The debate over the sage grouse is a crucially important one for all kinds of people out West. If the federal government were to list the bird as endangered, development of ranches, mines, oil wells and wind farms would be halted on millions of acres across 11 states. Some 31,000 people would be put out of work, Reid Wilson reported in his thorough account of the issue earlier this year -- a huge number in the sparsely populated region. Environmentalists argue the bird is central to the West's cultural history since before white settlement, and that now it's at risk.

The sage grouse deserves to be taken seriously. The problem is, that's hard to do. Just watch this short video of the male sage grouse's mating ritual, courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management.

Among one or two other things, the spending bill that President Obama signed this week forbids the federal government from listing the sage grouse as endangered. We'll still have to see what the future holds for the bird. The feds have been working for some time with the governors of the sage-grouse states to find a compromise, and a spokesman said Thursday that process would continue.

Here's a map of the sage grouse's vast territory, which extends from Saskatchewan to the Sierra Nevada.

Happy Holidays! Wonkbook will return on Monday, Dec. 29.

What's in Wonkbook: 1) The new federal college ratings 2) Opinions, including David Brooks and New York's chief of police on law enforcement 3) Reforming the Secret Service 4) Stephen Colbert's apotheosis 5) Handling coal ash, Vermont's single-payer plans and more

Number of the day: 1.5 million. That's how many people joined Medicaid in the states where governors didn't expand the program under Obamacare. These new enrollees may always have been eligible for Medicaid, but didn't realize it until they started hearing about the controversy in the news. Margot Sanger-Katz in The New York Times.

Chart of the day:

Sixty years ago, a handful of children were born to unmarried women. Now, 41 percent of babies are, including 72 percent of black children. Emily Badger in The Washington Post.

1. How the government is going to rate colleges

The Obama administration will place schools in one of three categories of performance. The ratings will be based on how affordable a school is and whether graduates are prepared to enter the workforce. Under the plan, the federal government will "assume a new role as an arbiter of the performance of thousands of colleges and universities." Nick Anderson in The Washington Post.

But several important questions aren't yet resolved. Many in higher education expected more specific details. The largest problem for the government is figuring out how to measure how students do after graduation. Employment and earnings data could be variables, which would be highly controversial. Michael Stratford in Inside Higher Ed.

University administrators are upset. They argue the plan would basically rate schools on price, not on academic rigor. Douglas Belkin in The Wall Street Journal.

Done right, though, the rating system could be hugely useful. Tuition continues to rise, as does student debt. It would be helpful to know what American families and taxpayers are getting for their money. But the ratings can't penalize schools whose graduates work in less remunerative fields, like education. Robert Kelchen in Politico.

2. Top opinions

WILLIAM BRATTON & GEORGE L. KELLING: The evidence supports the broken-windows theory of policing. Randomized controlled trials find that broken-windows policing reduces crime more quickly than standard measures, and people who live in poor neighborhoods consistently ask police to more aggressively maintain public order. The Wall Street Journal.

BROOKS: Who's willing to confront police unions? They've resisted all of the sensible reforms proposed to improve policing in America. Liberals and conservatives alike give them a free pass. The New York Times.

STRASSEL: Republicans have a plan to isolate Obama. In the next Congress, they'll force the president to accept policy riders on crucial legislation, as they did last week, and they'll bring up votes on issues like the Keystone XL pipeline that divide Congressional Democrats from the president. The Wall Street Journal.

FLOYD NORRIS: Deregulation is to blame for two decades of financial crises. In 1997, for example, Asian economies had not taken action to regulate the capital that foreigners had invested in their economies. Their misplaced faith in markets quickly turned into disaster, as did in 2007 and 2008 in the U.S. housing market. The New York Times.

FRANCIS WILKINSON: The NRA lost its battle against Vivek Murthy, but it's winning the war. The surgeon general's confirmation was a loss for the gun-rights movement, but there is no possibility that the new Congress will take meaningful action to stop gun violence. Bloomberg.

JONATHAN BERNSTEIN: Most people actually don't have strong opinions on Obamacare. That's clear from the fact that their responses to questions about the law change depending on how the questions are phrased. Bloomberg.

3. Report calls for reform at Secret Service 

The report calls for nearly 300 new officers and new leadership. The Secret Service is understaffed, and needs a leader who is "removed from organizational traditions and personal relationships," the report said. Michael S. Schmidt in The New York Times.

Primary source: The executive summary. (The rest of the report isn't public.)

For one thing, the White House needs a new fence. The fence should be at least four feet higher, the report said, but added, "The problems exposed by recent events go deeper than a new fence can fix." A House committee plans its own review of the Secret Service next year. Jerry Markon and Carol D. Leonnig in The Washington Post.

"I don't care what the Secret Service report says, I still want a moat with Sea bass with lasers" -- @NormOrnstein

4. 'The Colbert Report' ends

Stephen Colbert is immortal. On his show's final episode, Colbert accidentally shot and killed the Grim Reaper, then declared that he would live forever. Then scores of celebrities appeared, from the Cookie Monster to Paul Krugman, before Colbert departed on a sleigh with Santa Claus, Abraham Lincoln and Alex Trebek. Colbert will host "The Late Show" starting next year. Emily Yahr in The Washington Post.

His satire is as devastating now as it was nine years ago. "What we were seeing was the perfect indictment of the world of political punditry, yes, but also a send-up of our inflexibility when it came to opinions, reason and the truth." Hank Stuever in The Washington Post.

But did casual viewers ever get the joke? Political scientists surveyed people after asking them to watch Colbert perform in his character of a conservative talk-show host. Many seemed unsure whether the comedian was kidding or serious. Alice Robb in The New Republic.

5. In case you missed it

Coal-ash regulations will be released Friday. The Obama administration is expected to order coal-fired power plants to handle the ash they produce like other kinds of solid waste, frustrating environmentalists who wanted coal ash listed as a hazardous material. Dina Cappiello for the Associated Press.

The Federal Reserve isn't all that worried about disinflation. Inflation has been below the Fed's target now for 30 months, and cheap oil will keep prices in check. Yet Janet Yellen, head of the central bank, gave a few reasons to be optimistic:

-- Market indicators of expectations about inflation, which have been declining, are not entirely reliable.

-- Declining unemployment will eventually lead to inflation.

-- Deflation abroad will greatly affect the United States.

-- Fluctuations in the price of oil or other volatile commodities can obscure fundamental trends.

She also said she thinks inflation shouldn't be allowed to exceed the Fed's target of 2 percent for long. Craig Torres for Bloomberg.

Vermont abandons plans for a single-payer health care system. Projections suggested the program would be too expensive. David Weigel for Bloomberg.

Hollywood is going after Google again over piracy. Documents released in the Sony hack show executives at film studios planning a legal campaign against Google to force the search engine to hide pirated videos from its users. Brendan Sasso in National Journal.

Most U.S. coastal cities will experience routine flooding within the next 35 years. A few inches of seawater regularly inundate sections of Washington, D.C., Wilmington, N.C. and Annapolis already during what the government terms "nuisance flooding." Other cities will follow shortly as the earth warms and the sea level rises. Lori Montgomery in The Washington Post.

Cheap gas encourages suburban sprawl. Higher gasoline prices reduce demand  for housing far away from cities, as workers try to cut down on the cost of their daily commute. Dina ElBoghdady in The Washington Post.

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