Elizabeth Warren to propose new ‘wealth tax’ on very rich Americans, economist says  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will propose a new “wealth tax” on Americans with more than $50 million in assets, according to an economist advising her on the plan, as Democratic leaders vie …

Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel resigns after Halloween blackface photos emerge  —  Michael Ertel, the newly appointed Secretary of State of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has resigned after photos emerged of him posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface at a private Halloween party 14 years ago.

Six GOP Senators Buck Trump As Competing Shutdown Measures Fail  —  A pair of competing Senate bills to reopen the government failed to pass on Thursday, the latest non-starter attempts to fall short as the government shutdown stretches into its 34th day.  But a half-dozen Republicans defected …

Michael Cohen subpoenaed by Senate Intelligence committee  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was subpoenaed Thursday to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in mid-February, according to a source close to Cohen.  —  It is not clear how Cohen will respond.

Wilbur Ross doesn't understand why furloughed federal workers need food banks  —  Commerce secretary suggests they should be able to take out bridge loans  —  Chuck Grassley reminds U.S. Olympic Committee about requirements for its tax exemption Senate sets up Thursday test votes on ending shutdown …

Exclusive: White House preparing draft national emergency order and identified $7 billion for wall  —  Washington (CNN)The White House is preparing a draft proclamation for President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency along the southern border and has identified more than $7 billion …

Benghazi hangs over U.S. decision to leave diplomats in Venezuela  —  The Trump administration's decision to leave U.S. diplomats in Venezuela — despite orders from the unstable country's ruling regime — is drawing criticism from former officials who say it endangers American lives.

Trump's Disney Robot Obsession and Anthony Scaramucci's Dick Joke: Scenes From a White House Insider  —  They are who we thought they were.  —  Shortly after Donald Trump's election, a Disney crew was dispatched to the White House to record the new president's voice, which would be played through …

Skripal poisoning: Trump admin yet to impose new Russia sanctions required by law  —  The European Union punished 4 Russians this week in connection with the Skripal poisoning, but the U.S. hasn't moved forward with its own penalties.  —  WASHINGTON — Nearly three months after deeming Russia …

Fox News Poll: Voters see shutdown as bigger problem than border situation  —  Most voters consider the partial government shutdown a major problem or, even worse, an emergency, according to a new Fox News Poll.  —  After a 33-day stalemate over the funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall …

The Unfinished Business of Bernie Sanders  —  He went from the rumpled bit player of the progressive movement to a legit presidential candidate and liberal kingmaker.  But now that Sanders wields such enormous power in Democratic politics, the question is, what's he going to do with it?

We Followed YouTube's Recommendation Algorithm Down The Rabbit Hole  —  How many clicks through YouTube's “Up Next” recommendations does it take to go from an anodyne PBS clip about the 116th United States Congress to an anti-immigrant video from a designated hate organization?

Sen. Michael Bennet slams Ted Cruz for ‘crocodile tears’ over the shutdown  —  Sen. Michael F. Bennet, typically a mild-mannered, congenial guy, on Thursday unleashed all of his furor over the partial government shutdown on Sen. Ted Cruz.  —  In a fiery exchange that played …

Witness in special counsel probe, former Stone associate, collected payments from Infowars through job Stone arranged  —  Over the past several months, author and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi has emerged as one of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's most vexing witnesses in his probe of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.

Sen. Cory Gardner to break with Republicans on Trump's wall — it's the right thing to do  —  Colorado senator's spokesman says Gardner intends to vote for clean funding bill that would open the government with no border-security strings attached.  —  Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner's …

Shoot Someone In A Major US City, And Odds Are You'll Get Away With It  —  A shocking number of shootings go unsolved.  In some police departments, hundreds of cases aren't investigated at all.  A joint investigation by The Trace and BuzzFeed News. … Devon Little was shot …

Nathan Phillips is a liar, not a victim  —  Days after Nathan Phillips' story of his confrontation with a group of students in Washington was thoroughly discredited, many on the left are still rallying behind him, pretending he was somehow a victim.  —  This, even after both the New York Times …

Group launches ‘Draft Ann Coulter’ for president  —  A political action committee that pushes for stricter immigration controls said Thursday it is launching a campaign to draft conservative writer Ann Coulter to challenge President Trump.  —  Americans for Legal Immigration PAC has been among …

AOC Thinks Concentrated Wealth Is Incompatible With Democracy.  So Did Our Founders.  —  In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville produced one of the earliest accounts of the American dream.  In his famous study of the Jacksonian U.S., the Frenchman wrote that Americans possessed “the charm of anticipated success” …

This Time It's Russia's Emails Getting Leaked  —  The Russian oligarchs and Kremlin apparatchiks spared by Wikileaks in the past will not be so lucky this week, when transparency activists drop a massive archive of leaked docs.  —  Russian oligarchs and Kremlin apparatchiks may find …

Why do people such as Lindsey Graham come to Congress?  —  Back in the day, small rural airports had textile windsocks, simple and empty things that indicated which way the wind was blowing.  The ubiquitous Sen. Lindsey O. Graham has become a political windsock, and as such, he …

California Republican Party gets even smaller: A GOP lawmaker defects to the Democrats  —  California Republicans suffered yet another loss Thursday when one of their Assembly members defected to the Democrats.  —  Democrats celebrated with a victorious news conference Thursday morning …

The political scientist Donald Trump should read  —  What Trump would do if he really wanted his wall.  —  It's not often I run across political science that genuinely changes my understanding of how American politics works.  But Frances Lee's research has done exactly that.  Twice.

4 girls allegedly strip searched at middle school  —  BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — A community firestorm has erupted over an alleged strip search of four 12-year-old girls at a New York middle school.  —  The Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin says about 200 community members packed …

Exclusive: U.S. to begin returning asylum seekers to Mexico on Friday - official  —  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States will return the first group of migrants seeking asylum in the United States to the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Friday, a spokesman for Mexico's president said on Thursday.

‘Trump will handle this’: Florida man tried to force Iraqi family out of his neighborhood, police say  —  David Allen Boileau kept saying, “the U.S. needs to get rid of all of them,” meaning Middle Easterners, according to police, but for the time being he was focused on getting rid of the neighbors.

Ocasio-Cortez's misfired facts on living wage and minimum wage  —  “I think it's wrong that a vast majority of the country doesn't make a living wage, I think it's wrong that you can work 100 hours and not feed your kids.  I think it's wrong that corporations like Walmart and Amazon can get paid …

Congress' Nonpartisan Research Arm Says Trump Could Build The Wall Without State of Emergency Or Funding  —  The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a paper internally that suggests President Donald Trump may have the authority to use Department of Defense resources …

Kirsten Gillibrand Defends Filibuster: “If You Don't Have 60 Votes Yet, It Just Means You Haven't Done Enough Advocacy”  —  With progressive momentum building ahead of 2020, the range of bold agenda items a new Democrat-controlled government might work toward continues to expand.

Older, right-leaning Twitter users spread the most fake news in 2016, study finds  —  The notion that fake news exists in its own universe turns out to be doubly true: One universe is the realm outside truth.  The other is its own seedy pocket of social media.