Obama urged to invoke 14th Amendment as debt ceiling deadline nears


'I believe that something like this will bring calm to the American people,' Clyburn said. | AP Photo

By JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 7/27/11 12:14 PM EDT
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Rep. James Clyburn and a group of House Democrats are urging President Barack Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling if Congress can’t come up with a satisfactory plan before the Tuesday deadline.

Clyburn, the third-ranking House Democrat, said Wednesday that if the president is delivered a bill to raise the debt ceiling for only a short period of time, he should instead it and turn to the phrase in the Constitution that says the validity of the U.S. government’s debt “shall not be questioned.â€