After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton

Floridas new law requiring welfare recipients to undergo drug tests before receiving temporary cash assistance garnered high marks in a study released on Wednesday by the Naples-based Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a conservative think tank. Tarren Bragdon, a former Maine state representative who is the president and CEO of the FGA, authored The Impact of Floridas New Drug Test Requirement for Welfare Cash Assistance.

Republican presidential hopeful former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced on Wednesday that prominent business leaders were joining his campaign in an advisory capacity. In a statement, Huntsman unveiled the support of John Mack, the executive chairman of the board of Morgan Stanley. Mack will serve as chairman of the Huntsman campaigns Business Advisory Council.Other council members include Gary Loveman, the chairman, president and CEO of Caesars Entertainment Corp.; Nike co-founder Phil Knight; and former U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chairman Tom Bell.

Mike McCalister, a retired Army colonel and a businessman who is running for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, is stressing his conservative credentials. Next week, McCalister will clash with three of his main rivals -- former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, and businessman Craig Miller -- at a forum and straw poll in Orlando which will be part of the American Conservative Unions (ACU) Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Florida meeting. The CPAC event will be held on Friday, Sept. 23.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, continuing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, took aim at President Barack Obamas Middle East policy on Wednesday. While Americans have been focused on the economy and domestic politics, the Middle East has been deteriorating in very threatening ways, noted Gingrich in an e-mail sent out to supporters. In the last few months, events have begun to turn against the United States, Israel, and freedom in the Middle East."