iran respond within days to a U.N. nuclear watchdog's accusations of atomic weapons work, and said Washington was consulting allies on further steps to pressure Tehran.
11/11/11
CORONADO, California (Reuters) - With Europe mired in crisis, President Barack Obama is launching a charm offensive this week to hitch the U.S. economy to opportunities in Asia he hopes can help power the recovery he needs for re-election.
11/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The move to delay a decision on a new oil pipeline from Canada may bolster support among President Barack Obama's liberal-leaning base in 2012 and help offset Republican criticism of his job-creation record.
11/11/11
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spoke with congressional Super Committee members on Friday to encourage them to strike a deal to cut the U.S. deficit, the White House said.
11/11/11
ARLINGTON, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged business owners on Friday to hire military personnel returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, as he marked Veterans Day and declared that "the tide of war is receding."
11/11/11
(Reuters) - Richard Smith, a retired attorney and Navy veteran, has a message for Republican Senator Jon Kyl and the rest of the special bipartisan committee in Congress that is trying to reach a deal to cut the deficit.
11/11/11
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The head of NATO says he remains optimistic about U.S.-European defense cooperation, particularly in missile defense, in spite of the risk of massive new U.S. budget cuts and fears of recession in Europe next year.
11/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With Europe mired in crisis, President Barack Obama is launching a charm offensive this week to hitch the U.S. economy to growth opportunities in Asia that he hopes can help power the recovery he needs for re-election.
11/11/11
GREENVILLE, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry vowed to press on with his campaign on Thursday a day after a major debate stumble, and turned to humor to try to answer doubts about his 2012 bid.
11/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has hired a high-profile defamation lawyer to keep an eye on the sexual harassment accusations made public by two women this week.
11/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has hired a high-profile defamation lawyer to keep an eye on the sexual harassment accusations made public by two women this week.
11/10/11
HONOLULU (Reuters) - With the United States facing a multipronged challenge from China, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared on Thursday that the 21st century will be "America's Pacific century" and said the region's problems require U.S. leadership.
11/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Herman Cain has hired a high-profile defamation lawyer to keep an eye on the sexual harassment accusations made public by two women this week.
11/10/11
GREENVILLE, South Carolina (Reuters) - Rick Perry vowed to press on with his campaign on Thursday a day after a major debate stumble, and turned to humor to try to answer doubts about his 2012 bid.
11/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dennis Ross, a senior aide to President Barack Obama on the Middle East, has decided to step down from his post, the White House said on Thursday.
11/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama believes harsh immigration stances of Republicans will drive Latino votes toward him in next year's election.
11/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry vowed to press on with his campaign on Thursday a day after a devastating debate stumble that rocked his already endangered 2012 White House bid.
11/09/11
(Reuters) - Presidential candidate Herman Cain, battling allegations of sexual harassment, said he regretted calling House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi "Princess Nancy" in a Republican debate on Wednesday.
11/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading Republican candidates for the presidency said on Wednesday the United States should stay out of the financial problems in Europe and resist any calls for direct infusions of cash.
11/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney laid down a foreign policy marker on Wednesday, saying that if elected he would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
11/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will seek to promote U.S. trade relations with Asian Pacific partners during an APEC summit he will host on Hawaii, the White House said on Wednesday.
11/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will raise his concerns about China's yuan currency with Chinese leader Hu Jintao at this weekend's APEC summit in Hawaii, the White House said on Wednesday.
11/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans on a debt-cutting "super committee" must agree to more revenue increases and Democrats to bigger cuts to social programs if there is to be any chance of a deal, a top Republican said on Wednesday.
11/09/11
ROCHESTER, Michigan (Reuters) - Republican Herman Cain will try to move past an escalating sexual harassment controversy on Wednesday during a U.S. presidential debate on economic issues held in the hard-hit manufacturing state of Michigan.
11/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will ask government agencies on Wednesday to find cost savings by cutting back in areas ranging from travel and vehicles to purchases of promotional coffee mugs and gadgets.
11/08/11
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A powerful Republican state Senate leader who spearheaded Arizona's controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants appeared headed for defeat on Tuesday in a historic recall election, early returns showed.
11/08/11
COLUMBUS (Reuters) - Ohio voters appeared to be on track on Tuesday to repeal a law limiting collective bargaining rights for public workers, handing a major victory to labor unions.
11/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Investigators revealed on Tuesday that the military's main mortuary mishandled remains of war dead, losing track of body parts twice and wrongfully removing a limb of a Marine.
11/08/11
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (Reuters) - Businessman Herman Cain defiantly denied sexual harassment allegations against him on Tuesday and vowed they would not force him to withdraw from the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
11/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator John McCain predicted on Tuesday a third political party will emerge in response to Americans' economic frustrations and said it might as well be called "the Fed-Up Party."
11/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deficit-reduction talks intensified in Congress on Tuesday as lawmakers focused on raising additional tax revenues, but there was no clear sign yet that the negotiations will succeed.
11/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator John McCain predicted on Tuesday a third political party will emerge in response to Americans' economic frustrations and said it might as well be called "the Fed-Up Party."
11/08/11
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain angrily denounced sexual harassment allegations against him on Tuesday and vowed they would not push him out of the 2012 race.
11/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Forty percent of Republicans view presidential candidate Herman Cain less favorably after watching a video in which a woman accuses him of groping her in a car, according to Reuters/Ipsos poll results released on Tuesday.
11/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley's delegation of power this week resulted from political missteps that angered fellow Democrats, sparking a shakeup that may help President Barack Obama re-connect with core supporters.
11/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An appeals court on Tuesday upheld a lower court decision that had dismissed a challenge to President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law and found the minimum coverage requirement was constitutional.
11/08/11
(Reuters) - Two-thirds of Americans believe it is important for a presidential candidate to have strong religious beliefs, even if those beliefs are different than their own, a survey released on Tuesday found.
11/08/11
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Americans began voting on Tuesday in the final major elections before presidential contests begin in 2012, with most attention on ballot initiatives in Ohio to curb union power and Mississippi that could outlaw abortion.
11/08/11
MADISON, Wis (Reuters) - Republican Governor Scott Walker could headline a cast of Wisconsin lawmakers who may be fighting for their political lives in a sequel next year to last summer's historic state recall elections.
11/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will highlight his proposals on education in a visit to Philadelphia on Tuesday aimed at bolstering his support in a state that could be important to his re-election prospects in 2012.
11/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One year before voters decide whether to re-elect President Barack Obama to a second term, a majority have little faith in his handling of the economy but he still leads his Republican rivals, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Monday.
11/07/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A woman accused Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain on Monday of reaching under her skirt in 1997, adding to sexual harassment allegations that are threatening to derail his campaign.
11/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it expects a U.N. nuclear agency report this week to echo U.S. concerns about the direction of Iran's nuclear program.
11/07/11
DOVER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Far from the glamorous receptions he once hosted as an ambassador, Jon Huntsman is braving hungry goats and hard-bitten voters in New Hampshire in a risky go-for-broke strategy that will decide the fate of his bid for the White House.
11/07/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A fourth woman to accuse Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment will outline allegations against him at a news conference in New York on Monday, her lawyer said.
11/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will announce three more executive actions on Monday to help veterans find work as he pushes Congress to pass tax credits for veterans to spur hiring, a White House official said.
11/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A special committee charged with reducing the federal deficit is entering a critical week for reaching a deal but has not considered extending its November 23 deadline, a panel member said on Monday.
11/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deep beneath the Capitol is a red-carpeted room that recently reverberated to the sound of Democrats and Republicans singing together, and then to their angry exchanges over how to fix the U.S. budget.
11/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's efforts next week to persuade Asia-Pacific leaders of his commitment to the region may be undercut by distractions in Washington, where budget fights may come to a head while he is away.
11/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters opposed to a new oil pipeline from Canada to the United States circled the White House complex on Sunday to press President Barack Obama to reject the project on environmental grounds.
11/06/11
Nov 6_(Reuters) - A Republican is expected to win the governor's race in Mississippi on Tuesday and a Democrat in Kentucky, maintaining the status quo in the two states and offering few clues of trends for 2012, analysts said.
11/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Allegations that Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain sexually harassed women in the 1990s have begun to damage his bid for the White House, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
11/05/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ron Paul was declared the winner on Saturday of a weeklong Republican presidential straw poll in Democratic President Barack Obama's home state of Illinois.
11/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virginia's state Senate elections next week are shaping up as an early signal for President Barack Obama ahead of national elections next year.
11/05/11
(Reuters) - Mississippi on Tuesday could be the first state in the nation to define a fertilized egg as a person, a controversial concept aimed at outlawing abortion, some types of birth control and infertility methods that result in the loss of embryos.
11/05/11
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A top Arizona Republican lawmaker who championed the state's crackdown against illegal immigration is fighting to keep his job in a recall election on Tuesday that is believed to be too close to call.
11/04/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Five Republican presidential hopefuls auditioned for Iowa's party insiders at a fund-raising dinner Friday, sparing each other from criticism but dishing up plenty of red-meat attacks on Washington and President Barack Obama.
11/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A woman who accused Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment suffered "very specific" instances of unwanted advances despite Cain's denials, her lawyer said on Friday.
11/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Major General Peter Fuller, a top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, was relieved of his duties on Friday after making comments critical of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a senior U.S. defense official said.
11/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Major General Peter Fuller, a top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, was relieved of his duties Friday after making comments critical of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a senior U.S. defense official said.
11/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A woman who accused Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment said she was the victim of "very specific" instances of unwanted advances by Cain, her lawyer said on Friday.
11/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A consumer group asked regulators on Friday to probe allegations that Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain got illegal campaign cash from an influential conservative group backed by the wealthy brothers who run Koch Industries.
11/04/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Something is missing in Iowa's kickoff presidential nominating contest, and the Republican candidates are running out of time to find it.
11/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's fortunes are improving slightly, although he would face a tough struggle for re-election next year if Mitt Romney were the Republican nominee, a Reuters/Ipsos poll said on Friday.
11/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A series of messy budget showdowns earlier this year have left many in Washington pessimistic that politicians can deliver on two pressing priorities: taming surging deficits and spurring job growth.
11/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, facing sexual harassment accusations, is weighing a lawsuit against the news outlet that first reported the claims, a spokesman said on Friday.
11/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The longer the Republican presidential hopefuls battle over sexual harassment claims against Herman Cain, the better things look for President Barack Obama as he mounts his campaign for re-election.
11/03/11
CANNES, France (Reuters) - White House officials bristled on Thursday at the suggestion U.S. power within the G20 had been diminished by budget woes back home, as Europe looked toward an economically self-confident China for help.
11/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stung by months of protests, President Barack Obama's advisers are worried that administration approval for a planned oil pipeline from Canada could cost him political support from Democrats in 2012.
11/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of a powerful conservative voting bloc in the House of Representatives on Thursday warned against including tax or revenue increases in a deficit-reduction plan that is due by November 23.
11/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Tennessee man has been arrested and charged with threatening House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and his family, the FBI said on Thursday.
11/03/11
BOSTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday said slashing subsidies for arts programs and Amtrak passenger rail service, along with funds for family planning, would be among his budget-cutting moves if elected.
