Florida's GOP congressional delegation was lining up to vote against a proposed increase in the debt-ceiling Tuesday night. President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are seeking to raise the $14.4 trillion ceiling by $2.4 trillion, without any spending cuts or budgetary reforms. Absent any cost-cutting, House Resolution 1954 appears doomed in the Republican-controlled chamber.

Minimum-wage workers in Florida will get a small bump in their paychecks beginning Wednesday, when the rate rises from $7.25 per hour to $7.31. The increase comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by the National Employment Law Project and Florida Legal Services, which sought to correct an error in the method used by the Agency for Workforce Innovation in calculating how the minimum-wage rate would be adjusted for inflation. For tipped workers the resulting increase will be from $4.23 to $4.29 per hour.

Attempting to show up Gov. Rick Scott's budget cuts, a Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate is grandstanding on senior meals. He already has the Miami Herald's endorsement. And he's reportedly about to be backed by the homosexual group, SAVE Dade. Little wonder that the rest of the state's mainstream media are now clucking for County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, a lifelong politician who is collecting three government pensions, in the May 28 runoff election.

Nah, he doesn't really -- miss Jeb Bush, that is. As you might have imagined. But it's catchy, I'll give Dan Gelber that. The words "I miss Jeb Bush" coming from one of Bush's fiercest opponents half-a-dozen years ago is a great way for a Democrat to jump into a blog that trashes Gov. Rick Scott. And that's just what Gelber did in his blog post Tuesday.

Making good on a campaign promise, Gov. Rick Scott signed HB 353 requiring recipients of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to pass a drug screen before receiving benefits. While there are certainly legitimate needs for public assistance, it is unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction. This new law will encourage personal accountability and will help to prevent the misuse of tax dollars," Scott said.

Premium prices on health insurance plans covering pre-existing conditions have dropped 40 percent in Florida, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday. The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, created by the Affordable Care Act, "changes lives, and in many cases, literally saves lives, said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. HHS said that a 50-year-old Floridian can now get comprehensive health coverage for as low as $270 per month. The new, reduced rates take effect July 1.

Countering earlier forecasts of a housing recovery, the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller price index took another tumble Tuesday. The index fell 4.2 percent from the first quarter, and wasdown 5.1 percent compared to its year-ago level. It was the eighth straight monthly decline, and the numbers were, again, particularly bleak for Florida. Full story to follow.

Gov. Rick Scott has signed HB 1039, which outlaws a synthetic stimulant drug marketed as "bath salts," in Panama City. Scott signed an executive order in January banning the drug, which was previously sold legally, and the new law inserts the policy in state statutes. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had been pushing for legislation targeting the bath salts, applauded Scott's signature.

Politico.com let 'er rip in a Monday story that attributed the newfound popularity of President Barack Obama in Florida not to the death of Osama bin Laden, but to the rank unpopularity of the Sunshine State's Gov. Rick Scott. Not only have Scott's ratings taken a Dumpster dive in the last month, his inverted numbers now leave him (at a 29 percent favorability rating) as the most unpopular governor in America. The Politico piece is headlined, "Obama's Secret Weapon in Florida: Gov. Rick Scott."

Space shuttle Endeavour Commander Mark Kelly, pilot Greg Johnson and mission specialists Mike Fincke, Andrew Feustel, Greg Chamitoff and Roberto Vittori are on the last leg of their 16-day mission. The astronauts are scheduled to land at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:35 a.m. EST Wednesday, June 1.

Florida, already leading a 26-state legal challenge to Obamacare, is in the midst of another multistate fight to derail the law. Seven-Sky v. Holder is scheduled for oral arguments on Sept. 23. The case will be heard by a three-member panel of the D.C. circuit. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi joined 13 other states in the Seven-Sky case: Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

South Florida resident Mark Dixon Rowley proceeded with his planned shredding of the Quran on Monday, methodically feeding page after page into an electric shredder at a Boca Raton park. Surrounded by at least six city police officers and a bomb-sniffing police dog, Rowley began shredding a copy of the Islamic holy book at noon at Sanborn Square. No protesters had appeared.

Let's look at Democratic-leaning New Jersey, says Rasmussen Reports, home state of the next bright light in the GOP galaxy of presidential possibilities -- Chris Christie. Here's what Rasmussen found: Both Christie and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are within single digits of President Barack Obama in hypothetical 2012 election match-ups. Believe it or not.