GOP drops effort to have Democrats change name

GOP drops effort to have Democrats change name

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Wednesday abandoned an effort to label their opponents the “Democrat Socialist Party,” ending a fight within the GOP ranks that reflected the divide between those who want a more centrist message and those seeking a more aggressive, conservative voice.

Supporters of the resolution asking the Democratic Party to change its name instead agreed to accept language urging Democrats to “stop pushing our country towards socialism and government control.”

The initial name-changing resolution had drawn criticism from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. Florida GOP Chairman James Greer called the idea “stupid,” and Colorado Chairman Dick Wadhams called it “absurd.” They said it made Republicans look petty during a troubling time for the nation.

The Democratic National Committee said the proposal reflected a political party so devoid of ideas that it was resorting to “name calling” and “petty politics.”

At least 3 die after Navy helicopter crashes

SAN DIEGO — Searchers recovered three bodies and scoured the ocean for two more members of a Navy flight crew Wednesday after their helicopter went down in darkness on a training flight, authorities said.

The HH-60 Seahawk helicopter took off from the USS Nimitz and crashed at 11:36 p.m. Tuesday, 13 miles southwest of San Diego and 87 miles from the Nimitz.

Helicopters and boats from the Navy and Coast Guard were searching for survivors in an area near the uninhabited Coronado Islands off the northwest coast of Mexico, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Jetta Disco.

FBI arrests 4 in plot involving bomb, missiles

NEW YORK — The FBI arrested four men Wednesday in what authorities called a plot to detonate a bomb outside a Jewish temple and to shoot military planes with guided missiles.

Officials told The Associated Press the arrests came after a long-running undercover operation that began in Newburgh, N.Y., about 70 miles north of New York City.

James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen, all of Newburgh, were charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the United States and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The men had planned to detonate a car with plastic explosives outside a temple in the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale and to shoot military planes at the New York Air National Guard base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh with Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles, authorities said.

Pension agency’s deficit up to $33.5 billion

WASHINGTON — The federal agency that guarantees corporate pensions was $33.5 billion in the red at the end of March, triple its deficit six months earlier, the agency’s head told a Senate committee Wednesday.

The recession threatens to add to the strain on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. by pushing more companies into bankruptcy and leaving the struggling agency responsible for their pensions.

If the PBGC’s condition continues to deteriorate, the government could come under pressure to shore it up with taxpayer funds, the GAO said in testimony to the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging.

SEC head objects to plan

WASHINGTON — The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is objecting to a plan being weighed by the Obama administration to create a new financial watchdog for consumers that would assume oversight of mutual funds.

The SEC chief’s split with the administration shows how hard it may be for a broad overhaul of financial rules to overcome turf wars among various regulators and for a consensus to be reached on Capitol Hill.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said Wednesday she opposed the plan discussed Tuesday night by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other administration officials that would chip away at the SEC’s own powers.

Swine-flu worries could curtail Mecca pilgrimage

CAIRO — Egyptians who perform the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca risk being quarantined upon their return to ensure the country remains free of swine flu, the health minister warned.

Hatem el-Gabali said the sheer volume of people participating in the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia makes it a possibility that swine-flu cases will be transmitted.

Combined dispatches