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Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, in line to be China's next leader, said Wednesday that Beijing welcomes U.S. efforts to assert influence in the Asia-Pacific region, but that Washington must also respect the interests and concerns of China in its own neighborhood. Appearing before the U.S.-China Business Council, Xi spoke warmly of evolving relations between the world's two economic super powers but, as in earlier stops here, offered little new insight into how he will lead China, or...

President Barack Obama called Wednesday for tax cuts for American manufacturers and higher taxes for companies that move overseas, pressing what he hopes will be a winning campaign issue. Appearing at a Milwaukee padlock plant, Obama said the U.S. must do everything it can to make it more attractive for American businesses to stay put and grow here home, "and the place to start is our tax code." The president visited Master Lock, a manufacturer that has brought jobs back to the United States....

The Texas attorney general's office and a coalition of minority groups announced a deal Wednesday on one of three disputed electoral maps, a sign of compromise but not likely enough to prevent the state's primaries from sliding into at least May and fading from relevance in the Republican presidential race. The two sides announced a deal on state Senate maps to a panel of federal judges during a hearing in San Antonio, but the Texas House and congressional districts remain in dispute for the 2012...

The U.S. and its allies are closely monitoring Syria's large stockpiles of chemical arms and portable anti-aircraft missiles, a State Department official said Wednesday, amid concerns that the country's unconventional weapons could fall into the hands of terrorist or militant groups while the 11-month-old uprising continues. Thomas A. Countryman, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, drew a parallel with allied efforts to secure loose weapons in Libya during...

TITLE: "Growing Up." LENGTH: 30 seconds. AIRING: On cable and broadcast stations across Michigan. KEY IMAGES: Mitt Romney is behind the wheel of a car, presumably one made in Detroit, on a street somewhere in Michigan and talking about growing up in the state. As the former Massachusetts governor narrates, scenes from the past flash across the screen: Romney with his dad, sepia-toned shots from the Detroit auto show, Chrysler workers leaving a plant and an aerial shot of the iconic General Motors...

It doesn't compute: Medicare's bill for artificial feet has jumped by more than half, although foot and leg amputations due to diabetes continue to decline dramatically. Medicare paid $94 million for artificial feet in 2010, according to research conducted for The Associated Press. That was nearly $35 million more than in 2005, even though in 2010, Medicare covered about 1,900 fewer such prostheses. It works out to a 58 percent cost increase over five years. Artificial feet represent a tiny...

Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign has a history of near-death experiences and he insists another resurrection is on its way. "I'm very happy to continue this campaign based on real solutions that ... are going to attract a lot of Americans," Gingrich said Monday during a fundraising swing in California. "We've done it twice and I suspect you're about to see us do it again." The third time may not be the charm. Gingrich sustained a string of disappointing performances in several state contests...

Promoting farm subsidies was once a no-brainer for rural members of Congress seeking re-election. This year, it's a bit trickier. As lawmakers wade cautiously into writing the next five-year farm bill, agribusiness and farmers' lobbyists are preparing for the worst. With little appetite for spending on Capitol Hill, subsidy cuts in the billions of dollars are on the table as rural voters also cry out for less government. It doesn't help that farm business is booming. "What's different this time...

Congressional leaders of both parties praised an emerging deal Wednesday to extend a payroll tax cut and extra jobless benefits through 2012, but cautioned that bargainers still had to nail down final details. The rare, bipartisan consensus reflected a desire by both parties to put the long-running drama over the issue to rest and a shared sense that their tentative agreement was probably the best deal they could get. The pact came together after House Republicans conceded that the roughly $100...

A top adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign says Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has taken "divisive positions" on key social issues. David Axelrod tells "CBS This Morning" he believes voters don't yet know Santorum very well. And he declines to speculate on how tough a race the former Pennsylvania senator could give Obama. Axelrod says when people begin to look closely at Santorum's positions, "we'll get a better idea" of how well he'll do. The former White...

Congressional leaders are gauging lawmakers' reactions to a tentative deal extending a 2 percentage-point payroll tax cut and added unemployment benefits for the rest of 2012. Republican and Democratic bargainers worked out the package late Tuesday. The roughly $150 billion measure also would prevent a steep cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors. About a third of the measure's costs would be paid for, with savings that include cuts in Medicare payments to hospitals, increased employee contributions...

The Obama administration is hoping competition combined with cash will encourage states and school districts to improve the nation's teaching corps. Education Secretary Arne Duncan planned to announce details of the administration's proposed $5 billion program for a new Race to the Top-style competition, with states and districts competing for grant dollars to improve teacher quality, during a town hall meeting with teachers Wednesday. Among the changes the administration is seeking: higher teaching...

