Ryan was once a big backer of federal auto loans

A green-energy auto loan program that has come under sharp scrutiny lately from Republicans got an early boost back in 2008 from Rep. Paul Ryan, records show.

Obama uses Medicare study to court Florida seniors

Armed with a study by a former adviser, President Obama is stepping up his attacks on Republican rival Mitt Romney over the future health of Medicare as both campaigns battle for the votes of seniors that could decide the election.

D.C. prosecutor Ronald Machen Jr. could rise or fall with Obama

Voters who decide in November whether to re-elect President Obama or replace him with Republican challenger Mitt Romney also might determine the fate of the most powerful man in D.C. politics.

Space exploration is star-crossed on campaign trail

Kicking off the campaign season in early 2004, President Bush had two big ideas: pursue an immigration bill in Congress, and vow to put a man back on the moon by 2020 as a precursor to "human missions to Mars and to worlds beyond."

RG3 leads Redskins in professional debut

In a cramped hallway outside the locker room, Robert Griffin III cradled a football under his left arm, speckled with blood, and shook Sonny Jurgensen's hand with his right.

Budget compromise doable but with big 'ifs'

With congressional gridlock unlikely to change in this year's elections, both President Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney spent the weekend saying they are willing to compromise to get budget deals done — though both drew bright lines they said they won't cross.

Chicago teachers to strike after talks fail

The Chicago Teachers Union says its members will go on strike Monday for the first time in 25 years.

Illegals not in health plan

Getting healthy young people to buy health insurance is key to making President Obama's health care overhaul work, but his administration is excluding roughly one million illegal immigrant youth allowed to remain in the country from the law's mandates and benefits.

Romney promises to get tough with Iran

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said this weekend that President Obama failed to lessen the risks of a nuclear-armed Iran because he came into office promising to meet with, rather than confront, that nation's leaders — and vowed to impose "crippling sanctions" himself.

Inside the Beltway: A Quayle's eye view

Feisty former vice president Dan Quayle is cheerfully engaged in the presidential election, but is not without a cautionary tale.

Book publicist says ex-SEAL author is in hiding

Don't look for former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette on the airways promoting his account of the raid on Osama bin Laden in a book that the Pentagon and special operations community wished he had never written.

Congress returns for short pre-election session

Fresh off a five-week vacation, lawmakers return to Washington on Monday for a truncated pre-election session in which Congress will do what it often does best: punt problems to the future.

Pope: Beirut trip is Mideast peace pilgrimage

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday characterized his trip to Beirut later this week as a pilgrimage for peace for the entire Middle East region and its anguished people.

Questions linger about Rep. Jackson's return to work

Days after Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. was released from a hospital where he was being treated for bipolar disorder, it's still unclear when he'll return to work.

Dutch vote to test EU popularity in tough times

The Netherlands long has been a source of inspiration for closer European integration — and a bellwether of European discontent.

L.A.'s last Skid Row dive bar faces gentrification

Unlike that place in Boston where everybody knows your name, the people who run the King Eddy Saloon like to say that once you walk through the front door of Skid Row's last great dive bar, "Nobody gives a ... about your name."

Commentary

PIPES: Obama: 'I have never been a Muslim'

Editor's Note: In this first of a five-part series, Middle East and Islam specialist Daniel Pipes begins his inquiry into Barack Obama's early Muslim connections by noting the president's autobiographical inaccuracies.

SPENCER: America still the target of 9/11 jihad

Eleven years have passed since the jihad terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and terrorism appears to many to be yesterday's issue. There hasn't been a catastrophic jihad attack on American soil since that fateful day, and neither presidential campaign has done much more than pay lip service to national security issues regarding jihad terrorism.

KNIGHT: Democratic convention presents the 'new normal'

If the November election is solely about the economy, why did the Democrats boot God and Jerusalem from their platform at the Democratic National Convention only to panic and then rig a vote to put them back in?

WAGNER: Romney's sex appeal

The Democrats' convention in Charlotte, N.C., did its best to perpetuate their myth that Republicans are at war with women. That's particularly rich considering the wolfy personal history of former President Clinton, the man tapped to deliver the keynote address nominating Barack Obama.

EDITORIAL: Obama's broken record

President Obama says he needs four more years to finish the job he started. That's his way of admitting he'd rather Americans not look too closely at his poor job performance so far. The Obama campaign slogan "Forward" is apt because Barack doesn't want voters to look backward at the wreckage in his wake.