11/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House charged on Thursday that the nomination of President Barack Obama's choice to head a new consumer financial protection agency was being "held hostage" by Republicans as it sought to tap into public anger at Wall Street excess.
11/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a $60 billion White House proposal to repair crumbling bridges, highways and other transportation systems as President Barack Obama's job creation agenda hit another obstacle in Congress.
11/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday a deficit-reduction deal being negotiated in the Congress could have revenue increases but "there clearly is a limit."
11/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American soldiers in Iraq are packing up military gear and shutting down bases as the United States races to remove all but a couple hundred troops by year's end.
11/03/11
CANNES, France, Nov 3 (Reuters) - White House officials bristled on Thursday at the suggestion U.S. power within the G20 had been diminished by budget woes back home, as Europe looked toward an economically self-confident China for help.
11/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has hauled $1 million in donations in recent days, a spokesman said on Thursday, despite accusations of sexual harassment that have consumed his campaign.
11/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama faces the delicate task of pushing European leaders to solve their debt crisis without appearing to lecture them at a summit of world economic powers this week.
11/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential candidate Herman Cain accused rival Rick Perry's campaign on Wednesday of being behind explosive sexual harassment claims as the 2012 White House race erupted into acrimony.
11/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama faces the delicate task of pushing European leaders to solve their debt crisis without appearing to lecture them at a summit of world economic powers this week.
11/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's top science official said U.S.-China science cooperation benefits the United States, rejecting moves to curb the exchanges by lawmakers who say it strengthens China's military.
11/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service would be allowed to tap into an estimated multibillion-dollar retirement fund surplus to ease its financial troubles under a bipartisan bill unveiled in the Senate on Wednesday.
11/02/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain's struggles could open the door in Iowa for rival Rick Perry, who has stepped up his visits and advertising two months before the state kicks off a wide-open nominating race.
11/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Expectations of a successful deficit-reduction deal by a special panel of Congress "are low," a leading Democrat in the House of Representatives said on Wednesday.
11/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is expected to say it is "deeply disappointed" by Israel's acceleration of settlement building after UNESCO's vote to give full membership to the Palestinians, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
11/01/11
(Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry on Tuesday shrugged off jokes about an edited video of a speech he gave in New Hampshire last week that has gone viral on the Internet, saying that a video can be manipulated to show anything.
11/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A crisis facing U.S. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain threatened to escalate on Tuesday even as he declared himself the victim of a "smear campaign" over allegations of sexual harassment.
11/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday health and economic factors would be taken into account when he decides whether to approve TransCanada Corp's Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline proposal.
11/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With less than a month to go before a congressional "super committee" must present a plan to slash huge U.S. deficits and no clear solution in sight, deficit experts warned on Tuesday of dire consequences if the panel fails.
11/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government would spend less on law enforcement, housing, scientific research and a range of other activities under a trio of bills approved on Tuesday by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
11/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's mother, Dorothy Howell Rodham, died on Tuesday at the age of 92, the Clinton family said in a statement.
11/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain faced fresh pressure on Tuesday to clearly explain allegations of sexual harassment against him to contain a worsening crisis in his 2012 bid.
11/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has asked the Pentagon for initial recommendations for the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan in 2014, a first step in planning the final U.S. drawdown there despite a bleak security outlook.
11/01/11
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - In contrast to 2008, Democratic President Barack Obama cannot count on a wave of support for his re-election bid next year from well-known moderate Republicans.
10/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet top Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to plot strategy on how to advance his jobs proposals that are stalled in Congress amid Republican resistance.
10/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six members of a U.S. congressional "super committee" have struck out on their own in a new effort to come up with a plan to slash America's huge deficits before a November 23 deadline.
10/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Rick Perry's tax plan would cost $995 billion in foregone federal revenues in 2015, based on current law, according to an independent study released on Monday.
10/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turkey must do more to cement democratic gains and smooth prickly ties with neighbors such as Israel if it is to emerge as a guarantor of Middle Eastern stability, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday.
10/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Herman Cain denounced sexual harassment accusations from the 1990s as a "witch hunt" on Monday and broke into a gospel song to deflect what has become the toughest challenge of his presidential campaign.
10/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six members of a U.S. congressional debt reduction "super committee" have struck out on their own in a new effort to come up with a plan to slash America's huge deficits before a November 23 deadline.
10/31/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - If they could somehow bring back a past president, many Americans would sooner have a Republican in office than a Democrat, a survey released on Monday showed.
10/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it had stopped funding UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, following its vote to grant the Palestinians full membership.
10/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will hold bilateral meetings with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel while in France for the G20 this week, a White House spokesman said Monday.
10/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will sign an executive order on Monday to tackle an escalating shortage of life-saving medicines, including cancer treatments, according to a White House official.
10/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two women employees complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Herman Cain when he headed the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, Politico said on Sunday.
10/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain on Sunday said he was not promoting smoking in an ad that showed his chief of staff puffing on a cigarette.
10/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates showed Sunday how they plan to attack President Barack Obama's credentials as commander in chief by criticizing his actions on Iraq and Libya.
10/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said on Sunday his plan for a 20 percent flat tax option would achieve a balanced budget by 2020 even if it brought in lower revenues initially.
10/29/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican White House hopefuls Herman Cain and Mitt Romney are in a tight race in Iowa, which kicks off next year's presidential nominating contests, according to an opinion poll published on Saturday.
10/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior lawmakers urged the Obama administration Saturday to insist Russia meet high standards in its bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), saying they worried about the impact on American jobs and businesses.
10/29/11
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry pressed a conservative social agenda at an appearance in New Hampshire, calling for the repeal of the state's 2009 law legalizing same-sex marriage.
10/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, seizing on a report that showed America's rich getting richer while the rest of the country struggled to get ahead, said on Saturday that Republicans were thwarting a fairer approach.
10/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Herman Cain's quirky "smoking ad" may have mystified many Americans, but according to a new Reuters/Ipsos online poll, it has drawn a sharp line between Republicans who identify with the Tea Party and those who don't.
10/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Herman Cain's quirky "smoking ad" may have mystified many Americans, but according to a new Reuters/Ipsos online poll, it has drawn a sharp line between Republicans who identify with the Tea Party and those who don't.
10/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The congressional "super committee" charged with slashing the U.S. deficit have heard from legions of lobbyists and lawmakers bent on influencing the outcome. Now members are getting an earful from Republican and Democratic leaders who want them to reach a deal and help restore voters' faith in Congress before the 2012 elections.
10/27/11
(Reuters) - Americans' opinion of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform in October reached its lowest point since the law passed in March 2010, according to a monthly poll by the non-profit, non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
10/27/11
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama may be smarting because his sweeping jobs bill has mostly stalled in Congress, but the Dodd-Frank bill -- much maligned as a job killer -- could boost the kind of work Democrats find hard to tout.
10/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Herman Cain tout their real-world business experience as the cure for an ailing U.S. economy, but political history suggests it is rarely a deciding factor in elections.
10/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, who admits he is not the "slickest" debater, may not participate in all the remaining 2012 debates because there are so many.
10/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday passed a minor element of President Barack Obama's jobs bill as consensus remained elusive on other efforts to boost the struggling economy.
10/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in Congress are calling for $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction, including significant cuts to healthcare programs for the elderly and poor along with tax changes that they argue would boost the economy, congressional aides said on Thursday.
10/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican in the House of Representatives on Thursday proposed legislation to retool the mortgage market and pave the way for a larger private sector role in the housing finance system.
10/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday it was encouraged by data showing the U.S. economy grew in the third quarter of 2011 but said faster expansion was needed to recover jobs and fortify the global economy.
10/27/11
SEOUL (Reuters) - The Pentagon will unveil a five-year budget to Congress in February that will include about $250-$260 billion in cuts, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday.
10/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A growing number of U.S. lawmakers do not think another downgrade of the country's AAA rating will harm America's economy, raising questions about how much pressure Congress is under to fix the intractable budget deficit.
10/27/11
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - For three days last summer, Mayor Linda Thompson joined religious leaders to pray for a "cooperative spirit" among city leaders, the business community and residents here in Pennsylvania's state capital.
10/26/11
DENVER (Reuters) - With Hispanic voters upset at Republican presidential candidates over immigration, President Barack Obama played to a Latino audience on a trip to the West this week to shore up support from a group that is key to his re-election hopes.
10/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leads his campaign rivals in the four states that kick off the 2012 Republican presidential race, according to CNN/Time/ORC polls released on Wednesday.
10/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tax rates would be slashed and U.S. corporations would get big tax breaks on their offshore profits under a plan offered on Wednesday by a senior congressional Republican.
10/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican tax writer is set to lay out more details of a plan for tax law changes, including letting multinational corporations pay little or no taxes on their overseas profits.
10/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats are proposing up to $3 trillion in measures to slash the U.S. budget deficit, including revenue increases and significant cuts to the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly.
10/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats are proposing $2.5 trillion to $3 trillion in measures to reduce the budget deficit, including revenue increases and significant cuts to Medicare, congressional aides told Reuters.
10/25/11
(Reuters) - Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, the Ohio man who as "Joe the Plumber" famously pressed then-presidential candidate Barack Obama on tax policy in 2008, said on Tuesday he was running for Congress.
10/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is bombarding Americans with job initiatives that may lack economic heft but show him as an activist leader compared to a 'do-nothing' Congress as he campaigns for re-election in 2012.
10/25/11
(Reuters) - George McGovern, the longtime Senator from South Dakota who ran as the Democratic Party candidate for president in 1972, has been hospitalized for fatigue, a hospital spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
10/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is taking steps to ease the burden of student loans, the White House said on Tuesday, potentially helping millions of cash-strapped college graduates in a tough economy.
10/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is taking steps to ease the burden of student loans, the White House said Tuesday, potentially helping millions of cash-strapped college graduates in a tough economy.
10/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to use his executive powers to ease the burden of student loan repayments by allowing loans to be bundled and by accelerating an income-based repayment program, the White House said on Tuesday.
10/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers aired U.S. grievances over subsidies, piracy and other Chinese trade practices on Tuesday, but said President Barack Obama must take the lead on tackling China's exchange rate policies.
10/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Herman Cain, who became a surprising front-runner in the Republican presidential race without running a traditional campaign, is scrambling to assemble a team with just 10 weeks before the first crucial nominating contests in January.
10/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday assailed President Barack Obama's "reset" policy with Russia as contrary to U.S. interests and values and urged him to rethink his approach in light of Vladimir Putin's impending return to the Kremlin.
10/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination remains wide open, with the vast majority of the party's voters undecided about who they will support, a poll released on Tuesday showed.
10/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama will take executive action to help military veterans find work, bypassing congressional Republicans to show voters he is serious about creating jobs.
10/24/11
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Barack racked up cash for his re-election campaign at fundraisers in Nevada and California on Monday, declaring that he had kept 60 percent of the promises he made as a candidate in 2008.
10/24/11
GREENVILLE, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican Rick Perry outlined a broad economic proposal on Monday to let Americans pay a flat 20 percent income tax rate and allow corporations to bring profits home from abroad at a discount.
