Feinstein: Geithner being scapegoated

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A call issued by a Republican congressman for U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to resign is merely scapegoating, a Democratic senator said Sunday.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., reacted angrily on NBC's "Meet the Press" to a challenge issued by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, to Geithner during a hearing last week in which Brady called on Geithner to resign "for the sake of our jobs."

"You know, the times get tough, so what happens? Somebody has to point a finger," Feinstein said. "Tim Geithner isn't responsible for the entirety of what's out there today, and it's nonsense to think that he is. It really makes me very angry, because we've got to find somebody to blame."

A Republican senator also appearing on the show, Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas, wouldn't endorse Brady's call, instead saying that President Barack Obama's entire administration and the Democratic controlled Congress are all guilty of running the economy poorly.

"I think Kevin Brady was right to bring it up," she said. "I think that we are going in the wrong direction. ... The president, the Congress and Mr. Geithner are all responsible for going in the wrong direction. This stimulus package is wrong."