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Thursday, July 28, 2011 – Daily News 5A WORLD BRIEFING GOP leaders seek debt fix votes despite White House veto threat WASHINGTON (AP) — Crisis concerns rising, House Republican leaders shrugged off a White House veto threat and an outbreak of tensions within their own party Wednesday as they built support for legislation to stave off the government default threatened for next week. Worried Wall Street sent stocks plunging on fears that political gridlock would prevail. With some politicians talking of economic Armageddon, Americans coast to coast were sudden- ly focusing on debt and deficit matters that most would have dismissed as arcane until recently. Some lawmakers’ offices were inundated with phone calls and emails, many urging some kind of deal to avert the possibility of calamity. Weary Washington pushed ahead, and there was even some hopeful talk. ‘‘We’re getting there,’’ said House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, one day ahead of a scheduled vote on his GOP bill to cut tril- lions in federal spending in exchange for increasing the debt limit the government will collide with next Tues- day. The While House dis- paraged the bill Republi- cans were working so hard to pass, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Neva- da was even more emphatic. ‘‘A big wet kiss for the right wing,’’ he called it. House Dems say Obama should invoke 14th Amendment WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats said Wednesday that President Barack Obama should invoke a little-known con- stitutional provision to pre- vent the nation from going into default if Congress fails to come up with a plan to raise the debt ceiling. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a member Norway’s premier calls on country to embrace values OSLO, Norway (AP) — of the Democratic leader- ship, said he told fellow Democrats that Obama should both veto any House GOP plan for a short-term extension of the debt ceiling and invoke the 14th amend- ment, which says that the validity of the nation’s pub- lic debt ‘‘shall not be ques- tioned.’’ The White House has rejected resorting to this tac- tic to keep the nation from defaulting, questioning its legality, but Rep. John Lar- son of Connecticut, who chairs the Democratic cau- cus, said ‘‘we’re getting down to decision time’’ and ‘‘we have to have a failsafe mechanism and we believe that failsafe mechanism is the 14th Amendment and the president of the United States.’’ Larson said Clyburn’s proposal on the 14th Amendment was met with applause by other Democ- rats at their meeting. White House spokesman Jay Carney, asked about Clyburn’s proposal, said only Congress has the authority to extend the gov- ernment’s borrowing authority. ‘‘The president does not have authority to raise the debt ceiling. It’s not a plausible way to address this problem and we do not think it is an option,’’ he said. Romney focuses on Obama, woes of economy PATASKALA, Ohio (AP) — Forget his GOP pri- mary opponents. Republi- can front-runner Mitt Rom- ney is focused on a match- up against President Barack Obama. ‘‘The president when he was a candidate said that he was going to take China to the mat,’’ the former Massa- chusetts governor said Wednesday at a manufac- turing plant here. ‘‘Well, I’m afraid most of us thought he meant the wrestling mat. But instead he and we have been taken to the door mat.’’ Romney’s take on Obama’s economic record in a general election battle- ground shined a light on his strategy as he leads the Republican field in polls and money five months before primary voting is to begin: ignore swipes from his GOP rivals, criticize the Democratic president on the economy, and campaign in important presidential swing states seemingly as often as states that vote early in the GOP primary. It’s a sharp contrast to Romney’s approach four years ago when he ran for the Republican nomination as a virtual unknown and tried to — unsuccessfully — beat the 2008 leader of the GOP pack John McCain. This year, it’s Romney who leads the Republican Party field, both in polling and in money, in a party that typically nominates the can- didate who ran — and lost — once before. His stand- ing has affording him the luxury of watching as GOP rivals like Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and for- mer Minnesota Gov. 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Variety of Breads and Sandwich Veggies. 714 Walnut St. Red Bluff Five days after an attacker incensed by Norway’s cul- ture of tolerance horrified the world, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday issued a quiet call of defiance to his coun- trymen: Make Norway even more open and accepting. ‘‘The Norwegian response to violence is more democracy, more openness and greater political partici- pation,’’ Stoltenberg insist- ed at a news conference. His promise in the face of twin attacks that killed 76 people signaled a contrast to the U.S. response after the 9/11 attacks, when Wash- ington gave more leeway to perform wiretaps and to search records. It reflects the difference between the two countries’ approaches to terrorism: The U.S. has been frustrated by what it considers Scandi- navia’s lack of aggressive investigation and arrests. ‘‘I think what we have seen is that there is going to be one Norway before and one Norway after July 22,’’ the day an anti-immigration extremist bombed Oslo’s government quarter and slaughtered dozens at the left-leaning Labor Party’s youth camp, Stoltenberg said. Share of rural population hits new low WASHINGTON (AP) — Rural America now accounts for just 16 percent of the nation’s population, the lowest ever. The latest 2010 census numbers hint at an emerging America where, by mid-century, city boundaries become indis- tinct and rural areas grow ever less relevant. Many communities could shrink to virtual ghost towns as they shutter businesses and close down schools, demog- raphers say. More metro areas are booming into sprawling megalopolises. Barring fresh investment that could bring jobs, however, large swaths of the Great Plains and Appalachia, along with parts of Arkansas, Missis- sippi and north Texas, could face significant population declines. These places posted some of the biggest losses over the past decade as young adults left and the people who stayed got older, moving past child- bearing years. ‘‘This place ain’t dead yet, but it’s got about half a foot in the grave,’’ said Bob Frees, 61, of Moundsville, W.Va., which now has a population of just over 9,000. ‘‘The big-money jobs are all gone. We used to have the big mills and the rolling plants and stuff like that, and you could walk out of high school when you were 16 or 17 and get a $15- an-hour job.’’ Demographers put it a bit more formally. New al- Qaida chief praises protesters CAIRO (AP) — Al- Qaida’s new leader praised Syrian protesters seeking to topple the regime of Presi- dent Bashar Assad while trying to portray the upris- ing as an Islamic battle against American and Israeli interests. The video message post- ed on extremist websites Wednesday is Ayman al- Zawahri’s first since al- Qaida named him its new leader in June following the death of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. commando raid in Pakistan. The Egyptian-born al- Zawahri, who long served as bin Laden’s top deputy, directly addressed the Syri- an protesters who have risen up against Assad’s rule despite a bloody govern- ment crackdown. The mes- sage appeared to be an attempt to place al-Qaida firmly on the side of the anti-government demon- strators. Authorities examine body of girl killed in 1957 CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois authorities on Wednesday began exam- ining the remains of a 7- year-old girl who was abducted and killed more than 50 years ago, trying to find clues that would help them put together a criminal case against a 71-year-old former neigh- bor. The body of Maria Ridulph was exhumed early Wednesday, weeks after authorities announced they’d arrested Jack Daniel McCullough in Seattle and charged him with murder in the death of the girl, who was abducted by a man as she played outside her home in Sycamore in December 1957. Maria’s body was found the following spring in a wooded area about 120 miles from her home. DeKalb County State’s Attorney Clay Campbell said he hopes scientists now can ‘‘do a better examination of her remains here in 2011 than were con- ducted in 1958. ALL NEW FACILITY Your 1 Stop Convenience Store