2 More Republicans Shrug Off Norquist's Tax Pledge

Following Sen. Saxby Chambliss' dismissal of Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge, two more Republicans followed suit today. While discusing fiscal cliff negotiations, Sen. Lindsey Graham said on This Week that he would "violate the pledge for the good of the country—only if Democrats will do entitlement reform." Considering our level of debt is unsustainable, he added that "the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid being Greece." On Meet the Press, Rep. Peter King agreed: "We should not be taking iron-clad positions," he said. "The world has changed and the economic situation is different." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial, per Politico:

• Senators on both sides of the aisle expressed optimism for fiscal cliff talks: Kay Bailey Hutchison told State of the Union she thinks "we will come up with a way forward," or at least "a blueprint" if everything is not done by the end of the year. Jon Kyl, on the same show, seemed to agree. And on This Week, Dick Durbin said markets "should be optimistic, because we can solve this problem."
• Kyl also suggested the Obama administration took part in a "cover-up" following the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens.
• On Fox News Sunday, John McCain condemned Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's recent power grab, and said the US should "renounce" it. He warned it could lead to Morsi as dictator.
• McCain also had some advice for the GOP in the wake of Election 2012: "Leave [abortion] alone" and "do immigration reform."

(More Sunday morning talk shows stories.)