With Republican state CFO candidate and Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, calling for a second special session of the Legislature to tackle economic issues resulting from the oil spill, the Democrat taking him on in November is on the warpath, saying Florida needs to resolve these matters immediately.

Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, who is calling for a second special session to be held later in the summer to tackle economic issues resulting from the oil spill in the Gulf, is being backed by the man who will replace him -- incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder will be in Miami Friday for a "Medicare Fraud Summit." The first of a series of daylong gatherings across the country, federal officials say the meetings will "discussways to eliminate fraud within the U.S. health care system." Calling the summit itself a fraud, one Florida trade group said it will protest the event to call attention to problems associated with Medicare bidding rules.

Gov. Charlie Crist raised $1.8 million for his U.S. Senate campaign in the second quarter of 2010 -- an increase from the $1.1 million he brought in during the first quarter of 2010 but far behind Republican rival Marco Rubio, who raised $4.5 million during the second quarter. Crist left the Republicans at the end of April to continue his campaign with no party affiliation. Battling it out with Rubio at the top of the polls in the race, Crist has $8.2 million on hand, an increase from March 31 when he had more than $7.6 million in the bank.

Associated Press reports the following via foxnews.comThursday: "A tightly fitted cap was successfully keeping oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in three months, BP said ..." Alabama Gov. Bob Riley was elated to get the news, saying, "I think a lot of prayers were answered today."

With House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, telling House Republicans to expect a short session, House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands, D-Weston, is warning of a gavel-and go strategy, in which the House would assemble and adjourn without tackling why Gov. Charlie Crist called the special session -- forwarding a proposed constitutional amendment to the voters banning oil drilling in Florida waters.

A space appropriation bill promoted by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., may have Floridians thinking President Barack Obama's plan wasn't so bad after all. The Nelson-backed compromise legislation would accelerate development of a heavy-lift rocket -- a move that Space Coast officials applauded Thursday -- but it pulls $13.8 billion from projects that would have benefited Florida. Read our upcoming story to see what Space Florida officials are saying.

State CFO Alex Sink, the likely Democratic candidate for governor, does not like the idea being supported by Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, to hold a second special session later in the summer to tackle economic problems resulting from the oil spill.

Staff for Dr. Rudy Moise, who is running in a crowded Democratic field to take the congressional seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, announced that their candidate had more than $900,000 on hand to launch an all-out sprint to the primary on Aug. 24. There is no Republican candidate in the race. Moise, who had just launched the first television ad in the race, held a conference on Thursday to start the final drive to the primary election.

Republican U.S. Sen. George LeMieux may be stepping down at the end of the year, but there are rumors that he plans to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. LeMieuxsattack on the Obama administrations economic policies on Thursday will only increase the buzz that he will run against Nelson in 2012. We need pro-growth policies, said LeMieux. Florida continues to suffer from the economic downturn and nothing coming out of Washington is helping people seeking to work in the private sector.

The U.S. Senate passed a major overhaul of financial regulation, sending it to President Barack Obama who has supported the legislation. The measure passed 60-39 with three Republicans from New England, including newly elected U.S. Sen. Scott Brown from Massachusetts, voting with the Democratic majority. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson voted with the majority of Democrats in backing the measure while U.S. Sen. George LeMieux joined most of the Republicans and opposed it.

House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, sent a letter back to Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, saying he was open to Atwaters call for a second special session to tackle the economic impact of the oil spill. Cretul also took a shot at Gov. Charlie Crists call for the Legislature to pass a proposed constitutional amendment to voters which would ban oil drilling in state waters.

Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Oviedo, announced on Thursday that she will file a motion in the special session next week to censure Gov. Charlie Crist for calling the session. Our nation faces the effects of out-of-control federal spending and we must not allow the wasteful and unnecessary use of taxpayer dollars to permeate Florida, said Adams. Governor Crist is wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars on an unnecessary special session of the state Legislature, and he should be held accountable for this misuse.

Federal campaign finance reports revealed on Thursday that Jeff Greene, a billionaire investor running in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate nomination, spent almost $6 million of his own fortune in the race. The campaign staff of his chief rival for the nomination, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, is using the occasion to attack Greene.

Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, won the endorsement of JaxBiz, a political organization backed by the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce. Leaders like John Thrasher are what make Northeast Florida a great place to live, work and play, and we look forward to continuing to work with Senator Thrasher in the Senate, said JaxBiz Chairman Michael Hightower.