Gov. Rick Scott, along with 32 other governors and governors-elect, signed a letter that was sent Friday to President Barack Obama, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and congressional leaders, asking for relief from federal mandates that interfere with how states operate their health care programs.

In his first televised interview since he was inaugurated, Gov. Rick Scott bemoaned provisions in the federal health-care legislation that would punish states that don't add more Medicaid recipients to their rolls. Scott, appearing on Neil Cavuto's show on Fox News Friday, also spoke about education and federal spending. "It's the biggest job killer," he said of the health care bill. "I ran as the jobs governor. We can't deny our projections to deal with the fact there's a significant number of people going on Medicaid.

A 23-year-old "opposition researcher" hired by the secretary of state's office is getting some rough treatment for his involvement with an immigration-control group. Anthony Bonna, the secretary of state's new legislative affairs director, said he helped "craft attack response and identify/assess vulnerabilities" for Rick Scott's gubernatorial campaign. The Port St. Lucie man also was a board member of Floridians for Immigration Enforcement (FLIMEN).

Newly inaugurated Florida Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera made his maiden speech in Congress on Friday, calling for free trade between the U.S. and Colombia. Colombia is Americas fourth largest trading partner in Latin America, and the U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that 9,000 American companies trade with Colombia, most of which are small businesses, and many of which operate in my district in South Florida, said Rivera. While 90 percent of Colombian goods enter the U.S. duty-free, American companies still pay tariffs for U.S. goods to enter Colombia.

The Washington Post reports that a ruling issued by the Massachusetts Supreme Court on Friday voiding foreclosures in two cases has the potential to affect foreclosure proceedings in the rest of the country, especially in states like Florida with high foreclosure rates and a courts-only process for handling foreclosures.

On Friday, U.S. House Approprations Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., named Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw as chair for the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee -- a position that had been held by South Florida Democrat U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz -- and to the Homeland Security and Defense Appropriations Subcommittees.

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., named members to the various appropriations subcommittees -- and Florida Republicans won some plum assignments. The dean of the House Republicans, U.S. Rep. Bill Young, was named to lead the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee where he will be joined by U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw. Rogers also named Young as one of two chairmen emeritus for the Appropriations Committee. Young will also serve on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee.

While the Obama administration tried to spin today's reported 9.4 percent unemployment rate as positive news, there are several reasons to think otherwise. First, the number of new jobs created in December was just one-third the figure previously predicted. Second, the 0.4-point decrease in joblessness was attributed in part to more people simply giving up their search for work. While Vice President Joe Biden had predicted that the economy would be adding 500,000 jobs per month, the numbers have been running far short of that.

While the national unemployment dropped in December to 9.4 percent, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney said on Friday that the continuing problem shows the need for free-market solutions. With unemployment above 9 percent for the 20th consecutive month, and much higher in Florida, the American people know the status quo is not working, said Rooney.While any growth in jobs over the last month is a positive step, the failures of the last two years have proven that the government does not create jobs, small businesses do.

Some good news on the job front as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Friday that the national unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent in December -- a drop from Novembers rate of 9.8 percent, with growth in hospitality, food services, health care, temporary employment and mining. Little changed in the way of manufacturing and, more pertinent to Florida which has lagged behind the rest of the nation in reducing its unemployment, constriction.

Gov. Rick Scott held a press conference Friday to review his first week as governor, highlighting his executive orders aimed at cutting out regulations that hamper job growth and his appointments of agency heads. He said his first moves reflected his focus on jobs and Florida's economy. "We've got to recognize we're competing against 49 other states and some other countries, too," Scott said.

When it comes to a politician's social media status in Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio is a clear leader. During his campaign, his twitter feed had more followers than Alex Sink's, Kendrick Meek's, and Charlie Crist's (his closest competitors in the social universe) combined. He also blew away the competition in Facebook. Now that Rubio is officially out of campaign mode, he's switching his social media accounts to reflect his newly sworn-in position of U.S. senator.

In his latest blog post, Fox News analyst and Weekly Standard editor William Kristol has expressed his desire to see a 2012 Republican presidential ticket featuring U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., leading the way and the newest U.S. senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, on the slate as the vice presidential nominee. He also wants his fellow Republicans to get on board and skip the costly primary process.

Consummating one of the most widely anticipated political deals in Florida, ex-Gov. Charlie Crist has landed a job at the law firm of Morgan & Morgan. You can bet he wasn't hired for his skills in the courtroom. John Morgan said in an e-mail that he will introduce Crist at the firm's breakfast meeting at the Rosen Centre in Orlando on Friday.

Here's a big swing for the 24th Congressional District. Rep. Sandy Adams is co-sponsoring HR 25, the FairTax bill. Adams, who defeated first-term Democrat Suzanne Kosmas in the East-Central Florida district last fall, signed on to the measure that would abolish the IRS while flattening and simplifying the tax code. The FairTax isnt about taxes; its about freedom, jobs and less government intrusion," said Adams, a former state representative from Oviedo.