The daily gossip: The plan to unite the Senate with a Lincoln screening, and more

1. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell attempt to unite Senate with a Lincoln screeningThe real Abraham Lincoln united the nation once before, and Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell are counting on a Senate-only screening of Lincoln, hosted by director Steven Spielberg and star Daniel Day-Lewis, to do it again. The Hollywood Reporter says that Reid and McConnell invited Senators to see the film together,...

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WEATHERMEN AND CLIMATE SCIENTISTS LIVE ON DIFFERENT PLANETS

Here in Atlanta, we've had a string of days in which the temperature has hovered around 70 degrees -- more representative of late spring than late autumn. The balmy weather has left me in a funk.Sure, I've enjoyed the chance to put my toddler on the back of my bike and take her out for a ride. Yes, it was pleasant to don a short-sleeved shirt to put up my outdoor Christmas lights. Of course, I like...

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ANOTHER OVERTIME ELECTION

This is a peculiar season in American politics. The big game is over, the score is in the record book, yet there are more innings to be played. A lame-duck Congress and an exhausted president cannot leave the field.This is the eighth time since the Nixon years Congress has gone into overtime to address pressing budget issues. Each time the crisis was described as the worst ever, though rarely has...

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After Hurricane Sandy: Is flood insurance bad for taxpayers?

Why does the government sell flood insurance?When the National Flood Insurance Program was established in 1968, it was seen as a way to save taxpayers money. Instead of paying out massive emergency funds whenever a coastal area or river floodplain was inundated, the government figured it was more prudent to identify risky areas and force people who lived there to buy insurance and assume some of...

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Microsoft is back: Why the dorky Apple rival is suddenly cool

Oh man that new commercial for Internet Explorer 10  has me dorkily cackling at every pixel in it, and then replaying the ad to laugh again, and harder. OK, maybe you’re too cool for it. But I am not.Here’s what happens: A trolly commenter dude—he looks like the old groovy Apple kid turned puffier, more caffeinated and housebound—keeps trying to tweet and post about how IE sucks until he’s overwhelmed...

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