The latest Republican to surge in polls, Rick Santorum is trying to turn his newfound strength into something lasting. Curious Republicans now pack his rallies. Supporters have funneled nearly $4 million to his formerly empty campaign account over the past seven days. And his staff is plotting an aggressive strategy to challenge Mitt Romney in Romney's native Michigan and beyond. But things don't look so strong just beneath the surface. Santorum is underfunded and outmanned. He's still lacking...

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum is exploring Secret Service protection following a rowdy rally in Washington state earlier in the week. Santorum says it's "a sad state of affairs," especially after he spent several weeks campaigning in a supporter's pickup truck. But for his family's sake, he says, he's in discussions with the Secret Service. Santorum hosted an outdoor rally adjacent to the campsite of Tacoma, Wash., Occupy protesters Monday night. They chanted and yelled during...

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum isn't predicting victory, but he says he's going to plant a flag in the state where Mitt Romney was born. Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, began running television ads in Michigan this week. He'll campaign there on Thursday. Romney grew up in Michigan and his father was governor there. The state holds a presidential primary on Feb. 28. Asked about his expectations for Michigan after a campaign stop Tuesday night, Santorum said Michigan...

The latest Republican to surge in polls, Rick Santorum is trying to turn his newfound strength into something lasting. Curious Republicans now pack his rallies. Supporters have funneled nearly $4 million to his formerly empty campaign account over the past seven days. And his staff is plotting an aggressive strategy to challenge Mitt Romney in Romney's native Michigan and beyond. But things don't look so strong just beneath the surface. Santorum is underfunded and outmanned. He's still lacking...

U.S. Sens. Harry Reid and Dean Heller are shedding political donations amid reports that a Nevada developer and lobbyist is the target of a federal campaign finance investigation. Heller's communications director said Tuesday the Republican Nevada senator will donate to charity some $26,700 he received from Harvey Whittemore. A Reid spokeswoman said money donated to the Senate majority leader had been given to charity, but wouldn't provide an amount. The Las Vegas Review-Journal, citing anonymous...

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW GOP CAMPAIGN LULL: Mitt Romney and his rivals for the GOP presidential nomination are using a lull in the campaign to raise needed cash. The candidates are meeting in Arizona for a debate a week from Wednesday and the next primaries _ in Arizona and Michigan _ aren't until Feb. 28. Romney was spending most of the quiet week courting donors from coast to coast. He's working to...

After years of procrastination, the White House and Congress have suddenly boosted a long-term plan to improve the nation's roads, bridges and transit systems to the top of the political agenda. This week, the House and Senate are set to take up vastly different bills providing a blueprint for shoring up the nation's aging transportation system. Lawmakers are driven in part by a desire to show voters a major accomplishment in an election year when regard for Congress is at rock bottom. They are...

If you want a window into how outside Republican groups are likely to assail President Barack Obama's record this year, look no further than how the GOP is lambasting the administration's handling of solar company Solyndra. Republicans have used Obama's ties to the bankrupt California manufacturer to argue that he plays the same political games that have consumed Washington for generations _ and has failed to live up to promises to change the nation's capital. It's the message GOP-leaning outside...

A group dedicated to reducing government secrecy gave its annual worst performance award Tuesday to the Justice Department, the agency President Barack Obama ordered in 2009 to lead his drive to open more government records to the public. The National Security Archive said the department has prosecuted whistle-blowers as leakers of classified information, recycled legal views from the administration of George W. Bush arguing for greater secrecy and charged officials under the Espionage Act for...

In a Feb. 3 story about contributions to political committees supporting Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama, The Associated Press incorrectly identified a New York company founded by hedge fund manager Paul Singer as Renaissance Technologies. Singer's company is Elliott Management Corp.

President Barack Obama has signed legislation Tuesday that modernizes the nation's aviation system, speeding up the nation's switch from radar to an air traffic control system based on GPS technology. The law also opens up the skies to military, commercial and privately-owned unmanned drones. The legislation faced opposition from some labor unions because it set new rules governing union organizing elections at airlines and railroads. The Senate passed the bill last week, completing action after...

President Barack Obama will try to use his Wednesday visit to a Milwaukee padlock manufacturer to highlight an improving economy and showcase companies that are bringing jobs back to the U.S., even though the Wisconsin company's success isn't reflective of the state. Master Lock, which Obama mentioned in his State of the Union address, is a good story for the president _ especially in Wisconsin. It's a unionized company that recently brought back 100 jobs from China, and the state's Republican...

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former aide to Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings should only continue against the Helsinki Commission that he chaired and released the congressman from personal liability in the case. Winsome Packer served as the commission's staff representative in Vienna and claims Hastings repeatedly made unwanted sexual advances when he visited on business for the commission, which advises on U.S. policy about security, human rights and...

