President Barack Obama's executive order putatively tackling regulations may have handed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency another tool to bash Florida on water rules.

The stakes were raised Monday in the debate over reforming Florida’s public pension system, as one union official decried the proposed “radical” changes and the “myths” public officials expound whenever they talk about the system.

Thanks to the 2000 presidential election debacle -- most of it centered here in Florida -- both major parties have amassed a storehouse of legal firepower. As voters head to the polls Tuesday, judicial decisions and the mere presence of lawyers have already affected some midterm elections across the country.

With Florida's 11.6 percent unemployment rate among the highest in the nation, gubernatorial candidates Alex Sink and Rick Scott are under pressure to deliver what the Obama administration hasn't: private-sector jobs.

A member of Florida’s congressional delegation and a conservative Florida think tank say the largest federal financial regulation reform act proposed since the Great Depression doesn’t fix the problems that created the current recession.

If you're planning on dying anytime soon, tax advisers say it would be best to do it before Jan. 1.

The so-called "death tax" returns with a vengeance next year, bringing a 55 percent top tax rate on estates valued at more than $1 million. That compares to the current rate of 0 percent on estates up to $3.5 million.