Politics

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Mitt Romney is coming off a win in the Florida primary with an edge in fundraising as well. He ended 2011 with 10 times more money in the bank than former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Mr. Romney has steadily raised $1.5 million weekly. (Associated Press)

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Virginia state Sen. Janet D. Howell, Fairfax Democrat, took a novel approach Wednesday in an unsuccessful attempt to derail abortion-related legislation. (Associated Press)

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A memo from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to fellow Republicans lays out plans get a 20 percent tax deduction for small businesses passed before April 15. (Associated Press)

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Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, right, delivers his State of the State speech as Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, left, listens Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 in Annapolis, Md. O'Malley urged lawmakers to invest in the future to spur job growth. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

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Former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo on Wednesday introduces Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood. Mr. Tancredo gave Mr. Santorum his endorsement. (Associated Press)

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Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) tells the conference committee of senators and representatives that they have a huge responsibility to millions of Americans as they meet Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 in the House Visitors Center to discuss resolving differences in payroll tax relief. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Montana Democrat (left), and Minority Whip Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, confer during a meeting of the payroll-tax conferees Wednesday. Partisan debate on conditions to add to the federal unemployment benefits program threatens to bog down negotiations on extending the payroll-tax break. (Associated Press)

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Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta briefs reporters Wednesday aboard a plane en route to a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels. He called 2013 a critical year for the decade-old U.S. military mission in Afghanistan. (Associated Press)

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Britain's Prince William, a Royal Air Force helicopter pilot, has deployed to the Falklands as tension between Argentina and the United Kingdom builds. A government dispatch called him a "conquistador."

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Protesters outside the British Embassy in Buenos Aires sit in front of a wall that includes images of the Falkland Islands with the declaration "They are Argentina's. Argentina is trying to get Britain to negotiate Falklands sovereignty at the United Nations, but instead, Britain is sending more military support to the archipelago. (Associated Press)

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A Kuwaiti woman makes a point at an election rally for candidate Mohammed Al Sagr in Sulaibikhat. Almost 300 are running in Thursday's parliament elections. (Associated Press)

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Undersecretary of State Maria Otero has expressed concern over "reports of violence and continuing heightened tensions in Tibetan areas of China." (Associated Press)

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Sean Penn (left) raises a glass with Haiti's President Michel Martelly (right) and Foreign Minister Laurent Lamothe in Port-au-Prince after Mr. Penn was named ambassador at large because of his humanitarian work since the 2010 earthquake. (Associated Press)

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This handout image provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows one of nine new warning labels cigarette makers will have to use by the fall of 2012. The federal government fought an uphill battle Feb. 1, 2012, to convince a skeptical judge that tobacco companies should be required to put large graphic photos on cigarette packs to show that the habit kills smokers and their babies. (Associated Press/U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

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Rep. Sandy Levin, Michigan Democrat, tells the conference committee of senators and representatives that they have a huge responsibility to millions of Americans as they meet Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in the House Visitors Center to discuss resolving differences in payroll tax relief. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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A conference committee of senators and congressmen — including Sen. Ben Cardin, left, Maryland Democrat; Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat; Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican; and Sen. Mike Crapo, Idaho Republican — meet Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in the House Visitors Center in Washington, D.C., to discuss resolving the differences on payroll tax relief, unemployment insurance, Medicare physicians payment fix and other items. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)