Sunshine State News is hitting the radio airwaves on Thursday from 2:00-2:30 p.m. Your humble blogger will be on the Ed Dean radio show, which is hosted by one of the most feisty, informative and entertaining conservatives in Florida. It can be heard onlinehereand on two stations in Central Florida -- 89.3 on the west coast and 90.3 on the Atlantic coast.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., continues to take aim at the federal health care law backed by President Barack Obama. Rubio penned an op-ed which appeared at Fox News website on Thursday. In his essay, Rubio cites how the law hurts small businesses in Florida.

This September, Congress will have to pass another short-term spending bill to fund the federal government," Rubio wrote. We should pass one that keeps the government open, but doesnt waste any more money on Obamacare.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is one of the top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. On Thursday, in an email sent out by the Campaign for Liberty which is chaired by his father former Congressman Ron Paul, Rand Paul came out swinging at President Barack Obama on a host of issues.

President Obama's NSA was recently caught spying, collecting, and storing data on virtually every American citizen, Paul wrote. And some are now saying the Obamacare database may end up being even worse.

With President Barack Obama visiting the First Coast on Thursday to give a speech on the economy on Thursday, Republicans have been launching volleys against the president which have mostly been unanswered by the Democrats. The Duval County Democratic Party fired back on Thursday insisting Obama should get credit for the economic turnaround in Florida and blaming the economic downturn on President George W. Bush.

Once and perhaps future Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Rick Perry of Texas will be speaking at Americans for Prosperitys (AFP) Defending the American Dream Summit in Orlando in August.

With President Barack Obama in Jacksonville on Thursday, most eyes on the First Coast are focused there, but U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., issued a statement late Wednesday insisting the region will be helped by the fiscal year 2014 House Defense Appropriations Bill. Crenshaw, who sits on the Defense Appropriations Committee, noted the bill will keep three cruisers based at Naval Station Mayport.

With President Barack Obama in Jacksonville to give a speech on the economy on Thursday, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) welcomed him to the First Coast with a full-page ad in the Florida Times-Union insisting Gov. Rick Scotts policies are responsible for the recent economic gains in the Sunshine State.

Add another Republican candidate to the crowded primary field looking to replace term-limited Rep. Bryan Nelson, R-Apopka, in the Florida House. Belita "B" Martin Grassel, who had been the president of the Lake County Education Association teachers' union, filed her paperwork on Monday to run for the House seat which represents parts of Lake and Orange County. Grassel did not seek re-election to her position as president of the teachers' union earlier this year.

With President Barack Obama traveling to Jacksonville to give a speech on the economy on Thursday, Republicans from across Florida continue to welcome him to the First Coast with stinging words. The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) continues to throw jabs at Obama on the economy, launching the lastest attack on Wednesday which insists Obama is looking for a mulligan on the economy.

With conservatives wary of him after his prominent role in passing immigration reform in the Senate, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., played up his opposition to President Barack Obamas federal health-care law on Tuesday. Rubio is a leading potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016.

Rubio took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to call for defunding the law.