The Senate turned out the lights in its chamber last Thursday, having confirmed the newest Supreme Court justice, passing a jobs-stimulus bill for states to hire teachers and other emergency personnel, and a funding bill to pay for border security.

Public Policy Polling  (PPP) released a poll Tuesday showing that Gov. Charlie Crist, an independent candidate in the race for the U.S. Senate election, is the clear leader in the race.

Congress will spend this final week before it breaks for a week to celebrate our nation’s birthday spending more money, adding to our exploding debt and hoping to help small businesses expand and be able to borrow money. We’ll see how well they do when this writer submits the Friday column.

With President Barack Obama looking to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Defense Department policy prohibiting homosexuals from coming out of the closet during their military service, U.S. Senate candidates in Florida are weighing in on the issue.