Poor families across the country will have smaller food budgets beginning Friday, as stimulus funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) automatically expires. The 13.6 percent boost in SNAP benefits the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act instituted in April 2009 ends Nov. 1.

Christmas has arrived for the Florida Lottery as it debuted its six new holiday-themed scratch-off games on Tuesday. These games include:$1 million SEASONS GREETINGS, HOLIDAY GIFT, SEASONS GOLD, HO HO HO LOTTA CASH; andHOLIDAY DELIGHT, andrange in price from $1 to $10, featuring more than $100 million in prizes combined. Another game, the $2 scratch-off game, CHOCOLATE COVERED 7S, is scheduled to launch on Dec. 3.

On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott named Brian Hamman to the Lee County Commission. Hamman takes over from Tamara Hall who resigned her seat. Currently the manager of market development for CenturyLink, Hamman used to work for Fox 4 and WINK News. Hammans term starts on Tuesday and ends Nov. 25, 2014. Brian will serve the families of Lee County with honesty and integrity, Scott said. "As a lifelong resident of Lee County, I am confident that he will make a great commissioner and will help create jobs and opportunities for the families of the area.

After getting 1 percent in the 2012 presidential election as the Libertarian Partys candidate, former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico is remaining active, calling for an end to the National Security Agencys (NSA) surveillance programs. Johnson spoke at a rally in Washington, D.C., on the NSA this weekend, made a host of media appearances and sent out an email late Monday on the issue.

On Monday, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooneys legislation cracking down on scams targeting veterans and streamlining the VA claims process passed the U.S. House after being included in a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla. Rooneys bill was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., and U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oreg.

Voters show strong support for increasing the use of unmanned drone aircraft to kill terrorists overseas, but when it comes to using such drones in the skies in the U.S., voters don't tend to feel the same way. According to a new Rasmussen Reports poll, 69 percent of likely U.S. voters favor the use of unmanned drone aircraft to kill al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists overseas while 20 percent oppose the use of drones to kill terrorists overseas.

Two Florida Republicans -- U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Trey Radel -- teamed up on Monday to introduce a bill delaying the individual mandate in President Barack Obamas federal health-care law until six months after the exchange website gets the approval of the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Last week, Rubio said he would introduce a bill to help Americans who continue to have problems accessing the website.

Speaking at the Florida Democratic Partys convention in Orlando over the weekend, former state Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich directed most of her fire at Gov. Rick Scott, but she also threw a few jabs at looming primary rival former Gov. Charlie Crist. I remain the only serious Democratic candidate in the governors race, Rich said. But I have a sneaking suspicion thats going to change soon. Rumor has it that Charlie Crist will soon announce hes running again.

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., weighed in on Monday on what President Barack Obama should do regarding the National Security Agency (NSA) after revelations it was spying on foreign leaders. LeMieux, who served briefly in the Senate but has remained active in public affairs since leaving it, took to Twitter and suggested Obama should come clean on whether the NSA has been spying on prominent Americans. With revelations of NSA spying on world leaders, Barack Obama should confirm NSA not spying on America's leaders, LeMieux posted on Twitter on Monday.

According to a new Rasmussen Reports poll, most Americans feel there is not enough religion in the public schools and favor prayer in those schools. Only 11 percent of Americans think there is too much religion in the public schools today, while 52 percent say theres not enough religion in the schools. When it comes to the current level of religion in schools, 29 percent view the current level as about right.

Over the weekend, a group chaired by former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, doubled down on its opposition to President Barack Obamas nomination of Janet Yellen to head the Federal Reserve. The Campaign for Liberty continued its efforts to promote U.S. Sen. Rand Paul's, R-Ky., opposition to the Yeller nomination as well as his bill to audit the Fed.

Activists are looking to apply a little pressure of their own on the immigration issue. A diverse group will rally and march in downtown Orlando Tuesday to put the squeeze on Speaker John Boehner and his Republican colleagues in the U.S. House -- including Florida Reps. Daniel Webster, Dennis Ross and Tom Rooney -- to stop delaying immigration reform with a path to citizenship.

The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) is hitting back at former Gov. Charlie Crist, the front-runner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. After Crist released a video on Friday insisting Gov. Rick Scotts efforts to improve Floridas economy are not working, the RPOF fired back with a video showing Crist agreeing last week that the economy was improving.

On Friday, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) announced Kristin Kanner, a veteran Broward County prosecutor, will head up the state Sexually Violent Predator Program starting on Nov. 4. For more than two decades, Kanner has been an assistant state attorney and led her divisions Sexually Violent Predator Unit for almost a decade.

On Friday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., released a letter he sent to President Barack Obama to delay imposing the individual mandate included in the federal health-care law due to website problems and other issues. As of now, the mandate will start on Jan. 1.