When a president introduces a budget, there are always phantoms flitting around the room. President Barack Obama's spending plan sets loose a number of them. It counts on phantom savings from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's underpinned by tax increases Republicans won't let happen and program cuts fellow Democrats in Congress are all but certain to block. And it assumes rates of growth that the economy will have to become strikingly undead to achieve. A look at three budget ghosts, sometimes...

President Barack Obama said Tuesday there are "hopeful signs" Congress will reach a deal to extend expiring payroll tax cuts for millions of Americans. But he urged the public to keep up the pressure on Congress until an agreement is finalized and a bill lands on his desk. "You're starting to hear voices talk about how we can go ahead and make this happen in a timely way on behalf of the American people," Obama said. "That is good news." But Obama warned that nothing in Washington should be taken...

Remember when a billion used to be a lot? Now we talk trillions. That's a thousand times more. The numbers bandied about in Washington these days _ yearly deficits in the $1 trillion range, a $3.8 trillion federal budget, a national debt piled up to $15 trillion _ are so big they're hard to grasp. Here's one way to think of it: a trillion is a million millions. If you paid out $1 per second, settling a $1 million debt would take less than 12 days. To pay off $1 billion would take 32 years....

A glance at President Barack Obama's estimate of total revenues, outlays, deficit and debt in the budget he submitted to Congress on Monday for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. All totals are in trillions of dollars. 2012 2013 % Change Revenues 2.5 2.9 16 Outlays 3.8 3.8 0 Deficit 1.3 0.9 -30.8 Debt Held by Public 11.6 12.6 8.6 Gross Domestic Product 15.6 16.3 4 Deficit as % of GDP 8.5...

President Barack Obama proposed tax increases on wealthy individuals and some corporations Monday, setting the stage for an ideological battle that won't be resolved until after the November election _ if then. Obama's proposed tax hikes put him at odds with the Republican presidential hopefuls. They have all called for tax packages that would lower taxes but possibly add to the federal deficit. Obama's 2013 budget proposal mixes tax cuts designed to improve the economy with long-term tax increases...

Highlights of the 2013 budget that President Barack Obama sent to Congress on Monday: ___ SPENDING: Obama proposes spending $3.8 trillion for the 2013 budget year, which begins Oct. 1, a slight 0.2 percent rise from expected spending for the current fiscal year. DEFICITS: Obama's budget projects that the deficit for the current year will total $1.33 trillion, the fourth straight year of deficits over $1 trillion. TAXES: The budget would raise $1.5 trillion in new taxes over the next decade,...

A glance at the economic assumptions underlying the budget President Barack Obama submitted to Congress for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Gross Domestic Product is in trillions of dollars. 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Gross Domestic Product 14.5 15.1 15.8 16.5 17.4 18.4 GDP % Change, Year to Year 4.2 4 4.5 4.7 5.3 6 GDP % Change, Adjusted for Inflation 3 1.8 2.7 3 3.6 4.1 Consumer Price Index, % Change, Year...

President Barack Obama has proposed a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2013 that aims to slash the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years but still envisions growth in the government's major health benefit programs. The agency-by-agency breakdown: ___ Agency: Agriculture Spending: $154.7 billion Percentage Change from 2012: 4.8 percent increase Discretionary Spending: $23 billion Highlights: Obama's budget envisions savings of $32 billion over 10 years by cutting some farm subsidies, such as...

Some 24 million voter registrations in the United States contain significant errors, including about 1.8 million dead people still on the rolls and many more approved to vote in multiple states, according to a report released Tuesday. Even though the inaccuracies impact one in eight registrations, researches at the Pew Center on the States said they don't see it as an indicator of widespread fraud. Rather, they believe outdated systems are failing to keep pace with the most basic changes in people's...

A new report says about 24 million voter registrations in the United States contain significant errors. The study released Tuesday by the Pew Center on the States found that about 1.8 million dead people are still on the rolls and many more are approved to vote in multiple states. About 12 million registrations contain address inaccuracies. Researchers say they don't see evidence of widespread fraud but believe outdated state systems are failing to keep pace with changes in people's lives. In...

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum clashed with Tacoma Occupy protesters Monday night during his first visit to a state he said would be a "momentum changer" heading into Super Tuesday. Minutes into Santorum's speech, protesters began chanting and shouting. They rarely stopped over the next half-hour. "I think it's really important to understand what this radical element represents," Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, told hundreds of supporters gathered outside the Washington...

Republican Newt Gingrich on Monday dismissed calls to drop out of the presidential contest in order to set up a direct contest between rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. The former House speaker insisted that his ideas and a new determination to stay positive would help him once again resuscitate his flagging candidacy. "I think my ideas are much bolder than Santorum or Romney's. I think my ideas are much clearer and more specific and I have to focus on communicating those ideas. Let's see...

