For the second time in two weeks, President Donald Trump may have cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, this time on protecting the DACA "dreamers." That isn't a definitive statement because, at this point, nobody's really even sure if a deal was actually agreed to, or what exactly will be in any such a deal. Trump is sending out some very mixed messages, perhaps in reaction to his base already condemning the idea as "amnesty." But the fact remains that Trump once again reached out to the Democratic congressional leaders, inviting them over to dinner to hammer out some sort of path forward on major legislation. Notable in their absence in this meeting were any Republican congressional leaders.

All of this adds up to a very muddled situation. Is Trump dealing with Democrats to the exclusion of Republicans? Perhaps, but then again perhaps nothing concrete will come of the negotiation. Has Trump agreed to put aside demands for money for his border wall in these negotiations? It sure sounds like it, but he could always change his mind. Will Trump's base revolt against the deal and turn against him? Well, a quick look at the pages of Breitbart already shows signs of this happening, but it remains to be seen whether this is a temporary thing or not. If Trump sells the idea, they may decide to continue to support him in the end. Or not. As I said, it's a very muddled situation right now.

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Senator Bernie Sanders unveiled his single-payer "Medicare For All" plan today, and so far he's already got 15 Democratic co-sponsors. More may soon add their names to this list. The plan is -- as any such plan has to be, right now -- merely aspirational, since there is no way it will ever even get a Senate floor vote with Republicans controlling the chamber. Bernie's bill also punted completely on the crucial questions: "How much will it cost, and how will we pay for it?" -- something many will take him to task for (as indeed I already pre-emptively did). But even having said all of that, Bernie's Medicare For All bill sets a very important marker for the debate to come, whether that debate takes a few years or longer. Because Bernie has -- with his bill and also with his relentless championing of the issue both during the 2016 campaign and since -- successfully moved the "Overton window" on single-payer healthcare in the United States.

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Last week, the Democratic leaders in Congress cut a surprising deal with President Donald Trump. There were, of course, critics of this deal on the right -- which is perfectly natural, since they're the ones who were left out in the cold. But what was more surprising was the criticism directed at Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer from the left. But upon examination, such criticism has to be considered unreasonable.

The complaints from the right were predictable, because Trump essentially gave away the GOP store without even asking for a single concession in return. That's abysmal dealmaking, so it's understandable why Republicans were so annoyed. The complaints from the left, however, were twofold, neither one of which really holds much water. The first is that Pelosi and Schumer shouldn't "hand the president a political win," or indeed ever work with him to achieve anything. The second is that Democrats could have gotten even more in the deal (specifically, protection for those covered under DACA), since Trump obviously didn't care what was in it.

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In two days, Senator Bernie Sanders is going to introduce a single-payer healthcare bill in the Senate. This bill already has the support of some major Democratic senators, and it will move the single-payer debate further forward than any other legislative effort to date. But it will also move the debate from the abstract to the concrete, if Bernie's bill provides the proper level of detail. Because average Americans are going to be considering the concept through the filter of: "How is this going to affect my pocketbook?" Democratic supporters need to be ready with solid, easy-to-understand answers to this basic question. Hopefully, Sanders will provide these answers on Wednesday, so the public can truly begin to make an informed choice on the matter.

It is interesting to note how far the Democratic Party has come on this issue in a relatively short period of time. Eighteen months ago, during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary season, Bernie Sanders was building support for single-payer while Hillary Clinton heaped scorn on the idea and used scaremongering against it. To her, it was just one more "free pony" that Bernie was offering up that he (in her opinion) could never deliver for the American people.

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We cannot claim originality for that subtitle. It's taken from Republican Senator Ben Sasse, from when he was speaking out against the deal President Donald Trump cut this week with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi: "Yesterday we saw Washington's swamp continue to rise: Chuck Schumer wrote The Art Of The Steal by taking hurricane relief hostage to guarantee a December showdown that favors Democratic spending priorities." We thought it was the best description of the stunning events of this week in Washington, so we decided to use it (with attribution, of course). "The art of the steal" pretty much sums up how Trump and "Chuck and Nancy" brutally cut the legs out from under the entire Republican Party in Congress.