10/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. homeowners who owe more than their properties are worth got new help on Monday with the government's expansion of a refinancing program in a step that could help up to 1 million borrowers.
10/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will unveil new measures to help struggling homeowners on Monday in the first leg of a campaign-style swing through western states that may be crucial to his re-election in 2012.
10/24/11
LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - David Prend is one of the most respected investors in green technology - but even he picks some losers.
10/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama this week will announce a series of actions to help the economy that will not require congressional approval, including an initiative to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages, according to a White House official.
10/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama welcomed the declaration of liberation by Libya's new leaders Sunday and urged the transition government to respect human rights and work toward democracy after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
10/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden left open the possibility on Sunday that he might run for the White House in 2016.
10/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States pledged on Sunday to maintain a strong security relationship with Iraq for years to come despite the scheduled pullout of all U.S. troops and warned Iran not to try to exploit the situation.
10/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday the United States supports a possible U.N. investigation into the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
10/22/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republicans Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann took veiled swipes at surging presidential rival Herman Cain on Saturday as six of the party's White House hopefuls courted social conservatives at an Iowa forum.
10/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to cast himself as a strong leader on foreign policy, highlighting a pullout from Iraq and the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as success stories.
10/22/11
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, seen as a rising star in the Republican Party, declared victory Saturday in his state's gubernatorial election.
10/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Nevada Republican Party pushed the date of its presidential caucus back to February 4, bowing under pressure not to undermine the New Hampshire primary that has traditionally been one of the first key contests for presidential contenders.
10/22/11
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Stunning accusations that a top California Democratic campaign treasurer looted the war chests of her big-name clients have left candidates across the state scrambling to raise more money as election season looms.
10/22/11
(Reuters) - Voters headed to the polls on Saturday in Louisiana, where Republican Governor Bobby Jindal was expected to easily win reelection without having to compete in a run-off vote.
10/22/11
DUSHANBE (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Tajikistan on Saturday that efforts to crack down on religious freedom might backfire and increase sympathy for radical views that could threaten stability in the Central Asian country.
10/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to cast himself as a strong leader on foreign policy, highlighting a U.S. pullout from Iraq and the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as success stories.
10/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to pull all U.S. troops from Iraq this year, symbolically ending the war but dashing U.S. hopes of leaving a few thousand troops to buttress a still shaky Iraq and offset neighboring Iran's influence.
10/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama delivered on another foreign policy promise on Friday with plans to pull the last U.S. troops from Iraq. But in a re-election campaign all about the weak U.S. economy, he may not get much credit.
10/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has decided to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the year, a White House official said on Friday, after failing to reach a deal with the Iraqi government that would have left a significant force of military trainers in the country.
10/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Paid staff members in New Hampshire for presidential candidate Michele Bachmann have resigned en masse, a Republican familiar with the situation said Friday, in a fresh blow to her 2012 hopes.
10/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed three free trade deals opposed by many of his fellow Democrats in a low-key ceremony on Friday, capping a five-year push by Republicans to get them approved.
10/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tax reform can happen in the United States. President Ronald Reagan and a divided Congress defiantly proved it 25 years ago this Saturday.
10/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A proposed overhaul of the tax system is catching fire among some Republican presidential candidates who see its potential to win over voters with its sheer simplicity, but there is skepticism among experts that a flat tax will prove a winning strategy.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans and Democrats rejected each other's economic stimulus bills on Thursday, underscoring their inability to craft a bipartisan solution on job creation before next year's elections.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats in the Senate rejected a Republican bid to repeal a 3 percent business withholding tax set to become law on January 1, 2013.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans blocked a popular piece of President Barack Obama's stimulus plan -- one to raise taxes on millionaires to create or protect 400,000 jobs for teachers and firefighters.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate, on a bipartisan vote of 74-26 on Thursday, confirmed former energy company executive John Bryson as commerce secretary, despite the objection of some Republicans due to his background as an environmentalist.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted 74-26 on Thursday to confirm former energy company executive John Bryson as U.S. commerce secretary, over the objection of some Republicans due to his background as an environmentalist.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hard bargaining by a special U.S. deficit-reduction panel is entering a more intensive stage, sources in Congress said Thursday, as a top budget official said analysis of some savings ideas was underway.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The death of Muammar Gaddafi after months of U.S. and NATO airstrikes may provide the Obama administration a needed foreign policy coup, but it is unlikely to alter the U.S. quest to keep Libya at arm's length.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If ever there was a roller-coaster of a relationship it was the one the United States had with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, which went from bombing to befriending to supporting bombing again.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tempers flared anew between the warring camps of Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry based on dueling videos, a sign of their deep-seated antipathy toward each other.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hailed Muammar Gaddafi's death as a warning to authoritarian leaders across the Middle East that iron-fisted rule "inevitably comes to an end" and as vindication for his cautious U.S. strategy on Libya.
10/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's grim warnings about the state of the U.S. economy could backfire on him by undermining a key goal of his re-election campaign -- restoring the confidence of Americans.
10/20/11
(Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed legislation on Thursday that allows for the takeover of the capital city of Harrisburg, according to the governor's spokeswoman Kelli Roberts.
10/20/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Barack Obama's approval ratings are down, Republican challengers are beating him in polls and the U.S. economy is in a slump, yet the Democratic president's re-election campaign headquarters is buzzing.
10/19/11
KABUL (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will discuss possible peace talks and Afghanistan's tricky ties with Pakistan when she meets Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other key leaders in Kabul on Thursday, U.S. officials said.
10/19/11
KABUL (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will discuss possible peace talks and Afghanistan's tricky ties with Pakistan when she meets Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other key leaders in Kabul on Thursday, U.S. officials said.
10/19/11
HAMPTON, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama prepared to cast a wider net Wednesday to shore up support in electoral battlegrounds as he wraps up a tour of Southern states that could be critical to his 2012 re-election chances.
10/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Perry put the political obituaries on hold on Tuesday, firing a volley of attacks at Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney in his strongest and most energetic debate performance.
10/18/11
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Upstart Republican front-runner Herman Cain on Tuesday came under sharp attack from his rivals at a 2012 debate and struggled to explain his tax reform plan, the signature proposal of his campaign.
10/18/11
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - The campaign issue for many Republicans in New Hampshire continues to be not taxes or healthcare or border security, but the state's right to its traditional "first in the nation" primary contest.
10/18/11
EMPORIA, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama headed deeper into the 2012 race on Tuesday as he toured electoral battlegrounds of the South, underscoring how long and tough his re-election campaign is likely to be.
10/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Tuesday passed a measure aimed at avoiding another botched operation to track guns smuggled from the United States, many of which ended up at crime scenes on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border.
10/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican lawmaker on Tuesday announced a congressional hearing next week on Chinese trade practices he said were hurting American businesses and workers, but stopped short of promising action on Senate currency legislation to deal with the concerns.
10/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is doing what it can to ensure that the first oil rig to drill offshore Cuba will not endanger Florida's pristine beaches that lie only miles away, the top drilling regulator told lawmakers on Tuesday.
10/18/11
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Participants in Tuesday's Republican presidential debate will take part in a classic American political ritual, where the questions are closely vetted for fairness and even the pens and bottled water are regulated.
10/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four months ago, Admiral William McRaven commanded the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. Now, as the new head of U.S. special forces, he argues that his shadowy, secretive warriors are increasingly central to how America and its allies fight.
10/18/11
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Libya on an unannounced visit on Tuesday aimed at cementing a strong U.S.-Libya partnership for the post-Gaddafi era.
10/18/11
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A Republican debate will play out in one of this city's glittering casinos, but the real battleground for next year's U.S. presidential election lies in the foreclosure-racked neighborhoods that sprawl beyond the Las Vegas Strip's bright lights.
10/18/11
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Unlikely Republican front-runner Herman Cain faces close scrutiny on Tuesday when the party's hopefuls for U.S. president in 2012 debate in a gambling city famed for separating winners from losers.
10/17/11
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) Inside the Texas governor's big, black SUV rides a small-town girl who never expected to be first lady of the state. Anita Perry, the wife of Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry, is still a nurse at heart, reaching out to friends and strangers with warmth and health advice. But the quiet blonde who first dated Perry in high school has blossomed over the years into a formidable partner in his political career.
10/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Money is not flowing from people on Wall Street to presidential candidates as freely as in the last White House race, with Republican Mitt Romney outpacing President Barack Obama in the chase for a shrunken pot of cash.
10/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Another week, another Republican presidential debate.
10/17/11
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) Inside the Texas governor's big, black SUV rides a small-town girl who never expected to be first lady of the state. Anita Perry, the wife of Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry, is still a nurse at heart, reaching out to friends and strangers with warmth and health advice. But the quiet blonde who first dated Perry in high school has blossomed over the years into a formidable partner in his political career.
10/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain acknowledged on Sunday his "9-9-9" tax reform plan would raise taxes on some Americans but denied criticism it would help the rich while hurting the poor.
10/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats plan to force a vote this week on a portion of President Barack Obama's stalled $447 billion jobs bill, a senior party aide said on Monday.
10/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will seek to tap into public anger at Wall Street excess to turn up the heat on congressional Republicans as he embarks on a campaign-style bus tour on Monday to rally support for his stalled jobs package.
10/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain acknowledged on Sunday his "9-9-9" tax reform plan would raise taxes on some Americans but denied criticism it would help the rich while hurting the poor.
10/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama gave a partisan-tinged speech to dedicate a new memorial to Martin Luther King Jr., likening the battle for racial equality to his political struggles in a divided Washington.
10/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - December looms as the deadline for tackling a fiscal mess punctuated by a $14.8 trillion national debt. But it's December 2012, not 2011, that is really worth keeping an eye on.
10/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional audit of the Federal Reserve's 12 regional banks looks set to land this week with a whimper instead of a bang as energies and sympathies on Capitol Hill have shifted since the financial crisis that spawned the inquiry.
10/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain acknowledged on Sunday his "9-9-9" tax reform plan would raise taxes on some Americans but denied criticism it would help the rich while hurting the poor.
10/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With pressure mounting for a deficit-reduction deal in Congress, the $300 billion pharmaceutical industry is looking a little like a ship at sea with danger in the water below.
10/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican leader said Sunday he was confident that a congressional "super committee" tasked with slashing U.S. deficits would reach a deal before a November 23 deadline.
10/16/11
WASHINGTON/SANTA CLARA, California (Reuters) - When U.S. restrictions on work permits barred Intel from moving nearly 50 Finnish engineers to the United States this year, the microchip maker reluctantly parked them in a new research center in Finland.
10/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich's Republican presidential effort raised $808,000 in the third quarter but has more than $1 million in debt, his campaign said on Saturday.
10/15/11
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Herman Cain has soared to the top of the Republican presidential polls by touting his 9-9-9 tax plan as the solution to everything from unemployment to deflated housing prices.
10/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Businessman Herman Cain, rising in national polls, raised $2.8 million in the third quarter to finance his run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, far shy of his main rivals but an increase over his earlier fundraising efforts, his campaign said on Saturday.
