PELOSI PREMIUM UPDATE. The price of gas shot up overnight to a new record, a national average of $3.64/gal. Americans are currently paying a Pelosi Premium of $1.31 – 56 percent more than they were paying at the pump on the day Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as Speaker of the House. (Source: AAA)

GALLUP DAILY TRACK. Obama 47, Clinton 46; Obama 46, McCain 45; Clinton 46, McCain 45.

SUPPLEMENTAL. CQ Today reports that “House Democratic leaders Wednesday faced an unexpectedly stubborn revolt by the conservative Blue Dog Coalition that forced them to postpone plans to bring the supplemental war spending bill to the House floor this week.” CQ notes that “Republican delay tactics also contributed to the bill’s delay, by eating up valuable floor time that Democrats needed to clear other priorities before waging their supplemental fight.” The Blue Dogs had been warning that they would vote against the rule for the measure. Rep. Allen Boyd (D-FL) is quoted: “I would think that they would have a difficult time getting a bill to the floor that creates a new entitlement.” Earlier in the day, Speaker Pelosi had argued that PAYGO rules “should not apply to the portion of the war supplemental covering new benefits for veterans. Another Blue Dog, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), is quoted: “I’ve never seen the Blue Dogs this unified, this upset.”

• The Hill notes that not all Blue Dogs oppose the GI benefits going into the supplemental without being paid for. Rep. John Barrow (R-GA) is quoted saying: “It’s a cost of the war.” At the same time, the paper points out that there are 47 Blue Dogs in all, more than enough to help Republicans defeat the rule.

• Also gumming up the works right now, Roll Call reports that the Senate Appropriations Committee “appears poised today to try to attach billions of dollars in extra spending that could increase the bill’s chances of being filibustered or vetoed.” The paper says that Chairman Robert Byrd will attach a “domestic spending package that would include almost $4.6 billion in relief for Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, $1.2 billion for science programs, and about $450 million for highway repairs and hundreds of millions more for food safety and local law enforcement grants.” Senate Democrat aides worry that Byrd’s mark “could muddy the original intent of House and Senate Democratic leaders to focus domestic spending on Iraq veterans and the jobless in the hope of making the measure politically difficult for Republicans and the White House to oppose.”

FARM BILL. The Politico reports that “a long-delayed farm bill is headed for final action in Congress after negotiators reached agreement Wednesday on a new set of income limits that seek to bar wealthy individuals from receiving direct payments under the commodity program.” Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) told the paper that the measure will pass in the House next week with more than 300 votes. As for the new income caps, they “would apply to anyone with farm income of more than $750,000 or non-farm earnings in excess of $500,000. In addition, no individual could receive more than $40,000 in annual direct payments — about half of what many of the largest producers get under current law.” The paper notes that the President’s initial proposal “would have barred anyone with adjusted gross income of more than $200,000 from receiving commodity subsidies,” a target that the Administration raised to $500,000 (across the board) during negotiations. Conferees are set to hold a press conference today to discuss the details of the package.

FISA. CongressDaily reports this morning that “lawmakers and aides described significant developments Wednesday in negotiations on revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but some congressional sources cautioned that a final deal could remain elusive.” Negotiations took on a new urgency after Senate Intelligence Chairman Jay Rockefeller put forward a proposal described by his spokeswoman as “the best area of compromise.” On the House side, Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes said: “I think we’ve got 90 percent of it done,” pointing out that “the key is the telecoms,” who have been given proposed legislative language to review. This language would “require a court to determine whether telecommunications companies should be granted immunity from lawsuits” arising from their assistance to the nation in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. It’s yet to be determined “whether the cases would be heard in federal district court or before the secret FISA court.” One fly in the ointment here is Blue Dogs in the House, who “are threatening to use obstructionist tactics to force a Senate-passed FISA bill to the House floor for a vote if” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer “does not strike a satisfactory agreement by the Memorial Day recess.”

REP. WATERS. Roll Call says that in a letter to her Democrat colleagues this week, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) warned “that she fears the party is headed down a slippery slope when it comes to the political maneuvering involved in handling Republican- offered motions to recommit.” The California Democrat believes that “leadership’s continued willingness to grant some Democrats a pass when voting on GOP-sponsored motions, in an effort to give them political cover, will only serve to fracture the Democratic Caucus.” Also worth noting, “Waters’ letter also specifically called out House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), though not by name, and charged that he led an effort to have Democrats switch their votes from ‘no’ to ‘yes’ on a GOP motion to recommit attached to an international debt relief bill passed last month.” Rep. Emanuel says his ‘yes’ vote was a mistake. Republicans noted to the paper that Rep. Waters has voted for six GOP motions to recommit during this Congress.

