Conservative activist and businessman Chris Nwaskie is running in a crowded Republican primary to take on U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, who has been in Congress since 1992. Nwaskie who, like the rest of the Republican field, is not doing well in terms of cash on hand, went after Brown for being silent on recent contentions from the NAACP that the tea party movement is racist.

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, the Republican candidate for Floridas next commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, announced he brought in more than $205,000 in the second quarter of 2010. While the Putnam team did not say how much of the second quarter was in-kind donations, Putnam has assembled an impressive war chest -- with more than $1.3 million on hand.

The Florida First Initiative, a 527 organization with ties to supporters of Attorney General Bill McCollum, is out with another commercial blasting Rick Scott -- McCollums chief rival for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. The commercial rips into Scott for his failure to deal with Medicaid fraud problems during his tenure in charge of HCA/Columbia.

State of the nations unemployment woes? Trust the Wall Street Journal to unsheathe its knives on this one as only the Journal can do. In an editorial in Tuesdays paper, Stimulating Unemployment, the Journal pointed out that President Barack Obama shouldnt be so eager to stage a look-at-these-poor-victims-of-Republican-heartlessness show, because all it does is call attention to the pathetic numbers of his own administration and the Democratic Congress over which he seems to have no control.

With the House and Senate adjourning, instead of forwarding a proposed constitutional amendment banning oil drilling in Florida waters to the voters, candidates for statewide office promptly offered their opinions on the Legislatures quick session. To say Im disappointed would be an understatement, said Gov. Charlie Crist, who had called the Legislature into the special session. I cant believe the Legislature has shirked their duty so badly.

Jobless benefits are on track to be extended for the long-unemployed. With a 60-40 vote, the Senate secured the bare minimum number of votes to break a Republican filibuster preventing the extension of unemployment benefits. Republicans had tried to stop the vote because it would require more borrowing of money to continue extending those benefits. The final vote will be later Tuesday and is expected to pass.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 Tuesday to approve Soliciter General Elena Kagans nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed by the Senate as expected early in August, the nine-member court will have four Democratic appointees for the first time since 1971. Kagan, who would replace retiring John Paul Stevens, has indicated she would not recuse herself from hearing a lawsuit filed by Florida and 20 other states challenging the new federal health-care law.

The Senate just adjourned, ending the special session that Gov. Charlie Crist called to forward a proposed amendment banning oil drilling in state waters to the voters in November. Backers of the measure in the Senate said they were ready to forward that measure to the voters -- only to have the House adjourn. We are ready, willing and able to go, said Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, who sponsored the measure in the Senate.Villalobos said that he had the votes to get the measure through the Senate. The House is not here. I cant prevail because they left.

Florida law-enforcement agents arrested five health-care executives and employees as part of a Medicaid fraud crackdown today. Arrested were HC Healthcare owner Robert A. Krasnow, 36, of Gainesville; Dr. Yong Am Park, 66, of Lake City; Robert T. Krasnow, 58, of Gainesville, the father of Robert A. Krasnow; hospital administrator Christina L. Ortega, 42, of Lake City; and licensed practical nurse Ashley Lane Butler, 37, of Live Oak.

Marco Rubios team is not the only conservative Republican campaign weighing in on Gov. Charlie Crists interview with the Wall Street Journal in which the governor said he is now open to backing new federal health-care laws endorsed by President Barack Obama. Republican gubernatorial front-runner Rick Scott blasted Crist for his comments -- and took a swipe at Attorney General Bill McCollum who is also running in the Republican primary.

Well, that was quick. Gov. Charlie Crist's special session ended in 43 minutes.

While Florida lawmakers buzz around the Capitol, called back in the middle of the summer for Charlie Crist's overkill special session, the rest of the country is virtually split down the middle over whether offshore drilling -- even deepwater drilling -- should be allowed.

Throwing down the gauntlet at Gov. Charlie Crist who left the Republican Party earlier in the year, House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, just convened the special session of the Legislature -- and quickly adjourned it. The Florida Constitution authorizes the governor to call the Legislature into special session for any legislative purpose, said Cretul. When the call is issued, we are compelled to assemble. But from the moment a quorum assembled here, the agenda in this House is and always will be set by its membership.

While legal and political wrangling continues over the U.S. Sugar land deal, the U.S. government is moving forward with an $89 million purchase of development rights to restore the Everglades. The acquisition of conservation easements on a portion of state Sen. J.D. Alexander's Blue Head Ranch in Highlands County is part of an overall 26,000-acre purchase by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency said the deal, which allows participating landowners to continue working their land, will help restore the upper reaches of the Everglades ecosystem.

On Tuesday, Public Policy Polling (PPP) released a new poll showing that Gov. Charlie Crist, an independent candidate in the race for the U.S. Senate election, leads the race. Crist came in with 35 percent support while former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the likely Republican candidate, pulls second at 29 percent and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democrat, places a distant third with 17 percent.