A Senate committee on Monday moved forward Art Graham's appointment as chairman of the Public Service Commission, but blistered him for having a chance meeting with representatives of a water company seeking a rate increase.

Graham encountered tough questioning at the Committee on Communications, Energy and Public Utilities over his interaction with the regional president and regulatory counsel of Aqua America Utilities.

"People are tired of seeing what's happening at the PSC," said Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey. "This looks like the same game in town."

Republican lawmakers pushing a series of anti-union bills aren't getting the unanimous tea party support they expected.

Senate Bill 830, sponsored by Sen. John Thrasher, would bar government agencies from making authorized payroll deductions for union dues.

Along with House Bill 1021 by Rep. Chris Dorworth, the measures seek to specifically prohibit state and local agencies "from deducting from employee wages dues, uniform assessments, fines, penalties, or special assessments of employee organization or contributions made for purposes of political activity."

The ACLU is blowing smoke in its opposition to drug-testing of state employees, legal observers say.

Gov. Rick Scott's order to randomly drug-test workers in agencies that report to his office drew immediate fire from the Florida ACLU, which asserted that such screenings have been ruled "unconstitutional."

"They're wrong," Heritage Foundation legal scholar Cully Stimson said of the ACLU. "They're simply dressing up their policy preference in the form of a legal opinion."

UPDATED: A hard-hitting tea party ad is calling out Republican state Sen. Thad Altman and Rep. John Tobia -- and generating a bit of notoriety itself.

The radio spot produced by Tea Party in Action blasts the two Space Coast lawmakers for supporting the controversial high-speed rail project and for pushing an added fee on Miami-based Dosal Tobacco Co.

Marianne Moran, founder of the West Palm Beach-based Tea Party in Action, said, "The issue advocacy ad speaks for itself -- against ObamaRail and against people saying one thing and doing another."

It's long been said that Washington, D.C., is recession proof. It certainly has the robust federal employment listings to prove it.

Impervious to shifting political winds, the big government job machine just keeps lumbering along.

A survey by The Daily Caller found more than 1,000 federal openings this month alone in the D.C. area.

Nurse practitioners in Florida got a lift this week from a Federal Trade Commission letter that branded House Bill 4103 "a pro-competitive improvement in the law."

HB 4103, sponsored by state Rep. Daphne Campbell, D-Miami, would lift restrictions on Florida's nurse practitioners and authorize them to practice at their "full scope."

A hard-hitting tea party ad is calling out Republican state Sen. Thad Altman and Rep. John Tobia -- and generating a bit of notoriety itself.

The radio spot produced by Tea Party in Action blasts the two Space Coast lawmakers for supporting the controversial high-speed rail project and for pushing an added fee on Miami-based Dosal Tobacco Co.

Marianne Moran, founder of the West Palm Beach-based Tea Party in Action, said, "The issue advocacy ad speaks for itself -- against ObamaRail and against people saying one thing and doing another."

A bill to raise the limits on campaign contributions to state candidates has raised the reflexive ire of liberals and the progressive press, but proponents say it promotes free speech and counters shadowy special-interest groups.

"Campaign finance limits that have not kept pace with rising media costs have contributed to the proliferation of third-party advocacy groups -- electioneering communication organizations and 527s that have no limit at all," a campaign consultant told Sunshine State News.

Bill Clinton adviser James Carville once sagely observed, "You never know what you're gonna get when you drag a $100 bill through a trailer park."

Gov. Rick Scott reeled out a virtual version of that exercise Tuesday when he opened up a "Facebook Town Hall" and invited questions from Floridians.