The Orlando Sentinel's Mike Thomas rips into Tom Feeney and gives us a nod:

The liberal Public Campaign Action Fund once ranked Feeney as the nation's lawmaker most in the "pocket" of DeLay.

It was a proud day for the Oviedo Republican."Bottom line is, I'm a big Tom DeLay supporter," Feeney said.

The New York Times moves the story on Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff ahead a little today, particularly with this passage:

One participant in the case said the deal could be made final as early as next week.

Three men have been arrested in Florida and charged with the murder of former SunCruz Casino owner Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis. For regular readers of this blog, those names will ring a bell. Disgraced lobbyist and DeLay pal Jack Abramoff purchased SunCruz Casinos before Boulis' gang-land style murder in February of 2001. He and his associates even went so far as to get embattled Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) to insert remarks into the Congressional Record.

The St. Petersburg Times reports that Forida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis is using embattled Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in his stump speeches across the state.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL), who recently announced her intention to run for Senate, has offered to return campaign contributions she received from MZM Inc., the defense contractor who bought scandalized California Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunnigham's mansion at an allegedly inflated price.

The sale is currently the subject of a federal grand jury investigation in Southern California.

According to Mike Allen of The Washington Post, Republican strategists are beginning to worry that the recent ethics scandals surrounding Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) might have a negative impact on his colleagues in the 2006 elections.

Tammy Lytle at the Orlando Sentinel writes up the DeLay Rankings today and says that "Oviedo Rep. Tom Feeney has ranked No. 1 in Congress but some might consider it a dubious distinction."

Okay, so this is a little off topic -- normally we focus on all things DeLay. But we couldn't resist:

Rep. Mike Bilirakis (R-FL) spoke very candidly to Anita Kumar at the St. Petersburg Times about what motivates him to take a special interest-funded trip. Blackjack.