Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his budget Monday at a tea party event in Eustis, touting his $65.8 billion budget proposal as a "jobs budget." Here are some of Scott's prepared remarks: "When I ran for governor, I offered Floridians a specific, detailed plan -- seven steps to 700,000 jobs in seven years.

Rich Lowry over at National Review has a piece up calling for former Gov. Jeb Bush to enter the 2012 presidential race. Lowry lists out eight reasons why Bush should run in 2012 and 2016 which seems to be the former governors plan.

David Drucker over at Roll Call has an interesting political tidbit -- U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will be sitting outof the Republican presidential primary and will not back any of the leading potential candidates. According to Druckers article, Rubio, who backed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008, will wait to endorse any of the candidates.

Bob Riley 2012? Charles Dean from the Birmingham News reports the former Alabama governor is kicking over throwing his name in the hat for what is shaping up to be a crowded battle for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012 -- and a familiar face from Florida is encouraging him to jump in. One important opinion leader and player on the national political stage encouraging Riley to run is Joe Scarborough, noted Dean in the article. More below:

E-mail advisories from tea party and 9/12 groups say protesters are expected at Gov. Rick Scott's budget unveiling in Eustis on Monday. "Protest groups have already contacted the city asking where they will be allowed," one e-mail stated. "It would be good to remind folks that we should not engage them, and let's have plenty of our own signs." Describing the security measures in place at the First Baptist Church, where Scott is scheduled to speak at 1:30 p.m., a 9/12 organizer explained:

Thanks to the Obama administration, the federal government's airport gropers -- er, screeners -- are moving closer to unionizing. The administration cleared the way last week for airport screeners to organize and bargain on workplace issues. If screeners vote to unionize, as expected, it will lead to the formation of one of the largest federal-sector unions. On Monday, Republicans will try to block the TSA unionization effort as part of a bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration.

Gov. Rick Scott's quick reinstatement of the four recalled Public Service Commission appointments wasn't unexpected. Fact is, he didn't have much of a choice. Florida Statute 350.031, which guides procedures of the PSC Nominating Council, stipulates that an incoming governor can only select names from the nominating list furnished to the previous governor. In other words: Scott's alternatives came down to Charlie Crist's rejects. The full candidate list was not available by deadline.

Drawing a bight line between church and network, Fox still refuses to air a Super Bowl ad that highlights the biblical passage, John 3:16. South Florida pastor Mark Boykin says there will be hell to pay for that decision. The senior pastor ofthe Church of All Nationsand the Christian Family Coalition have launched a nationwide letter-writing campaign calling on the Federal Communications Commission to hold a hearing on why Fox "discriminates against Christians." Fox executives said they rejected the ad because it contained "religious doctrine."

On Friday, Gov. Rick Scott brought back four nominations that Charlie Crist had made to the PSC: Eduardo Balbis, Ronald Brise, Julie Brown and Art Graham. Scott also brought back other nominations that he had withdrawn earlier in the week -- including Katie Patronis, wife of Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, to the board of trustees of Gulf Coast Community College. Sign up for news alerts from Sunshine State News

Conservative leader Gary Bauer, best known for leading the Family Research Council and for running for the Republican presidential nomination back in 2000, offered his take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelsons idea of expediting the constitutional challenge launched by Florida against the federal health care law to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, has filed a bill targeting pain-management clinics, requiring greater standards for doctors andcompliance with national standards of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program created in 2009. The bill comes on the heels of a press conference held Thursday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, law enforcement officers and prosecutors, highlighting Florida's rate of seven deaths per day from drug prescription overdose and the need for new rules targeting the "pill mills."

You might think the number of jobs added to the economy and the nation's unemployment rate would be fairly in sync with each other -- not so in January. The U.S. economy added 36,000 jobs last month, far fewer than the 136,000 economists had predicted, and another indication the economy is still failing to produce the necessary growth to get back on its feet. Epic snowstorms are taking much of the blame, since construction- and transportation-related industries in much of the country were directly affected.

The U.S .Department of Labor announced on Friday that the national unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent -- the lowest it has been since April 2009. Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney weighed in on the matter on Friday and said that President Barack Obamas economic policies were not working.

Gov. Rick Scott announced his plan Thursday to reduce -- and ultimately eliminate -- the state's business income tax, with a reduction from 5.5 percent to 3 percent to be included in his first budget proposal. The tax would be completely gone by 2018. He also will produce $1 billion in property tax cuts.

With Gov. Rick Scott looking to reorganize the state government, House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, announced on Thursday that he was creating a new House committee to tackle the issue. Cannon sent out a memo to all members of the House on Thursday announcing the formation of the Select Committee on Government Reorganization. The 2011 legislative session is an opportunity for transformational change, insisted Cannon. We should thoughtfully and systematically pursue true reform and avoid the temptation to make changes simply for the sake of change.