Hometownstations.com-WLIO- Lima, OH News Weather SportsPolitical News

President Barack Obama signed the payroll tax cut extension into law Wednesday, notching an election-year victory and rare bipartisan agreement in the continuing partisan battle over jobs, taxes and debt.More >>

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, for Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012:More >>

The Arizona attorney general's office has designated Solicitor General Dave Cole to head an investigation into allegations that Pinal (pih-NAL') County Sheriff Paul Babeu (BAB'-yoo) abused his power.More >>

Struggling for an edge, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum campaigned Wednesday into the 20th and possibly final debate of the roller-coaster race for the Republican presidential nomination.More >>

Frederick Douglass was black and that was enough for the Smithsonian Institution to bar the famed abolitionist from speaking at a lecture series intended to convince President Abraham Lincoln that he should end slavery as...More >>

Rick Santorum acknowledged Wednesday that he's probably running behind Mitt Romney in Arizona, but he implored a tea party crowd not to settle for "a Johnny-come-lately to the conservative cause."More >>

By The Associated Press The Associated Press-GfK Poll on President Obama and the economy was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications from Feb. 16-20. It is based on landline...More >>

A surging Rick Santorum is making increasingly harsh remarks about President Barack Obama, questioning not just the president's competence but his motives and even his Christian values.More >>

First birth control, now prenatal testing? Once again a fact of life for many American women has become a jarring issue in the presidential race.More >>

Republican Newt Gingrich is taking his campaign's recent focus on reducing energy costs and boosting domestic production to the airwaves with a 30-minute infomercial-style address.More >>

Donald Trump is telling Michigan voters that Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is a career politician who doesn't know how to create jobs.More >>

For every presidential candidate, there's now at least one $1 million donor. Millionaire and billionaire executives have unlocked their personal bank vaults to write seven-figure checks to support the campaigns of...More >>

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum belittled President Barack Obama on Tuesday as a rock star who won the White House four years ago, and dismissed fellow GOP rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as unable to...More >>

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's administration has "fought against religion" and sought to substitute a "secular" agenda for one grounded in faith.More >>

A super political action committee supporting Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has refunded a $50,000 donation from a London-based securities firm.More >>

An unmistakable dynamic is playing out in the money game among Republican presidential candidates: New "super" political action committees are growing more powerful than the campaigns they support.More >>

Newt Gingrich is asserting that President Barack Obama pursues an "outrageously anti-American" energy policy that snubs the Keystone oil pipeline and puts too much stock in electric car technology to wean the country from...More >>

President Barack Obama will be joined at the White House on Tuesday by taxpayers who stand to benefit from a payroll tax cut extension.More >>

If Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination for president, he'll face the urgent task of inspiring the party's conservative core and rallying them to beat President Barack Obama in the November election.More >>

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul praised hemp as an alternative crop and said a free-market approach would protect the nation's environment Monday during North Dakota campaign stops that drew hundreds of...More >>

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, for Monday, Feb. 20, 2012:More >>

A group of evangelical pastors on Monday joined Roman Catholic clergy who oppose an Obama administration requirement that employees of religiously affiliated businesses receive birth control coverage.More >>

Philosophical differences between the top two Republican presidential candidates are becoming starker as Rick Santorum drives harder on religious and social issues that Mitt Romney rarely discusses in detail.More >>

President Barack Obama has spoken to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to discuss efforts to reconcile with elements of the Taliban, including his meeting last week with Pakistani and Iranian leaders.More >>

When Honduran-born Antonella Cecilia Packard converted to the Mormon Faith 20 years ago, she said it was like "coming home."More >>

Newt Gingrich slammed his Republican rivals Friday for refusing to appear in a nationally televised debate from his home state of Georgia, a state the former House speaker has made central to his strategy of getting his...More >>

Long expecting to face Mitt Romney in the fall, President Barack Obama's campaign team has shifted gears in recent days to consider the possibility his GOP opponent will instead be Rick Santorum.More >>

Newt Gingrich said Sunday that he and other Republican presidential candidates must win their home-turf contests or face serious questions about continuing in the race.More >>

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday said Rick Santorum isn't a fiscal conservative, directly attacking his rival for the first time in more than a week.More >>

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu built a reputation as a rising, conservative star by taking a hardline stance against illegal immigration, attacking the Obama administration and appearing alongside Sen. John McCain in a 2010...More >>

Mitt Romney parted ways with his Arizona campaign co-chairman after allegations of misconduct made by a man with whom the campaign official previously had a relationship.More >>

An adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign says GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum went "well over the line" when he questioned Obama's Christian values.More >>

Lashing out on two fronts, Rick Santorum on Saturday questioned President Barack Obama's Christian values and attacked GOP rival Mitt Romney's Olympics leadership as he courted tea party activists and evangelical...More >>