Mitt Romney and his under-funded opponents are taking advantage of a weeklong lull in the Republican presidential nomination fight _ no debate or primary is slated _ to raise the money needed to carry out Super Tuesday strategies and compete in states beyond. Romney is the wealthiest candidate in the race with a big bank account and a personal fortune he could tap. Yet, even he is spending the bulk of this quiet campaign week largely courting donors from California to New York as he looks to ensure...

If Mitt Romney is rattled by polls showing presidential rival Rick Santorum nipping at his heels, he didn't show it Monday at an outdoor rally with about 2,500 people. The former Massachusetts governor stuck to his usual campaign speech, saying his experience running businesses and the 2002 Winter Olympics makes him best qualified to be president. He didn't mention Santorum or former House Speaker Newt Gingrich by name. And his criticisms of President Barack Obama were familiar. Romney said Obama...

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW OBAMA'S BUDGET. President Barack Obama sent Congress a $3.8 trillion spending plan that seeks $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade. But the plan does little to restrain growth in the government's huge health benefit programs, a major cause of future deficits. That fact left the campaign-mode president open to charges of failing to sufficiently close the gap between...

President Barack Obama proposed a $3.8 trillion budget on Monday for fiscal 2013 that aims to slash the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years but still envisions growth in the government's major health benefit programs. Here is the agency-by-agency breakdown: ___ Agency: Agriculture Spending: $154.7 billion Percentage Change from 2012: 4.8 percent increase Discretionary Spending: $23 billion Highlights: Obama's budget envisions savings of $32 billion over 10 years by cutting some farm subsidies,...

The White House said Monday legislation in the Senate that would give employers broad leeway to restrict coverage for contraception is "dangerous and wrong." Press secretary Jay Carney took aim at legislation by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. _ a possible GOP vice presidential candidate _ and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., that would allow any employer to deny birth control coverage if it runs counter to their religious or moral beliefs. Another bill, by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., would go even further by...

Highlights of the budget that President Barack Obama sent to Congress on Monday: ___ SPENDING: Obama proposes spending $3.8 trillion for the 2013 budget year, which begins Oct. 1, a slight 0.2 percent rise from expected spending for the current fiscal year. DEFICITS: Obama's budget projects that the deficit for the current year will total $1.33 trillion, the fourth straight year of deficits over $1 trillion. TAXES: The budget would raise $1.5 trillion in new taxes over the next decade, mainly...

Despite criticism of Fannie Mae by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, his campaign accepted nearly $280,000 in donations raised by a registered lobbyist who once represented the government mortgage giant and whose clients now include a private equity firm and the drug company Pfizer. Yet Romney has not identified all of his so-called fundraising "bundlers" who have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, even after President Barack Obama's re-election campaign released the names of...

President Barack Obama called on Congress Monday to create an $8 billion fund to train community college students for high-growth industries, giving a financial incentive to schools whose graduates are getting jobs. The fund was part of Obama's proposed budget for 2013. The overall package aims to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade by restraining government spending and raising taxes on the wealthy, while boosting spending in some areas, including education. Obama warned...

President Barack Obama proposed tax increases on wealthy individuals and some corporations Monday, setting the stage for an ideological battle that won't be resolved until after the November election _ if then. Obama's proposed tax hikes put him at odds with the Republican presidential hopefuls. They have all called for tax packages that would lower taxes but possibly add to the federal deficit. Obama's 2013 budget proposal mixes tax cuts designed to improve the economy with long-term tax increases...

A glance at the economic assumptions underlying the budget President Barack Obama submitted to Congress for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Gross Domestic Product is in trillions of dollars. 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Gross Domestic Product 14.5 15.1 15.8 16.5 17.4 18.4 GDP % Change, Year to Year 4.2 4 4.5 4.7 5.3 6 GDP % Change, Adjusted for Inflation 3 1.8 2.7 3 3.6 4.1 Consumer Price Index, % Change, Year...

A glance at President Barack Obama's estimate of total revenues, outlays, deficit and debt in the budget he submitted to Congress on Monday for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. All totals are in trillions of dollars. 2012 2013 % Change Revenues 2.5 2.9 16 Outlays 3.8 3.8 0 Deficit 1.3 0.9 -30.8 Debt Held by Public 11.6 12.6 8.6 Gross Domestic Product 15.6 16.3 4 Deficit as % of GDP 8.5...

Movie super spies James Bond and Jason Bourne use them. So do real-life presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who says he pays his taxes, and untold numbers of Americans who don't. Swiss banks and their secretive counterparts around the globe may sound like the exclusive province of the wealthy, the mysterious or the shady, but anybody can legally open an offshore account. Wouldn't it be swell to have a cool million stashed away on a sunny Caribbean island? Here's how to do it: Step 1: Get a million...