10/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Republicans on Saturday to stop picking "ideological fights" and focus instead on job creation efforts as he pressed Congress to begin voting next week piece by piece on his defeated jobs package.
10/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is pulling the plug on a long-term, home-care program included in the 2010 healthcare reform law that Republicans have derided as a budget trick.
10/14/11
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The number of donors who raise big money for President Barack Obama jumped in the last three months as he builds a war chest for what will likely be the costliest presidential election ever.
10/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he was sending about 100 U.S. troops to central Africa to help and advise government forces battling Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels accused of murder, rape and kidnapping children.
10/14/11
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The number of donors who raise big money for President Barack Obama jumped in the last three months as he builds a war chest for what will likely be the costliest presidential election ever.
10/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Whether the special "super committee" of Congress will succeed in its mission to slash U.S. deficits is up in the air, a panel member said on Friday, as some lawmakers tried to fence off large budget items like defense.
10/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers vowed on Friday to keep pressing for a vote on China currency legislation, now blocked by Republican leaders, which they said is vital for U.S. competitiveness in global markets.
10/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jon Huntsman, who has been mired far back in the field vying for the Republican presidential nomination, will boycott Tuesday's debate among the party's candidates to be held in Nevada, and instead hold a town hall meeting in New Hampshire.
10/14/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States should learn from emerging powers such as India and Brazil and make its economic interests central to its foreign policy to remain a global leader, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.
10/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney raised more than $14 million for his presidential campaign in the third quarter ended September 30, his campaign said on Friday.
10/14/11
WEST MIFFLIN, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry will outline a plan on Friday to boost U.S. oil and gas exploration that he says will create 1.2 million jobs.
10/13/11
(Reuters) - Laura Bartlett doesn't think of herself as the key to the 2012 elections. She's a bank employee, mother of two and budding comedian with the troupe Four Funny Females. And honestly, she couldn't care less about politics.
10/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans, having rejected President Barack Obama's jobs bill, offered a sweeping and largely repackaged plan of their own on Thursday.
10/13/11
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman has waded into a dispute over the Republican primary calendar, saying he will boycott the Nevada caucus unless the state postpones its balloting to give New Hampshire more space.
10/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Surging Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain's fund-raising figures are expected to rise when he releases his third quarter report this week, but analysts say he faces big hurdles in translating that to a winning national campaign.
10/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney named three of former President George W. Bush's advisors on Thursday to his campaign's trade advisory team.
10/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee raised more than $70 million from July to September for his re-election bid, the campaign said Thursday, topping a $55 million target.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney leads the field vying for the Republican presidential nomination, but fewer than one in four of the party's voters back him as a surging Herman Cain gains ground, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.
10/12/11
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - New Hampshire is considering moving up its Republican primary to as early as December 6 as states vie for more influence in picking the party's nominee for the 2012 presidential election, a senior state official said on Wednesday.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Eight candidates took part in Tuesday's Republican presidential debate, but President Barack Obama's campaign focused its attention almost exclusively on one: Mitt Romney.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican National Committee said on Wednesday it had raised $9 million in campaign cash last month, a record for a non-election year, as it bolsters its efforts to unseat Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican congressional investigators demanded on Wednesday Attorney General Eric Holder turn over documents and communications about a bungled operation that allowed guns to be smuggled to Mexican drug cartels from the United States.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Time and money are running short for Hillary Clinton.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney leads the field vying for the Republican presidential nomination but fewer than one in four of the party's voters back him as a surging Herman Cain gains ground, according to Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress was poised on Wednesday to approve long-delayed trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama that are expected to create U.S. jobs by boosting exports by about $13 billion a year.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican candidates in the 2012 U.S. elections will have a powerful weapon they lacked four years ago -- heavy spending from groups aligned with the conservative Tea Party movement.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation designed to press China to let its currency rise in value poses a "very severe risk" of a trade war and should not be taken up by the Congress, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday, a day after the bill passed the Senate.
10/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on Wednesday that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie would be on his short list for vice presidential running mate if he won the Republican presidential nomination.
10/11/11
HANOVER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Ben Bernanke, if a Republican wins the White House in 2012: you're fired.
10/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Rick Perry is going to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, he'll have to do it based on something other than his debate performances.
10/11/11
HANOVER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential contenders blamed the federal government on Tuesday for the struggling economy and harshly criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke during the early stages of a 2012 debate.
10/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved a controversial bill to punish China over its currency in an effort to save American jobs, sending it to the House of Representatives where its fate is uncertain.
10/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate defeated President Barack Obama's job-creation package on Tuesday in a sign that Washington is likely too paralyzed to take major steps to spur hiring before the 2012 elections.
10/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China has launched an intense lobbying effort in Washington to kill legislation that would punish it for its currency system, in the latest display of its more sophisticated approach to influence U.S. policy.
10/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate panel on Tuesday backed long-delayed trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama that are expected to boost U.S. exports by about $13 billion a year, paving the way for final approval.
10/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Palestinian push for U.N. membership is not going anywhere for now, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday, making the case that the Palestinians should resume peace talks with Israel.
10/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama must clarify his position on a bill before Congress aimed at forcing China to revalue the yuan, a top Republican said on Tuesday.
10/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will back Mitt Romney in the presidential race on Tuesday, a Romney campaign spokesman said.
10/11/11
PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - The White House vowed to push forward with President Barack Obama's jobs package "piece by piece" if a vote fails on Tuesday in the U.S. Senate, as expected, to advance the legislation.
10/11/11
MADISON (Reuters) - Wisconsin Democrats will launch a drive November 15 to force Republican Governor Scott Walker into a recall election and are confident of getting the more than 540,000 signatures needed, a party spokesman said on Tuesday.
10/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four years ago, Senator Claire McCaskill was one of Barack Obama's biggest boosters in his presidential campaign. But when he recently visited her state of Missouri, she did not have time to join him.
10/11/11
HANOVER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican Rick Perry hopes to end a string of poor performances and campaign rival Mitt Romney looks to consolidate his newly regained front-runner status at a presidential debate on Tuesday.
10/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress should not endorse another big tax break for overseas corporate profits because the last one in 2004-2005 was a costly failure, said U.S. congressional investigators in a report released on Monday.
10/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama could create millions of jobs by attracting more foreign capital to the United States, helping entrepreneurs and being more aggressive in energy, business leaders said on Monday.
10/10/11
(Reuters) - Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, better known as "Joe the Plumber" when he was thrust into the 2008 presidential campaign after questioning Democrat Barack Obama on his tax policies, may be planning a run for Congress.
10/10/11
BOSTON (Reuters) - Democrat Elizabeth Warren raised $3.15 million in the first stage of her bid for the Senate from Massachusetts, the former Obama administration official's campaign said on Monday.
10/10/11
MILFORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Mitt Romney, a former venture capitalist who is the Republican presidential front-runner, derided the Occupy Wall Street movement on Monday as seeking "scapegoats" and risking dividing the country.
10/10/11
HOOKSETT, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman called on Monday for a new era of U.S. global engagement based on strong economic partnerships and a leading role in what he said would be a new "Pacific Century."
10/10/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A senior Republican in the House of Representatives said on Monday it may be appropriate for the government to maintain some role in supporting the housing market in the future, but only a limited one.
10/10/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - China reiterated on Monday that an expected vote this week in the U.S. Senate on a bill intended to pressure Beijing to allow its currency to rise, if made into law, would result in a trade war and hurt U.S.-China ties.
10/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medicare supplemental health plans, popular among politically powerful retirees, could come under the budget knife being wielded by the special deficit-reduction panel of Congress, according to sources keeping close watch on its work.
10/09/11
MOULTONBOROUGH, N.H (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Michele Bachmann, beset by falling poll numbers, staff departures and reports of fundraising troubles, on Sunday vowed to continue her campaign through the New Hampshire primary, which is likely to be in early January.
10/09/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential contenders Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann refused on Sunday to wade into a controversy over a Texas pastor's comments about rival Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.
10/09/11
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - With their favored candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination lagging or out of the race, many U.S. Tea Party activists are shifting focus to the struggle for control of the U.S. Senate.
10/08/11
SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a bill giving illegal immigrant college students access to state-funded financial aid, the second half of two-part legislation known as the "Dream Act."
10/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wooed evangelical Christian voters on Saturday with promises he would protect families, but found his Mormon religion at center stage at a conference of social conservatives.
10/08/11
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton Saturday told Ireland's Prime Minister and the cream of the country's diaspora that he would host a summit in New York to help boost investment in the euro zone struggler.
10/08/11
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney holds a wide lead in the early primary state of New Hampshire, with former pizza executive Herman Cain a distant second place, a poll showed.
10/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama maintained his attack against congressional Republicans over his jobs bill on Saturday, upping pressure before it faces a vote in the Senate next week.
10/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Rick Perry, hoping to revive his struggling presidential bid, promised social conservatives on Friday that he would protect the family and restore the economy by getting the federal government out of their way.
10/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats and Republicans have fired opening shots in a populist battle over corporate America's power, with the political impact as uncertain as trading on Wall Street.
10/07/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Paul Friedman met the rag-tag youth camped out near Wall Street to protest inequality in the American economy, he felt he was witnessing the start of a protest movement not seen in America since the 1960s.
10/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday sought an immediate order blocking Alabama's strict new immigration law pending appeal, arguing that it was already driving immigrants out of the state.
10/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican in Congress referred on Friday to Wall Street protesters as "growing mobs" that are trying to divide the country.
10/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama launched an onslaught against banks and Republicans on Thursday for working to block financial reform, using a populist tone amid public anger over Wall Street practices.
10/06/11
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will vow on Friday to exert U.S. leadership worldwide with military power and diplomacy in a speech aimed at showing he has foreign policy mettle.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Thursday its top energy loans official was stepping down, following a widening probe into the embarrassing collapse of a solar panel company that got $535 million in federal support.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama accused China on Thursday of "gaming" international trade by keeping its currency weak, but was cautious about a bill before the Senate aimed at pressing Beijing to revalue the yuan.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Thursday its top energy loans official was stepping down, as President Barack Obama defended a clean energy loan program in the wake of the collapse of a solar panel company that got $535 million in federal support.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Gabrielle Giffords gave her astronaut husband a medal at his retirement ceremony on Thursday and got a warm welcome on her second visit to Washington since a gunman tried to kill her in January.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top official at the Energy Department's loan program has stepped down in the wake of a high-profile failure of a loan to solar panel maker Solyndra, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
10/06/11
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is hoping South Carolina will give him a second chance in 2012 and is banking on military veterans to help.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama launched a broad onslaught against banks on Thursday, tapping into public anger over rising fees to garner populist support ahead of his 2012 re-election campaign.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. legislation to press China to revalue its currency narrowly cleared a Senate procedural vote before a formal vote later on Thursday but it faced stronger opposition in the House of Representatives.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday said his legislation intended to create jobs would provide the jolt the economy needs right now and called for an end to political gridlock in Congress.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee on Thursday approved Princeton University economics professor and labor expert Alan Krueger to serve as the top White House economist.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation aimed at cracking down on China's currency practice narrowly cleared a major procedural hurdle on Thursday when the Senate voted 62-38 to move to final action on the bill.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed concern that Republican support for China currency legislation could be wavering after many voted earlier this week in favor of starting action on the bill.
