A 1,217-page, $1 trillion spending bill may garner enough votes to keep the federal government running Friday, but it has opened Congress to more ridicule.

The House Appropriations Committee's omnibus bill was released so late that it will require lawmakers to waive their three-day posting rule to vote on it.

Reminiscent of the way Democrats rammed the 2,000-page Obamacare bill through Congress, the spending plan now appears on a fast track to beat a midnight Friday funding deadline.

Florida Republicans are turning up the heat on Democrats, including Sen. Bill Nelson, as yet another threatened federal government shutdown looms Friday.

The GOP-controlled House and Democratic-run Senate are at loggerheads over a House-passed bill that would extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, as well as speed up permitting for the Keystone XL pipeline.

If the U.S. Supreme Court pulls the plug on Obamacare, a conservative think tank has a replacement standing by for families.

A fixed $2,000-per-person federal tax credit would enable households to purchase health coverage through the workplace or on the open market.

Providing additional subsidies to households with incomes of less than $44,700, the Heritage Foundation proposal limits costs by phasing out credits for upper-income earners.

Rick Scott isn't the only freshman Southeastern governor with horrid poll numbers. But after nearly a year in office, that's small solace for Florida's chief executive.

In what may be the most surprising fall from gubernatorial grace, South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley's approval rating has plummeted into the mid-30 percent range.

Meantime, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue lags 10 points behind her GOP rival in the run-up to the 2012 election.

Mainstream media pundits gave Newt Gingrich "A's" for his stage performance in Des Moines on Saturday night.

A new study on federal spending gives Republicans fiscal ammunition to fight Democrats' relentless push for tax hikes on Capitol Hill. It also gives Democrats a tool to go after "rich" retirees.

The failure of the budget supercommittee to agree on $1.2 trillion in deficit-reduction measures over 10 years has intensified pressure on the GOP to embrace "revenue enhancements."

Henry Kelley

A day after state Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, complained about the latest congressional redistricting maps, a tea party leader told Democrats to put up or shut up.

"My question for all Democrats is this: 'Where are your maps?'"Henry Kelley said in a Wednesday interview with Sunshine State News.

Grisly reports of greyhound abuse and death are spurring renewed efforts to "decouple" racing at Florida's 13 dog tracks.

Grey2K USA, a greyhound-protection organization, reported this week that from January to July of this year, at least 20 racing dogs had been killed or euthanized, including 10 put down at the Ebro Greyhound Park on the Panhandle.

At the same time, the report declared, "Greyhound racing is a dying industry. Since 2004, tax revenue from live dog racing has declined by 72 percent and paid attendance dropped 69 percent."

In what would be a third big strike against South Florida teachers union bosses, Broward union president Pat Santeramo is under investigation for alleged financial misdealings.

On Wednesday, Santeramo meets with nine members of the Broward Teachers Union executive board seeking his removal. Santeramo has ignored demands that he resign while state investigators scour the affiliate's books.

Auditors brought in by the American Federation of Teachers at the request of Florida Education Association president Andy Ford have already found: