It looks like Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have backed down on their obstruction of judicial confirmations. But it’s a little unclear; what we know is that McConnell and Harry Reid reached a deal that will allow the judges to get a vote. However, the JOBS Act, the financial market IPO deregulation bill which McConnell sought prior to the judicial issues, will get a vote first, and it’s not clear all the GOP Senators are on board.

We heard that Harry Reid would make a last stand to deal with the crisis in the federal judiciary, and now we’re getting it. Today, Reid announced he would spend the next two weeks seeking to confirm 17 federal judges who received unanimous or near-unanimous votes out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Social Security Solvency and Sustainability Act slashes benefits drastically but continues to require workers to pay the same level of contributions specified under current law. Workers’ paystubs would continue to show that they were contributing to Social Security, but that would be only partly true. Workers would be contributing $6.2 trillion more than what would be needed.

Graham, Lee, and Paul propose to “borrow” those excess contributions, all $6.2 trillion worth, the way a school yard bully borrows –with no intention ever of repaying the money. Like school yard bullies, the three Senators even bragged about the fraud. Their press release announcing their proposal describes “What the plan accomplishes,” and lists as the very first accomplishment, “Reduces debt held by the public by $6.2 trillion by 2085.” How can they reduce the debt held by the public? By “borrowing” $6.2 trillion from Social Security’s Trust Funds with no intention of ever paying as much as a penny back.

By threatening to filibuster the bill, Lee is basically requiring it to get at least 60 votes in the Senate, giving other Senate Republicans leverage to make more “reasonable” hostage demands.

Primary runoffs feature today in North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi. Utah also hosts a primary, but it is similar to a runoff, thanks to a dual convention/primary system that eliminates many candidates at the convention. Here’s a run-down of the races and expected outcomes.