"Senate leaders announced a bipartisan two-year budget agreement Wednesday that would provide nearly $300 billion in additional funding, a crucial step toward averting a Friday government shutdown and ending a months-long impasse on spending priorities.

"The plan would suspend the federal debt ceiling until March 1, 2019, and would provide almost $90 billion in hurricane and wildfire disaster aid. A Senate vote is expected Thursday, followed by the House. ...

"Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called the plan a 'significant agreement' among Senate and House leaders that gives both parties what they want. It includes a long-sought defense spending boost that was the top goal of Republicans who lead both chambers in Congress and gives more funding for domestic programs sought by Democrats. ...

"Defense spending would increase by $80 billion over current law in this fiscal year and $85 billion in the one that begins Oct. 1. Non-defense spending would rise by $63 billion this year and $68 billion next year."

"Classism is foul any way you cut it. It's nasty, it's uncharitable, and it often relies on shame and embarrassment as a means to control those at the bottom. It's also very un-American, given our nation's extremely egalitarian culture in comparison to almost anywhere in Europe.

"The Democrats and their media boosters, however, have a classism problem.

"When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., used the word 'crumbs' to refer to tax reform-related bonuses and wage increases, it seemed like a one-off political blunder. In her haste to attack anything bearing the Republican brand, it appeared the California congresswoman merely didn't fully think through what she said. We've all been there before. But the attitude that $1,000-plus bonuses and wage increases are actually insignificant amounts, and that the people who are excited about them are perhaps not particularly bright or well-educated, has persisted in the anti-GOP ranks, casting Pelosi's remarks in a new light.

"That is, it seems increasingly clear that the strategy to counter the GOP's tax reform efforts includes not just the usual attacks on congressional Republicans, but also a campaign to shame the not-too-terribly-wealthy who are now enjoying the benefits of the bill's passage."

"A newly released document from the Senate Judiciary Committee says Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled the Trump dossier, wrote an additional memo on the subject of Donald Trump and Russia that was not among those published by BuzzFeed in January 2017.

"The newly released document is an unclassified and heavily redacted version of the criminal referral targeting Steele filed on Jan. 4 by Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. It appears to confirm some level of coordination between the extended Clinton circle and the Obama administration in the effort to seek damaging information about then-candidate Trump.

"According to the referral, Steele wrote the additional memo based on anti-Trump information that originated with a foreign source. In a convoluted scheme outlined in the referral, the foreign source gave the information to an unnamed associate of Hillary and Bill Clinton, who then gave the information to an unnamed official in the Obama State Department, who then gave the information to Steele. Steele wrote a report based on the information, but the redacted version of the referral does not say what Steele did with the report after that."

"This week we saw a perfect example of how corrupt journalism has become. There was an opportunity to report the news and journalists and their fellow travelers in the pundit class balked. While that wasn't unusual, what was is how they did it in the lead up to the news, not bothering to wait until they'd seen what they were attempting to discredit. There was an unprecedented attempt to make the release of the FISA memo NOT NEWS before anyone knew what was in it.

"Over the past two weeks, Democrats scrambled to 'warn' the public that the release of the FISA memo would 'damage national security' were it released. Journalists picked up the mantra and ran with it, unquestioningly parroting it in badgering Republicans about why they would support its release considering this charge. There was virtually no discussion as to whether or not this allegation was true or an attempted partisan distraction, it was simply accepted and repeated as if it had been carved into stone tablets by a burning bush and sent directly to the teleprompter in their TV studios.

"The memo, of course, was nothing of the sort. There was nothing that was a threat in any way to national security, no remote mention of sources or methods. It was all a Democratic Party lie immediately adopted by journalists. As with past false stories that needed to be retracted or corrected, there was no comeuppance for those who spread the lie to the media, nor the media figures who regurgitated it. It happened, and when it was proven to be a lie, it was memory-holed."

"FBI abuse of power is a real threat. We saw it under J. Edgar Hoover. These people have the spy equipment and the guns. Both Congress and the president need to keep a close eye on them.

