NAVARRE, Ohio/WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) – The busy shop
floor at Miller Weldmaster Corp could make a great location for
an Obama campaign ad.

As workers assemble the family-owned company’s hot-air
fabric welders, used to manufacture everything from inflatable
rafts to truck tarps, it’s hard to know the recession of
2007-2009 ever happened.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama released tax forms on Friday that reveal he will probably pay a higher tax rate on much lower income than likely Republican opponent Mitt Romney in 2011, adding fuel to a Democratic election-year effort to raise taxes on the rich.

Obama and his wife, Michelle , paid an effective tax rate of 20.5 percent on income of $789,674 last year, the White House said. Romney has estimated he will pay a 15.4 percent tax rate on income of $20.9 million, though he has not filed his return yet.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle paid an effective federal tax rate of 20.5 percent on income of $789,674 in 2011, the White House said on Friday amid a debate over tax burdens that is likely to shape the November presidential election.

Obama and his fellow Democrats have accused likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney of backing policies that would shift the burden from wealthy taxpayers to the less affluent.

By Andy Sullivan

(Reuters) – Three weeks ago, President Barack Obama stood in front of a sea of gleaming solar panels in Boulder City, Nevada, to celebrate his administration’s efforts to promote “green energy.”

Stretching row upon row into the desert, the Copper Mountain Solar Project not far from Las Vegas provided an impressive backdrop for the president.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Rick Santorum’s exit from the race for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday was good news for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who now will have an easy path to the November 6 election against Democratic President Barack Obama.

Here’s what Santorum’s departure means for Romney and the U.S. presidential race in the weeks to come:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – He hasn’t held office since 1989. In fact, he’s been dead since 2004. But former President Ronald Reagan has been a regular presence on the campaign trail this year.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has made pilgrimages to Reagan’s home town and the factory that makes his favorite candy as he tries to rally conservative voters to his fading campaign. Newt Gingrich regularly calls himself a “bold Reagan conservative.” Mitt Romney has proposed a “Reagan economic zone” to boost free trade.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With a sweep of three presidential primaries on Tuesday, Mitt Romney graduated from Republican front-runner to underdog in a November match-up against Democratic President Barack Obama.

Romney’s wins in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C. gave him a prohibitive lead in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination, analysts said, and effectively consigned chief rival Rick Santorum to also-ran status.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With a sweep of three presidential primaries on Tuesday, Mitt Romney graduated from Republican front-runner to underdog in a November match-up against Democratic President Barack Obama.

Romney’s wins in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C. gave him a prohibitive lead in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination, analysts said, and effectively consigned chief rival Rick Santorum to also-ran status.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate’s top Republican called on his party to unite behind leading presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday as rival Rick Santorum vowed to stay in the race beyond a likely defeat in Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell stopped short of endorsing Romney in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” show. But McConnell did say the former Massachusetts governor would make an “excellent nominee” and left little doubt about whom he supported in the battle to take on Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election.

, March 25 (Reuters) – Republican U.S.
Representative Paul Ryan’s budget-cutting vision has made him a
hero to conservatives across the country. It’s less popular in
his home town.

As Ryan’s proposal to slash taxes and spending started to
move through Congress last week, local officials in this humble
Rust Belt city scrambled to recover from last year’s cutbacks.