10/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. EDT on Thursday, the White House said.
10/06/11
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Nevada Republicans on Wednesday moved up their presidential caucus to January 14, aiming to protect its status as one of the earliest contests in the race as states jostle for influence in the nominating process.
10/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sarah Palin said on Wednesday that she will not seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, ending months of speculation and leaving the Republican field largely settled.
10/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sarah Palin said on Wednesday that she will not seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
10/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Marco Rubio, a rising Republican star from Florida who is considered a top candidate to be his party's vice presidential nominee, said on Wednesday he would not take the job if offered. Probably.
10/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Large U.S. multinational corporations would get a tax break on hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign profits under a bipartisan bill to be introduced by two U.S. senators.
10/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millionaires and billionaires should pay more taxes to help fund President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs program, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid declared on Wednesday.
10/05/11
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States warned its NATO allies on Wednesday that sharp cuts in military spending on both sides of the Atlantic risked "hollowing out" the alliance in a way that could be devastating to U.S. and European security.
10/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. bill to pressure China into letting its currency rise in value, which has drawn warnings from Beijing of a possible trade war, ran into opposition from the top Republican in Congress on Tuesday.
10/04/11
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Oct 4 - Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin eked out a win in a special election for governor of West Virginia on Tuesday, beating his Republican challenger by about 3 percentage points in a race that had been seen as a referendum on President Barack Obama.
10/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deficit-reduction talks in the Congress entered a potentially groundbreaking phase on Tuesday with Republicans signaling they could consider some revenue increases in exchange for Democrats embracing healthcare cuts, sources familiar with the discussions said.
10/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least one well-heeled backer of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie shifted support to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on Tuesday after Christie declined to join the Republican presidential race, and others are expected to follow.
10/04/11
BOSTON (Reuters) - Many wealthy donors who gave the maximum allowable amount to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign have doubled down with big donations to an outside group backing the Republican's run for the White House.
10/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that puts the government on stable financial footing for six weeks but does nothing to resolve a battle over spending that is likely to flare again.
10/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will call on Republican leaders in Congress to put his entire $447 billion jobs plan to a vote, rather than breaking it into pieces, to show the position of each lawmaker.
10/04/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie unexpectedly added a 1 p.m. press conference to his schedule on Tuesday, setting the stage for him to address speculation he may run for the White House.
10/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - West Virginians vote on Tuesday in a close governor's race that has become as much about a Democrat not on the ballot -- U.S. President Barack Obama -- as about the two men who are running.
10/04/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The numbers are devastating: almost 2,000 poor kids in Texas with cancer, another 18,000 with diabetes and more than 350,000 suffering from chronic lung disease, heart disease or stroke.
10/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Monday took aim at one of China's core economic policies, voting to move forward with a bill designed to press Beijing to let its currency rise in value in the hope of creating U.S. jobs.
10/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry has hauled in at least $10 million for his presidential campaign, sources said on Monday, meeting his target in his first fundraising test as a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
10/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday he expects the Congress to vote on his $447 billion jobs package by the end of October.
10/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday he would make an announcement in the next several days on his plans for sending long-delayed trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to Congress.
10/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Chris Christie discussed a possible run for president with top advisers over the weekend and needs to decide by week's end, a Republican familiar with the discussions said on Monday.
10/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For U.S. lawmakers eyeing their re-election prospects next year, this week provides a chance to show they mean business about cracking down on China's currency practices and returning jobs to America.
10/02/11
(Reuters) - Speculation that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will enter the U.S. presidential race has led to a feverish debate about the possibility of having the fattest man in the White House since the corpulent William Howard Taft squeezed behind the big desk in the Oval Office.
10/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For lawmakers eyeing their re-election prospects next year, this week provides a chance to show they mean business about cracking down on China's currency practices and returning jobs to America.
10/02/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Defense lawyers are hoping New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's famous self-confidence will be his downfall when he testifies on Monday against the political consultant accused of stealing more than $1 million from him, legal and political experts say.
10/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain scolded President Barack Obama on Sunday for making "insulting" remarks to the Congressional Black Caucus and called fellow Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry's handling of a race matter "very insensitive."
10/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare overhaul will top the agenda in the new Supreme Court term that opens on Monday and could be the most momentous in decades.
10/02/11
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said on Saturday he would get the U.S. military involved in Mexico's war with drug cartels, in comments likely to upset the Mexican government.
10/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama criticized Republican presidential candidates on Saturday for not defending a gay American soldier who was booed by the crowd at a Republican debate last week.
10/01/11
ATKINSON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry, struggling to regain his status as front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, expressed fresh doubt on Saturday about whether humans are causing climate change.
10/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats want tax hikes to be the first item negotiated in "super committee" deficit-reduction talks, trying to force Republicans to confront an issue at the heart of this year's budget fights, sources told Reuters.
10/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Republican lawmakers on Saturday to spell out exactly what they can and cannot support in his $447 billion plan to create jobs, saying it was "time for Congress to get its act together."
10/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House's attempts to set a fresh course with Pakistan are being hobbled by bad options, bureaucratic tensions and the desire to avoid severing a vexing but critical relationship.
09/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats want tax hikes to be the first item negotiated in "super committee" deficit-reduction talks, trying to force Republicans to confront an issue at the heart of this year's budget fights, sources told Reuters.
09/30/11
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Is tough-talking Republican Chris Christie tough enough for the Tea Party?
09/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney could be the presidential candidate with it all -- money, organization, experience -- except the thing he wants most.
09/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hailed the U.S. killing of American-born militant Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen on Friday as "another significant milestone" in efforts to defeat al Qaeda and proof that it and its allies will find no safe haven.
09/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Democratic senator on Friday said he was confident the Senate would "overwhelmingly" pass a bill next week to crack down on China's currency practices.
09/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top uniformed U.S. military officer said on Friday the U.S. relationship with Pakistan is "vexing and yet vital" but there can be no solution to the conflict in the region without Islamabad.
09/30/11
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida defied national Republican Party leaders Friday and set its presidential primary election for January 31.
09/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When the British Royal Navy decided to build a new class of nuclear attack submarines in 1997, it wasted years before discovering its shipbuilding industry no longer had the design and production skills to finish the job.
09/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Herman Cain is on a roll, the latest hot commodity in a constantly shifting 2012 Republican presidential race.
09/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. election in November 2012 will be a "referendum" on the Obama administration's handling of the economy, Vice President Joe Biden told a Florida radio station on Thursday.
09/29/11
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, looking to energize his 2012 campaign, produced a new version of the "Contract with America," the 1994 plan that gave Republicans congressional election wins.
09/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that it supports actions that European leaders have taken on their debt problems and urged them to continue.
09/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A stop-gap spending bill won final U.S. congressional approval on Thursday to avert a threatened government shutdown that had subjected lawmakers of both political parties to public scorn.
09/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on Thursday lashed out anew at the Federal Reserve, accusing the U.S. central bank of pursuing policies that could reduce consumer spending power and fuel inflation.
09/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday said it was "reviewing" a Senate bill to crack down on China's currency practices after a senior Republican senator demanded the administration lay out its position on the legislation.
09/28/11
(Reuters) - Contradictions in sworn statements about Rick Perry's fundraising for his 2006 reelection bid raise questions about whether aides to the Texas governor, who is now running for president, gave false or misleading testimony under oath.
09/28/11
(Reuters) - Contradictions in sworn statements about Rick Perry's fundraising for his 2006 reelection bid raise questions about whether aides to the Texas governor, who is now running for president, gave false or misleading testimony under oath.
09/28/11
(Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry's latest plan to kick trial lawyers out of his state may not send them packing after all.
09/28/11
LYNCHBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, struggling to reverse a slide in opinion polls, told evangelical Christians on Wednesday that she would be "the comeback kid" in the nomination race.
09/28/11
MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida is expected to set its presidential primary election for January 31, setting off a game of leapfrog as various states try to increase their influence by moving ahead in the nominating process, state officials said on Wednesday.
09/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. campaign finance watchdogs challenged the tax-exempt status on Wednesday of four political groups raising millions of dollars in largely unregulated "outside money" to influence elections, terming claims they promote social welfare "nonsense."
09/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday it was blacklisting two officials of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of the largest Islamic militant groups in South Asia.
09/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican senator on Wednesday pressed the Obama administration to state its position on a bill to crack down on China's currency practices that senators will vote on next week.
09/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A small business group said on Wednesday it has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in its legal challenge seeking to strike down all of President Barack Obama's signature 2010 healthcare law.
09/28/11
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's popularity has risen sharply in Israel after he spoke out forcibly against a Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations last week, according to a poll published by the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
09/27/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie could be about to turn down his best chance of becoming U.S. president, saying "no" just when his political fortunes may be at their peak.
09/27/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie could be about to turn down his best chance of becoming U.S. president, saying "no" just when his political fortunes may be at their peak.
09/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans fighting for the presidential nomination are slamming frontrunner Rick Perry over illegal immigration, but his moderate stance could be one of his biggest assets in a contest with President Barack Obama.
09/27/11
(Reuters) - Employer healthcare tax breaks would be replaced with be replaced with refundable tax credits for individuals under a proposal offered on Tuesday by House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan.
09/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For Republican Rick Perry, the 2012 presidential race was supposed to be about jobs and anti-Washington anger. After a bad week on the campaign trail, he hopes it can be again.
09/27/11
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - President Barack Obama faces a "titanic" struggle to win re-election in 2012 given the persistently high unemployment and bitter partisan battles in Washington, his senior campaign advisor said on Tuesday.
09/26/11
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Barack Obama topped up his re-election war chest with a string of successful West Coast fundraisers that wrapped up on Monday and show soft poll numbers have not dented his ability to raise big money.
09/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate approved a deal on Monday to avert a government shutdown and make billions of dollars of aid available to victims of recent disasters.
09/26/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's No. 2 on Monday knocked down fresh speculation that the Republican was considering a run for the White House in 2012.
09/26/11
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The White House urged Congress on Monday to resolve a budget impasse but said it did not think lawmakers would allow an imminent shutdown of the federal government.
09/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Monday will try to resolve a budget deadlock that raises the specter of a government shutdown and threatens aid for thousands of Americans hit by a spate of natural disasters.
09/26/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - China's foreign minister urged the United States on Monday to reconsider its decision to upgrade Tawian's F-16 jet fighter fleet, saying it could harm the "trust and confidence" between Washington and Beijing, a senior State Department official said.
09/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's deficit reduction plan would be positive for U.S. ratings but chances of its implementation are "extremely low," Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.
09/25/11
ATHERTON, California (Reuters) - President Barack Obama harshly criticized Republican opponents on Sunday as he began a West Coast fundraising tour, accusing them of "ideological pushback" at a time of national crisis.
09/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Behind the persistent U.S. pressure on Europe to strengthen its bailout defenses is an ominous prospect: another systemic crisis that would almost certainly throw the United States back into recession.
09/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will have to consider all options "including defending our troops" in confronting Pakistani support for militant networks fighting U.S. soldiers in the region, a senator said on Sunday.
