TPMDC Sunday Roundup

James Jones Hits Back At McCain: I Don't Play Politics With National Security
Appearing on State of the Union, National Security Adviser James Jones fired back at Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who said on the Senate floor that Jones doesn't "want to alienate the left base of the Democrat [sic] Party." Jones responded: "I've known him for many, many years. And he knows that I don't play politics with national - I don't play politics. And I certainly don't play it with national security. And neither does anyone else I know. The lives of our young men and women are on the line. The strategy does not belong to any political party and I can assure you that the President of the United States is not playing to any political base. And I take exception to that remark."

Greenspan: Economic Growth To Be 3%, Unemployment To Go Over 10%
Appearing on This Week, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan predicted that the third-quarter economic growth figure will hit 3% -- but that this won't be enough to prevent an increase in the unemployment rate. "But remember, the end of the job loss is not the same thing as if the unemployment rate is going to start down," said Greenspan. "My own suspicion is that we're going to penetrate the 10 percent barrier and stay there for a while before we start down."

Boxer: Ethics Committee Doing Preliminary Ensign Investigation
Appearing on State of the Union, Senate Ethics Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said that the committee is doing a preliminary investigation of Sen. John Ensign (R-NV). Boxer declined to comment on the specifics, citing Senate rules, but did confirm the preliminary investigation itself: "And we will look at all aspects of this case as we do whenever there's a case before us and try to get to the bottom of it as quickly as we can in fairness to all."

Zinni: Don't Delay Decision On Afghanistan
Appearing on Face The Nation, Gen. Anthony Zinni, the former U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said that a decision should not be delayed on what to do in that country -- although he does think it is a positive thing to debate all the options. "But I think we have to be careful how long this goes on," said Zinni. "It could be seen not only out there in the region but our allies, even [by] the enemy, as being indecisive, unable to make a decision."

Susan Rice: U.S. In "Intense Negotiations" With Iran
Appearing on Meet The Press, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said that America is in a "a period of intense negotiation" with Iran. "It's not an infinite period. It's a very finite period," said Rice. She also said: "Either they give up their nuclear weapons program conclusively to our satisfaction, or they will face additional pressure."

Graham Says Military Action Against Iran Could Be Necessary
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that military action against Iran could become necessary -- and would have to be waged on large scale: "If sanctions fail, and Iran's going down the road to get a nuclear weapon, every Sunni Arab state that could would want a nuclear weapon. Israel would be more imperiled. The world would change dramatically for the worse. And if we use military action against Iran, we should not only go after their nuclear facilities, we should destroy their ability to make conventional war. They should have no planes that can fly and no ships that can float."

Schumer: GOP Introducing "Gotcha Amendments"
Appearing on This Week, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that Republicans have not worked constructively on health care: "Ninety percent of the amendments that were offered by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle were negative, were sort of little gotcha amendments. Senator Hatch had an amendment, states with the letter 'U' shall be exempt. They don't have a plan. It's very hard to do this. This is the hardest thing I've ever seen attempted to be accomplished in a legislative context in the 35 years I've been a legislator."