Hundreds of conservatives rallied at the Capitol on Thursday afternoon at the Tallahassee Tax Day Tea Party to protest big government and call for more responsibility from politicians.

A number of local campaignsset up at the rally, including Republican congressional candidates Steve Southerland and David Scholl.

WASHINGTON -- There was something oddly disproportionate about the just-concluded nuclear summit to which President Obama summoned 46 world leaders, the largest such gathering on American soil since 1945. That meeting was about the founding of the United Nations, which 65 years ago seemed an event of world-historical importance.

While the rest of the Capitol buzzed about Gov. Charlie Crist vetoing the teacher performance pay measure, the House assembled to hammer out a reform package for Medicaid and pass a number of non-controversial bills.

The afternoon session focused on a plan to reform Medicaid and proved to be surprisingly harmonious. With 2.7 million Floridians on Medicaid and that number looking to rise dramatically, members of both parties in the House worked together to set the stage for passing Medicaid reform.

"Not only do we have a gap, but we won't have a human space flight for a long time, and we will have to rely on the Russians to get into space. Even with a few more jobs, the loss of 5,000 to 6,000 jobs comes at a time when we can least afford it."
-- State Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island

"The president made a very compelling case. He appears committed to a space exploration program that has a lot more flexibility and robustness than the earlier program."
-- Frank DiBello, president, Space Florida

Pledging $40 million to "develop regional economic growth and job creation" on Florida's Space Coast, President Barack Obama on Thursday sought to soothe concerns about impending employment losses related to the phase-out of the shuttle program.

He didn't necessarily sway Florida officials.

WASHINGTON -- When liberals advocate a value-added tax, conservatives should respond: Taxing consumption has merits, so we will consider it -- after the 16th Amendment is repealed.

A VAT will be rationalized as necessary to restore fiscal equilibrium. But without ending the income tax, a VAT would be just a gargantuan instrument for further subjugating Americans to government.