In a display of bitter Monday moaning, Florida's high-speed rail enthusiasts are shedding tears over the $2 billion in federal stimulus funds turned down by Gov. Rick Scott going to 15 other states. Good riddance, skeptics say. As California laps up some of the leftovers, that state's high-speed rail venture is going deeper into debt -- even before it starts. Now pegged at $43 billion, the price tag continues to escalate, and no one is talking about temporary construction jobs as a cost-effective return on investment there.

Is former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, one of the front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, prepared to shake up the nomination process?

Former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner unveiled a new web ad over the weekend, linking Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to President Barack Obama and calling for more fiscal restraint from the federal government. Hasner is not the only candidate in the Republican primary field looking to take Nelson on that is hammering Washington for out-of-control fiscal priorities -- former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux and state Senate President Mike Haridopolos have also been calling for a balanced budget.

U.S. Rep. Allen West voted against a bill to scrap part of Obamacare, sending some ripples through the tea party. Explaining his surprising vote, West's spokeswoman said the tea party favorite "believes there are bigger funding issues to be focusing on right now, including the numerous developments in the Middle East." West, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, questioned the House's continued efforts to dismantle the health-care law on a piecemeal basis.

The Office of Thrift Supervision closed Coastal Bank of Cocoa Beach, bringing this year's total number of U.S. bank failures to 40, The Street reported. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver, and sold the failed institution's $129.4 million in total assets and $123.9 million in total deposits to Premier American Bank of Miami. Coastal Bank's two offices are scheduled to reopen Monday as Premier American branches. With 49 bank failures since 2008, Florida ranks second behind Georgia (61) and ahead of Illinois (42).

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio says he was misrepresented by a group opposing Florida's now-dead immigration legislation. "We Are Florida" listed Miami Republican atop a roster of elected officials who, it claimed, "publicly stated their concern for the ramifications of the recently proposed anti-immigration laws in Florida." In fact, Rubio took no position on the watered-down Florida E-Verify bill that passed the Senate but died in the House, said Alex Burgos, the senator's spokesman.

The Florida Legislature has adjourned the 2011 regular legislative session after the Senate reconvened in an early morning session to pass a tax relief bill after a rift with the House.

Personal rivalries and Republican factional fights have sent the 2011 regular legislative session boiling over into extra time, House Minority Leader Ron Saunders, D-Key West, said.

The 2011 regular legislative session has been extended to 6 p.m. Saturday, as a rift between the House and the Senate over budget conforming bills has sent the session into overtime. The Senate voted down three budget conforming bills earlier Friday evening, which were panned in turn by the House. The Senate has subsequently passed the final budget and overturned their vote on some of the conforming bills.

A plan to reform the state's unemployment compensation benefits is back on track after looking dead earlier in the week. On the final day of the legislative session, an apparent deal has been struck between the House and Senate, who had previously been unable to agree on the reform package.

As the Florida Senate prepared to debate the 2011-2012 budget, its leader, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, waltzed into the press gallery for an exchange with reporters. He defended the current budget proposal, which came in at $69.7 billion, an $850 million cut from the current budget and a $4 billion increase from the proposal released by Gov. Rick Scott in February. Haridopolos has consistently stated his focus on cutting spending without raising taxes, and he noted that the budget includes $308 million in business and property tax cuts.

NASA announced on Friday that the last flight of the space shuttle Endeavour would be pushed back yet again as they continue to face technical problems. While the Endeavor had been scheduled to launch on April 29, problems have kept it on the ground. On Friday, NASA said the earliest the shuttle would blast off would be Monday, May 16. In the meantime, technicians will begin working on circuitry this weekend. NASA will reveal more details at a media event on Monday.

Back in February, Gov. Rick Scott spoke at a tea party event in Eustis and unveiled his proposed $65.8 billion budget, which he claimed would give $2 billion back to Floridas taxpayers. On Friday, in his weekly radio address, Scott declared victory as the Legislature was ready to pass a $69.7 billion budget closer to the one that then-Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law last year than the one released in Eustis.

On the verge of sine die, Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, lauded Gov. Rick Scott for helping to move his "bold goals" through the Legislature. Alexander bumped heads with Scott early on in his administration, taking issue with Scott's unilateral sale of state planes without legislative approval. But in an impromptu Q&A with reporters, Alexander said Scott helped to guide the Legislature during regular session, which ends Friday.

Is it any wonder people joke about the Florida Legislature this time of year? While important legislation on serious issues languished on the final day of the session (immigration, for one), lawmakers found time to pass bills banning droopy drawers (SB 228) and sex with animals (SB 344). The latter bill, by the way, was authored by a Democrat. The Tallahassee two-step didn't go unnoticed nationally. Mother Jones riffed on the situation here.