Stephen Dinan

Does Bush deserve more credit for Iraq?

President Obama made brief mention of his predecessor Tuesday night, but the end of combat operations in Iraq has some wondering whether former President George W. Bush deserves more acclaim for having left in place the framework Mr. Obama is following to wind down the war. Published August 31, 2010

Back in Washington, Obama hits Republicans on small business bill

Fresh off a vacation in Martha's Vineyard, President Obama jumped right back into the political fray Monday, saying he wants to act on boosting the economy but blaming Senate Republicans for holding a key small-business lending bill "hostage." Published August 30, 2010

Ariz. governor appeals ruling on illegals law

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Thursday she has asked a federal appeals court to lift a lower court's injunction and let the state's tough immigration law to go fully into effect. Published August 26, 2010

Senate tax duel centers on small business

With the economy sputtering, Democrats have signaled they will turn a September Senate showdown on a small-business lending bill into a key test of who is working to boost jobs. But Republicans instead are focusing attention on the impending expiration of Bush tax cuts, which they say would hurt those small businesses. Published August 25, 2010

Republican leader tells Obama to fire economic team

The top House Republican said Tuesday it's "time to put grown-ups in charge" as he called on President Obama to fire his whole economic team, but the White House shot back that Republicans haven't offered any better solutions to lead the country out of its slump. Published August 24, 2010

Stimulus cost drops by nearly $50 billion

Congress's scorekeeping agency now says President Obama's stimulus spending program will cost only $814 billion over 10 years, or nearly $50 billion less than predicted in January. Published August 24, 2010

Boehner calls for Obama to fire entire economic team

Saying Washington is hampered by "endless spending sprees, entangled tax structures and bureaucracy run amok," the top House Republican on Tuesday demanded President Obama fire his entire economic team and immediately submit a plan to cut spending to pre-stimulus 2008 levels. Published August 24, 2010

3 primaries pose key test for ‘tea party’

Tuesday marks the final major test of "tea party" power in the primaries, as challengers try to capitalize on anti-incumbent sentiment in Alaska, Arizona and Florida, and incumbents hope to avoid becoming the latest victims in what's been a rough year for officeholders. Published August 23, 2010

Gulf dearth of visitors blamed on media

Tourism officials say there can never be enough positive press coverage to undo the worst-case scenarios that were bandied about during the months-long barrage of bad news about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Published August 19, 2010

As job losses rise, rebound from recession called ‘anemic’

New jobless benefits claims jumped last week to their highest rate since November, and Congress' chief scorekeeper said Thursday that the ongoing recovery has been "anemic" compared with past rebounds from deep recessions. Published August 19, 2010

CBO: U.S. faces slow recovery, near-record deficit

With the sluggish economy holding down revenues and the federal government still spending lavishly, the national deficit will hit $1.3 trillion this year — second only to last year's record, Congress's chief scorekeeper said Thursday. Published August 19, 2010

White House touts success of stimulus

The Obama administration says the stimulus worked by creating millions of jobs and staving off a depression - doing so with great transparency. It should be a crowning achievement as Democrats prepare for November's congressional elections. Published August 17, 2010

Bush drug plan beats cost mark

Four years into full operation, President George W. Bush's Medicare prescription drug program is coming in well below its projected cost, giving hope to backers of the new health insurance law that it, too, could beat budget expectations. Published August 16, 2010

No more for the road, Smith says

After a Catholic nun's death earlier this month in a drunken-driving crash that police say was caused by a repeat-offender illegal immigrant, a key lawmaker wants the federal government to start detaining and deporting every illegal immigrant who commits a drunken-driving offense. Published August 15, 2010

Border-security measure sent to Obama

Congress on Thursday passed and sent President Obama a $600 million bill to pay for more law enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border, and Senate Democrats said they've now proved they are "serious" about security. Published August 12, 2010

Senate hustles through $600M border bill

Congress on Thursday passed and sent President Obama a $600 million bill to pay for more law enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border, and Senate Democrats said they've now proved they are "serious" about security and can turn their attention to restarting talks on legalizing illegal immigrants. Published August 12, 2010

Obama noshes on Gulf seafood to stimulate industry

It's not clear whether President Obama's stomach can save an entire industry, but he's making a real go of it when it comes to seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. Published August 11, 2010

Unanimous Senate OKs $600M for border

The Senate voted to hire 1,000 more U.S. Border Patrol agents as part of a border-security bill, acting swiftly in the hours before they left to face constituents. Published August 5, 2010

Health law could aid Medicare solvency

Social Security will pay more in benefits this year than it will take in because of payroll taxes in the sluggish economy, but Medicare's solvency could be extended by years thanks to the new health care law, according to two reports on the government's big entitlement programs released Thursday. Published August 5, 2010

Senate passes last-minute border security boost

The Senate on Thursday voted to hire 1,000 more U.S. Border Patrol agents as part of a $600 million border security bill, acting swiftly in the hours before they left to face constituents during their five-week summer vacation. Published August 5, 2010