Chad’s Morning Brief: President Obama Continues to Defend Susan Rice, Gitmo Detainees to be Moved to the US? & More

Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of November 29, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11 am.

1. Obama Backs Rice (link)

I'm not sure what Susan Rice has on President Obama, but it must be really good. As more and more Republicans are voicing their concerns over the UN Ambassador, President Obama can do nothing but sing her praises.

President Obama came to the defense of Susan E. Rice, his embattled ambassador to the United Nations, on Wednesday even as she came under fire from another Republican senator and saw her prospects for becoming secretary of state further clouded.

“Susan Rice is extraordinary,” the president said when a reporter asked about her reception in Congress. “Couldn’t be prouder of the job that she’s done.”

Mr. Obama made his comment as he convened his cabinet for the first time since his re-election. Ms. Rice was among those in the room. After the president defended her, the departing secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, led the other cabinet officers in a round of applause for her.

Ms. Rice arrived at the White House after another meeting went awry on Capitol Hill, where she has been trying to defuse Republican criticism of her televised assessments of the deadly attack on a diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya. After an hour-long meeting, Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said she remained deeply troubled that Ms. Rice did not seem to have a good answer for why the White House did not immediately classify the attack as an act of terrorism.

Should we really be surprised? Liars enjoy defending one another.

2. Gitmo Detainees to the US? (link)

FOX News reported last night that Dianne Feinstein wants to find a prison in the United States that could house detainees from Guantanamo Bay. According to FOX News:

In the internal document, the Government Accountability Office refers to “Source of Work: Ms. Dianne Feinstein, Chair, Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Senate” and lists the “Gist of Work” as an investigation into whether domestic facilities could house the approximately 170 detainees remaining at the controversial facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Two hours after Fox News' inquiry about the report, Feinstein's office posted the report online and released a statement confirming that the California senator thinks the Obama administration's controversial plan to relocate detainees to the United States is a viable option.

“This report demonstrates that if the political will exists, we could finally close Guantanamo without imperiling our national security,” Feinstein said. “The GAO report makes clear that numerous prisons exist inside the United States -- operated by both the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice—capable of holding the 166 detainees who remain at Guantanamo in an environment that meets the security requirements.”

Past discussion of moving the detainees stateside sparked a firewall of bipartisan opposition in Congress, which passed a measure barring that move.

Thoughts?

3. Boehner Wants GOP Unity (link)

Speaker John Boehner is wanting Republicans to stick together when it comes to taxes. According to the Politico:

“It’s important that everyone in this room continue to be clear with our constituents about what that position is,” Boehner said in a closed meeting of the GOP Conference.

The words come as President Barack Obama takes to the road to sell Americans on his plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Boehner said his party should be “calling out the Democrats in Congress who are saying no to spending cuts, and saying we should go over the fiscal cliff.”

The message that Boehner wants his Republican colleagues to deliver: “We’re fighting for spending cuts. We’re fighting against increases in tax rates that destroy jobs. And we’re fighting for pro-growth tax reform and entitlement reform, the keys to economic growth.”

Boehner used a three-page slide show to prove his point, drawing on a recent poll by David Winston. The poll, displayed on blue pages and festooned by stars, displayed three statistics that bolstered the House Republican position on taxes: that tax rates shouldn’t go up on the rich, but the code should be reformed to eliminate loopholes and lower rates all while cutting spending.

Boehner also brushed back on Rep. Tom Cole’s (R-Okla.) private comments — reported by POLITICO — that Congress should vote to extend middle class tax cuts before talking about tax rates on the wealthy.

“I told Tom earlier in our conference meeting that I disagreed with him,” Boehner said to reporters after the meeting. “He’s a wonderful friend of mine, and great supporter of mine.”

At this point I fully expect the Republicans to give-in and reach a deal with the Democrats and President Obama. The deal will be an increase in taxes and very little to any REAL spending cuts. I don't have faith in the Republicans to stick to their guns on this. Republican lawmakers already feel as though the American people are against them. In their minds they have to give in to the Democrats so the American people will look at the GOP favorably. This will be a bad move, but one I fully expect the GOP to make.

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These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.