More reasons why we need to join together to reunite our country:

• Sadly, This Is Politics As Usual: "Congress has been brought to a grinding halt by hardening Democratic and Republican stances on taxes and spending just days before lawmakers begin leaving Washington for Christmas and New Year's," The Hill reports. "The two sides are, in some cases, refusing even to speak to each other about the massive omnibus and an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) bill."
• Even When They Agree, They Disagree! "Senate Republicans are so accustomed to blocking measures that when the Democrats finally agreed last week to their demands on a bill to repair the alternative minimum tax, the Republicans still objected, briefly blocking the version of the bill that they wanted before scrambling to approve it later," New York Times reports.
• Keep The Focus On The Issues: New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (R) "is trying to force every presidential candidate to take a stand on guns." Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Tom Menino (D) launched a bipartisan coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which "is asking all presidential candidates to complete a 16-question survey about restrictions on gun trace data, gun trafficking, federal enforcement of gun laws, and punishment levels for breaking gun laws," New York Sun reports.
• Quotable: "It's like earmarks are the door prize for being a member of Congress" -- Taxpayers for Common Sense spokesperson Steve Ellis.