The State Board of Education has issued a statement commending Gov. Rick Scott for prioritizing education in his recommended budget for 2012-2013. Scott called on the state Legislature last Wednesday to boost primary education funding by $1 billion next year as he looks to make the rest of the 2012-13 budget 4.6 percent more efficient. The State Board of Education statement:

Don't expect much tea party love for Newt Gingrich's Florida campaign director, Jose Mallea. While media reports credited Mallea with engineering Marco Rubio's Senate victory in 2010, one tea leader called that revisionist history. "He did not have a lot to do with Rubio coming from behind. The tea party did all the heavy lifting in the beginning. Then after he had a solid lead we could never talk to Rubio," said the activist who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mitt Romney criticized Newt Gingrich on Saturday for proposing to eliminate child labor laws and end capital gains for high-income earners. During a televised GOP presidential debate, Romney also skewered Gingrich's lack of experience in the private sector. Gingrich riposted: "The only reason you didn't become a career politician is that you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1984." Gingrich received applause at the ABC News debate for his proposal to put poor students to work cleaning schools.

Newt Gingrich poached for rivals' support Saturday night when he praised Rick Perry's focus on the 10th Amendment and Rick Santorum's "consistency and courage on Iran." Michele Bachmann made a similar play by invoking Herman Cain's name twice during the ABC presidential debate and mentioning the erstwhile candidate's 9-9-9 tax plan.

Ron Paul cut through the rationales of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on health-care mandates Saturday night. "You're in big trouble when you have government protecting you from yourself, and that's what they're doing," Paul said to enthusiastic applause at the ABC debate in Iowa. "Why should we have a candidate who has to explain their position on this?" the Texas congressman and former Air Force physician asked.

Newt Gingrich, asked at Saturday's ABC presidential debate to detail his idea for a review board to regularize illegal immigrants, suggested that the panels could be patterned after local draft boards of former years. Gingrich, who voted for amnesty in the 1980s, has proposed that illegals who have been in this country for 25 years could be eligible for a green card. He also renewed his call for "an effective guest worker program."

Newt Gingrich stood by his statement Saturday night that Palestinians are an "invented" people, but Ron Paul accused him of "stirring up trouble." "This is a propaganda war. Enough lying about the Middle East," Gingrich declared to applause at the ABC presidential debate. Paul countered that "Israel did not have a state" until 1948. Mitt Romney said a U.S. president needs to demonstrate "sobriety, care and stability." "I'm not a bomb-thrower, rhetorically or literally," Romney said.

Michele Bachmann split from other GOP presidential candidates Saturday night by calling the proposed payroll tax cut a "gimmick." "President Obama only has temporary gimmicks, not permanent solutions. This [cut] takes $112 billion away from Social Security trust fund," the Minnesota congresswoman said at the ABC debate in Iowa. Former Sen. Rick Santorum agreed with Bachmann, but Rep. Ron Paul said of the tax cut: "Extend it, and find a way to pay for it."

Michele Bachmann put Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on the defensive Saturday at the ABC presidential debate in Iowa. Gingrich "is the consummate insider who advocated for the individual mandate longer than Barack Obama," the Minnesota congresswoman said. Bachmann also assailed both Gingrich and Romney for both supporting the $700 billion TARP bailout and taking squishy stands on illegal immigration.

Rick Perry joined Ron Paul Saturday night in attacking bailouts as a contributing cause to America's economic problems. Speaking at an ABC debate in Des Moines, Iowa, Paul blasted "excessive debt and 'malinvestment'" by the federal government. "We dumped the debt on the people and bailed out those who benefited from the bubble," the congressman said. Perry agreed that "corruption has gone on," and he said "It will take an outsider to fix it."

Shamelessly pandering for the Zionist vote, Newt Gingrich on Friday declared that Palestinians are an "invented" people. In an interview with the Jewish Channel, the GOP presidential contender said, "Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire" until the early 20th century.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center says it is rescinding a policy that prohibited family members of wounded military troops from bringing Bibles or any religious reading materials to their loved ones. The Baptist Press said the decision to rescind the ban came one day after Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, denounced the policy on the House floor and called on President Obama to publicly renounce the military policy.

Attempting to bring Newt Gingrich back to Earth, Mitt Romney is attacking the former House speaker's past ruminations on private space projects. "I saw the speaker had a measure to put a permanent colony on the moon, to mine rare materials from the moon," Romney said Friday in an interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board. "I think we've got other priorities for our spending before we do that.

Floridas Black History Month art and essay contest for kindergarten to high school seniors will focus on advances in science and math by African-Americans. In addition to the contest announced by Gov. Rick Scott, Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll, and first lady Ann Scott, nominations are being accepted of African-American educators for the Black History Month Excellence in Education Award. The achievements of African-Americans touch every community, in every field of study, including science and technology, Gov. Scott said.

Gov. Rick Scott has reappointed Dr. Mark M. Williams to the Florida State Boxing Commission. According to a release from the governors office: Williams, 51, of New Haven, is a self-employed orthopedic surgeon. He is reappointed for a term beginning Dec. 9, 2011, and ending Sept. 31, 2014. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.