09/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged black leaders on Saturday to "stop complaining" and help him push his jobs plan through the Congress, as he sought to bolster support in the black community amid concern over high unemployment
09/24/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Police arrested scores of people taking part in a march on Saturday by several hundred protesters through the streets of lower Manhattan, the latest in a series of demonstrations in the past week against what they called corporate greed on Wall Street.
09/24/11
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Former pizza executive Herman Cain surprised rival Rick Perry with an upset victory on Saturday in a Republican presidential straw poll in Florida, dealing a disappointing loss to the Texas governor two days after a shaky debate performance.
09/24/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Several hundred marchers wound their way through the streets of lower Manhattan on Saturday in the latest of a string of protests over the past week against what demonstrators saw as corporate greed on Wall Street.
09/24/11
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Former pizza executive Herman Cain surprised rival Rick Perry with an upset victory on Saturday in a nonbinding Republican presidential straw poll in Florida, dealing a disappointing loss to the Texas governor two days after a shaky debate performance.
09/24/11
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Rick Perry on Saturday hoped to rebound from a shaky debate performance to win a Florida straw poll that is an important test of strength in a state crucial to victory in the November 2012 U.S. presidential election.
09/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House pledged on Saturday to press on with a "reset" of U.S.-Russia relations regardless of who becomes the next Russian president, saying it was not about "individual personalities" but national interests.
09/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Saturday it expects to keep making progress in the "reset" of U.S.-Russia relations regardless of who becomes the next Russian president.
09/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Young people in the United States are falling behind their overseas peers in reading, math and science, President Barack Obama said on Saturday, calling education reform an essential part of economic recovery.
09/23/11
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The governors of four East Coast states -- two Democrats and two Republicans -- issued a joint statement on Friday imploring the federal government to "put aside politics on disaster issues."
09/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator John McCain unveiled a bill on Friday to revamp the U.S. Postal Service, including an end to Saturday mail delivery, the latest of a series of legislative proposals to shore up the financially shaky mail service.
09/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday announced steps to roll back key provisions of "No Child Left Behind," calling the decade-old U.S. education law admirable but flawed.
09/23/11
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday pounced on rival Rick Perry's record on illegal immigration to try to raise doubts among conservatives about the front-runner for the party's 2012 nomination.
09/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives regrouped Friday to approve a must-pass spending bill, but the prospect of a government shutdown loomed as Democrats said it would go nowhere in the Senate.
09/22/11
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Rick Perry vowed to rebuild the U.S. economy the way he managed a Texas boom in a U.S. presidential debate on Thursday where he sought to put more distance between himself and rival Mitt Romney.
09/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats who control the Senate will reject a Republican stopgap spending bill if it is not changed significantly, a Democratic aide said on Thursday.
09/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Senator Charles Schumer urged quick action to raise taxes on the rich -- people like billionaire Warren Buffett -- he expected to face Republican opposition. But the hard-charging senator is also getting a tepid response from some fellow Democrats.
09/22/11
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Rick Perry goes into a presidential debate on Thursday looking to put some distance between himself and rival Mitt Romney and position himself as an electable alternative to President Barack Obama.
09/22/11
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Thursday to ratchet up pressure for congressional approval of his $447 billion jobs plan, taking his pitch to the backyard of his two top Republican foes and using an aging bridge as a prop.
09/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopefuls gathered in Florida on Thursday for a debate that is likely to see front-runners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney jockeying for the lead.
09/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leaders of a congressional "super committee" squared off on Thursday over the hot-button issue of tax increases and how new revenues might fit into the panel's deficit reduction proposals.
09/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Darrell Issa, a leading Obama administration critic, endorsed Mitt Romney for president on Thursday, bolstering the conservative credentials of the former Massachusetts governor.
09/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief tax researcher of Congress gave a "super committee" on deficit reduction a broad look on Thursday at the condition of the tax system.
09/22/11
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry leads rival Mitt Romney in Florida, where the Republican presidential candidates gathered on Thursday for another debate, a Quinnipiac University poll said.
09/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers investigating government loan guarantees to the green energy sector have turned their focus to key private investors in the failed Solyndra solar company, asking them for a huge raft of documents.
09/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve managed to dodge a bullet last year when it emerged even more powerful after a rewrite of financial rules despite widespread popular anger for its role in bailing out banks.
09/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives unexpectedly defeated a bill that would fund the federal government past September 30 on Wednesday as dozens of Republicans broke with their party to push for deeper spending cuts.
09/21/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama sought support for his job creation plan at a philanthropic summit on Wednesday, saying improving the prospects of the world's richest economy was good for the world.
09/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill that would fund the government past September 30 unexpectedly failed in the House of Representatives on Wednesday as dozens of Republicans broke with party leaders and Democrats objected to a cut to an electric-vehicle program.
09/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After months of a Republican nomination race that struggled to catch fire, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney are now locked in a fight they both predict will extend well into 2012.
09/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney stepped up his criticism of rival Rick Perry over Social Security on Wednesday, the day before a Florida debate where the issue is certain to be prominent.
09/21/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett will help raise money for President Barack Obama's re-election effort at a $35,800-a-ticket fundraiser next month in Chicago, an Obama campaign official said on Wednesday.
09/21/11
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pressed Israel and the Palestinians on Wednesday to relaunch peace talks as he made a last-ditch attempt to avert a U.N. crisis over Palestinian statehood and pull his Middle East policy back from the brink of diplomatic disaster.
09/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many Republicans fear a loose monetary policy will hurt the U.S. economy, a Republican leader said on Wednesday after signing a letter telling the Federal Reserve to refrain from further intervention.
09/21/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. tax code may be headed for some major renovation, and Senator Ron Wyden, a rangy Oregon Democrat, has come up with one of Congress' most complete blueprints.
09/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's plan to tame U.S. budget deficits probably relies too much on ending wars and too little on tackling health care spending to impress Wall Street credit rating agencies.
09/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If location means anything, the congressional "super committee" trying to attack the United States' budget ills appears to be isolating itself from public scrutiny so that it can start thinking big thoughts.
09/20/11
BOSTON (Reuters) - Elizabeth Warren, a prominent consumer advocate and former official in President Barack Obama's administration, narrowly leads Republican Senator Scott Brown in a poll released on Tuesday, days after announcing her run for his Senate seat from Massachusetts.
09/20/11
CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is raising millions of dollars for his re-election campaign, keeping the support of big and small donors despite the sputtering economy and slumping opinion poll numbers.
09/20/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rick Perry accused President Barack Obama on Tuesday of not standing behind Israel as the Texas governor sought to draw Jewish voter support in his bid to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
09/20/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney enlisted the support of Missouri Senator Roy Blunt on Tuesday to help him win the backing of Republicans in Congress in his bid for the party nomination.
09/20/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - China must reduce barriers to foreign companies if it is to meet its own development goals, the U.S. ambassador said in Beijing on Tuesday in a speech that reflected foreign investors' growing frustration with the pace of economic reforms in the country.
09/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama laid out a $3.6 trillion plan on Monday to cut budget deficits partly by raising taxes on the rich, but Republicans rejected it as a political stunt and made clear the proposal has little chance of becoming law.
09/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday said the Obama administration's plan to revamp the corporate tax code would be unveiled by the end of the year.
09/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's call for $3 trillion in new government savings, through a mix of tax increases and spending cuts, was dismissed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday.
09/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress are digging in to fight the 2012 U.S. election campaign over the budget and taxes, leaving a congressional "super committee" in political no man's land.
09/19/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, grappling with a poor economy and slumping approval ratings, faces problems on a larger stage this week at the United Nations, with challenges to his leadership in the Middle East and questions about the U.S. role in the world.
09/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, in a rallying call to his Democratic base, will vow on Monday to veto any cuts in Medicare if Congress fails to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans to curb the deficit.
09/18/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders on Sunday criticized President Barack Obama's proposal for a new tax on millionaires, calling it "class warfare" and predicting it will face heavy opposition in Congress.
09/17/11
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - China's growing military strength, from stealth jets to aircraft carriers and anti-satellite missiles, has shifted the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait to Beijing's advantage, and this will not be materially affected by an imminent arms deal with Taiwan.
09/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, in a populist step designed to appeal to voters, will propose a "Buffett Tax" on people making more than $1 million a year as part of his deficit recommendations to Congress on Monday.
09/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will propose a "Buffett Tax" on people making more than $1 million a year as part of his deficit-cutting recommendations to a congressional supercommittee on Monday.
09/17/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former Senator Charles Percy of Illinois, a leading moderate Republican voice during the Vietnam and Watergate years, died on Saturday, his daughter's office said.
09/17/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday that Americans need to be ready to "pay their fair share" to narrow the deficit, previewing his proposals to Congress that are expected to include more taxes on the rich.
09/17/11
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann drew a rousing reception from Republicans at their California convention on Friday, raising hopes the Tea Party favorite might be able to put a faltering campaign back in gear.
09/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The days of "go big" in Washington's latest deficit-reduction drama are morphing into "don't go there."
09/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's scathing attacks on Rick Perry may be hurting the front-runner for the 2012 Republican nomination, and raising questions about her own judgment, but they are also helping another of her rivals -- Mitt Romney.
09/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week and urge him to repair relations with Israel to mend a damaging split between two key U.S. allies in the region.
09/16/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate will try to begin debate on Monday on legislation aimed at helping U.S. workers who lose their jobs due to trade competition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Friday.
09/16/11
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California voters give Senator Dianne Feinstein the lowest approval rating of the powerful Democrat's nearly 20-year career in Washington, according to a poll released on Friday.
09/16/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will not permit a significant appreciation of its currency even if the United States passes a bill forcing China to do so, the official Xinhua news agency said in an editorial on Friday.
09/16/11
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has canceled a visit to the United States to attend the U.N. General Assembly session to direct relief efforts as floods devastate southern Pakistan, his office said on Friday.
09/16/11
DES MOINES (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Rick Perry said Republican rival Mitt Romney would not provide a stark enough contrast with President Barack Obama in the 2012 election because of his record on health care policy.
09/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will not recommend changes to the government's Social Security retirement program in his deficits proposals to Congress next week, the White House said on Thursday.
09/15/11
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The U.S. warning on militants based in Pakistan, blamed by Washington for this week's attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, works against counter-terrorism cooperation between the two allies, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
09/15/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in Congress may have dialed back their rhetoric, but that does not mean they are any more likely to yield to an unpopular Democratic president.
09/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A slew of challenging choices confronts a special deficit-reduction committee in Congress, but one of the most significant yet least understood question is what is the starting point.
09/14/11
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sharpened his rhetoric on Wednesday in a push for his $447 billion jobs package, even as polls showed Americans skeptical of the plan and Democrats' loss of a congressional seat raised new questions about his political strength.
09/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party's traditional kingmakers are losing a battle with anti-government Tea Party populists to choose the candidate who will challenge President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.
09/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A slew of challenging choices confronts a special deficit-reduction committee in Congress, but one of the most significant yet least understood question is what is the starting point.
