Pelosi Dear Democratic Colleague on CRomnibus  —  It is clear from this recess on the floor that the Republicans don't have enough votes to pass the CRomnibus.  This increases our leverage to get two offensive provisions of the bill removed: the bank bailout and big money for campaigns provision.

Open Carry Activist Charged With Shooting Ex-Husband And Stepdaughter Dead  —  A woman charged with shooting and killing her ex-husband and stepdaughter has strong connections to groups advocating for expanding open carry gun laws in Texas.  —  Local news outlets on Wednesday reported …

Scott Rudin On Obama's Favorite Movies: “I Bet He Likes Kevin Hart”  —  An exchange between Sony Pictures chair Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin turned into a riff on films they thought the president liked.  UPDATE: Both Rudin and Pascal have apologized for the emails.  —  Danny Moloshok / Reuters

Jeb Bush Has a Mitt Romney Problem  —  Over the last several months, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has been giving speeches, campaigning for candidates, appearing at public forums, and meeting with wealthy donors, which has led many people to believe that he may soon enter the race to become the next Republican presidential nominee.

C.I.A. Director Defends Use of Interrogation Tactics, Avoiding Issue of Torture  —  Brennan on Tactics and Finding Bin Laden Brennan on Tactics and Finding Bin Laden  —  John O. Brennan, the C.I.A. director, said that information obtained from detainees that were subjected …

Bill Cosby Drugged Me.  This Is My Story.  —  Like most Americans, I spent the 60s, 70s, and part of the 80s in awe of Bill Cosby and his total domination of popular culture.  He was the first African American to star in a dramatic television series, I Spy, a show my family in Buffalo, New York, always watched.

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ character names revealed (in coolest way possible) — exclusive  —  We finally got to meet some new characters in the teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but now we're getting to put some names with the faces.  —  J.J. Abrams, the film's co-writer …

Sources: Leadership Promised to Pull Cromnibus  —  I'm hearing from two sources, including one Republican lawmaker, that Representative Marlin Stutzman (R., Ind.) provided one of the final, decisive votes needed to clear a crucial procedural hurdle because House leadership promised to pull …

And the Bum Steer of the Year Is . . .  Was 2014 the year of the Un-Bum Steer?  So many of our usual suspects behaved themselves (more or less) that we wondered if something was amiss.  Texas A&M didn't do anything too Aggie-like, the Dallas Cowboys were actually in the playoff hunt for a change …

Why The Media's Fact Problems Are Way Bigger Than Rolling Stone  —  George Packer argues in The New Yorker that journalism's big crisis is just a business crisis.  In the very first paragraph, noting the collapse of Rolling Stone's story about a violent gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity …

Obama Justice Department Was Involved In IRS Targeting, Lerner Emails Reveal  —  Sadly, the 18 month investigation into the IRS targeting of conservative groups isn't over, and it may be worse than anyone thought.  A federal judge has broken loose more emails that the DOJ had surely hoped would never surface.

Minority congressional staffers plan walkout in wake of Brown, Garner decisions  —  Washington (CNN) — Congressional staffers plan to walk off their jobs Thursday afternoon to show their support for the families of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in the wake of the decision by two grand juries …