The Hill:

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Michael McConnell has quietly courted key members of the House Blue Dog Coalition for a short-term fix for the administration’s foreign-intelligence surveillance program, putting additional pressure on Democratic leaders to pass a bill before the end of the week.

McConnell’s office, however, started reaching out to Blue Dogs before negotiations intensified in an attempt to help leverage the Democratic Caucus. Rep. Bud Cramer (D-Capitulation), a member of the Intelligence Committee, said over the weekend McConnell asked him to organize a Blue Dog meeting, which was held on Tuesday in a secure location.

Interesting. Secure location where? Cheney’s bunker?

The DNI’s office also reached out to Rep. Jane Harman (D-Capitulation), the former ranking member of the Intelligence panel who now chairs the intelligence subcommittee on the Homeland Security Committee. Pelosi denied her the top spot on Intelligence last winter.

Harman said that she has been privy to information about the increased terrorist “chatter” and believes there’s a real risk that terrorists could strike in this country in August, and that an overhaul of the bill could help the NSA deter it.

“The two of us became lead dogs on this,” Cramer said.

Nice work, there, Jane.  Read more 

[Welcome, wingers [DCOW]. Welcome, PantLoads media. Enjoy reality…]

Somebody’s talking to AP:

As Democratic leaders feud [nice trivialization there, AP!] with the White House on Iraq war spending, lawmakers from both parties are working quietly to break the impasse. House members will vote Thursday on a new Iraq bill hotly contested by the White House, opposed by nearly all Republicans and unlikely to survive in the Senate.

[A] dozen or so members in Congress [are] attempting to strike a Bipartisan compromise on the war…

And a “compromise” would look like what? More Friedman Units for Bush? Appointing Petraeus Consul by a consensus of the general will? Appointing Petraeus’s horse consul? Stamping tiny feet and waving tiny fists and getting really, really mad like the Moderate Republicans just did?

“We’ll see what happens,” said Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Ala. “A lot of us are coming together across the aisle. We’re under the radar now, but we’re meeting.”

Ah yes, Bud Cramer. Founder of the Blue Dogs. He’d betray Pelosi, the party, and the country in a heartbeat, wouldn’t he? Especially if he could hold onto the increasingly irrelevant Southern rump’s lock on the party.

So, that AP story chimes nicely with this Americablog story:  Read more