09/14/11
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sharpened his rhetoric on Wednesday in a push for his $447 billion jobs package, even as polls showed Americans skeptical of the plan and his Democrats' loss of a congressional seat raised new questions about his political strength.
09/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's approval rating got a small lift after he unveiled a jobs plan last week, keeping him ahead of all potential Republican rivals in the 2012 election, a Reuters/Ipsos poll said on Wednesday.
09/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman, struggling to gain traction in the polls, on Wednesday scored some big corporate allies, including Morgan Stanley's John Mack and Nike's Phil Knight.
09/14/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday tried to shore up confidence in Europe's ability to solve its escalating debt crisis, saying they had the financial and economic capacity to do so.
09/14/11
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Concern about the economy has pushed President Barack Obama's approval rating below 50 percent in California, a state assumed to be an easy win for him in next year's presidential election.
09/13/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republicans won an upset victory in a Democratic stronghold in New York Tuesday in a special U.S. House of Representatives election for the seat vacated by former Representative Anthony Weiner, who resigned after a Twitter sex scandal.
09/13/11
BOSTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry said on Tuesday Washington lawmakers need the equivalent of a 12-step addiction-fighting program to break their overspending habit.
09/13/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A provision in President Barack Obama's jobs act that would reduce the attractiveness of tax-exempt bonds for higher-income investors is unlikely to be passed by the Congress, analysts and municipal market participants said on Tuesday.
09/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Republicans in Congress on Tuesday dismissed President Barack Obama's proposal to revive job creation in the United States and pay for it by raising taxes.
09/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Budget cuts over and above the $350 billion approved by Congress in August would have a "devastating" impact and erode U.S. ability to achieve its national security objectives, the nominee for deputy defense secretary told his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
09/13/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama faces deep skepticism from swing voters who see the Republican party as more in tune with their concerns about government spending, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
09/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Michele Bachmann won a new lease on life for her fizzling presidential campaign by aggressively targeting Republican front-runner Rick Perry and raising doubts about his conservative credentials.
09/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry, the lead Republican presidential candidate, on Monday tempered earlier comments about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, but held firm in his opposition to more monetary stimulus from the central bank.
09/12/11
(Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates on Monday traded barbs over their positions on Social Security but avoided deep discussion of possible solutions to a coming funding crunch in the retirement program.
09/12/11
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - The budding rivalry of Republican presidential contenders Rick Perry and Mitt Romney takes the spotlight on Monday when the party's White House hopefuls meet in Florida for their second debate in less than a week.
09/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's proposal to pay for his job-creation plan with tax increases on the wealthy is not in keeping with a bipartisan path he was seeking, a spokesman for Republican House Speaker John Boehner said on Monday.
09/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers will have to carefully examine President Barack Obama's job-creation plan and the final product should include ideas from both parties, the top Republican in Congress said on Monday.
09/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Business leaders and former government officials urged President Barack Obama on Monday to "go big" with his recommendations to a congressional panel tasked with slashing America's debt.
09/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty endorsed ex-rival Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination Monday and was promptly named a national co-chairman of the Romney campaign.
09/12/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will make a statement on his $447 billion jobs plan at 10:40 a.m. EDT (1440 GMT), the White House said on Monday.
09/12/11
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - The budding rivalry of Republican presidential contenders Rick Perry and Mitt Romney takes the spotlight on Monday when the party's White House hopefuls meet in Florida for their second debate in less than a week.
09/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama says he considers Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the two top Republican presidential hopefuls, "credible" candidates to challenge him for the White House in 2012.
09/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama picked up where his predecessor George W. Bush left off in the war against Islamic militants after the September 11 attacks, and on Sunday both saw the raw emotions that linger 10 years later.
09/11/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Reuters reporters traveled with George W. Bush on September 11, 2001 on what began as a feel-good trip to Florida to promote education.
09/10/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Democratic National Committee raised about $5.5 million in August, its worst fundraising month of the year, down from $6.7 million in July, according to figures provided by Democratic officials on Saturday and Federal Election Commission filings.
09/10/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Democratic National Committee raised only about $5.5 million in August, its worst fundraising month of the year, down from $6.7 million in July, according to figures provided by Democratic officials on Saturday and Federal Election Commission filings.
09/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday the United States was stronger 10 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks and Americans would "carry on" despite continued threats against their safety.
09/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has told his security team to pursue all threat information vigorously and ensure heightened vigilance for Sunday's 10-year anniversary of al Qaeda's attacks, the White House said on Saturday.
09/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday the United States was stronger 10 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks and Americans would "carry on" despite continued threats against their safety.
09/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation emerged in Congress late on Friday that would allow the government to avoid shutdowns of aviation and highway construction programs this month.
09/10/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When it comes to the tricky political calculus of deciding how many U.S. troops to keep in Iraq, President Barack Obama may truly have no good options.
09/09/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A special election to replace U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, who resigned from Congress in a sex scandal, heated up on Friday as an opinion poll suggested the Republican candidate might win in an upset.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's jobs package could lift economic growth by one to three percentage points in 2012, add well over one million jobs and lower the unemployment rate by at least half a percentage point, judging by early estimates.
09/08/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top official newspaper warned on Friday that "madmen" on Capitol Hill who want the United States to sell advanced weapons to Taiwan were playing with fire and could pay a "disastrous price," as the Obama administration nears a decision on a sale.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would propose a deficit-reduction plan on September 19 that will cover the cost of his jobs bill and include "modest adjustments" to Medicare and Medicaid and more taxes for the rich and corporations.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said on Thursday President Barack Obama's jobs proposals "merit consideration" and expressed hope both parties could work together.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would propose a deficit-reduction plan on September 19 that will cover the cost of his jobs bill and include "modest adjustments" to Medicare and Medicaid and more taxes for the rich and corporations.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he is seeking to broaden U.S. homeowners' access to mortgage refinancing in a plan to help the ailing housing market and put money back in the pockets of borrowers needing help locking into record low rates.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill to overhaul the U.S. patent system, making it more efficient and reducing litigation, won final congressional approval on Thursday, clearing the way for President Barack Obama to sign it into law.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican member of the "super committee" deficit-reduction panel in Congress on Thursday said he would quit the panel if new defense spending cuts are considered.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court handed President Barack Obama a victory for his signature healthcare law on Thursday, ruling against challenges by the state of Virginia and others seeking to invalidate the law as unconstitutional.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has scant time left to build the muscular economic recovery that won Ronald Reagan his re-election in 1984 after he seemed similarly at risk of being a one-term president at the half way point in his administration.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If the Republican presidential race becomes a two-man fight between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry -- and judging from Wednesday's debate it already is -- primary voters will have a stark choice.
09/08/11
WASHINGTON/MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Republican Michele Bachmann's presidential bid is teetering under a challenge from Texas Governor Rick Perry that has created tension within her team and clashes with advisers over fundraising and strategy.
09/07/11
SIMI VALLEY, California (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said on Wednesday that if he were elected president, he would not keep Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
09/07/11
SIMI VALLEY, California (Reuters) - Republican rivals Rick Perry and Mitt Romney exchanged sharp jabs over who has the better job-creating record on Wednesday in a presidential candidate debate that featured the anemic U.S. economy at center stage.
09/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's threat to get tough with Chinese trade practices has moved China from the background to a potentially significant issue in the 2012 presidential campaign.
09/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to renew a long-standing program that allows about 130 developing countries to export thousands of goods to the United States without paying duties.
09/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's use of a rare joint session of Congress to deliver a jobs speech on Thursday reflects a political strategy to try to blame Republicans for an economy at risk of sliding back into recession.
09/07/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The election to replace Anthony Weiner, who resigned from Congress after being revealed as an internet womanizer who used Twitter to send lewd pictures of himself, is more competitive than anyone expected.
09/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney aimed squarely at the Republican center as he launched his economic program on Tuesday, proposing spending cuts and lower taxes and picking well-known party figures as advisers.
09/07/11
SIMI VALLEY, California (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry will be the man in the spotlight when Republican presidential candidates gather at Ronald Reagan's library for a debate on Wednesday.
09/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's pledge to boost America's global standing by ramping up U.S. diplomacy and development aid faces death by a thousand cuts as lawmakers prepare to carve huge chunks out of U.S. overseas spending to address budget shortfalls.
09/07/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - What do flood prevention in Nepal, wildlife preservation in Namibia and reef fishing in Indonesia have to do with the U.S. budget?
09/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta denied on Tuesday any decision was made on keeping some U.S. troops in Iraq beyond an end-year deadline for their withdrawal as speculation mounted that the Obama administration backed keeping a small training force in the country.
09/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, facing waning confidence among Americans in his economic stewardship, plans to lay out a $300 billion job-creation package on Thursday, CNN reported, citing Democratic sources.
09/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney aimed squarely at the Republican center as he launched his economic program on Tuesday, proposing spending cuts and lower taxes and picking well-known party figures as advisers.
09/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The powerful healthcare industry hopes a congressional "super committee" tasked with slashing America's debt will fail and is lobbying instead for automatic spending cuts that will kick in if the panel deadlocks.
09/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's job approval ratings plunged to a new low ahead of his major economic speech on Thursday, with widespread discontent among Americans over his handling of the economy and jobs, according to a spate of polls released on Tuesday.
09/06/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A year after declaring themselves "Young Guns" ready to clean up Washington, these budget-slashing Republicans are drawing more jeers than cheers -- and raising Democrats' hopes for next year's election.
09/06/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Had it not been for the September 11 attacks, neither Rudy Giuliani nor Michael Bloomberg would have such high profiles on the American political stage.
09/05/11
DETROIT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama previewed proposals on Monday for new infrastructure spending and an extension of payroll tax cuts as part of a major jobs package he will unveil this week, and challenged Republicans to find common ground with him.
09/05/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On Tuesday, Richard Cordray will sit down with the Senate Banking Committee to interview for a job he is unlikely to get.
09/05/11
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Five Republican presidential hopefuls pledged their faith in free markets and the Constitution at a campaign forum for conservatives on Monday, although the event lost some luster when Texas Governor Rick Perry was a late no-show.
09/05/11
DETROIT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday previewed proposals for new infrastructure spending and an extension of payroll tax cuts as part of a major jobs package he will unveil this week, and challenged Republicans to find common ground with him.
09/05/11
OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney are tied in the race for the Republican presidential nomination among Californians, a University of Southern California/Los Angeles Times poll showed.
09/05/11
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry canceled a scheduled appearance at a Republican presidential campaign forum in South Carolina on Monday to return home and supervise a fight against rampaging wildfires.
09/05/11
DETROIT (Reuters) - Tackling the housing market's woes is a "high priority" for President Barack Obama, a White House official said on Monday, but the aide would not say whether housing-related measures would be in Obama's jobs speech later this week.
09/05/11
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States was entitled to impose extra safeguard duties on imports of Chinese tires, the World Trade Organization's top court said on Monday, upholding a ruling made in December 2010.
09/04/11
CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Presidential contender Mitt Romney tried to win over doubters from the conservative Tea Party movement on Sunday, telling them he was the Republican candidate who can beat back the "heavy hand of government" and create jobs.
