The Take: Pelosi's Comments Raise Interrogation Debate to New Level  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's extraordinary accusation that the Bush administration lied to Congress about the use of harsh interrogation techniques dramatically raised the stakes in the growing debate …

Graham: CIA Gave Me False Information About Interrogation Briefings  —  In testimony that could bolster Speaker Nancy Pelosi's claim that the CIA misled her during briefings on detainee interrogations, former Senator Bob Graham insisted on Thursday that he too was kept in the dark about the use …

Obama Planning to Keep Tribunals for Detainees  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama has decided to keep the military commission system that his predecessor created to try suspected terrorists but will ask Congress to expand the rights of defendants to contest the charges against them, officials briefed on the plan said Thursday.

Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load ‘Unsustainable’  —  President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.

Health Care Leaders Say Obama Overstated Their Promise to Control Costs  —  WASHINGTON — Hospitals and insurance companies said Thursday that President Obama had substantially overstated their promise earlier this week to reduce the growth of health spending.

Dead People Get Stimulus Checks  —  MYFOXNY.COM - This week, thousands of people are getting stimulus checks in the mail.  The problem is that a lot of them are dead.  A Long Island woman was shocked when she checked the mail and received a letter from the U.S. Treasury — but it wasn't for her.

Hoyer questions Pelosi's CIA charge UPDATED  —  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) isn't exactly rushing to support Nancy Pelosi's claim she was “misled” by CIA officials during a 2002 intel briefing on waterboarding.  —  Hoyer — a polished floor debater — was drawn into an extended exchange …

My Personal Credit Crisis  —  If there was anybody who should have avoided the mortgage catastrophe, it was I. As an economics reporter for The New York Times, I have been the paper's chief eyes and ears on the Federal Reserve for the past six years.  I watched Alan Greenspan and his successor, Ben S. Bernanke, at close range.

Leon Panetta's mission to stop Israel bombing Iranian nuclear plant  —  America's spy chief was sent on a secret mission to Israel to warn its leaders not to launch a surprise attack on Iran without notifying the US Administration.  —  As Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister …

Meltdown With Keith Olbermann!  [Exclusive]  —  If you regularly tune in to Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, you may remember that Olbermann was mysteriously absent from the show for three days at the end of April.  But Olbermann didn't just “have the night off,” as David Shuster …

Trade Wars Launched With Ruses, End Runs  —  Outrage in Canada as U.S. Firms Sever Ties To Obey Stimulus Rules  —  Is this what the first trade war of the global economic crisis looks like?  —  Ordered by Congress to “buy American” when spending money from the $787 billion stimulus package …

Empire of Carbon  —  I have seen the future, and it won't work.  —  These should be hopeful times for environmentalists.  Junk science no longer rules in Washington.  President Obama has spoken forcefully about the need to take action on climate change; the people I talk to are increasingly optimistic …

More Americans “Pro-Life” Than “Pro-Choice” for First Time  —  Also, fewer think abortion should be legal “under any circumstances”  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice.”

Treasury Agrees To Aid Insurers  —  The Treasury yesterday granted preliminary approval for some of the nation's largest insurance companies to receive capital infusions under the government's Troubled Assets Relief Program, Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams said.

New York City Official Is Obama Pick for C.D.C.  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama will announce on Friday that he has chosen Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the New York City health commissioner, as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administration officials said Thursday.

The obligatory “Miss California to guest host Fox & Friends” post  —  Perfectly predictable, so much so that I almost called it a few weeks ago.  And yet, I'm torn.  Pro: She's so hot, she's capable of turning straight women gay.  The more airtime, the merrier.

On Abortion, Obama Is Drawn Into Debate He Hoped to Avoid  —  WASHINGTON — In nearly four months in office, President Obama has pursued a careful two-pronged strategy on abortion, enacting policies that secure a woman's right to the procedure while vowing to move beyond the culture wars …