A U.S. envoy will hold talks with North Korea on its nuclear program in Beijing next week, the first such negotiations since the death of the nation's longtime leader Kim Jong Il. Glyn Davies, the U.S. envoy on North Korea, will meet Feb. 23 with North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Monday. It will be the third round of bilateral talks since last summer, aimed at restarting six-nation aid-for-disarmament negotiations...

President Barack Obama is sending Congress his proposed budget for the new fiscal year and traveling to a community college outside the capital to promote the plan. It amounts to a quick start for the president this week, although top advisers previewed his fiscal 2013 budget in a series of appearances over the weekend. Obama's budget rollout comes almost three weeks after his State of the Union address to Congress. He will travel to Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Va., to discuss...

A day after Mitt Romney regained some momentum in the Republican presidential contest, his rival Rick Santorum went on the attack, calling the front-runner "desperate" while promising to compete aggressively to win the state where Romney grew up. Santorum said Sunday he could do "exceptionally well" in Michigan, where Romney's father served as governor. The Midwestern state and Arizona host Republican presidential nominating contests on Feb. 28. "We're going to spend a lot of time in Michigan...

Conservatives said Sunday the flap surrounding President Barack Obama's birth control mandate was far from over, with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell saying he'll push to overturn the requirement because it was another example of government meddling. While a senior White House official shrugged off such remarks, declaring the issue resolved and new legislation unlikely, the heated rhetoric from Republicans suggested the GOP would try to keep the debate alive in an election year to rally...

Mitt Romney takes a hard line against congressional earmarks, but the GOP presidential front-runner had a more favorable view of federal pork-barrel spending when he was governor of Massachusetts. Under his leadership, Massachusetts sought tens of millions of dollars in earmarks for transportation projects through the state's congressional delegation. A prime example was the $30 million that the Romney administration requested to renovate the historic Longfellow Bridge that spans the Charles...

Documents detail the terms of a discounted mortgage loan received by U.S. Rep. Howard McKeon from the now-defunct Countrywide Financial Corp. under a VIP program, according to a published report. McKeon received a $315,000 mortgage refinance in 1998 as his family-owned business, Howard & Phil's Western Wear, was going through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Los Angeles Times said Sunday ( http://lat.ms/xzqdTd ). The newspaper cites financial disclosures and bankruptcy filings that show the...

Documents detail the terms of a discounted mortgage loan received by U.S. Rep. Howard McKeon from the now-defunct Countrywide Financial Corp. under a VIP program, according to a published report. McKeon received a $315,000 mortgage refinance in 1998 as his family-owned business, Howard & Phil's Western Wear, was going through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Los Angeles Times said Sunday ( http://lat.ms/xzqdTd ). The newspaper cites financial disclosures and bankruptcy filings that show the...

From the start, it's been a roller-coaster race for the Republican presidential nomination. GOP primary voters can catch their collective breath for the next two weeks after spending the past six lurching toward one candidate and then another in an exercise of political soul-searching that appears far from settled. The next contests, in Arizona and Michigan, aren't until Feb. 28. The party with a reputation for order may have it sorted out after March 6, when 10 states get their say. But that...

Rick Santorum says he expects to do well in the next GOP presidential contests and will be in a two-man race with Mitt Romney. Santorum is coming off victories last week in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, and says he can have good showings Feb. 28 in Michigan and Arizona. The former Pennsylvania senator says he's the latest candidate to challenge front-running Romney and he says Romney is having trouble figuring how to go after a rival who is a "solid conservative" with the ability to win support...

Mitt Romney narrowly won Maine's Republican caucuses, state party officials announced Saturday, providing his campaign with a much-needed boost after three straight losses earlier this week. But the former Massachusetts governor won just a plurality of the Maine vote, suggesting he still has work to do to unite GOP voters behind his candidacy. At a gathering in Portland, state Republican Chairman Charlie Webster announced Romney had won with 2,190 votes, or 39 percent, compared to 1,996 _ about...

Mitt Romney added to his lead in the race for delegates Saturday with a narrow victory in the Maine Republican presidential caucuses. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, won 11 delegates and Texas Rep. Ron Paul won 10, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich were shut out. Romney leads the overall race for delegates with 123, including endorsements from members of the Republican National Committee who...

Mitt Romney is thanking Maine voters after the state party chairman declared him the winner of that state. The former Massachusetts governor issued a statement instead of delivering a speech. Romney had visited Maine earlier in the day but he wasn't in the state when he was declared the winner. He was on the West coast and was scheduled to attend a fundraiser. In the statement, he says that Maine voters sent a clear message that it is past time to send an outsider to the White House. And he...