Two powerful House Republicans accused President Barack Obama of jeopardizing Israel's security with a "record low" budget request for a cooperative U.S.-Israeli missile defense program. The election-year claim fails to...More >>

Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:More >>

The Supreme Court on Friday blocked a Montana court ruling upholding limits on corporate campaign spending. The state court ruling appears to be at odds with the high court's 2010 decision striking down a federal ban on...More >>

Republican Party leaders are troubled by how debates have been staged for the party's presidential contenders and are discussing having the party take over control of the events for the 2016 election cycle, a senior...More >>

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, for Friday, Feb. 17, 2012:More >>

Over and over, Mitt Romney takes credit for turning around the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City after a bribery scandal and says the success of the games is one big reason he should be president.More >>

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum is distancing himself from a high-profile supporter's comments about contraception.More >>

Millions of Americans will continue to receive long-term unemployment benefits under legislation approved Friday in Congress, but the scope of the program is being scaled back to cover fewer people by the end of the year.More >>

The world according to Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney: Europeans are socialists. The Chinese are currency manipulators. Russia can't be trusted to abide by nuclear agreements. The Palestinians are out...More >>

The United States is congratulating Libya on the anniversary of the uprising that toppled Moammar Gadhafi (MOO'-ah-mar gah-DAH'-fee), while noting that a democracy and institutions will take time to build.More >>

Environmental and watchdog groups are preparing to sue to block construction of two nuclear reactors in eastern Georgia that would be the nation's first built-from-scratch nuclear power plant in a generation.More >>

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, for Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012:More >>

The family name may help generate a steady flow of campaign cash and assure key endorsements for Joseph Kennedy III's bid for the U.S. House. But it may take more than just the Kennedy mystique to deliver the...More >>

Rick Santorum grew wealthy over his four years working as a corporate consultant and media commentator after leaving the Senate in 2006, his newly released federal tax returns show. He made more than $3.6 million and drove...More >>

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is wooing tea partyers in his home state of Michigan with a potentially risky strategy: blasting the auto industry bailout that many people credit with saving the state's...More >>

Republican Mitt Romney is faltering with white working-class voters crucial to his party's drive to capture the White House, even as he tries to fend off a rising GOP challenger, Rick Santorum, who wields strong...More >>

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is releasing four years' worth of federal income tax returns showing a steady rise in his personal wealth between 2007 and 2010.More >>

U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, once seemingly unbeatable in Indiana, has been scrambling to reintroduce himself to Hoosiers amid a barrage of attacks that he has lost touch - an argument his tea party challenger repeated Wednesday...More >>

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is letting TV ads do the dirty work in Michigan while he stays on the high road with voters.More >>

By BETH FOUHY Associated Press Mitt Romney's campaign and an allied independent group have launched a heavy television ad blitz to shore up the former Massachusetts governor's position in his home...More >>

Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has been spending plenty of time in oil country lately, prospecting for GOP votes - and money.More >>

Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign has a history of near-death experiences and he insists another resurrection is on its way.More >>

TITLE: "Growing Up."More >>

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.More >>

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.More >>

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...More >>

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012:More >>

President Barack Obama, popular in blue states, had a decidedly red message Tuesday: "Let me start with a quick public service announcement for all the gentlemen out there. Today is Valentine's Day."More >>

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...More >>

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...More >>

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...More >>

Brushing aside congressional opposition, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the nation's top military leader insisted on Tuesday that President Barack Obama's trimmer, $614 billion defense budget will ensure the U.S....More >>

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.More >>

Remember when a billion used to be a lot? Now we talk trillions.More >>

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...More >>

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012:More >>

In an abrupt about-face, House GOP leaders announced Monday that they are willing to extend the two percentage point cut in the payroll tax through the end of the year and add the approximately $100 billion cost to the...More >>

Highlights of the budget that President Barack Obama sent to Congress on Monday:More >>

President Barack Obama's new budget lays down the political themes he will pound as he campaigns for re-election - more spending on jobs and higher taxes for the wealthy. It sets him apart from the Republican contenders...More >>

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.More >>

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.More >>

The dustup over contraception underscored President Barack Obama's political edge in working to attract independent voters without alienating his Democratic base. His Republican rivals are forced to keep emphasizing...More >>

Piece by piece, in backpacks and carry-on bags, American aid contractor Alan Gross made sure laptops, smartphones, hard drives and networking equipment were secreted into Cuba. The most sensitive item, according to official...More >>

The new budget that President Barack Obama is sending to Congress aims to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade by restraining government spending and raising taxes on the wealthy. To help a weak...More >>

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.More >>

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...More >>

Republican presidential contender Ron Paul says he wishes all the Maine caucuses would have met on Saturday.More >>

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.More >>