Reuters: Politics

• NATO seeks unity on Afghan war despite French exit plan
  CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO leaders charting a path out of Afghanistan sought on Sunday to dispel fears of a rush for the exits in the unpopular war even as France's new president vowed to stick by his pledge to withdraw French troops by year's end.
  
  
  
  
• U.S. banking laws unable to stop JPMorgan loss: Republican Boehner
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. banking reforms could not have prevented JPMorgan Chase & Co's trading losses, and those involved in the activities that went awry should be held accountable, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said in an interview aired on Sunday.
  
  
  
  
• Obama pledges tough enforcement of Wall Street reforms
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday called on the U.S. Congress to back his efforts for tough new financial industry oversight, saying a $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan underscored the need for such regulation.
  
  
  
  
• At ''bridge to nowhere,'' Romney slams Obama on economy
  HILLSBOROUGH, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney returned to his economic message on Friday, highlighting a "bridge to nowhere" rebuilt by stimulus money and warning the U.S. economy could suffer a fiscal crisis like California's if he is not elected in November.
  
  
  
  
• House Republicans top Democrats in April fundraising
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party's fundraising arm working to elect its candidates to the U.S. House of Representatives raised $6.9 million in April, slightly more for the month than its Democratic counterpart.
  
  
  
  
• Romney gives own money to election effort
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and his wife Ann have each chipped in $75,000 to help his effort to beat U.S. President Barack Obama in the November 6 election, a source with Romney's campaign said on Friday.
  
  
  
  
• Top Republican woman in Congress becomes a force
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the last three weeks, she has sparred on national television with Democrats over Republican policies toward women, been called a "lying mouthpiece" by a liberal blog, and chided former House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
  
  
  
  
• House-backed defense budget sets up clash with Obama
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Friday to authorize $642.5 billion in defense and war spending next year, defying a White House veto threat by exceeding President Barack Obama's Pentagon funding request by several billion dollars.
  
  
  
  
• Attacks over Bain Capital don't stop Romney's rise in polls
  WASHINGTON/TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Is Mitt Romney an out-of-touch elitist and bully who led a rapacious business that killed common folks' jobs?
  
  
  
  
• Tea Partiers yearn for a "truly red" Tennessee
  NASHVILLE, May 17 - When conservative Tea Party activists helped Republicans extend their majority in Tennessee's legislature in 2010, they expected to get the legislation they wanted.