The Indictment Against Leland Yee Puts “The Wire's” Clay Davis to Shame  —  Sheeeeeeeeeit, partner.  —  If you thought the charges against Leland Yee would be bad, you had no idea.  As in, he offered to set up an arms deal with Islamic rebels for $2 million in cash.  As in, he has ties to a gangster named Shrimp Boy.

For Columnist, a Change of Tone  —  A New York Times columnist has expressed substantially more negative sentiments about FiveThirtyEight since it left The New York Times, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.  —  The columnist, Paul Krugman, who writes about economics and politics for The Times …

Official Said He Told Christie of Lane Closings, Bridge Scandal Report Says  —  The Port Authority official who oversaw the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge said that he had informed Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey about it at a Sept. 11 memorial while the closings were occurring …

Northwestern ruling could ‘rattle the universe of universities’  —  Northwestern football players win pivotal union case.  —  Northwestern University football players on scholarship are employees of the school and therefore entitled to hold an election to decide whether to unionize …

Giving Up on 4-Year-Olds  —  A new report released by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, examining the disciplinary practices of the country's 97,000 public schools, shows that excessively punitive policies are being used at every level of the public school system — even against 4-year-olds in preschool.

Federal Judge Tells Women Lawyers Not To Dress Like ‘An Ignorant Slut’  —  Judge Richard Kopf, a George H.W. Bush appointee to a federal court in Nebraska, offered some strange advice to women litigators in a piece posted to his personal blog on Tuesday: don't wear clothing that would cause …

The Individual Mandate Goes Poof  —  The latest delays show that the supposed centerpiece of ObamaCare won't cause the uninsured to buy coverage.  —  One by one, the myths of the Affordable Care Act have been revealed.  When the curtain on open enrollment falls on March 31 …

Matthew Yglesias is Juice Vox Media's Village Idiot and Liar-in-Chief  —  Well, now we know why the Washington Post did not want to invest in Ezra Klein's “explanatory journalism” nonsense.  Turns out it is just a left-wing propaganda tool trying to spin instead of explain.

Economist Tyler Cowen Pepper Sprayed While Teaching Class at George Mason University  —  Economist, author, and George Mason University (GMU) professor Tyler Cowen was pepper sprayed in his classroom today by a man trying to place him under citizen's arrest.

Key Indicators in Media & News  —  Audience  —  Cable  —  In 2013, the cable news audience, by nearly all measures, declined.  The combined median prime-time viewership of the three major news channels—CNN, Fox News and MSNBC—dropped 11% to about 3 million, the smallest it has been since 2007.

Disapproval of Obama climbs to new high  —  Nearly six in 10 people disapprove of President Obama's job performance in a new poll by the Associated Press, the highest rating recorded by the newswire.  —  According to the AP-GFK survey released Wednesday, 59 percent disapprove of Obama's job performance while 41 percent approve.

Reid the Elder dismisses gifts controversy at presser; and Reid the Younger defends daughter/Dad  —  UPDATE, 7PM: Now there is $5,000 more from 2012.  Total now $31,000.  —  And now Reid is playing the aggrieved grandfather.  Chutzpah: … “Any role” in creating this situation?  Any role?

Charlotte mayor accused of bribery, extortion  —  (CNN) — FBI agents on Wednesday arrested the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, for allegedly taking tens of thousands of dollars worth of bribes “in exchange for the use of his official position,” the U.S. attorney's office said.

Minimum Wage Boost Wins Senate And House Approval  —  HARTFORD — The state's minimum wage will increase to $10.10 per hour by 2017 under a controversial bill approved Wednesday by both the state Senate and the House of Representatives on largely party line votes.

Waters of the United States  —  Determining when the Clean Water Act protected streams and wetlands became confusing and complex following Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006.  —  Specifically, the proposed rule clarifies that under the Clean Water Act:  — Saves businesses time and money

IRS commissioner: 'It's going to take years' to produce documents about Tea Party targeting  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CONGRESS TEA PARTY IRS DARRELL ISSA JIM JORDAN ELIJAH CUMMINGS SCANDALS  —  Years will pass before congressional investigators can review all of the documents pertaining …

Homeless Mother Gets Job Interview But Doesn't Have Childcare, Ends Up In Jail  —  CREDIT: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office  —  Shanesha Taylor, a woman from Scottsdale, Arizona, is homeless.  So when she got asked to come in for a job interview last Thursday, she must have been excited by the prospect.