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President Donald Trump is on such good terms with Democrats that they're apparently now on a first-name basis. Trump repeatedly praised "Chuck and Nancy" yesterday, after striking a breathtakingly-comprehensive deal with Minority Leaders Schumer and Pelosi on a budget extension, a debt ceiling hike, and hurricane disaster relief funding. By doing so, Trump has finally fulfilled the basic theme of his campaign, which was to completely turn Washington upside-down. The master dealmaking artist finally did that by making his first big deal -- and, much to the surprise of Republicans everywhere, that deal was precisely what Chuck and Nancy wanted, while it contained none of what "Paul and Mitch" had in mind.

[I have to add a personal note here, as an aside. Yesterday, I sat down and wrote what I considered to be a pretty conventional article on how I saw the negotiations happening in Congress over the rest of this month. I even wondered if the article was even worth writing, because I considered it all pretty much conventional wisdom. But every so often, events advance so fast that an article is outdated the minute I click "Publish" -- and yesterday was one of those days. By the time anyone read it, it was already obsolete. My apologies, but those are the risks you run in this business. All I can say in my own defense is that nobody else saw this coming, either.]

Back to what really happened, though (as opposed to my incorrect conventional wisdom from yesterday). Yesterday's White House meeting with the leaders of Congress may become one of the most historically significant meetings Trump has ever had. From all accounts, what happened was that Trump took the Democrats' opening offer, and by doing so utterly rejected the Republican plan worked out by congressional leadership and supported by his own Treasury Secretary. That's a stunning slap in the face to the Republican establishment, and an unexpectedly generous gift to the Democrats. Washington is still collectively breathless over this development.

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Congress has returned to Washington after a monthlong vacation, and they've got their work cut out for them in September. Deadlines at the end of the month loom, and the consequences of inaction are very real, from a default on the United States' debt to a government shutdown. Which means Congress is going to have one of those rare months where they have to actually get some stuff done. But the best guess of how it will all play out is that Congress will engage in a whole lot of kicking the cans down the road rather than fundamentally solving any big problems.

That may be too cynical, since a few things will more than likely be achieved this month. Disaster relief funding, for example, will likely pass in short order. But Congress faces so many large and contentious issues that it's almost guaranteed that on the big items -- the federal budget, for instance -- all they'll manage to agree to is giving themselves more time to bicker. And that's before even considering the large items which don't have a built-in deadline at the end of the month -- like tax reform.

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President Donald Trump certainly annoyed many today with the announcement that he'll be ending the DACA (or "dreamer") program. The dreamers themselves are outraged, their parents and relatives are suffering massive disappointment, and their supporters have yet another reason to disapprove of Trump. But what I found striking about today's announcement is that it is the first one I can recall from Trump which even attempts to show any sort of nuance or political shrewdness. Perhaps this is a result of the rising influence of his new chief of staff, or perhaps he really doesn't want to be seen as completely heartless towards the most sympathetic group of undocumented immigrants around. Either way, though, when compared to (for instance) his first attempt at a "Muslim ban," how Trump is ending DACA shows a wee bit more of what might be called political savvy.

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Since today is Labor Day, I thought it was time to point out something that seems incredibly obvious to me. If you listen to the inside-the-Beltway chatter, Democrats are currently seen as floundering around, searching for an agenda. This is less true than the cocktail-party-circuit crowd believes, but whatever. Simultaneously, Democrats are urged to try to win back the working-class vote, because Donald Trump supposedly seduced them all away with his empty promises. Again, the answer to this perceived problem is pretty obvious. The Democratic Party needs to rededicate itself to the Labor agenda -- thus giving it a solid agenda to fight for, and also a perfect way to woo back white working-class voters.

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Donald Trump began last week (as we measure time here, from Friday deadline to Friday deadline) by pardoning a racist sheriff who had been convicted (but not even sentenced yet) of ignoring the Constitution and defying the federal courts. Trump announced this just as Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, in the hopes that nobody but his base would notice. He also sent formal instructions to the Pentagon to begin turning away transgendered Americans who want to serve their country, also in the hopes that few would notice. In the midst of all this "news dump" frenzy, Steve Bannon's acolyte Sebastian Gorka was unceremoniously shown the door at the White House. That all happened late in the day last Friday, so for us it was a fairly jaw-dropping start to the week.

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