Larry Summers falls asleep during Obama's meeting with credit card executives.  —  Today, President Obama met with credit card industry officials at the White House.  After the meeting, he pledged to push for a law that would offer “strong and reliable” protections for credit card users in the United States.

RNC faction wants Dems branded socialists  —  A conservative faction of the Republican National Committee is urging the GOP to take a harder line against both Democrats and wayward Republicans, drafting a resolution to rename the opposition the “Democrat Socialist Party” …

Pelosi briefed on waterboarding in '02 [UPDATED]  —  Nancy Pelosi denies knowing U.S. officials used waterboarding — but GOP operatives are pointing to a 2007 Washington Post story which describes an hour-long 2002 briefing in which Pelosi was told about enhanced interrogation techniques in graphic detail.

Taliban advance eastward, threaten Islamabad  —  Click map for full view.  Taliban presence, by district and tribal agency, in the Northwest Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies.  Information on Taliban presence obtained from open source and derived …

GOP Stymies Vote on Sebelius  —  President Obama will have to wait a bit longer to round out his Cabinet.  Senate Republicans refused today to allow a confirmation vote on his health secretary nominee Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.).  She is the last Cabinet member awaiting Senate approval.

Boehner: Memos Outline “Torture Techniques”  —  While cable news outlets and major newspapers continue to use euphemisms such as “harsh interrogation tactics” to describe the Bush administration's approach to intelligence gathering, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) used a more succinct term Thursday: “torture.”

King: Torture trial should spark “scorched earth”  —  New York Republican Rep. Peter King thinks his party needs to go nuke if Bush era officials are prosecuted on torture charges.  —  King, the outspoken ranking member of the House homeland security committee, said Republicans should …

U.S. Is Said to Prepare Filing for Chrysler Bankruptcy  —  By MICHELINE MAYNARD and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED  —  DETROIT — The Treasury Department is preparing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Chrysler that could come as soon as next week, people with direct knowledge of the action said Thursday.

Goss: Obama Decision “Crossed a Red Line”  —  Porter Goss, former CIA Director and past chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, blasted the Obama administration for releasing Justice Department memos on harsh interrogation techniques.  “For the first time in my experience we've crossed …

CNN ASKS PALIN DADDY IF SEX WAS IN THE HOUSE  —  CNN's Larry King turned horndog Wednesday night during his controversial interview with the father of Sarah Palin's grandchild.  —  KING: Where — was — did sex occur in their house?  —  LEVI JOHNSTON, EX-FIANCE OF BRISTOL PALIN …

Sources say Tedisco concession likely  —  A finish line could be in sight in the race for the 20th Congressional District.  With the numbers not looking good for Republican Jim Tedisco, sources tell Capital News 9 that Tedisco could concede to Democrat Scott Murphy as soon as Friday afternoon.

Meghan McCain to Rove & Cheney: ‘Go Away’  —  ABC News' Rick Klein reports: Meghan McCain guest-hosted ABC's “The View” Thursday and brought some blunt advice for Karl Rove and Dick Cheney: “Go away.”  —  “It's very unprecedented for someone like Karl Rove or Dick Cheney to be criticizing the president,” McCain said.

News Bulletin  —  A Corner exclusive: How many times have you read and heard in the mainstream media that terrorists were waterboarded more than 180 times?  It turns out that's not true.  What is?  According to two sources, both of them very well-informed and reliable (but preferring to remain anonymous) …

Liz Cheney: I'm Proud My Daddy Is the Prime Mover of Torture  —  The biggest piece of news from this exchange?  Liz Cheney's assertion that (only) two of the three detainees who were waterboarded (speaking of Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed) provided valuable intelligence.

Yemen Dispute Slows Closing of Guantánamo  —  The Obama administration's effort to return the largest group of Guantánamo detainees to Yemen, their home country, has stalled, creating a major new hurdle for the president's plan to close the prison camp in Cuba by next January, American and Yemeni officials say.

American Heroes  —  That's what we ought to call the men and women who interrogated the worst of the worst.  For those most committed to the ridiculous crusade for terrorist rights, “enhanced interrogation” is not only immoral and illegal, it's ineffective.  That argument, like Khalid Sheik Mohamed, doesn't hold water.

2012 President Survey  —  Is it too early to poll Barack Obama against potential opponents in 2012?  Sure.  But that doesn't mean people don't find it interesting, and it gives us something to track against moving forward so here goes:  —  On our newest national survey we looked at Obama …

Obama Among the Dictators  —  The now-famous photograph of Barack Obama sharing a handshake and mile-wide smile with happy Hugo Chávez recalled to mind a visit years ago of Philippine strong man Ferdinand Marcos to The Wall Street Journal's offices in lower Manhattan.

WaPo hires Prospect's Klein  —  The American Prospect's Ezra Klein, one of the top bloggers on politics and policy, is heading to the Washington Post.  —  Rumors about Klein's upcoming move spread on Wednesday night during a reception thrown by The Nation magazine in honor of D.C. bureau chief Chris Hayes.

BREAKING: Randi Rhodes to Return to Talk Radio  —  [Updated with Premiere's official announcement at end of article.]  —  Following a nearly two-month absence from the airwaves, Progressive radio talker Randi Rhodes is set to return, according to an announcement this afternoon from John Scott of San Francisco's Green960 (KKGN).

Obama at 100 Days: Strong Job Approval, Even Higher Personal Ratings  —  Better Ratings for Foreign Policy than Domestic Issues  —  As he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency, Barack Obama's job approval ratings are higher than those of his most recent predecessors.

Jail Term to Be Sought in Medical Marijuana Case  —  LOS ANGELES — Government lawyers asked a federal judge on Thursday to impose a five-year sentence on the owner of a marijuana dispensary, less than a month after Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that federal authorities …

Cheney Succeeding In Shifting Torture Debate?  —  In case you're wondering whether Dick Cheney and other former Bushies are succeeding in shifting the torture debate on to the narrow question of whether torture has “worked,” take a look at this headline, photo, and article in today's New York Times (click to enlarge):

Castle More Likely to Run for Senate Than Re-Election  —  Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) said Thursday that he's leaning more toward running for Senate rather than another term in the House, if he decides to run for Congress again in 2010.  —  In an interview on Capitol Hill …

Political History 101: O'Reilly falsely claimed Nixon never met with Mao … On the April 22 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that President Richard Nixon never met with Chinese leader Mao Zedong.  —  While discussing President Obama's handshake …

Bill O'Reilly's response to waterboarding: ‘Torture, my ass.’  —  Last night on The Factor, Bill O'Reilly hosted Newsday columnist Ellis Henican, who criticized O'Reilly's tolerance of torture.  “You disappoint me, you disappoint me,” Henican said, pointing his finger at O'Reilly.

Holder won't selectively release terror memos  —  WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress on Thursday he won't play “hide and seek” with secret memos about harsh interrogations of terror suspects and their effectiveness.  In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee …