The Morning Whip-Up: 5/12/09

Good morning folks -

If tonight's Poetry Jam at the White House features some verses about the Democrat Congress, it may go something like this: Blue Dogs barking, Pelosi interrogation controversy growing, the budget deficit is exploding, Murtha documents exposing and not much changing. As for today's schedule, the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Now on to the news...

PONDERING PELOSI: What Did She Know And When Did She Know It (Continued)?...

The Pelosi interrogation controversy took another twist last night as the Speaker's team leaked that she did know about the use of waterboarding in 2003 but didn't protest.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi learned in early 2003 that the Bush administration was waterboarding terror detainees but didn't protest directly out of respect for "appropriate" legislative channels, a person familiar with the situation said Monday. - Politico

With all these twists and turns, Roll Call headlines: "Pelosi Knocked Off Her Game".

For Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), it's a new week of old questions: What did she know about harsh Bush administration interrogation techniques, and when did she know it? Usually a master of message discipline, Pelosi has been thrown off balance by a mounting firestorm over whether she or her staff learned six years ago that intelligence officials were using extreme tactics such as waterboarding. - Roll Call

The Associated Press also writes that as the Democrats rush to investigate the past "the biggest embarrassment has engulfed a Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi."

Casting aside their president's misgivings, Democrats are racing into hearings to criticize newly released Bush administration memos justifying harsh terrorism interrogations. So far, however, the biggest embarrassment has engulfed a Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. - The Associated Press

BLUE DOGS BARKING: Protesting "The Secretive Process" Democrat Leaders Are Taking In Drafting Health Care Legislation...

The New York Times reports that 45 House Democrats are protesting the secretive process Democrat leaders are taking in drafting health care legislation.

Forty-five House Democrats in the party's moderate-to-conservative wing have protested the secretive process by which party leaders in their chamber are developing legislation to remake the health care system. The lawmakers, members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, said they were "increasingly troubled" by their exclusion from the bill-writing process. They expressed their concerns in a letter delivered Monday to three House committee chairmen writing the bill, which House leaders hope to pass this summer. - The New York Times

The Must-Reads:

The New York Times: "45 Centrist Democrats Protest Secrecy Of Health Care Talks"
Politico: "Pelosi Defense: Couldn't Object In '03"
Roll Call: "Pelosi Knocked Off Her Game"