Newt Gingrich said the budget supercommittee shows the "bankruptcy" of both parties. "They're going to come up with a stupid plan that would have us shoot ourselves in the head, and then come back with a plan that only requires us to shoot off a leg," the former U.S. House speaker said at Tuesday night's CNN Debate in Las Vegas. Responding to a question about a proposal to cut the defense budget by $500 billion, he left the door open by saying, "I'm a hawk, but I'm a cheap hawk."

Ron Paul won rousing applause Tuesday night for a call to get government out of health care. "If you want better health care, allow people to opt out of government programs," the Texas congressman said. "As soon as you give control to the government, the corporations line up. Already insurance rates are going up," Paul said at the CNN Debate in Las Vegas. Paul garnered more cheers when he waded into the immigration debate and urged that U.S. troops be "brought home" to patrol the border.

As expected, immigration was an incendiary subject at the CNN Debate Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Rick Santorum delivered the hardest blows yet against Mitt Romney's Massachusetts health-care program during a feisty exchange over health care. Noting that Romney advisers counseled with Obama administration officials working to implement Obamacare, the former Pennsylvania senator said the governor "did exactly what Obama did -- focus on the wrong problem." "It's a top-down government program without controlling costs," Santorum said.

Standing next to his rival, Rick Perry wasted no time in taking a shot at Mitt Romney at the CNN Debate Tuesday night.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich released a Web video on Tuesday that focuses on his experience and the nations economic record during his tenure in charge of Congress. The ad contains a number of clips fromvarious debates with the other Republican presidential candidates which have been some of Gingrichs finest moments of the campaign. The ad follows the same playbook Gingrich has used in those debates. Instead of firing away at the other GOP hopefuls, Gingrich takes aim at President Barack Obama and the mainstream media.

A Gallup poll released on Monday found that 50 percent of those surveyed favor the legalization of marijuana while 46 percent want to keep it illegal. The poll prompted a statement on Tuesday from Republican presidential hopeful former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico who has been a longstanding advocate of marijuana legalization.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is slipping badly in polls at the national and state level in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Looking to turn things around, Perry released a Web video on Tuesday. In the ad, Perry highlights his record on job creation in his decade leading the Lone Star State -- and takes a jab at the corresponding record of former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

The stakes are high on Tuesday night as the Republican presidential candidates clash in a debate held in Las Vegas. Some of the candidates have been critical of the decision to move the Nevada caucus to Jan. 15 and one of them -- former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah -- announced that he will be skipping the debate. Look for businessman Herman Cain to draw some fire as some of the other conservatives in the race will be looking to hammer his 9-9-9 plan and pick up votes at his expense. Keep your eyes here as Sunshine State News will be live blogging the debate.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tried Tuesday to box Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, into Herman Cain's 9-9-9 corner. "The [9-9-9 tax] plan is consistent with Wests voting record of supporting tax policy that benefits the ultrawealthy at the expense of the middle class," said Jesse Ferguson of the DCCC.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington, and Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, reintroduced their efforts to require an insurance company and the Broward County Sheriffs Office to pay for the long-term care of a man paralyzed after being hit by a sheriffs cruiser more than a decade ago.

On Tuesday, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner headed to testify to the U.S. Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee about the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, the team behind former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner hammered former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, one of the authors of the bill. Both Hasner and LeMieux are in a crowded Republican primary to see which Republican will emerge to take on Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

On Tuesday, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced that he was backing former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts for the Republican presidential nomination. I am proud to have the support of Commissioner Adam Putnam, said Romney in a statement. Throughout his career, Adam's leadership on difficult issues has served Floridians well. Adam's support and counsel will be important in the upcoming election, as we work to defeat President Obama and restore the American economy.

The bias of "Naked Politics" is showing again. The Miami Herald's political blog picked up a clip from a Fox News interview with Gov. Rick Scott and headlined the item: "Gov. Scott draws parallel between Occupy protests and tea party." Only problem is, Scott never once mentioned the tea party. Always late to the tea party, the Herald appears doggedly determined to gin up a story angle, even to the point of putting words in the governor's mouth. Just another day at the mainstream press shop.

Gov. Rick Scott, who has been pushing to revamp educational priorities at Florida's universities, has included the salariesof stateuniversity employees on his Florida Has a Right to Know webpage. The site, established to provide transparency for taxpayers, has been up since March.