Republican presidential contender Ron Paul says he wishes all the Maine caucuses would have met on Saturday. The Maine GOP chairman declared rival Mitt Romney the victor in Maine even though several places in the state won't hold their caucuses until next weekend. Paul is addressing his supporters in Maine and telling them not to be discouraged. He says the momentum behind his candidacy will continue and he's pledging not to go away. He also says -- in his words -- that the revolution continues....

President Barack Obama's political shifting over contraception coverage has united conservative Republicans in protest even as they split over which GOP presidential hopeful should face him in the general election. The candidates themselves, campaigning for votes in the Conservative Political Action Conference's straw poll Saturday, competed to present themselves as most opposed to Obama's health care law. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the straw poll Saturday, followed by former Sen....

A profile of Maine, site of the Republican caucus on Feb. 11: NUMBERS Population: 1,328,361 AGE Median age: 42.7 Percentage of population 65 and over: 15.9 percent RACE AND ETHNICITY 95.2 percent white, 1.3 percent Hispanic or Latino origin, 1.2 percent black, 1 percent Asian LANGUAGE Language other than English spoken at home: 7.1 percent EDUCATION High school graduate or higher: 89.8 percent Bachelor's degree or higher: 26.5 percent MONEY Median household income: $46,933 People...

Mitt Romney has won The Washington Times/CPAC Presidential Straw Poll of conservative activists. The former Massachusetts governor is favored as the Republican presidential nominee by 38 percent of the 3,408 respondents. Rivals Rick Santorum drew 31 percent, and Newt Gingrich was favored by 15 percent. All three candidates addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Friday. Romney had encouraged students to attend the convention, and 44 percent of them participated...

Add another dance move to Michelle Obama's repertoire. This one has to do with a certain celebrity platypus. The first lady gave "the platypus walk" a try on Saturday during a visit to Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The dance was inspired by Disney's "Phineas and Ferb" show, whose characters include Perry the Platypus. It required some flapping of flippers, or arms if you're human, shuffling left and right and yanking limbs up and down, all to a pulsing rock beat. Mrs. Obama...

In just the past few days, she's danced with cheering school kids, chatted with troops, swapped ideas with busy parents and engaged in a friendly cooking competition with stars from "Top Chef." Michelle Obama's national tour was intended to promote the second anniversary of her campaign against childhood obesity. The images have been disarming, intriguing and nonpolitical, just the type of thing her husband's re-election campaign can't get enough of. Five years to the day after Sen. Barack Obama...

Staggered by Rick Santorum's surge, Mitt Romney is trying to reset his presidential campaign by defining himself as a strict conservative. The former Massachusetts governor had focused on his business credentials and played down his ideology, four years after he failed in his attempt to win the GOP nomination by running as a social conservative. "I was a severely conservative Republican governor," Romney told the Conservative Political Action Committee's annual gathering Friday. It was a speech...

It's not like he wasn't warned. As President Barack Obama considered a decision on birth control that would turn into an unexpected political nightmare, he heard it from inside and outside his White House: He risked a fierce backlash if he required religious employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception in violation of their beliefs. Over the course of months, Catholic groups and officials spoke with White House aides, sent letters and wrote opinion columns. Vice President Joe Biden...

Mitt Romney faulted President Barack Obama's original push to require church-affiliated employers to pay for birth control as an "assault on religion," but as Massachusetts governor, Romney was largely silent about a state law that required virtually the same contraceptive coverage. The Massachusetts law, which essentially mirrored Obama's proposal, was signed by Romney's predecessor in 2002, the year before he took office. Romney did not seek its repeal. Despite his silence on the state law,...

What birth control debate? A half-century after the introduction of the pill, acceptance of birth control by American women is virtually universal. But that didn't keep the Obama administration from landing in a political mess over a side issue to a new policy that will soon make contraceptives available free of charge as preventive care for women enrolled in workplace health plans. The big question: how the rules would apply to nonprofit institutions such as hospitals, colleges and charities...

Gabrielle Giffords, the recently retired congresswoman from Arizona who was shot in an assassination attempt 13 months ago, returned to Washington Friday for double honors. The Navy named a ship after her and she saw President Barack Obama sign the last piece of legislation she authored into law. In a ceremony at the Pentagon, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus unveiled an artist's rendering of the USS Gabrielle Giffords, a littoral combat ship. The craft is among the Navy's most versatile and can operate...

Social issues dominated the 2012 presidential race Friday, as President Barack Obama tried to calm a storm over religion and birth control and the Republicans vying to replace him jockeyed to outdo each other in proving their conservative fervor. There was little time left for talk of jobs and the economy, subjects still expected to dominate the fall election. In that sense, the day's events may become little more than a footnote. But Democrats hope the unusually intense focus on...

Under fierce election-year fire, President Barack Obama on Friday abruptly abandoned his stand that religious organizations must pay for birth control for workers, scrambling to end a furor raging from the Catholic Church to Congress to his re-election foes. He demanded that insurance companies step in to provide the coverage instead. Obama's compromise means ultimately that women would still get birth control without having to pay for it, no matter where they work. The president insisted he had...

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW YOU CALL THAT CONSERVATIVE: Three of the four presidential candidates addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Washington, each trying to establish their conservative bona fides. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gave examples of how he's lived conservatism throughout his life, declaring himself "severely conservative." Not enough for rival Rick Santorum....

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops are expressing grave doubts about President Barack Obama's revamped health care rule on birth control. They say it raises serious moral concerns and lacks clear protections for certain employers, insurers and individuals. In a statement issued Friday evening, the United States Conference of Bishops said Obama's proposal "continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions." The statement came hours after Obama...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi predicts that five large states will put Democrats in striking distance of gaining control of the House after the November elections. Pelosi said Friday in San Diego that she expects gains in California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas will leave Democrats only about a half-dozen seats short. She declined to predict how many seats she anticipates picking up, saying only that she will be happy with 25. That's how many Democrats need to gain control of the...

President Barack Obama's new budget predicts a $1.3 trillion deficit for the ongoing fiscal year but that would drop to $575 billion in 2018 if the president gets his wish to raise taxes and if policymakers can live within tight restraints on the Pentagon and other Cabinet agency budgets, the White House said Friday. After four consecutive years of trillion dollar-plus deficits, next year's budget shortfall would drop to $901 billion under the administration's tax and spending policies. In his...

A federal court sent a message Friday that the Texas primaries shouldn't be pushed past April because of bitterly disputed voting maps and ordered the state and minority rights groups to spend the weekend back at the bargaining table. The fate of the Texas primaries, which have already been postponed once and risk being held too late to matter in the Republican presidential race, could be decided early as Tuesday by the San Antonio court. The primaries are currently scheduled for April 3, though...

The government could lose nearly $3 billion on Energy Department loans for green energy programs _ far less than the $10 billion Congress set aside for the high-risk program, according to an independent review. The White House ordered the review after criticism of a $528 million loan to Solyndra Inc., a California solar company that went bankrupt. The review, led by former Treasury Department official Herb Allison, looked at 30 loans or loan guarantees totaling $23.8 billion that were offered...

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he thinks it would be wrong to allow women to serve in combat. As one reason, Santorum cites "the emotions of men." The White House hopeful says there is the potential that men will not be focused on their combat mission but on what he calls a "natural instinct" to protect a woman. Santorum also questions having women in combat roles because of what he says are "all sorts of physical issues" relating to the capabilities of men and women. The...

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul rarely even acknowledge each other in the Republican presidential race, focusing their attention and attacks on rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum instead. That curious detente is being tested in Maine's caucuses this week, where Romney's reputation as a political shape shifter is going head-to-head with Paul's consistent libertarian views. The caucuses began Feb. 4 and will continue through Saturday, when the state party will announce the results of the nonbinding...

A new ethics investigation of the House Financial Services Committee chairman's investment activities during the events leading up to and surrounding Congress' $700 billion bailout of Wall Street sets back lawmakers' election-year efforts to rebound from their record low standing with the public. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., confirmed Friday that he is being investigated by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Just a day earlier, the House passed a bill explicitly prohibiting lawmakers...

President Barack Obama is raising money for his re-election campaign from a small group of wealthy donors who each paid $35,800 to meet with him at a hotel near the White House. Friday's fundraiser at the upscale Jefferson Hotel was closed to media coverage. Obama's campaign said about 20 people attended. Obama has been raising money in preparation for a tough challenge against his eventual Republican opponent. Through the end of 2011, Obama had raised more than $220 million for his re-election...

Mitt Romney says he has a "severely conservative" record as he looks to win over voters who favored his rivals in recent contests. Romney tells a gathering of conservative activists in Washington that he was raised with conservative values and has governed as a conservative in Massachusetts, which he called the most liberal state in the country. Romney says he was successful in business because he applied conservative principles. Romney is pushing to convince conservative Republicans who are...

A federal appeals court's decision to delay the deportation of seven illegal immigrants until the Obama administration re-evaluates their cases could encourage thousands of other illegal immigrants to seek similar rulings and could open the door to uncomfortable questions about the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S, experts said. The seven people whose deportations the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted have no criminal records, but they were ordered deported before the...

