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 …

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.

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.”

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Powell aide says torture helped build Iraq war case  —  (CNN) — Finding a “smoking gun” linking Iraq and al Qaeda became the main purpose of the abusive interrogation program the Bush administration authorized in 2002, a former State Department official told CNN on Thursday.

With Specter in, Torsella bows out of Senate race  —  Democrat Joe Torsella is dropping out of the 2010 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race, a casualty of five-term Sen. Arlen Specter's decision last month to become a Democrat.  —  Torsella, former president of the National Constitution Center …

Judge Sotomayor's Appellate Opinions in Civil Cases  —  Judge Sonia Sotomayor is an obviously serious candidate to serve on the Supreme Court.  We have been struck by how the amount of commentary about Judge Sotomayor has ignored the most accessible and valuable source of information: her opinions as an appellate judge.

James Dobson's Political Surrender  —  Politically, James Dobson has surrendered.  At least for the time being.  Today, the Focus on the Family founder devotes his typically family-focused radio show to what he calls “the utter evil that's coming out of the United States Congress.”

Uncle Sam and Uncle John  —  Megadollar by megadollar, pressure keeps mounting for a House ethics investigation into the cycling of rich Pentagon contracts and campaign contributions through the appropriations empire ruled by Representative John Murtha.  The latest disturbing tale …

In the Loop: The Not-So-Persuasive Liz Cheney  —  We now know at least one reason former vice president Dick Cheney was taking the Acela up to New York on Monday morning: He was going to attend a debate on U.S. policy on Iran where his daughter Liz Cheney, former principal deputy assistant secretary …

Reinventing Sen. Chris Dodd  —  The Chris Dodd reclamation project is in full swing, but even Dodd admits it's an iffy proposition.  —  Facing all-time low approval ratings as he heads into the 2010 election, Sen. Dodd (D-Conn.) is reinventing himself to the voters he's represented for almost 30 years.

Dear Mr. Buffett: About Those Newspapers . . .  Dear Mr. Buffett:  —  I don't make a habit of corresponding with directors of The Washington Post Co. — it's not normally a great career move.  However, your recent comments about the folly of investing in newspapers received much attention and hit close to home.