The U.S. Senate campaign takes to the airways this week with former House Speaker Marco Rubio launching his first TV ad. Rubios camp emailed supporters with the subject line I want my M-TV, linking to the new ad that will begin airing on TV stations around the state Thursday.

More bad news on the employment front. The U.S. Department of Labors Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation came out with new numbers today. Floridas unemployment rate was 11.9 percent for January, up from 11.7 percent in December. This matches the unemployment rate in May 1975 as the highest unemployment in Floridas history. Florida continues to drag behind the nation in terms of unemployment as the national average is 9.7 percent.

Politicians who live in glass mansions shouldn't throw stones. But here comes Charlie Crist accusing Marco Rubio of loading up on pork through Community Budget Issue Requests. Shocked? Hardly. Crist, as a former state senator, knows the CBIR game. Legislators shamelessly use the system to fund pet projects outside the usual budget channels.

The Senate's Regulated Industries Committee briefly workshopped, but did not vote on, a new Seminole Gambling Compact bill that gives four Seminole casinos in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties the exclusive rights to banked card games and strips the Governor's office of the ability to make a compact that does not comply with the bill.

Having chased state Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, from the race, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam is feeling secure about his chances to be Floridas next Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Besides taking his place alongside Charlie Crist and Bill McCollum on the House floor when the legislative session opened, Putnam now has current Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson on Monday in Plant City predicting a certain redhead will be taking his place.

Call it the beginning of a firestorm. A bill that could render Gov. Charlie Crists August 2009 compact with the Seminole Indian tribe null and void because it never was voted on or ratified by the Legislature moves to a Senate committee workshop early Wednesday morning. Sen. Dennis L. Jones, D.C., R-Seminole, chairman of the Regulated Industries Committee heads up the workshop on SB 622 at 8:30 in Senate Room 110.

One of the keys parts of House Speaker Larry Cretuls, R-Ocala, agenda for this legislative session has been streamlining Florida laws. In his opening remarks to the House last week, Cretul said, State laws should be made smaller and cleaner. That means repealing out-of-date laws so that Florida Statutes will actually be smaller than we started. Cretul meant it.

Last week, Florida Democratic Chair Karen Thumran filed a complaint with the Elections Commission against the Republican Party of Florida. In the letter, Thurman said that former GOP boss Jim Greer and treasurer Joel Pate did not disclose all the RPOFs finances. Thurman said that the paperwork the RPOF filed with the Federal Elections Commission did not match what they sent to the State Division of Elections. The specific complaints from Thurman are as follows:

Gov. Charlie Crist intends to hold a town hall meeting in Jacksonville this Friday. It's the governor's first town hall in 10 months. A spokesman said Crist was invited to Jacksonville by Rep. Lake Ray, R-Jacksonville. But John Thrasher, the state senator representing Jacksonville and the chairman of the state Republican party, won't be attending, a spokeswoman for Thrasher said Tuesday. The purpose of the town hall meetingis general in nature and merely allows the governor a chance to answer questions from the public, the governor's spokesman said.

A new poll from Public Policy Polling offers a snapshot at how far Gov. Charlie Crist is behind in his bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. Rubio now leads Crist 60-28, including a staggering 71-17 lead with conservatives. Crist has a 49-36 advantage with party moderates, but they account for just 31 percent of likely primary voters compared to 65 percent who describe themselves as conservative, Public Policy Polling noted in their release.

Would Democrats take advantage of new legislation that would allow top lawmakers to create committees to campaign for members of their political parties? The Democratic Party of Florida says it hasn't considered the question. "I think that what we're focused on is stopping Republican slush fiunds," said Eric Jotkoff, spokesman for the party.

In a bizarre 11-minute interview with Fox's Greta Van Susteren Monday night, Gov. Charlie Crist got off on a tangent about back-waxing. Here's what he said about GOP rival Marco Rubio: CRIST: It has come out in news accounts he had a Republican Party of Florida credit card that he charged $130 haircut, or maybe it was a back wax -- we are not sure what all he got at that place. GRETA: Wait a second, stop. A back wax? Wait a second. CRIST: I don't know what it was, you know?

Despite his reservations about the stimulus, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp continues to act like a good solider for Gov. Charlie Crist. After blasting the stimulus in an interview with NewsMax.com last week, Kottkamp inspected the Tequesta Drive Bridge in Palm Beach County. The Tequesta Drive Bridge was paid for with federal stimulus moneySure the Legislature is in session but thats not stopping Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, from hitting the trail for his campaign to be attorney general.

Marco Rubio is picking up steam in his bid to be Floridas next senator. At least his foes in the Democratic ranks think so. Florida Democratic Communications Director Eric Jotkoff sends out a constant streams of email bashing Republicans, pointing out their inconsistencies and lambasting their positions.

More bad news for Gov. Charlie Crist after today's New York Times story on his administration's Everglades real estate deal with U.S. Sugar. Tom Jenson of Public Policy Polling revealed today that his organization will release a poll tomorrow that has brutal numbers for Crist. The numbers Jenson released so fararent promising for Crist. The poll of Republican primary voters has 19 percent wanting to see Crist as governor for a second term, 14 percent backing Crists Senate ambitions and 56 percent wanting him out of office all together.