President Barack Obama is making a strong election-year push for an economic revival "built on American manufacturing." But he faces an uphill slog, with little consensus even within his own party on how to do it. For decades, the United States has gradually shifted from creating goods to providing services. Fifty years ago, a third of U.S. jobs were in manufacturing. Now they account for just 9 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A manufacturing renaissance is being preached...

President Barack Obama signed into law Friday a final bill authored by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in an Arizona shooting rampage a year ago. Giffords took part in the signing ceremony at the White House. She resigned from Congress last month as she continues to recover from a gunshot wound to the head. The legislation increases the penalties for using ultra-light aircraft when smuggling drugs into the country. The small, single-seat planes are an increasingly favored tool...

Rick Santorum stirs his ever-growing crowds when he promises to right a country awash in "immoral debt" and to replace an administration he argues has "callousness toward life and family and faith." Of the GOP presidential hopefuls, Santorum is the most public and emphatic about his faith, drawing on his Catholicism and deeply held views on social issues as the foundation of his message. It serves to solidify his standing among religiously motivated voters _ and subtly remind them of lingering...

Turkey's foreign minister said Friday he will propose new ways to pressure Syria when he meets with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday. Meeting Friday with reporters, foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu did not elaborate on what steps he would discuss with Clinton to force Syria to end its violence against civilians. He also said he believes from recent discussions with Iranian officials that Tehran is ready for new talks with the West on limiting its nuclear program. "I think...

A federal appeals court has denied a request to reconsider a lawsuit challenging a Texas law that requires doctors to perform a sonogram before an abortion. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the suit on behalf of doctors saying the state Legislature had passed a law that wrongly dictates how a doctor deals with a patient. The rule requires a doctor to conduct a sonogram, describe the features of the fetus and play aloud the fetal heartbeat whether the woman wants it or not. The doctor must...

Rick Santorum is telling conservatives he's the only Republican presidential candidate who shares their values and implicitly attacking rival Mitt Romney as a moderate. Speaking Friday at a gathering of conservative activists in Washington, the former Pennsylvania senator cast himself as the candidate who will allow true conservative voters to keep the "honor" and stay true to their principles. Santorum didn't mention Romney by name, but he implicitly and repeatedly attacked the former Massachusetts...

Corporations are asking the Supreme Court to allow them to spend freely to influence upcoming elections in Montana, despite a state high court ruling upholding a ban on independent corporate campaign spending. Three groups filed papers with Justice Anthony Kennedy on Friday, saying that the Montana court's decision in December is out of step with Kennedy's majority opinion in the 2010 Citizens United case that struck down a federal ban on independent campaign spending. The American Tradition...

The White House has support from a key Catholic health group on its compromise birth control policy. Sister Carol Keehan heads the Catholic Health Organization. She says the compromise "has responded to the issues we identified that needed to be fixed." Senior administration officials tell The Associated Press the compromise policy says religious employers won't have to cover birth control for their employees, after all. Instead, insurance companies will be directly responsible for providing...

President Barack Obama is set to sign the last piece of legislation that former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords sponsored and voted on. It's the Ultralight Aircraft Smuggling Prevention Act of 2012. The bill gives law enforcement greater authority to combat illicit drug trafficking on U.S. borders. The president will be joined for the signing Friday in the Oval Office by Vice President Joe Biden, Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly. The Arizona congresswoman resigned her seat last month, a year after...

Ten states now have President Barack Obama's OK to scrap one of the most rigorous and unpopular mandates in American education _ that all students measure up in reading and math by 2014. In exchange, the states had to promise they would raise standards and develop more creative ways to measure what students are learning. "We've offered every state the same deal," Obama said Thursday. "If you're willing to set higher, more honest standards than the ones that were set by No Child Left Behind, then...

Money pouring into the presidential election from super political action committees appears so far to be strictly American, donated by U.S. companies, unions and millionaires. But U.S. officials and tax law experts warn the growth of super PACs has made conditions ripe for illegal foreign donations. Foreign political money has been outlawed in U.S. campaigns since 1966, and a U.S. Supreme Court order last month upheld that ban. But the landmark 2010 Supreme Court ruling known as the Citizens...

New orders from the Pentagon: The military on Thursday formally opened thousands of jobs to women in units that are closer to the front lines than ever before, reflecting what's already been going on as female American soldiers fight and die next to their male comrades. The new rules, affecting thousands of jobs, will break down more of the official barriers that have restricted the military positions women can take. They're being sent to Congress, and if lawmakers take no action after 30 work...

The United States and its allies believe the window to stop Iran from building a bomb is quickly closing, pushing conflict with the Islamic republic to the top of the Obama administration's national security worries in the midst of an election year. After years of diplomatic deadlock, Iran's nuclear program has advanced to the point where experts say work on a bomb could begin within a year. That progress has moved the once far-fetched possibility of a pre-emptive U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's...