Mitt Romney spent weeks battling Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich for the Republican presidential nomination, and he faced blistering attacks from Rick Perry and other GOP rivals along the way. And now he is paying the price.
A glass half-full or emptying fast? Depends on who you listened to Friday as President Barack Obama and certain Republican nominee Mitt Romney described the July jobs report at competing public appearances.
President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney traded accusations on tax policy Thursday, with both claiming at campaign stops in battleground states that the other's strategies have failed.
The U.S. House on Wednesday took the opposite action on tax cuts as the Senate, rejecting a Democratic proposal championed by President Barack Obama to extend lower tax rates for middle-income Americans, and then passing a Republican plan to maintain the lower rates for everyone for a year.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) says, the president's plan "would provide tax relief for 100% of the American people"
Bolstered by a new poll that shows him leading in Ohio and two other battleground states, President Barack Obama on Wednesday made his ninth campaign trip this year to the Buckeye State to attack Republican rival Mitt Romney's tax plan as unfair to middle-class Americans.
Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are gearing up for a vote this week on a House Republican bill to extend all the current tax cuts, but the debate is really aimed at the vote that comes less than 100 days from now.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) says Congress should extend Bush-era tax cuts and a tax increase would hamper economic growth.
Taxmaggedon is coming. Unless President Obama and Congress act, Americans will be hit with what would be in total dollars the largest tax increase in history in little more than five months.
Earlier this week, President Barack Obama proposed to extend the Bush-era income tax cuts, which expire at the end of this year, for one year for people with income below $250,000. People with higher income would continue to receive all of the benefits of lower taxes on their first $250,000 of income, but the tax rate they face on income above that amount would rise.
The Senate voted Tuesday to begin debate on a bill to give tax breaks to small businesses that hire new workers or boost pay for existing workers. But the overwhelming 80-14 vote masks the broad expectation that because of an unrelated fight over the Bush tax cuts, the small business bill is unlikely to pass the chamber.
The Bush-era tax cut extension is going to expire, causing renewed policy arguments between President Obama and the GOP.
President Obama calls for the renewal of Bush-era tax cuts for Americans who make under $250,000.
Mitt Romney has portrayed himself as a tax cutter when he served as governor of Massachusetts -- slashing taxes 19 times.
Former Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich says Mitt Romney has "earned the right to represent the Republican Party."
There is something tragic in the unfolding of Mitt Romney's campaign for president.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke didn't mince words in warning Congress last week that the Fed won't be able to undo the damage to the economy that would occur if lawmakers mismanage the so-called fiscal cliff.
Congress has invented a new extreme sport: Skating on the edge of a $7 trillion fiscal cliff.
Tuesday is tax day, and the only thing more frustrating than paying taxes is Washington's refusal to fix the tax code.
Last week we learned that Barack and Michelle Obama's effective tax rate for 2011 was 20.5%. They had adjusted gross income of $789,674. We also learned that their tax rate was slightly lower than President Obama's secretary, who had about $95,000 of income.
It turns out that Richard Nixon was a hippie.
The Buffett Rule makes for great stump speeches in an election year. But as tax policy it leaves much to be desired.
No one knows for sure what the Supreme Court will do with health care reform. But unless it strikes down the whole law, millions of wealthy families can expect a tax increase come January.
Mitt Romney's new tax plan would mean lower taxes for most Americans. But some would benefit more than others.
Is it possible to solve the nation's debt woes just by hiking taxes on the rich?
Mitt Romney made two big changes to his tax plan last week, and according to a new analysis, they will be very expensive.
Facebook's upcoming IPO could be a golden egg for the Golden State.
Compare and contrast the economic plan Mitt Romney released in September with the speech he delivered Friday in Detroit.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer explains why she is endorsing Mitt Romney as the GOP presidential candidate.
During a speech at the Boeing facility in Washington, Pres. Obama commends Congress for extending the payroll tax cut.
After more than a year in the making, the Obama administration on Wednesday released its plan to overhaul the corporate tax code.
The Treasury Department will unveil President Barack Obama's corporate tax reform plan Wednesday -- a framework that would reduce the overall rate paid by corporations, a senior administration official told CNN.
President Obama urges Americans to pressure Congress to extend a payroll tax cut.
Congressional negotiators reached a tentative deal Tuesday to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while avoiding a fee cut for Medicare doctors, according to Republican legislators and aides.
