A chastened and contrite Charlie Crist has posted a YouTube video apologizing for his unauthorized use of the David Byrne song, "Road to Nowhere." Settling a copyright dispute, the defeated U.S. Senate candidate pledges not to co-opt the work of musical artists in "any future" electoral campaigns. Judging by Crist's obvious discomfort on camera, this surely was not the way the former People's Governor envisioned launching his post-political legal career.

A second Florida Republican congressman has announced his opposition to the budget patch approved last Friday night. U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Tallahassee, said in a statement Tuesday:

A House bill imposing new regulations on doctors and pharmacists passed through the Appropriations Committee Tuesday, a move appreciated by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has been pushing legislation to fight "pill mills" or physicians who overprescribe powerful narcotics.

Space shuttle Atlantis will have its permanent retirement home at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, NASA announced Tuesday. Florida was among several states vying to house retired orbiters as the shuttle program winds down, and U.S. Rep. Bill Posey hailed NASA Administrator Charles Bolden's decision to choose the Sunshine State.

Initial press reports that the Republicans and House Speaker John Boehner won a tactical victory in the shutdown showdown have proven to be wildly exaggerated. An analysis of the $39 billion package of short-term budget cuts revealed Tuesday that $12 billion of those reductions had already been signed into law in previous continuing resolutions. Can you say "accounting gimmick"?

Gov. Rick Scott touted the support of Florida business groups and fiscally conservative groups and think tanks Tuesday for his plan to reform the state's pension plans. He announced the formation of Floridians for Sustainable Pensions, a group made up of the Associated Industries of Florida, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida TaxWatch, the National Federation for Independent Businesses, the James Madison Institute and other groups in favor of more strident pension reforms.

If you know anything about the White House Correspondents Associaton Dinner, then you know that the networks vie to claim the nation's brightest stars as their own -- and bring those stars with them to the Saturday, April 30 dinner.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts announced on Monday that he was forming a presidential exploratory committee. Romney, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and is one of the leaders of most of the polls, made his announcement in a web video in which he focuses on the economy.

Representatives from Florida's immigrant community, traveling to the capital from throughout the Sunshine State, will conduct a continous three-day vigil, beginning at 4 p.m. Monday and running through Wednesday until 4 p.m. They will ask members of the state Senate to stop Arizona-like immigration bills -- particularly before the Budget Committee votes Wednesday, April 13, on SB 2040. By mid-afternoon Monday the location of the vigil near the Capitol was still to be determined.

Is Sarah Palin done? Over at Salon, Steve Kornacki argues that national conservative pundits have turned against her and this is turning off Republican voters from backing her for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.

On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott announced that BP was sending a $30 million grant to the Northwest Florida Tourism Council (NWFTC) to help promote tourism in that region which was hard hit by the Gulf oil spill last year.

The election to fill the mayor's seat in Miami-Dade County has been set for May 24, but it's unclear which, if any, charter amendments will appear on the ballot. Miami-Dade commissioners opened a narrow window for candidates to file: noon Monday to 5 p.m. Tuesday. Already, several candidates have been actively campaigning to succeed recalled Mayor Carlos Alvarez. Among them: Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina, County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez and former state Rep. Marcelo Llorente.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, who is running in the 2012 Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, announced on Monday that he was sponsoring a measure in the Legislature calling for a federal constitutional convention to place an amendment requiring the federal government to balance the budget. These are critical times for our country, said Haridopolois. The federal government is $14 trillion in debt and leaders in Congress needed the threat of a government shutdown before making a modest reduction in the countrys deficit.

A poll released on Monday by Mason-Dixon Polling and Ron Sachs Communications revealed that President Barack Obama was facing serious challenges in his efforts to win Florida in his 2012 re-election bid.

Saying he is now serious about reducing the deficit, President Barack Obama has a plan: Raise taxes. In a jab at tax-cutting Republicans after Friday's eleventh-hour temporary spending plan was passed by Congress, Obama is back to waging class warfare by again proposing higher levies on individuals making over $250,000. Obama & Co. failed to get those tax hikes through the lame-duck (Democratic) Congress last year. Now that Republicans control the House, the odds are even longer.