09/04/11
CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - A small group of conservative Tea Party activists protested against presidential candidate Mitt Romney's presence at a rally on Sunday, in an embarrassment to the former Massachusetts governor.
09/04/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declined to apologize on Sunday for how he handled the resignation of a former deputy mayor, who was arrested on a domestic violence charge.
09/03/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, under fire over high unemployment, stepped up pressure on Congress on Saturday to pass transportation legislation he said would protect almost 1 million American jobs.
09/02/11
URBANDALE, Iowa (Reuters) - Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said on Friday there was room for more candidates in the presidential race, but stopped short of announcing whether she would launch her own bid for the White House.
09/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee on Friday said it will vote next week on the nominations of seven individuals for senior federal regulatory positions, including two Securities Exchange Commission members.
09/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Poor U.S. jobs figures on Friday put President Barack Obama on the spot to create a viable jobs plan in a speech to Congress next week that may help determine whether he wins re-election or not.
09/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A major Republican-linked fundraising group has amassed $25 million so far this year to finance its attacks on President Barack Obama and other Democrats in the 2012 elections.
09/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to withdraw a plan that would tighten national air-quality standards.
09/02/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney promised on Friday to propose a bold jobs plan that seeks cuts in federal spending and business taxes, a reduction in "burdensome" regulations and a balanced budget.
09/02/11
PASADENA, Calif (Reuters) - Obama administration lawyers asked a federal appeals court on Thursday to vacate a judgment declaring "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" unconstitutional now that the ban on openly gay men and women in the military is about to be repealed.
09/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American football fans can rest easy: President Barack Obama's nationally televised jobs speech to Congress will not conflict with the season-opening NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints.
09/01/11
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas governor Rick Perry tried to sideline a state commissioner who opposed expanding the scope of a nuclear-waste landfill owned by one of the governor's biggest political donors, Reuters has learned.
09/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday sharply cut estimates for U.S. economic growth, underscoring the difficult challenge he faces in spurring a stronger recovery and creating more jobs.
09/01/11
PARIS (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that Libya's interim leaders should be given the country's United Nations seat but they should also work with their former foes.
09/01/11
PASADENA, Calif (Reuters) - Obama administration lawyers will ask a federal appeals court on Thursday to vacate a judgment declaring "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" unconstitutional now that the ban on openly gay men and women in the military is about to be repealed.
09/01/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney's new memoir revives the fierce battles over U.S. national security policies after the September 11 attacks as it rips open old wounds among aides to President George W. Bush.
08/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday agreed to unveil new jobs proposals in an address to Congress on September 8, bowing to pressure from Republicans, who objected to the original date set for his high-profile speech.
08/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will address a joint session of Congress on September 8 instead of September 7 to unveil proposals to create new jobs, bowing to objections from Republicans, the White House said on Wednesday.
08/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top congressional Republican John Boehner on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to delay a planned jobs speech to a joint session of Congress by a day in order to avoid "impediments."
08/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House will release its delayed mid-session review of President Barack Obama's fiscal 2012 budget proposal on Thursday afternoon, an administration official said on Wednesday.
08/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General David Petraeus warned against sacrificing U.S. military capabilities to ease America's budget woes, as he retired from the Army on Wednesday ahead of becoming CIA director.
08/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said he planned to used an address to Congress next Wednesday to lay out a series of bipartisan proposals to bolster the economy and create jobs while also reducing the country's deficits.
08/31/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is considering unveiling new plans next week to revive the ailing housing market and reduce foreclosures, including an effort to help troubled borrowers refinance their mortgages.
08/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will urge Congress on Wednesday to approve stop-gap aviation and transportation infrastructure legislation to temporarily maintain funding for airport and road construction projects and preserve jobs in a tough economy.
08/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington's never-ending budget battle threatened to snarl the recovery from Hurricane Irene as a top Republican said on Monday that any federal aid will have to be offset by spending cuts elsewhere.
08/30/11
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Mitt Romney bashed President Barack Obama's policies and took an implicit sideswipe at rival Rick Perry on Tuesday in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
08/30/11
MIAMI (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Michele Bachmann insisted on Monday she was joking when she said a hurricane and quake were God's warning to Washington, in an effort to control the damage from her latest controversial comments.
08/30/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of Washington lobbyists are scrambling to influence the work of a congressional "super committee" given the job of identifying up to $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions, with many worried about how to gain access to its 12 members.
08/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that its midsession review of President Barack Obama's fiscal 2012 budget proposal would be released later this week, but an exact date had not yet been set.
08/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of Washington lobbyists are scrambling to influence the work of a congressional "super committee" given the job of identifying up to $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions, with many worried about how to gain access to its 12 members.
08/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives want to create jobs by killing regulations on companies and passing tax breaks for small business and government contractors, Majority Leader Eric Cantor said on Monday.
08/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington's never-ending budget battle threatened to snarl the recovery from Hurricane Irene as a top Republican said on Monday that any federal aid will have to be offset by spending cuts elsewhere.
08/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said Monday he would unveil proposals next week aimed at spurring job growth in part through infrastructure improvements.
08/29/11
MIAMI (Reuters) - For Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, Hurricane Irene and last week's earthquake in the eastern United States were a message from God that Washington needs to change its policies.
08/29/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday will announce he has chosen Princeton University labor economist Alan Krueger to become the top White House economist, two administration officials said.
08/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal agencies in the Washington area will be open on Monday following a brush with Hurricane Irene over the weekend, the Office of Personnel Management said on Sunday.
08/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Sunday warned that flooding from Hurricane Irene could worsen as rivers flood their banks and said federal recovery efforts would last a few weeks.
08/28/11
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Irene could cost U.S. state and local governments billions of dollars in damages, but funds from the federal government might ultimately cover much of this expense.
08/28/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Sunday that the worst of Hurricane Irene had passed for much of the East Coast including New York and New Jersey.
08/27/11
NAPA, California (Reuters) - With the Republican campaign for the White House taking shape, hundreds of Tea Party activists kicked off a national bus tour on Saturday, aiming to rally their base and new recruits to the conservative political cause.
08/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama visited Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters on Saturday to keep a close eye on preparations for Hurricane Irene as it charged north along the U.S. East Coast.
08/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday visited Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters to get an update on preparations for Hurricane Irene as it charged north along the East Coast.
08/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the eurozone crisis and financial-market turbulence on Saturday and vowed action to bolster the global economy, the White House said in a statement.
08/27/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama held a conference call on Saturday with emergency officials to discuss Hurricane Irene, which was targeting the U.S. East Coast, the White House said.
08/26/11
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) -- Texas Governor and Republican presidential contender Rick Perry has signed a pledge vowing to support a Constitutional amendment declaring marriage to be a union of one man and one woman, the group sponsoring the pledge said on Friday.
08/26/11
VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hopes the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi shows his brand of foreign policy worked in Libya and can succeed elsewhere -- but the model may be hard to reproduce.
08/26/11
VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will cut short his vacation by a day on Friday before Hurricane Irene hits the East Coast, the White House said.
08/26/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With a battle looming over regulations on businesses, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner asked President Barack Obama on Friday to identify all proposed rules with a projected economic impact of at least $1 billion.
08/26/11
ON BOARD AIR FORCE TWO (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday the U.S. economy needed more stimulus to get it moving, putting in a plug for government intervention shortly before the White House unveils new proposals to boost job growth.
08/26/11
BOSTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney is running a disciplined campaign focused on slamming President Barack Obama and promoting his own skills, but pressure could mount for a more aggressive approach as his poll numbers worsen.
08/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on Thursday described Washington as "a seedy place" while defending what he said was his manner of speaking plainly.
08/25/11
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett will boost President Barack Obama's re-election bid next month by appearing at a New York fundraiser that will charge as much as $35,800 per guest, the Obama campaign said on Thursday.
08/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday distanced itself from efforts to hunt down Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, saying neither U.S. assets nor NATO forces were targeting the fugitive strongman.
08/25/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's strategy for dealing with rival contender Rick Perry is: do more of the same and bank on a misstep by the Texas governor.
08/25/11
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Joe Wilson of South Carolina -- the lawmaker who shouted "You Lie" at President Barack Obama during a speech -- remained hospitalized on Thursday with an "extended fever," his congressional office said.
08/25/11
BANGALORE (Reuters) - The Obama administration is working on proposals to prop up the weak housing market and may back a plan to refinance government-backed mortgages at today's lower interest rates, the New York Times said, citing two people briefed on the discussions.
08/25/11
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state news agency on Thursday condemned a Pentagon report on China's growing military might, calling its account of Beijing's weapons modernization drive an alarmist "cock-and-bull story."
08/25/11
VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is finalizing a jobs package that could include a program to refurbish school buildings nationwide and tax breaks to encourage firms to hire workers.
08/24/11
LEBANON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in danger of losing his 2012 Republican primary front-runner status, on Wednesday tweaked his position on global climate change, saying he does not know if humans are the primary cause.
08/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rick Perry has taken a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential nomination race in two polls released on Wednesday, an indication that the Texas governor could replace the former Massachusetts governor as early favorite.
08/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney signed a secret resignation letter shortly after taking office in 2001 and kept it in a safe, according to an excerpt of an NBC interview released on Wednesday.
08/24/11
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States will present a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday asking it to unfreeze $1.5 billion in Libyan assets for humanitarian needs, a council diplomat said.
08/24/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States believes that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is still in Libya, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said on Wednesday.
08/24/11
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - Before Joe Biden left China this week, the last thing Vice President Xi Jinping told him over dinner was simple: he wants to be friends.
08/23/11
OXFORD, Miss (Reuters) - Mississippi voters chose Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree on Tuesday as the Democratic nominee for governor in one of four states due to hold gubernatorial contests in the fall.
08/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York and New Jersey politicians are demanding that any new government in Tripoli extradite to the United States a Libyan official convicted in Britain for the December 1988 bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner.
08/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former New York Governor George Pataki plans to visit Iowa on Saturday as speculation mounts that he will jump into the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
08/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York and New Jersey politicians are demanding that any new government in Tripoli extradite to the United States a Libyan official convicted in Britain for the December 1988 bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner.
08/23/11
VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday that federal regulatory cuts would save Washington more than $10 billion over five years, but business groups warned that companies could face more costs from new rules in the pipeline.
08/23/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on Tuesday shot down speculation that she is close to deciding whether to jump into the 2012 presidential race, after talk that she would announce her plans during the Labor Day holiday weekend in early September.
08/22/11
TOKYO (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the United States would overcome its debt crisis and Japan would move on from its devastating earthquake in March, warning doubters not to count the two countries out.
08/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans still hoping that another candidate will jump into the presidential race and give the party a better chance of defeating President Barack Obama in 2012 may need to get over it.
08/22/11
CHILMARK, Massachusetts (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday the United States would be a friend and partner to Libya, but urged rebels poised to depose Muammar Gaddafi to not seek justice through violent reprisals.
08/22/11
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the international alliance on Libya agreed on Monday that senior diplomats will meet in Istanbul to discuss the next steps for the country, the State Department said.
08/22/11
OAK BLUFFS, Massachusetts (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday Muammar Gaddafi's rule was showing signs of collapse and called on the Libyan leader to relinquish power to avoid further casualties.