Talking to the media after speaking to the Florida Rural Economic Development in St. Augustine on Friday, Gov. Rick Scott shrugged off reports that he had his eye on running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. While he did not completely close the door, Scott said his focus was putting Florida on the road to economic recovery. I just got elected, said Scott. My goal is to get the state back to work.Sign up for news alerts from Sunshine State News

Attorney General Pam Bondi expressed her disappointment with BP oil spill claims czar Kenneth Feinberg when she met with him Friday, and pushed him for greater transparency in the claims process. Bondi said she received a pledge from Feinberg to add more local claims adjusters in the next 10 days, and said he would consider allowing an independent auditor to review the claims process. Bondi said Feinberg had failed to add more adjusters after promising them during a meeting she attended before being sworn in as attorney general.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns weighed in on Thursday from his perch on the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology to oppose the FCCs plans to regulate the Internet. One of the few bright spots in our economy is in the technology sector, said Stearns. Yet, for some reason, the FCC has decided to overstep its bounds and apply 19th-century regulations to a 21st-century network. Only in Washington can a regulatory agency issue rules to solve a problem that does not exist.

The Wall Street Journal on Friday applauded Gov. Rick Scott's decision to turn down federal stimulus dollars for a high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando. As for the rationale of Democrats and some backsliding Republicans that Florida's loss is other states' gain, the Journal opined:

Senate President Mike Haridopolos broke his silence on Gov. Rick Scott's rejection of stimulus dollars for high-speed rail in Florida. Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said in a statement released Friday morning: The federal government has earmarked $2.4 billion to finance part of the cost of construction of the proposed Florida high-speed rail project.But to do so, Washington would borrow 100 percent of that money, which would be financed in large part by foreign, nondemocratic governments.

The first National Medical Students for Life of America (Med SFLA) Bioethics Symposium and Tour will visit Florida State University College of Medicine Friday. Organizers did not provide a starting time for the event. Dominique Monlezun, national coordinator for Medical Students for Life, will be speaking with Dr. John Bruchalski, a former abortion provider and founder of the pro-life Tepeyac Family Center in Virginia. He is recognized as one of the nations foremost medical experts on pro-life health care.

Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, announced on Thursday that he was introducing a measure to prohibit taxpayer dollars being used for professional athletics unless approved by a majority of the residents within the jurisdictional boundaries of such government entity. The House version was being introduced by Rep. Fred Costello, R-Ormond Beach.

The House Finance and Tax Committee forwarded a bill on unemployment compensation on Thursday, sending it to the Economic Affairs Committee. Floridas current unemployment compensation system is broken, insisted Rep. Steve Precourt, R-Orlando, the chairman of the Finance and Tax Committee. The system was never designed for the severity of the current economic downturn and this has caused an unsustainable rise in payments to unemployed workers through large, automatic increases in the employer-paid taxes that fund the benefits.

Two thirds of the Senate broke with Gov. Rick Scott and sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Thursday asking for more time before re-allocating federal funds targeted for high-speed rail projects to other states. Please give us the time necessary to work with the enterprise prior to re-allocating Floridas funds to another state, wrote the senators.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland weighed in on Thursday, marking the second anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the federal stimulus into law.

As Republicans in Congress look to cut $100 billion from the federal budget, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera attacked President Barack Obama for standing in the way of a trimmer federal government.

Nestled in Hamilton County, right off of where I-10 and I-75 meet, is White Springs, a town of 800 which is probably best known for hosting the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park. While Floridians will head over to White Springs during May when the annual folk festival is held there, the town has seen better days. A century ago, the town was home to 14 luxury homes, and more than a few prominent Americans -- including Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft -- vacationed in White Springs, enjoying the warm weather and lovely views of the Suwannee River.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, cheered the new Medicaid reform bill released Thursday by his fellow Republican senators -- Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who chairs the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, and Sens. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and Rene Garcia, R-Miami, who both serve on the committee.

Speaking to more than 250 attendees at the Florida Rural Economic Development Summit in St. Augustine, Patrick Lien, director of broadband services for the North Florida Broadband Authority (NFBA), took aim at the states continuing unemployment problem, pushing increased high-speed Internet in rural areas to lure companies to the states 32 rural counties. Lien offered the keynote address to the summit on Thursday morning, focusing on the need for increased communication technologies in rural Florida -- and reminding listeners about global competition.