A House-Senate conference committee negotiated a compromise on a payroll tax cut extension.
The Senate and the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan deal Friday extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while also avoiding a Medicare fee cut for doctors for the rest of the year.
The last legislative freight train has left the station, and a set of expired business tax breaks that regularly get extended was left on the platform.
Pretty much everyone in Washington agrees that the tax code is complicated, inefficient and -- in general -- a major drag.
House Speaker John Boehner says a payroll tax agreement with Democrats was the only way to prevent a tax hike.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, defended Wednesday the decision to move forward with a roughly $100 billion payroll tax cut extension that is not paid for, arguing that it was the only way to prevent a tax hike.
Raise taxes on those making more than $250,000. Limit deductions for the wealthy. Make an expanded college tax credit permanent.
You heard about the "do nothing" Congress? The "make work" Congress may be more accurate.
Facebook's upcoming IPO will make founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg a billionaire -- but it will also stick him with an eye-popping tax bill that could reach as high as $2 billion.
Republicans portray President Obama as the tax-hiker-in-chief.
President Obama this week defined what he believes should be the minimum "fair share" for millionaires and billionaires to pay in taxes. His answer: At least 30% of their income.
President Obama got very vocal on the campaign trail..Candy has some guesses why.
If history is any guide, President Barack Obama will reach for the stars during his State of the Union address Tuesday night. But in the end, reality will bring his plans back down to Earth.
For a century, the bedrock principle of our tax code has been progressivity: The rich pay a larger share of income than the middle class and poor. Yet Mitt Romney's revelation that he paid 14% in federal income taxes on more than $40 million in income in 2010 and 2011 reveals an increasingly open secret: Progressivity is dead for the superrich.
Mitt Romney has portrayed himself as a tax cutter when he served as governor of Massachusetts -- slashing taxes 19 times.
One of the lessons of modern American presidential history is that there is nothing more devastating than turning a candidate's supposed strength into a weakness. Karl Rove masterfully made John Kerry's distinguished military service a liability through a series of Swift Boat attacks in the 2004 campaign.
Mitt Romney says he pays full taxes and he's honest in his dealings; Gingrich and Santorum respond, talk about their taxes.
You can add Rick Santorum to the list of Republican presidential candidates with plans to cut taxes for most Americans, while possibly adding billions to the federal deficit.
If Republican primary voters are inclined to reward candidates who have big, bold, game-changing plans for the tax code, Mitt Romney might be in trouble.
Congress couldn't agree how to pay for a year-long extension of the payroll tax cut, federal unemployment benefits and an adjustment in Medicare physician pay.
President Barack Obama signed a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut Friday, ending what had been a heated political stalemate and sealing a hard-fought win for Democrats on an issue -- taxes -- that has historically favored the GOP.
After signing the payroll tax cut extension, President Obama thanks Americans for their patience and persistence.
A last minute deal may have ended the standoff between Democrats and Republicans, but it is still hard to know whether to laugh or cry over this latest adventure in political theater.
A compromise measure to extend the payroll tax cut for two months comes before the House and Senate on Friday after Speaker John Boehner dropped his opposition under mounting pressure from the White House, congressional Democrats and fellow Republicans.
A top White House economic adviser said on Wednesday that congressional deadlock on extending payroll tax cuts and unemployment insurance benefits could threaten the U.S. economy.
If Congress fails to pass an extension of the payroll tax holiday, it would put a serious dent into economic growth in 2012 and could even help tip the U.S. back into a recession, according to economists.
House Republicans on Tuesday rejected the the two-month payroll tax extension passed by the Senate. But they did so indirectly.
While the fate of the payroll tax extension is still uncertain on Capitol Hill this week, at least some Americans can look forward to tax breaks at the state level when 2012 rolls around.
In two weeks, the payroll tax cut that has saved workers an average of $1,000 this year will expire -- unless lawmakers in the next few days do what both parties swear they want to do and extend it.
House Republicans say the two-month payroll tax cut extension passed overwhelmingly by the Senate would inject uncertainty into the economy.
House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday that he opposed a temporary extension of a payroll tax cut, saying the two-month plan passed by the Senate "is just kicking the can down the road."
On Erin Burnett OutFront, Sen. John Thune announced a deal that extends payroll tax cuts for two months.
Congressional negotiators have come to an agreement they believe will prevent a government shutdown, according to several Democratic sources.
