Pelosi has edge over Trump on budget negotiations, CBS News poll shows  —  Seven in 10 Americans don't think the issue of a border wall is worth a government shutdown, which they say is now having a negative impact on the country.  But partisans don't want their own side to budge …

Trump's Lawyer Said There Were “No Plans” For Trump Tower Moscow.  Here They Are.  —  Trump's lawyer claims the Moscow tower was barely more than a notion.  “There were no drafts.  Nothing in the file.”  Documents obtained by BuzzFeed News tell a different story.

A “go big” idea to end the shutdown  —  A new immigration idea has been circulating over the past 24 hours at senior levels inside the White House and on Capitol Hill: Give a path to green cards to the 700,000 current DACA recipients, three sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios.

The Trump-Era Overcorrection  —  It was like a scene out of left-wing protest literature: a group of white, parochial-school boys in “Make America Great Again” gear taunting an American Indian protester, jeering and laughing, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after attending the anti-abortion March for Life.

Gawker 2.0 Implodes as Its Only Reporters Quit  —  The new site's only two full-time writers exited Wednesday in protest of editorial director Carson Griffith's offensive remarks about everything from race to penis size.  —  Gawker 2. is blowing up on the launchpad just two weeks after the site's …

U.S. Uninsured Rate Rises to Four-Year High  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. adult uninsured rate stood at 13.7% in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to Americans' reports of their own health insurance coverage, its highest level since the first quarter of 2014.

Biden's Paid Speech Buoyed the G.O.P. in Midwest Battleground  — A speech by Joe Biden in October helped Fred Upton, a vulnerable Republican, win re-election in Michigan.  — Mr. Biden, who earned $200,000 for the speech, stunned Democrats and elated Republicans by praising Mr. Upton …

Sheila Jackson Lee Leaves 2 Posts After Aide Says She Was Fired for Reporting Sexual Assault  —  WASHINGTON — Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, facing blowback from a lawsuit claiming she fired an aide who said she was sexually assaulted by a supervisor at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation …

Federal Employees Going Through ‘a Little Bit of Pain’ but Border Wall Is ‘Bigger Than’ Them Says Lara Trump  —  The 800,000 furloughed federal employees and 400,000 working without pay due to the government shutdown over $5 billion dollars in funding for a wall on the U.S. southern border are going through …

Pete Buttigieg joins the Democratic race for the 2020 presidential nomination  —  South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has signaled for months that he would try to leap from local to presidential politics, announced Wednesday that he will join the burgeoning cast of Democratic candidates in the 2020 race.

‘Nobody Is Going to Believe You’  —  Over the past two decades, Bryan Singer's films—The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, Superman Returns, four of the X-Men movies—have earned more than $3 billion at the box office, putting him in the top tier of Hollywood directors.

No. 3 House Democrat floats possible $5.7 billion in border funding  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The No. 3 Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday raised the possibility of approving $5.7 billion in funding to secure the U.S. border though various means but not by building a wall.

Rep. Jeffries defends characterization of Trump as ‘grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’  —  Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday defended his characterization of President Trump as the “grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” saying the president had exhibited racially insensitive behavior for decades.

Who is the prototypical rich person?  —  I recommend this op-ed by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.  Not because I agree with its recommendation of super high tax rates on the rich, but because it makes clear the perspectives and motives of the Left.  —  In the standard economic approach …

Hundreds of IRS employees are skipping work.  That could delay tax refunds.  —  Hundreds of Internal Revenue Service employees have received permission to skip work during the partial government shutdown due to financial hardship, and union leaders said Tuesday they expected absences to surge …

The Wheels of Justice Are Grinding to a Halt  —  FBI agents have lost irreplaceable sources.  Joint Terrorism Task Force officers can't get into the bureau's computer systems.  Federal investigations are being stymied by a lack of resources.  The partial government shutdown, now in its 33rd day …

Isn't it rich? [updated]  —  Ilhan Omar is a national embarrassment to Minnesota.  The embarrassment continues with Omar's tweet in the matter of the abused Covington Catholic high school students.  Here is a quiz for students of defamation law in the context of the current controversy.

New York law is an open invitation to home invaders … There is a reason homeowners can rarely afford to dispense mercy on an overnight invader: Criminal intruders tend to be the dangerous type.  What homeowners don't expect are law enforcers and prosecutors going after them for ­defending themselves and their loved ones.

‘Knock them in the teeth.’ How Trump turns crises into leverage.  —  The 800,000 federal workers who are expected to miss their second paycheck in the coming days are the most extreme example yet of a negotiating tactic President Trump has used repeatedly since taking office.

Springtime for Strongmen  —  The world's authoritarians are on the march—and the West helped pave the way.  —  The year 2018 was springtime for strongmen everywhere.  It was the year Xi Jinping put an end to collective leadership in China, made himself president for life …