Relentless GOP criticism of a 12-day-old remark about business owners has taken a campaign toll on President Barack Obama, forcing him to defend himself and giving Republican Mitt Romney a break from steady attacks.

The Supreme Court, suddenly at the heart of presidential politics, is preparing what could be blockbuster rulings on health care and immigration shortly before the fall election.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is intensifying his rebuttal of claims that he and fellow Republicans are insufficiently supportive of women, or even hostile to them.

The Supreme Court's much-anticipated ruling on health care, expected in late June, may have one surprising outcome: a modest impact on President Barack Obama's re-election bid, even though he is intimately associated with the challenged law.

A political firestorm over abortion and birth control spread suddenly on Tuesday. A high-ranking official resigned from the Komen breast-cancer charity after its backtracking treaty with Planned Parenthood, and Republican presidential candidates blistered the Obama administration for a recent ruling on Catholic hospitals and contraception.

For all his problems with the economy, President Barack Obama is getting unexpected help from a Republican Party that seems incapable of capitalizing on its advantages.

President Barack Obama faces a long re-election campaign having all but given up on the economy rebounding in any meaningful way before November 2012.

At issue is a tax that the vast majority of workers pay, but many don't recognize because they don't read, or don't understand their pay stubs.