Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 121, No. 194 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
CHARLOTTE HAS THE SPOTLIGHT CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Much was made about Charlotte emerging on the big stage when Democrats awarded their 2012 national convention to the city last year. But the tidy city of gleaming skyscrapers built with ... - PAGE A2
August 14, 2012
TUESDAY
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Ryan traveled perilous budget path to VP spot WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul Ryan traveled a perilous route to political stardom. While other lawmakers nervously whistled past trillion-dollar deficits, fearing to cut popular programs, he waded in with a machete and a smile. Ryan wants to slice away at Medicare, food stamps and virtually every other government program but the military. Democrats, led by President Barack Obama, have made him their budget boogeyman. Even many fellow Republicans were reluctant to follow him at
first. But Ryan has become a hero to deficit hawks. Twice now, the Republican-led House has embraced his austere budget plans. And in these tea party-infused, economically bleak days, R yan’s fiscal ideas have moved into the Republican Party’s mainstream, just in time to be tested in the 2012 elections. As Mitt Romney’s vice presidential pick, the GOP’s boisterous budget outrider is now its loudest voice on taxes and spending. Romney calls his running mate an intellectual leader
UFO drops in to say ‘hello’
of the party with a “bold and exciting” budget plan. But Romney also has been careful to note, without elaboration, that he doesn’t necessarily agree with all of Ryan’s ideas. Indeed, some of the Wisconsin congressman’s previous suggestions — on the shelf since he ascended to the chairmanship of the House Budget Committee in 2011 — were politically riskier. They included privatizing Medicare and part of Social Security and ending taxes on interest and See RYAN, Page A3
AP Photo
In this April 5, 2011, photo, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., introduces his "Path to Prosperity" budget recommendations, on Capitol Hill.
Valley Meat Co. must now rearrange
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JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• RPD wants CordobaLopez • Roswell Pride moves, protesters follow • 2 dead in collision • Accident claims mother and child • Noon Op set for trip to regionals
INSIDE SPORTS Mark Wilson Photo
Jim Johnson of Hemet, Calif., poses with his custom-made flying saucer in front of the International UFO Museum and Research Center during a stopover while traveling cross-country, Friday. Johnson and his wife Debbie are enroute to Provincetown, Mass., to deliver the saucer for a parade to be held there next weekend during the PBG Carnival.
It is estimated that in Arizona and New Mexico alone Navajo reservations have 90,000 horses that they are unable to provide for and that they must kill and dispose of by the end of this year. A 22-year -old Roswell business anticipated easing this growing problem, but now, after halting its operations for nine months, the cattle slaughterhouse, which once had around 50 employees, will have to fight to obtain new contracts and become a com-
USDA buys meat to help Mixed results when sanctions used drought-stricken farmers TEAM USA CAPTURES GOLD LONDON (AP) — This was no Dream Team. This was reality. The gold medal was in doubt for the U.S. men’s basketball team. The Americans led Spain by only one point after three quarters ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• W. Ray Noling • Fern P. Moody
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government will buy up to $170 million worth of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish to help drought-stricken farmers, the White House said Monday as President Barack Obama brought his re-election campaign to rural voters in Iowa. The purchase for food banks and other federal food nutrition programs is expected to help producers struggling with the high cost of feed during the worst drought in a quarter-century. Federal law allows the Agriculture Department to buy meat and poultry products to help farmers and ranchers affected by natural disasters. The announcement came as Obama criticized Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan for blocking a farm bill that could help farmers cope with the drought. Obama touted his efforts to help farmers as he began a three-day tour of the battleground state he won in 2008.
RAINFALL
As of Sunday night, there were 0.26 inches of rain in the gauge at the Daily Record.
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
This image made from amateur video released by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and accessed Monday purports to show a Free Syrian Army soldier before firing a recoilless rifle during clashes with Syrian government forces at the village of Mukhtariya in Homs, Syria.
House files suit against Holder over records See DROUGHT, Page A3
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HIGH ...98˚ LOW ....70˚
AP Photo
AP Photo
In this July 26 photo, Attorney General Eric Holder speaks in the Cabinet Room of the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-run House on Monday asked a federal court to enforce a subpoena against Attorney General Eric Holder, demanding that he produce records on a bungled gun-tracking operation known as Operation Fast and Furious. The lawsuit asked the court to reject a claim by President Barack Obama asserting executive privilege, a legal position designed to protect certain inter nal administration communications from disclosure.
The failure of Holder and House Republicans to work out a deal on the documents led to votes in June that held the attorney general in civil and criminal contempt of Congress. The civil contempt resolution led to Monday’s lawsuit. Holder refused requests by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to hand over — without preconditions — documents that could explain why the Justice Department initially denied in February 2011 that a risky tactic was used to allow firear ms to “walk” from Arizona to Mexico. Federal agents lost track of many of the guns. The operation identified more than 2,000 illicitly purchased weapons, and some 1,400 of them have yet to be recovered. The department failed to acknowledge its incorrect statement for 10 months. “Portentously, the (Justice) Department from the outset actively resisted cooperating fully with the committee’s investigation,” the lawsuit said. “Among other things, the department initially declined to produce docu-
ments; later produced only very limited numbers of documents in piecemeal fashion; refused to make available to the committee certain witnesses; and limited the committee’s questioning of other witnesses who were made available,” it said. The Justice Department previously said that it would not bring criminal charges against its boss. Democrats have labeled the civil and criminal contempt citations a political stunt. In response to the lawsuit, Justice Department spokeswoman T racy Schmaler said, “We were always willing to work with the committee. Instead the House and the committee have said they prefer to litigate.” Numerous lawmakers said this was the first time a Cabinet official had been held in contempt. The lawsuit asked that: —The executive privilege claim by Obama be declared invalid. —Holder’s objection to the House records subpoena be rejected. —The attorney general See SUIT, Page A3
See HORSES, Page A3
BERLIN (AP) — Economic sanctions have been called wars without bullets, yet their record in forcing political change has been mixed — by some estimates successful about a third of the time. Nonetheless, sanctions have grown in popularity since the end of the Cold War as an alternative to ar med conflict. They enable gover nments to take a stand without placing their soldiers in harm’s way. In Syria, where opposiSee SANCTIONS, Page A3
Oil boom brings scarcity of workers in small towns
AP Photo
In this July 18 photo, a sign warns that hitchhikers may be escaping inmates, near the William S. Key Correctional Center, in Ft. Supply, Okla.
WOODWARD, Okla. (AP) — The local prison is so short on guards that inmates can sometimes just walk away. A gas station barely has enough cashiers to keep up with the trucks filling the parking lot. And “help wanted” signs seem to hang from every restaurant and shop. Yet almost no one is interested in the jobs. This is the flip side of the nation’s oil and natural gas boom. Although the expansion of drilling has See OIL BOOM, Page A3