"And these days, there are bad actors at the FBI. ...

"With federal law enforcement, ultimate control rests with the president and oversight and funding come from Congress, but the professionals there are to act as independent professionals. They are not supposed to be allies of the president. Equally, they are not supposed to be his antagonists."

"Trey Gowdy is done with politics.

"The House Oversight Committee Chairman for years has joked privately about quitting Congress and returning home to South Carolina. On Wednesday, he finally pulled the plug -- likely for good.

"A rising star that many Republicans once considered a dark-horse for speaker of the House, Gowdy announced Wednesday he would not seek reelection or any political office and would instead return to the justice system. Sources close to him say he wants to return home, practice law and maybe teach and write a book with his friend Sen. Tim Scott.

"'Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system,' the South Carolina Republican said."

"It's an observation so strikingly true that you wonder why you didn't think of it earlier. 'Donald Trump,' a friend said the other day, 'is teaching the Republican Party how to fight and how to win.'

"The evidence is everywhere everyday, and it was on vivid display Tuesday night. The president remains in a fighting mood, determined to keep punching his way forward. ...

"If this was Trump reaching out his hand, he was doing it from a position of strength and supreme confidence. If there is to be compromise, Dems will have pay dearly for it.

"That the president intends to drive a hard bargain was made clear during his remarks on immigration when he said pointedly, 'Americans are dreamers, too.'

"The tough tone, leavened only by the moving stories of first responders, military heroes and other noteworthy guests seated near the First Lady, suggests that Trump is sticking with what got him to the dance in the first place.

"He will continue to be who he is."

"Andrew G. McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the F.B.I.'s deputy director after months of withering criticism from President Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from the head of the bureau to leave, according to two people close to Mr. McCabe.

"Though Mr. McCabe's retirement had been widely expected soon, his departure was nevertheless sudden. It added to what has already been a chaotic upheaval at the F.B.I. under Mr. Trump, who has responded to an investigation into his campaign with broadside attacks against both the bureau and the Justice Department.

"As recently as last week, Mr. McCabe had told people he hoped to stay until he was eligible to retire in several weeks. Instead, he will immediately go on leave and retire on March 18.

"In a recent conversation, Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, raised concerns about a forthcoming inspector general report. In that discussion, according to one former law enforcement official close to Mr. McCabe, Mr. Wray suggested moving Mr. McCabe into another job, which would have been a demotion."

"Quote: 'America is open for business, and we are competitive once again.' End quote. That was just one of the key lines in President Trump's highly successful Davos speech this week.

"Of course, in going to Davos, Trump entered the lion's den. A year ago such a visit would have been a poor idea. Back then, elitist heads of state, the EU bureaucrats, and the international CEOs were uniformly against Donald Trump.

"But Trump's 2018 Davos strategy was a brilliant stroke.

"A year later he could make the fact-based argument that, in his words, 'The world is witnessing the resurgence of a strong and prosperous America.'

"And the core of his message was this: 'There has never been a better time to hire, to build, to invest, and to grow in the United States.'

"He's right."

Read entire article here.

"President Trump will propose a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrant Dreamers, nearly tripling the Obama-era DACA program, the White House said Thursday.

"Mr. Trump's vision, which he will submit to Congress next week, would grant legal status to fewer than the 3 million people under the plan Senate Democrats have backed. But the number of people is far higher than the 690,000 in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

"White House officials said they felt they had to go that far in order to demand major changes on the security side, including an end to catch-and-release of illegal immigrants snared at the border, faster deportations for those caught overstaying their visas inside the U.S. and $25 billion for Mr. Trump's wall.

"The president also will demand strict limits on the chain of family migration across the board -- not just for newly legalized Dreamers.

"He would allow immigrants to petition for spouses and minor children but would eliminate parents, siblings and adult children from chain migration. Extended family already in the backlog would be allowed to enter, but no further applications would be accepted."

Read entire article here.