The Truly Grand Bargain  —  Sometimes you have to walk through the desert to get to the Promised Land.  That's the way it is for Republicans right now.  The Republicans are stuck in a miserable position at the end of 2012, but, if they handle things right, they can make 2013 an excellent year …

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 …

Queens dad pushed to his death by madman in Times Square subway station  —  Ki Suk Han, 58, of Queens frantically tries to climb to safety yesterday as a train bears down on him in Midtown.  He was fatally struck seconds later.  —  A Queens dad trying to protect fellow straphangers …

Elizabeth Warren Wins Senate Banking Committee Seat: Sources … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Elizabeth Warren, Harry Reid , Video, Senate Banking Committee, Banking Committee, Elizabeth Warren Banking Committee, Elizabeth Warren Committees, Elizabeth Warren Senate, Elizabeth Warren Senate Banking …

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.

Filibluster  —  Filibuster “reform” — intermittently called, over the last decade or so, the “nuclear option” — is something of a moving target.  We have consistently maintained that a majority of the Senate may constitutionally curtail the filibuster or leave it as it is.

U.S. sailed off the ‘fiscal cliff’ long ago  —  We created Fedzilla; now it's time to kill it  —  Only a Fedzillacrat could possibly think raising taxes on the wealthy could accomplish anything toward restoring sanity in the financial insane asylum known as our federal government.

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.

Susan Rice, the Senate and Angry Mobs  —  An armed man waves his rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames after being set on fire inside the US consulate compound in Benghazi late Sept. 11, 2012.  (STR/AFP/GettyImages)  —  ABC News' Jonathan Karl and Sunlen Miller report:

Mitt Romney Hits Costco — Buys Toy Car (Manufactured in China)  —  HITS COSTCO  —  Buys Toy Car (Manufactured in China)  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  Mitt Romney went on MASSIVE (and fiscally responsible) shopping spree at a Costco near his home in La Jolla, CA this week ... stocking up on all sorts of goods …

TEA PARTY GROUP CHIEF QUITS, CITES INTERNAL SPLIT … WASHINGTON (AP) — Eased out with an $8 million payout provided by an influential GOP fundraiser, former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey says he has left a conservative Tea Party group, FreedomWorks, because of an internal split over the group's future direction.

Egypt's Mursi leaves palace as police battle protesters  —  (Reuters) - Egyptian police battled thousands of protesters outside President Mohamed Mursi's palace in Cairo on Tuesday, prompting the Islamist leader to leave the building, presidency sources said.

House Democrats file petition to force vote on middle class tax rates  —  House Democrats on Tuesday filed a discharge petition that would force the House to vote on the Senate's bill to extend the Bush-era tax levels for the middle class, but allow rates to rise for the wealthy.