The Night Beat: What the Heck Was McChrystal Thinking?  —  Good evening.  —  ROLLING STAN: What in the heck was Gen. Stanley McChrystal thinking?  I mean, I know what he was thinking: he was tired of being the victim of what he believes is a concerted effort on behalf of Ambassador …

Orszag Leaving as Budget Director  —  Peter R. Orszag will leave his job as the White House budget director in July, according to someone familiar with his plans, making him perhaps the first official to leave the Obama Cabinet and removing a major player from President Obama's economic team.

Why Won't Obama Waive the Jones Act?  —  Five years ago, in the midst of another crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, the Bush administration waived the Jones Act, easing the way for foreign vessels to move in U.S. waters and between ports.  The decision came with the administration under duress for its handling of Hurricane Katrina.

Poll: Most Say Obama Lacks Clear Plans on the Oil Spill, Energy or Jobs  —  CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.  —  Most Americans do not believe President Obama has a clear plan to deal with the oil spill in the Gulf …

Hayworth pitched ‘free money’ seminars in 2007 infomercial  —  Republican Senate challenger J.D. Hayworth appeared in a 2007 television infomercial in which he helped convince viewers that they could rake in big bucks by attending seminars that would teach them how to apply for federal grants that they wouldn't have to pay back.

Shahzad Pleads Guilty, Warns Of More Attacks  —  Times Square Bombing Suspect Said He Planted 3 Bombs In SUV, Would ‘Plead Guilty And 100 Times More’  —  Shahzad: If U.S. Doesn't Leave Muslim Lands, More Attacks In U.S. To Come  —  NEW YORK (CBS) ― A Pakistan-born U.S. citizen pleaded guilty Monday …

Supreme Court upholds controversial part of Patriot Act  —  On Monday, the Supreme Court upheld a statute - part of the Patriot Act - that outlaws the provision of ‘material support’ to terror groups.  Such support includes assistance that might nudge a group toward nonviolence.  —  Washington

Deep in the Heart of Texas  —  A number of responses to my column about the education I received at Classical High (a public school in Providence, RI) rehearsed a story of late-flowering gratitude after an earlier period of frustration and resentment.  “I had a high school (or a college) …

W.H. bends truth on Joe Barton  —  The pitch: BP-apologist Joe Barton would head the Energy and Commerce Committee if Republicans win the House.  —  The salesmen: White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.  —  The truth: Not so much.

Emanuel defended Blagojevich, then sought grant  —  SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — President Barack Obama's chief of staff, then a congressman in Illinois, apparently attempted to trade favors with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich while he was in office, according to newly disclosed e-mails obtained by The Associated Press.

U.S. indirectly paying Afghan warlords as part of security contract  —  The U.S. military is funding a massive protection racket in Afghanistan, indirectly paying tens of millions of dollars to warlords, corrupt public officials and the Taliban to ensure safe passage of its supply convoys throughout …

In Law Schools, Grades Go Up, Just Like That  —  One day next month every student at Loyola Law School Los Angeles will awake to a higher grade point average.  —  But it's not because they are all working harder.  —  The school is retroactively inflating its grades, tacking on 0.333 to every grade recorded in the last few years.

Pelosi: Climate Change Legislation is a ‘Moral Issue’—'We Have a Moral Responsibility' to Preserve 'God's Beautiful Creation'  —  (CNSNews.com) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last week that passing energy and climate change legislation is a “moral issue”—although, at the same time …

Swipe Fee Deal: Merchants Beat Wall Street  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Wall Street reform negotiators struck a deal Monday to regulate the swipe fees that major banks and credit card companies can charge to merchants — costs that are passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.