Feinstein Says Petraeus Might Testify After All
Dianne Feinstein, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman, doesn't think there's a link between David Petraeus' resignation timing and the upcoming investigation into the events in Benghazi. On Fox News Sunday, Feinstein did say Petraeus might be called in to testify at an upcoming hearing. "The events in Benghazi and his resignation? Absolutely not," Feinstein said. "I think if you really think this thing out, anyone will come to that conclusion." Whether or not Petraeus has to testify will be a "committee decision," Feinstein said. Petraeus was scheduled to testify later this week until he abrupt resignation on Friday for having an affair. She also disclosed that she didn't know about the affair until she received press inquires about it on Friday. "For me, it's a heart break," she said. "We received no advanced notice. It was like a lightning bolt."
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New York Rep. Peter King is at least loosely following this whole David Patraeus business, and he told State of the Union's Candy Crowley that he wants more answers. "How the FBI could've been investigating this this long... The FBI director had the obligation to tell the president or the National Security Council at the earliest date. So it seems this has been going on for several months, and yet now it appears that they're saying the FBI did not realize until election day that General Petraeus was involved, it just doesn't add up," he said. The Justice Department's investigation had been ongoing for a few months, but director of national intelligence James Clapper wasn't informed until election night. "I have real questions about this. I think the timeline has to be looked at," King said. "I'm suggesting there's a lot of unanswered questions." King is the House Homeland Security Committee chairman and he called for Petraeus to testify before congress this week.
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David Axelrod knows a few things. He knows how to grow a great mustache, elect a President, and he knows that teamwork works. That's why he's taking the optimist's stance on John Boehner's recent comments regarding the debt reduction negotiations. "I think that the speaker's comments have been encouraging, and obviously there's money to be gained by closing some of these loopholes and applying them to deficit reduction. So I think there are a lot of ways to skin this cat so long as everybody comes with a positive, constructive attitude toward the task," Axelrod said on CBS' Face the Nation. "It is obvious that we can't resolve the challenge here simply by cutting the budget - we've cut by a trillion-one. There are more cuts to be made, but you need new revenues. But everyone - every objective person who's looked at this agrees on that. So, the question is where is that revenue going to come from?" Axelrod said. "The president believes it's more equitable to get that from the wealthiest Americans who have done very well and frankly don't need those tax cuts."
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Rep. Tom Price isn't taking Obama's dominant performance on Tuesday as a sign that Republicans need to rethink their strategy. If you thought he was going to give up trying to repeal Obamacare, you would be mistaken, sir or madam. Price was asked on Fox News Sunday whether he agreed with Boehner's remarks earlier this week calling Obamacare the law of the land. "No," Price said. "I can tell you, as a physician, we're not opposed to the president's health care law because of this election, we're opposed because it's bad policy and it's bad for patients all across this land."
Former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez went on State of the Union to say one of the big reasons the Republicans did so poorly on Tuesday is because Hispanics are scared of them. "The Hispanics I know were scared of the Republican party," he said. "I think it has to do with our incredibly ridiculous primary process where we force people to say outrageous things," explained Gutierrez. The Republican primaries provided potential nominees with a high profile stage to say outlandish things. Gutierrez pointed to the tea party as a big reason for the Hispanic disconnect. "I think the disease is the fact that the far right of the party controls the primary process," he said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said that he wants to see a more vocal Mitt Romney NBC's Meet the Press. He hope Romney won't fade into the background now that his Presidential aspirations have been dashed. Schumer was asked if Romney should be present at the fiscal cliff negotiations. "I don't know about that," Schumer said, "but I would like to see him speak up. You could see him struggling in the general election. The hard right had moved him so far over on issues like immigration." He wants Romney to become the voice of the moderate Republican, to act as a weight to some of the harder right voices that are prominent in conservative media. "We need some mainstream Republican voices," Schumer continued. "We need the business community to speak up on the fiscal cliff, and the need for revenue. You need people like Romney, and Jeb Bush, and others to talk about doing a comprehensive immigration reform, so the Republicans who have the courage to stand up... don't just hear from the shrill right."
This one is big. Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol, holder of a certain amount of influence in GOP circles, came out in support of letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire on Fox News Sunday. "The leadership of the Republican Party and the leadership of the conservative movement has to pull back, let people float new ideas. Let's have a serious debate," Kristol said. "Don't scream and yell if one person says 'You know what? It won't kill the country if we raise taxes a little bit on millionaires.' It really won't, I don't think." That quote would be enough to rattle some cages in the GOP, but Kristol continued. It gets better. "I don't really understand why Republicans don't take Obama's offer to freeze taxes for everyone below $250,000, make it $500,000, make it $1 million," Kristol said. "Really? The Republican Party is going to fall on its sword to defend a bunch of millionaires, half of whom voted Democratic and half of whom live in Hollywood?"
We'd also like to wish a happy 65th birthday to Meet the Press. You old geezers, you.