PELOSI. Under the headline, “Willing to Buck Traditions, Pelosi Rules the House,” The Wall Street Journal says that “many House speakers have employed strong-arm tactics, but Ms. Pelosi's willingness to also buck traditions of the House has some colleagues saying she's one of the strongest speakers in recent history.” For instance, the Journal relays this anecdote: “In late March, Pelosi was about to lose a vote on one of her pet projects: an ethics panel to monitor lawmakers' behavior. Despite her entreaties, Rep. Bob Filner, a fellow California Democrat, refused to change his mind, according to people who were there. Ms. Pelosi won anyway, by a single vote. Afterwards, she returned to the House cloak room and confronted Mr. Filner, according to a person who was there. ‘You lost in two ways,’ she said. ‘We won, and we did it without you.’” The Journal says that Pelosi “came to power promising to restore open debate in Congress – after years of sometimes heavy-handed rule by Republicans who often squelched Democrats' attempts to influence legislation. But this week, she herself is bypassing regular legislative order as she pushes a bill that provides emergency funding for the Iraq war and some of the Democrats' domestic priorities.”

LAWMAKERS. The Washington Post looks at campaign finance reports and finds that “Democratic Reps. Jane Harman and Neil Abercrombie spent more than $2 million on their 2006 reelection campaigns but paid only $5,000 to campaign workers.” The two senior Democrats “have been accused by a disgruntled former employee of forcing congressional staff to perform campaign duties and run personal errands on official time, allegations that both lawmakers vigorously denied yesterday.” The former staffer, Laura Flores, has pleaded guilty to fraud and is “cooperating with a government inquiry into the use of legislative resources that has raised questions about whether congressional staff members were paid in part for helping with campaigns.”

PENTAGON. In its lead story, USA Today reports that Pentagon records show “more than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003.” Soldier advocacy groups see this as “another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million servicemembers to the war zones.” As for the exact numbers, “the number of troops who doctors found non-deployable but who were still sent to Iraq or Afghanistan fluctuated from 10,854 in 2003, down to 5,397 in 2005, and back up to 9,140 in 2007.” Reasons for the “non-deployable” ratings range from a need for dental work to mental health cases.“ An investigation of this practice at Fort Drum in N.Y. and Forts Stewart and Benning, both in Georgia, is being conducted by the GAO, with a full report to the House Armed Services Committee due in June.

MIDEAST PEACE. Next week, President Bush will make his second trip to the Mideast this year, but his visit will not include a joint session with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told repoters yesterday: “This did not seem the time for a big, high-level, three-way event. … It just doesn't feel right as the best way to advance the negotiations.” The AP says that “the lack of a three-way meeting between him … after on-again, off-again talk that one might be in the offing for this trip - seemed an ominous sign” for the Administration’s goal of reaching a peace deal before President Bush leaves office.

SEN. MCCAIN. The Politico reports that “John McCain will give a major speech Monday in Portland laying out his views on the environment and offering a contrast to President Bush on green issues. Speaking at Vestas Energy, the top maker of wind energy turbines, McCain will discuss climate change, the need to reduce dependency on carbon-based fuels and make plain that he wants to restore America as an environmental leader in the world.” The paper says that the speech is “to lay the groundwork for an even more significant address in early June where McCain will detail his energy proposals” and that on Tuesday, the presumptive GOP nominee will “do a roundtable with local leaders in Seattle and then take along the press corps along on a hike of Rattlesnake Mountain.”

BERNANKE. Bloomberg reports that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, “seeking ways to stabilize money markets, will ask Congress for authority to pay interest on commercial-bank reserves this year,” three years ahead of when the bank is authorized to begin paying out interest. Bloomberg notes that “allowing interest on bank reserves may enable the Fed to pump more funds into the banking system without pushing its main policy rate lower, in effect separating action to boost liquidity from monetary policy.” One expert is quoted saying: “It would have the effect of putting a floor under the federal funds rate;” Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank has signaled his initial approval.

RUSSIA. The AP reports that the Russia’s State Duma approved former President Vladimir Putin’s appointment as Prime Minister by an overwhelming vote of 392-56. Later in the day, Putin’s protégé, new president Dmitry Medvedev – who submitted the appointment as one of his first official acts – will sign a decree making it official. The AP notes that “Putin's unprecedented move from the Kremlin to the No. 2 post will keep him politically prominent for the foreseeable future and could serve as a springboard back to the presidency.”