I can't even follow this absurd K Street-inspired dance anymore...

LAST FRIDAY:

In a significant change of position, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) now says it is not currently necessary to extend President Bush’s fast-track trade authority...This is a shift from January when the senator, who has been under pressure in Montana to reject an extension of fast-track, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that Congress should renew fast-track authority.

THIS FRIDAY:

Baucus's staffer said that the senator "continues to maintain that fast-track should be renewed."

Again, I repeat: I can't even follow this absurd K Street-inspired dance. But then, I guess when the smell of corporate cash gets in the air, it makes politicians behave in embarrassing ways on the biggest economic issues facing our country.

The much reviled Westboro Baptist church had pledged to protest at the memorial services for the nephew of Sen. Max Baucus.  I guess they didn't know that the service would be held at the Baucus family's Siebel Ranch.  It covers thousands of acres which means the ranchhouse, etc. are set back quite a ways from the highway.

4 members of WBC showed up.  Yeah, FOUR.  And they beat feet outta there before the time for the service rolled around.

From CNN:

Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus, 28, died Saturday during combat operations in Anbar province, the Department of Defense said. It did not immediately release further information.

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) issued a statement quoted here:

"Phillip was an incredible person, a dedicated Marine, a loving son and husband, and a proud Montanan and American," the senator said. "He heroically served the country he loved and he gave it his all."

CBS News reports:

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said that he received a "troubling" call from Sen. Baucus this morning, who indicated "that he wouldn't be here this week."

Reid emphasized that Sen. Baucus "comes from a very, very close-knit family" and his "nephew, a boy by the name of Phillip, is like a son to [him]."

Later on Tuesday, Reid interrupted debate on the Senate floor over the defense spending bill to notify Senators and staffers.

"On behalf of the entire Senate, the entire Senate family, I express through the chair to our dear friend Max Baucus, our sympathy [and] condolences."

Yesterday, there were two great recommended diaries on the estate tax.   Thing are moving fast and furious on this front.  It is widely believed that there isn't a lot of solid support in the Sentate for full estate tax repeal due to the budget impact... alot of the fiscal conservatives really are having problems swallowing the revenue hit.   There is concern that it is not filibuster proof, and so many believe the possibility of a compromise is real--but what will the compromise be?