With much praise and few qualms, the Florida Senate on Thursday passed a costly plan that that could give businesses incentives and tax breaks for hiring the unemployed and stimulate job creation in the space flight, defense contractor and film industries. The vote was unanimous.

SB 1752, which will cost the state $193.8 million over three years for an unknown return, is being hailed by the business community as a valuable tool to help the state dig out of its 11.9 percent jobless rate. It now heads to the House.

Democrats called on Thursday for an audit of Attorney General Bill McCollums office over his lawsuit challenging the federal health care law, after trying unsuccessfully in the Senate to block the suit.

A bill supported by the Homebuilders Association of Florida could provide relief to homeowners across Florida who have been affected by Chinese drywall over the past two years. It could also indemnify developers from some future legal action. The legislation passed the Insurance, Business and Financial Affairs Policy Committee in the House Thursday.

It seems like it's been quite some time since our National Endowment for the Arts has shocked the public with an outrageous grant for a ridiculous "artist" whose art flourishes only when the taxpayer is forced against his will to subsidize it. Sadly, that means these "artists" must take their talents elsewhere in search of public funding.

"The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years ago, and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today. Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is our capital."

On the eve of the 2010 legislative session, all the upper echelons of state government are in flux. Lawmakers are facing a lame-duck governor running for U.S. Senate, a Senate president running for chief financial officer and the CFO and attorney general running for governor. And that's not all.

WASHINGTON As the night follows the day, the VAT cometh.

With the passage of Obamacare, creating a vast new middle-class entitlement, a national sales tax of the kind near-universal in Europe is inevitable.

With ports in other states gearing up for the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2014, Florida ports are trying to keep pace with a little help from the Legislature.

The Florida Ports Investment Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Lake Ray, R-Jacksonville, offers $100 million in tax incentives to make Florida ports competitive in an increasingly competitive national and international marketplace. It passed the House Finance and Tax Council Thursday without any opposition.