On Monday, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson called for money saved from a ban on congressional earmarks to go to restoring the homebuyers' tax credit.

With his eyes on the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania announced that he will speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) meeting in Washington in February. CPAC is the largest annual meeting of conservative political activists.

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton has said that he is considering launching a bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, but he generally remained on the sidelines during the 2010 election cycle. Unlike many of his potential rivals for the GOP nod, Bolton has not gone across the country backing Republican candidates through a leadership PAC.

Former New York Gov. George Pataki is raising the stakes in his battle against new federal health-care laws backed by President Barack Obama. Pataki, who is considering launching a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, led efforts through his Revere America PAC to garner 1 million signatures on a petition calling for the repeal of the new laws. Having obtained his goal, Pataki is now raising the bar -- and Revere America is now looking to get 10 million signatures on the petition.

First lady Michelle Obama talked up healthy food choices at Riverside Elementary School in Miami on Monday. "We have with us representatives from the National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, from the Food, Family, Farming Foundation, and from the United Fresh Produce Association. And together this team of wonderful people have put together something called Lets Move Salad Bars To Schools. You hear that? Lets Move Salad Bars To Schools. Pretty good, right?" she coaxed the kids.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon have informed their colleagues there won't be any budget "turkeys" this year. In memos to members, the legislative leaders announced that they will not open the Community Budget Issue Request System, which enables lawmakers to secure special-project funding without the usual committee hearings or administrative requests. "I want to avoid creating unrealistic funding expectations," wrote Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, of the pet projects that have been branded "turkeys" by Florida TaxWatch.

Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, expressed his thanks to Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, on Monday for naming him to lead the Agriculture Committee. Im honored and privileged to have been appointed to serve my constituents and the state of Florida in this capacity, said Siplin.It shows that our newly elected Senate President Mike Haridopolos is willing to work across the aisle when its in the best interests of the people. First elected to the Senate in 2002, Siplin represents parts of Orange and Osceola counties.

CQ Press released a report that ranks the most dangerous cities in America. The report uses data from the FBI's "Crime in the United States 2009." Most sites haveincluded only the top 25, but the list expands to 400 with a few cities N/A (not available). The top 25 most dangerous cities in America are below, followed by the top five most dangeries cities in Florida. 1. St. Louis, Mo.2. Camden, N.J.3. Detroit, Mich.4. Flint, Mich.5. Oakland, Calif.6. Richmond, Calif.7. Cleveland, Ohio.8. Compton, Calif.9. Gary, Ind.

An e-mail announcing the selection of Susanne and Henry Rodriguez to Gov.-elect Rick Scott's Inaugural Host Committee has stirred up a hornet's nest. The e-mail from the Republican Party of Sarasota stated:

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney offered his thoughts on the current controversy over the new search techniques being employed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on airline passengers. Passengers are angry, and they should be, said Rooney on Friday. Full-body pat-downs and explicit photo screenings have gone too far, and the security benefits of implementing these procedures on random passengers are dubious at best.

U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw weighed in late last week, backing fellow congressional Republicans' plans to cut earmark spending.

Conservative columnist George Will-- and, like your humble blogger, a proud product of Trinity College --offered an interesting take on outgoing U.S Sen. George LeMieux in Newsweek.

The Washinton Post came up with four 2012 dark horse candidates for president in its Sunday edition and right there among the four was a name a little more familiar than the others. Marco Rubio. In the story, reporter Chris Cillizza has this to say about the charismatic new senator from Florida:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton insisted on an appearance on Fox News Sunday that she was not planning to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012 and that she was done with seeking electoral office.

Is Sarah Palin vulnerable to an attack from the right? Former Ambassador Alan Keyes, best known for his attempts at the Republican nomination and his bid for the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois in 2004 against a then relatively unknown Barack Obama, went after the former Alaska governor in a column that was published late last week after Salon reported that a Palin aide was being paid by George Soros: