The team behind Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney continues to pound primary rival Rick Santorum on earmarks. Senator Santorum now decries the obscene growth in federal spending and our national debt, but he was in Washington as this fiscal crisis grew -- supporting billions in earmarks, repeatedly voting to raise the debt ceiling, and admitting that deficits no longer bothered him, Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Friday. Americans want a president who can offer solutions, not a lifelong politician who was part of the problem in the first place.

Speaking in Washington to the Conservative Political Action Conference event hosted by the American Conservative Union on Thursday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., weighed in on a number of matters, including President Barack Obama, the role of the federal government and American exceptionalism. Rubio hammered Obamas management of the economy in his speech.

Cheney Bros., one of the largest food distributors in the world with roots in the Sunshine State since 1925, announced on Thursday that it would be creating a new center in Punta Gorda -- bringing almost 400 new jobs to Charlotte County. Cheney Bros. growth sets the stage for positive economic effects this new distribution center will create, said Gov. Rick Scott, of the news the company would be investing almost $30 million and creating 380 new jobs in the area. This project is a business gain for Florida, as well as Charlotte County.

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul slammed the federal health-care law signed by President Barack Obama on Thursday, insisting that it undermines religious freedom and needs to be repealed. Forcing private religious institutions to pay for contraception and sterilization as part of their health-care plans is a direct assault on the First Amendments guarantee of religious liberty, Paul said. On my first day as president, I will reverse this policy. Repealing the unconstitutional monstrosity known as Obamacare is a major part of my Plan to Restore America.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney called on Thursday to end congressional earmarks. With our national debt skyrocketing past $15 trillion, it is a moral imperative to rein in government spending, Romney said on Thursday. Passing a permanent ban on earmarks is an important step toward securing our future and restoring fiscal sanity in Washington.

We all know our governor and Legislature are trying to refocus our higher education racket -- I mean, system -- to put a higher priority on majors that will actually produce a work force for the 21st century economy. Here are some examples, though not from Florida, of why we should work on it. (Original information from the Fiscal Times.Course descriptions from the universities.Commentary, mine.) Geology and Cinema University of Minnesota, Twin Cities4 credits$1,506.80 in-state, $2,168.32 out-of-state

With a month left in the regular session, the Florida House approved a $69.2 billion budget Thursday that increases Pre-K-12 education by 9.5 percent while bumping up college tuition and reducing hospital payments. Expect there to be serious conference negotiations ahead as the Senate continues to hammer out its financial plan for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, continues to push an amendment to SB 1208 that is raising alarms with consumers and identity theft watchdogs. The amendment would continue to allow the controversial practice of releasing consumers Social Security numbers to a wide array of private firms and individuals, some of whom market abandoned property recovery services. The firms are trying to get a slice of the more than $1 billion that currently resides in the Florida Bureau of Abandoned Property.

The Port of Tampa expects to handle up to 5 million more tons of petroleum a year with a new $45 million state-aided project to build two new petroleum berths and rehabilitate the existing terminal infrastructure. Gov. Rick Scott announced the project at the Florida State Fair governors luncheon.

This is a pretty funny view of the conservative keynote event from the Daily Caller's Matt Lewis: "The annual gathering of conservatives is about to kick off in DC, and Im already exhausted.

The U.S. Department of Education has approved Florida's request for a flexibility waiver from No Child Left Behind mandates. The state sought the waiver to eliminate the duplication and confusion of having separate state and federal accountability systems for the law that aims to have all students proficient in reading and math by 2014.

The Democrats can't help showing their ugliest side. Unfortunately for them, these days, they usually have no other side to show.

On Thursday, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux announced that five state House members were backing his bid for the Republican nomination to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. The five representatives are Chris Dorworth of Heathrow, Bill Hager of Boca Raton, Scott Plakon of Longwood, Ray Pilon of Sarasota and Ritch Workman of Melbourne. This brings LeMieuxs total number of endorsements from legislators up to 21.

Staring April 2, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, best known for his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, will be launching a new daily talk-radio show.

After Rick Santorum swept contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri on Tuesday, Republican presidential rival Mitt Romneys team increased their fire against him -- much like the Romney camp did against Newt Gingrich after that candidate won the South Carolina primary last month.