Usually, when Max Baucus tries to craft a grand bargain, oversized legislation starts by getting progressively worse, at which point the legislation finally dies.

But he has finally succeeded in getting a grand bargain, with a deal to extend Trade Adjustment Assistance in exchange for votes on the Korea, Colombia, and Panama trade deals.

Walter Pincus was the guy at the Washington Post known for writing skeptical stories about the Iraq debacle that wound up on page A17. He still gets that level of respect today, even when he’s got better information than anyone else. In this case, Pincus advances the story of permanent bases in Afghanistan (I’m calling them permanent bases, even if they end up being “joint bases” in the end), by taking a look at the construction contracts.

Senator Mitch McConnell told NPR today that the path forward on the debt ceiling is blocked by the insistence of the Democrats on raising taxes “in the middle of an economic slowdown.” McConnell thinks we should cut back on spending “in the middle of an economic slowdown.” He is apparently utterly unable to comprehend that on an aggregate basis revenue increases and spending cuts are exactly the same.

In the strongest comments from a Democrat to date about the state AG settlement with top banks over foreclosure fraud, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman vowed to oppose the deal, striking a near-fatal blow to the effort.

Romney is hinting that the economy — the fire — needed not just more stimulus, but longer-lasting stimulus. Instead of pouring on a little gasoline to kick start the fire, we’d needed a slow-burning log that would provide fuel for a longer period.

If we actively work to assassinate the leader of a country we recognize, we are implicitly endorsing such actions against us.

It is a powerful reminder of how signals from partisan leaders can go a long way to shape the views of their base on some issues. The President isn’t some hapless slave to popular opinion. His bully pulpit actually is powerful and can cause people to change their minds. Now if he would just use it for changing minds on other issues.

My wife and I recently bought a home. As if I hadn’t been persuaded earlier, the entire process convinced me of the need for a strong Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and someone strong-willed and committed to protecting consumers to run it, like Elizabeth Warren.

It is not only detainees at Guantanamo or Bagram Airbase that are being mistreated. Right here in the United States, undocumented immigrants are being mistreated by for profit prison companies.

In San Francisco, New York and Chicago, support contingents for Pfc. Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks whistleblower, participated in Sunday’s gay pride parades. Those who marched in contingents aimed to make the LGBT community more aware of Bradley Manning.

Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network and Bradley Manning Support Network Advisory Board member, says he and others in the LGBT community organized a contingent because Manning is a gay man and “we think it is important to stand up for those in our own community who are being victimized.”