From his perch as chairman of the U.S. House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Florida RepublicanConnie Mack went to bat on Wednesday for three free-trade agreements currently stalled in Washington.

Mack noted that U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk noted on Monday that Colombia had met all labor rights requirements and called for the Obama administration to get serious in pushing the agreements.

Businessman Mike Yost was the Republican nominee to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown -- one of the most prominent Democrats in Florida --in 2010, and he hopes to do so again in 2012.By joining Republicans in continuing to oppose the constitutional amendments backed by FairDistricts Florida and approved by voters at the ballot last year, Yost is trying to make political hay in showing his support of those measures.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed the balanced budget amendment which would require a supermajority vote in Congress to raise taxes and a three-fifths vote to raise the debt ceiling. It would also ensure that federal spending could not exceed 18 percent of the GDP.

Freshman Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, one of the co-sponsors of the amendment, weighed in on Wednesday afternoon.

With reports coming out that Pakistan has rounded up informants who helped American forces find and kill terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, Mike McCalister, a businessman and retired Army officer who is now running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2012, weighed in on Wednesday.

On an appearance on the Laura Ingram show on Wednesday, Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio hammered President Barack Obama on the economy.

With Medicaid reform and health care ranking as two of the most important issues facing the nation, Florida got a bigger seat at the table to confront them on Wednesday when Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan was named to the health subcommittee of the congressional Ways and Means Committee.

Buchanan is the only Floridian on the Ways and Means, the committee where legislation regarding tax matters is initiated. He was named to the subcommittee by Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich.

On Tuesday, the Florida Chamber of Commerce named Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, as their most valuable legislator for the 2011 session. The Florida Chamber pointed to the freshman senators record on a number of issues, including reducing the corporate income tax and fighting for insurance and legal reform.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent took a shot at President Barack Obama on the stimulus on Monday.

"When asked about the 'stimulus' not having the promised results, President Obama laughed and joked: Shovel ready was not as shovel ready as we expected," noted Nugent. That's not funny -- especially when you asked the taxpayers to spend $800 billion based on your promises.

This week, a Republican candidate entered the race to replace term-limited Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville. While the seat currently represents parts of Duval, Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia counties, that may change after redistricting in early 2012.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross said on Tuesday that he was pleased that the federal EPA was putting off -- for the moment -- adding new criteria for water in Florida.