Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Romney to slam Obama on warfare
Mitt Romney on Monday will accuse the Obama administration of fundamentally misunderstanding the threat of radical Islam, using a major foreign-policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute to say President Obama is rejecting six decades of bipartisan consensus by not flexing more U.S. muscle on the world stage. Published October 8, 2012
Romney tries personal touch on campaign stump
Fresh off a debate performance he spent highlighting American stories, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Friday peppered his campaign stump speech with those same kinds of personal anecdotes. Published October 5, 2012
Feds end 2012 with $1.1 trillion deficit
The federal government notched a $1.1 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2012 — the fourth straight year over $1 trillion — according to a preliminary estimate that the Congressional Budget Office released Friday. Published October 5, 2012
Obama hails job picture; Romney says improvement too slow
President Obama hailed a modest improvement in job growth last month as evidence his policies are working and pleaded with voters not to risk handing control of the country to GOP rival Mitt Romney, whose supply-side economics he said are the same policies that caused the financial crisis. Published October 5, 2012
Romney: Jobs growth not enough to re-elect Obama
The jobs picture improved in September, but Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said the fall in the nation's jobless rate still is not enough to justify giving President Obama another term in office. Published October 5, 2012
Romney energizes GOP base with debate showdown
Far from running to the political middle, Republican nominee Mitt Romney used this week's first presidential debate to embrace exactly the same kinds of spending cuts he talked about throughout the GOP primary, including backing trims that House Republicans tried to push through Congress last year. Published October 4, 2012
Romney energizes GOP base with debate showdown
Far from running to the political middle, Republican nominee Mitt Romney used this week's first presidential debate to embrace exactly the same kinds of spending cuts he talked about throughout the GOP primary, including backing trims that House Republicans tried to push through Congress last year. Published October 4, 2012
Romney attacks Obama’s ‘trickle down government’ in first debate
Claiming he's the true champion of a middle class that's being "crushed" under President Obama, Mitt Romney went straight at the president Wednesday in the first debate of the campaign, saying his four years in office have doubled the deficit and left the economy gasping. Published October 3, 2012
Debates not last word on presidential race
The presidential debates may be the biggest news events between now and Election Day, but with two monthly jobs reports, the final deficit tally and several other end-of-the-fiscal-year numbers due, the calendar is littered with other potential political land mines. Published October 3, 2012
Third parties work for their candidates’ inclusion in 2016 debates
Third-party presidential candidates always have tried to crash presidential debates, but now there's a bigger movement trying to break the two main political parties' monopoly on the debates themselves. Published October 2, 2012
Social Security deficit deepens
Social Security ran a 4 percent deficit last year, and that gap will only increase over the next decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office report Tuesday that said the system is facing growing deficits for the foreseeable future. Published October 2, 2012
Romney won’t deport illegal immigrants with temporary legal status
Moving to soften his immigration stance ever so slightly, Mitt Romney said this week he will not immediately deport the illegal immigrants granted tentative legal status by President Obama — and the Republican nominee also set a soft deadline for getting a broader immigration bill done in 18 months. Published October 2, 2012
Obama widens lead, confidence against Romney
President Obama has opened a sizable lead over Mitt Romney in polling ahead of the election as both Democrats and Republicans are increasingly convinced that he is going to win re-election, according to The Washington Times/Zogby Poll released Sunday. Published September 30, 2012
Poll finds most think Obama will win first debate
Mitt Romney has one thing going for him headed into this week's first presidential debate with President Obama: Voters don't expect him to do very well. Published September 30, 2012
DHS grants gay partners discretion in deportation cases
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said this week gay and lesbian partners will be considered as family members when immigration agents are trying to decide whether or not to try to deport someone from the U.S. Published September 28, 2012
Nader: Obama running ‘selfish’ race
Ralph Nader, a four-time presidential candidate, says President Obama should be poised for a landslide victory that swings control of Congress dramatically back to Democrats, but instead he's running a "selfish" campaign that has done little to help his party on Capitol Hill. Published September 27, 2012
Senators join suit over Obama’s constitutional powers
Republican senators on Wednesday joined a lawsuit arguing President Obama violated the Constitution when he used his recess appointment powers earlier this year to fill several controversial posts. Published September 26, 2012
Politicians grab political football, run with it
Finally, Republicans and Democrats have found grounds for bipartisan agreement: It's time to get the regular NFL referees back on the field. Published September 25, 2012
Romney takes aim at foreign aid, ties future aid to trade
Seeking to carve out foreign-policy differences with President Obama, rival Mitt Romney on Tuesday said he wants to impose a bargain on countries seeking U.S. foreign aid: open economies to trade and investment in exchange for American taxpayers' generosity. Published September 25, 2012
Amish, N.Y. town reach settlement over building codes
A New York town has agreed to drop criminal charges against an Amish community that had balked at following modern building codes for their homes by adding such features as bigger windows and smoke detectors — something the traditional sect members argued violate its religious beliefs. Published September 24, 2012
