House GOP makes a $2.2 trillion debt counteroffer to Obama on cliff  —  House Republican leaders have made a counteroffer to President Obama in the fiscal cliff negotiations, proposing to cut $2.2 trillion with a combination of spending cuts, entitlement reforms and $800 billion in new tax revenue.

Exclusive: Dick Armey Quits Tea Party Group in Split Over Direction  —  In a move not publicly announced, former Rep. Dick Armey, the folksy conservative leader, has resigned as chairman of FreedomWorks, one of the main political outfits of the conservative movement and an instrumental force within the tea party.

Bloomberg Asked Clinton to Consider Succeeding Him as Mayor  —  Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has long struggled to imagine a successor with the combination of star power, experience and grit to fill his shoes.  —  But not long ago, he was struck by an inspiration: Hillary Rodham Clinton, the retiring secretary of state.

Fox News chief's failed attempt to enlist Petraeus as presidential candidate  —  Roger Ailes, the longtime Republican media guru, founder of Fox News and its current chairman, had some advice last year for then-Gen. David H. Petraeus.  —  So in spring 2011, Ailes asked a Fox News analyst headed …

An open letter to Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock  —  Gentlemen: I see that you have chosen to use the horrific crime of the murder of Kasandra Perkins to express your belief that guns are the problem, not the men who wield them.  I am utterly certain that you believe that you have the moral high ground on this matter.

Corporate Profits Hit Record High While Worker Wages Hit Record Low  —  A constant conservative charge against President Obama is that he is inherently anti-business.  However, businesses keep defying the storyline by making larger and larger profits, rebounding nicely out of the Great Recession.

Ashley Judd exploring Senate run  —  Ashley Judd vs. Mitch McConnell?  —  It might not be as far-fetched as you think.  —  The Hollywood movie star and eighth-generation Kentuckian is seriously exploring a 2014 run for the Senate to take on the powerful Republican leader, four people familiar with the matter tell POLITICO.

Obama Said to Consider Vogue Editor Wintour for U.K. Embassy  —  President Barack Obama is considering nominating Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, to be either his next ambassador to the U.K. or France, as he looks to reward his biggest fundraisers with embassies that never seem out of fashion …

Holder chief of staff targeted by Republicans in ‘Furious’ scandal to leave post  —  In one of the first high-level departures from the Justice Department since President Obama was elected to a second term, Attorney General Eric Holder's chief of staff — a political target …

GOP Steering Committee Shuffles Conservatives  —  Speaker John A. Boehner initiated today a small purge of rebellious Republicans — mostly conservatives — from prominent committees; it's the latest instance of the Ohio Republican's clamping down on his fractious conference.

Brewer out of state; aide won't provide details  —  Gov. Jan Brewer has taken a nearly week-long out-of-state work trip that was shrouded in secrecy Monday as she skipped an event to certify election ballots and her spokesman refused to disclose her location.

NEWS FLASH  —  ONE QUARTER OF REPUBLICANS WANT TO SECEDE |  Twenty five percent of registered Republicans want their state to secede from the United States, according to a new poll from Public Policy Polling.  This new statistic comes just weeks after Mitt Romney's loss prompted secession petitions …

It's Health Care Costs, Stupid  —  Busy day, so not much blogging.  But a further thought on budget issues.  —  In today's column, I tried to emphasize a point that is weirdly absent from public discourse, at least among VSPs: the favorite VSP “solution” to the long-run budget deficit …