Jay Carney said that President Obama will insist Congress remain in session until the payroll tax cut is extended.
Another Washington political showdown took shape Tuesday as the House of Representatives passed a Republican plan that would extend the payroll tax cut and speed the process for government approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Every Republican presidential hopeful has a plan to cut taxes.
Republicans demanding specific ideological provisions as part of a deal to extend the payroll tax cut appear to be going against their party's anti-tax orthodoxy, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday.
President Obama calls on Congress to do what's right for the American people by extending the payroll tax cut.
Congress will agree to extend the payroll tax cut before it expires at the end of the year, two leading conservative Senate Republicans said Sunday.
White House press secretary Jay Carney says payroll tax cuts would negatively impact less than 1% of small businesses.
Setting up a showdown with the White House and Senate Democrats, House Republican leaders Thursday proceeded with plans to vote next week on a proposal to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while easing the path for approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Senators Collins and McCaskill propose bipartisan payroll tax cut plan
All kinds of ideas are flying around Capitol Hill about how to extend the payroll tax cut set to expire at the end of the year, but a long-standing battle over tax increases and divisions among congressional Republicans have prevented any from gaining traction so far.
In case you haven't heard, President Obama wants the wealthiest to pay more in taxes.
President Obama urged Congress to act on the payroll tax cut before the Christmas recess.
Senate Democrats on Monday offered a new proposal to extend the payroll tax cut before it expires at the end of the year, and President Barack Obama quickly urged Congress to help middle-class Americans by passing it.
After competing Republican and Democratic proposals to extend the payroll tax cut failed in the Senate on Thursday night, House Republican leaders assembled their own proposal to extend that tax cut aimed at the middle class and wrap other year-end policy proposals into one bill paid for with a series of spending cuts. But they faced opposition from conservative Republicans.
The Senate blocked competing Democratic and Republican proposals for a payroll tax cut extension.
A top Republican leader agreed Thursday with President Barack Obama and Democrats that extending the payroll tax cut would help the economy, but the parties remained divided over how to pay for the move.
Come January, will 160 million American workers owe a) more than; b) less than; c) the same as they've been paying in payroll taxes this year?
The debate in Congress this week about whether to pay for extending the payroll tax cut by imposing a new tax on millionaires will have nothing to do with solving our nation's economic challenges and everything to do with election-year politics. Senate Democratic leaders have already signaled they will use the debate as a purely partisan exercise designed to embarrass Republicans into opposing tax cuts for the poor while defending tax cuts for the rich.
Senate Republicans on Wednesday released the outlines of their proposal to extend the payroll tax cut -- and it differs significantly from one put out by Senate Democrats.
President Barack Obama on Wednesday challenged Republicans to "fight as hard for middle-class families as you do for those who are more fortunate," telling a Pennsylvania crowd to push Congress to extend the payroll tax cut enacted a year ago.
After a year of beating their heads against the wall about reducing deficits, lawmakers in the next few weeks may add to them.
Congress has a way of waiting to the very last minute to resolve big issues, so December is usually a busy month on Capitol Hill. This year will be no exception. But next year? Next year will be no exception on steroids.
Senate Democrats this week will propose extending the payroll tax cut and imposing a surtax on people earning more than $1 million to pay for it, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said Sunday.
No one ever said tax reform would be easy. But the failure of the super committee points up just how hard it will be in the next year.
One of the oldest axioms in politics is that you should never let a good crisis go to waste. Now that the hopelessly divided deficit reduction super committee has failed, it is apparent to just about everyone that Washington has a serious crisis of governance.
So the "super committee" failed. Can you honestly say you were expecting a different outcome?
What type of super powers does the Congressional "Super Committee" have? CNN's Kate Bolduan explains.
Members of Congress's so-called super committee huddled in small groups behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on Friday, battling growing pessimism over their seeming inability to meet a now-imminent deadline for a bipartisan deficit reduction deal.
Dow Chemical Chief Executive Officer Andrew N. Liveris is calling on Congress to raise taxes on millionaires -- including himself.
Brooke Baldwin talks to Bob Cusack of "The Hill" about the supercommittee's deadline for a plan to cut $1.2 trillion
A week before their deadline, Democrats and Republicans on a special joint deficit committee blamed each other for a failure to compromise on how to reform the tax code and entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
A group of two dozen millionaires stormed Capitol Hill on Wednesday, demanding lawmakers raise their taxes.

