A Senate committee voted Tuesday to allow private insurers to raise their residential property insurance rates.

The Senate General Government Appropriations Committee unanimously approved a measure by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, to allow certain insurers to raise residential insurance by as much 10 percent and limit the power of the state Office of Insurance Regulation.

Citing a return of his father's lung cancer, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio cut short his campaign bus tour.

When Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, announced that he had hauled in $700,000 for his congressional campaign, he opened eyes in Washington. Now, more than 30 Republicans in Congress are holding a fundraiser for Rivera with some of the biggest conservative stars in the House taking part, including Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-OH.

Photo credit: Aaron Wiener, The Washington Independent

America's broadcast television networks brand the Tea Party movement as an insignificant assortment of cranks and reactionaries. Members are also portrayed -- when they're covered at all -- as tools for self-serving corporate interests and racists dragooned by the Republican Party.

WASHINGTON -- Stiffening their sinews and summoning up their blood, pugnacious liberals and conservatives who relish contemporary Washington's recurring Armageddons are eager for a summer-long struggle over Barack Obama's nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. They should pause and ponder how recently and radically the confirmation process has changed.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has the money to weather almost any major hurricane to strike the state, the chief financial officer of Floridas state-run insurance company told the governor and his cabinet.

In a presentation Tuesday, Citizens CFO Sharon Binnun revealed the company is in a better financial position than it has ever been.

Citizens has $14 billion to pay claims in 2010, $11 billion in cash and assets, and $3.9 billion in surplus to stay afloat if a catastrophe occurs.

The decapitation of the Polish government last weekend, including President Lech Kaczynski and the military leadership, on that flight to Smolensk to commemorate the Katyn Massacre, brings to mind the terrible and tragic days and deeds of what many yet call the Good War.

As whispers continued to grow that Gov. Charlie Crist plans to veto the teacher performance pay measure, business leaders met at the Capitol on Tuesday to lobby the governor to be bold, to strike a blow for education excellence and to sign the legislation into law.

We know that there has been vocal opposition, but we want the governor to know teachers, educators, and business leaders support him and this good bill, said Marshall Criser, the chair of the Florida Council of 100s Pre-K-14 Education Committee.