Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Social Security in the red this year
Social Security will pay out more this year than it gets in payroll taxes, marking the first time the program will be in the red, according to the annual authoritative report released Thursday by the program's actuary. Published August 5, 2010
Senate OKs vote on cash to states
Congress is poised to extend a taxpayer-funded lifeline to cash-strapped states after the Senate on Wednesday advanced another round of $26 billion in stimulus spending for teachers and health care, and House Democrats said they will break their six-week summer vacation to return to Washington to vote on it next week. Published August 4, 2010
Senate advances new government job stimulus
The Senate on Wednesday tossed a taxpayer-funded lifeline to financially strapped states, advancing a bill that would extend parts of last year's stimulus bill to cover more health care costs and fund more state and local government jobs. Published August 4, 2010
Napolitano seeks review of illegal immigrant’s release
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has demanded a review of why federal immigration authorities released an illegal immigrant after a drunken-driving arrest in 2008 and who now has been charged with manslaughter stemming for a suspected drunken-driving crash that killed a Catholic nun this weekend. Published August 3, 2010
Waters faces ethics charge
The House ethics committee will accuse Rep. Maxine Waters of breaking the chamber's rules after a year-long investigation into allegations she sought the Treasury Department's help for a bank in which her husband was invested, the committee said Monday. Published August 2, 2010
Illegal immigrant who killed nun in accident was released by feds
UPDATED: The Virginia man suspected in a drunken-driving crash that killed a Catholic nun in Prince William County this weekend is an illegal immigrant and repeat offender who was awaiting deportation and whom federal immigration authorities had released pending further proceedings, police said Monday. Published August 2, 2010
House ethics panel files charges against Maxine Waters
The House ethics committee will charge that Rep. Maxine Waters violated the chamber's rules after a yearlong investigation into allegations she tried to aid a bank in which her husband was invested, the committee said Monday. Published August 2, 2010
Memo outlines backdoor ‘amnesty’ plan
With Congress gridlocked on an immigration bill, the Obama administration is considering using a back door to stop deporting many illegal immigrants - what a draft government memo said could be "a non-legislative version of amnesty." Published July 29, 2010
House panel lodges 13 ethics charges against Rangel
Kicking off what promises to be a politically perilous process, the House ethics committee on Thursday officially lodged 13 different charges against Rep. Charles B. Rangel, including that he used his office to raise more than $8 million for a college public policy center named after him. Published July 29, 2010
Feds win round 1 against Arizona
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked key parts of Arizona's tough new immigration law one day before it was to take effect, setting up a protracted legal battle and ensuring the issue will continue to roil the country through November's elections.. Published July 28, 2010
House GOP helps Obama fund war
Republicans came to President Obama's rescue Tuesday, providing him the votes needed for quick passage of a $59 billion emergency war-spending bill to fund his 30,000 Afghanistan troop surge. Published July 27, 2010
Senate GOP blocks campaign-finance bill
Senate Republicans launched a successful filibuster Tuesday to uphold the Supreme Court's decision earlier this year that allows corporations and unions to spend freely on campaign ads. Published July 27, 2010
Rangel charges shake up alliances
Democrats scrambled Monday to handle the fallout from ethics charges against Rep. Charles B. Rangel and tried to head off a politically costly public hearing, but Republicans said they wanted to see the ethics committee process play out. Published July 26, 2010
‘Comeback’ for GOP seen in House races
The top Senate Republican said Thursday the GOP is "on a comeback" politically as Democrats scrambled to bury the hatchet after several days of intraparty squabbling over their chances to hold the House in November's elections. Published July 15, 2010
Summer of sunny skies for stimulus?
Pointing to signs of an economic turnaround, the White House said that stimulus act spending finally has kicked into high gear and, as of June 30, had expanded the economy by up to 3.2 percent and created up to 3.6 million jobs. Published July 14, 2010
Justice: Sanctuary cities safe from law
The Obama administration said this week that there is no reason to sue so-called sanctuary cities for refusing to cooperate with federal authorities, whereas Arizona's new immigration law was singled out because it "actively interferes" with enforcement. Published July 14, 2010
White House says stimulus created 3.6 million jobs
The White House said Wednesday that stimulus-act spending finally has kicked into high gear and as of June 30 had grown the economy by up to 3.2 percent and created up to 3.6 million jobs. Published July 14, 2010
Obama taps Clinton vet as budget office chief
Facing a potentially crippling fight over deficits and debt, President Obama on Tuesday tapped as his new budget director Jacob J. "Jack" Lew, the same man who helped President Clinton negotiate with a Republican Congress to achieve balanced budgets in the late 1990s. Published July 13, 2010
Obama picks Lew as budget director
President Obama on Tuesday tapped as his new budget director Jacob J. "Jack" Lew, the same man who oversaw balanced budgets under President Clinton in the late 1990s. Published July 13, 2010
Salazar puts new ban on deep-water oil drilling
Saying oil companies still are at risk of another catastrophic spill, the Obama administration announced a new moratorium Monday on drilling in the outer continental shelf, three weeks after a judge rejected the first ban. Published July 12, 2010