U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Friday that $2.4 billion in high-speed rail funding intended for Florida will be sent to other states after the state Supreme Court upheld Gov. Rick Scott's decision to reject the money.

The Republican governor's decision effectively kills the Tampa-Orlando route.

Until Scott's election in November, it had been on track to become a leading example of how the Obama administration's stimulus plan is creating jobs and reviving the nation's passenger rail system.

Several states, including New York and Rhode Island, have asked LaHood for Florida's rail funds, but the only project that would achieve the high speeds associated with bullet trains in Asia and Europe would be California's.

"I know that states across America are enthusiastic about receiving additional support to help bring America's high-speed rail network to life and deliver all its economic benefits to their citizens," LaHood said in a statement.

President Barack Obama says improving math and science education is essential to helping the U.S. compete globally, and he wants the private sector to get involved in making it happen.

Obama recorded his weekly radio and Internet address during a visit this past week to Intel Corp. outside of Portland, Ore. He praised the company for making a 10-year, $200 million commitment to promote math and science education — and held it up as an example of how corporate America can make money at the same time it builds the country.

"Companies like Intel are proving that we can compete — that instead of just being a nation that buys what's made overseas, we can make things in America and sell them around the globe," Obama said. "Winning this competition depends on the ingenuity and creativity of our private sector. . But it's also going to depend on what we do as a nation to make America the best place on earth to do business."

Obama's West Coast swing, which also included a dinner with big names in California's Silicon Valley, was part of his push to promote a budget proposal that increases spending on education, research and development and high-speed Internet, while cutting other areas. Republicans newly in control of the House are pushing much deeper cuts and resisting new spending.

Obama told a news conference, meanwhile, that the budget he sent Congress will help meet his goal of cutting the deficit in half by the end of his first term and said he hoped to find common ground with Republicans. He also defended his decision to avoid overhauls in entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, saying the two parties need to work together to find compromise.

"There's going to be a lot of ups and downs in the coming months as we get to that solution," the president said. "I'm confident that we can get this done."

House Republicans, though, were eager to launch a weeklong debate on their own package of deep cuts in domestic spending for the current fiscal year.

White House budget director Jacob Lew kicked off the administration's defense of its proposed 2012 budget on Capitol Hill with an appearance before the House Budget Committee. Rep. Mike Simpson spoke for most of the Republicans on the panel in saying he doesn't view the proposal — which mostly ignores the recommendations of Obama's fiscal commission — as a serious one.

Most insurers, hospital executives and state officials expect they'll keep carrying out President Barack Obama's health care overhaul even after a federal judge cast its fate in doubt by declaring all of it unconstitutional.

"It's still the law of the land," said William Hoagland, vice president for public policy at health insurer Cigna. "We'll continue to proceed with its requirements, and (the ruling) will not slow that down. We have no other choice until this thing is resolved one way or the other." Insurers spent millions to block passage of the law.

Health care accounts for about one-sixth of the economy, and many players in the sprawling sector have a love-hate relationship with Obama's health care remake. There's dissatisfaction with key provisions, and a sense that parts may be unworkable. But at the same time, it's seen as a vehicle to start addressing problems of cost and quality that, left to fester, could trigger more drastic consequences.

"I don't think people are going to hit the stop button," said Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a research arm of the consulting firm. "You probably don't make the big bets right now, but you make the incremental investments in case you have to make the big bets 6 or 12 or 18 months down the road. Everyone proceeds with an informed approach."

Monday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Florida had been expected to go against the Obama administration. But the scope of the decision in a lawsuit by 26 of the 50 states took some by surprise.

Vinson struck down the entire law after finding its requirement for nearly all Americans to carry health insurance unconstitutional. Another judge who reached the same conclusion in a separate case voided the individual insurance requirement and left everything else in place.

President Barack Obama is marking the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision on abortion by calling the procedure a constitutional right he's committed to protecting.

Obama also said in a statement Saturday that he remains committed to policies designed to prevent unintended pregnancies. And he called on Americans to recommit themselves to ensuring that, in the president's words, "our daughters have the same rights, the same freedoms, and the same opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams."

Obama said the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion affirmed what he called a "fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters."

Anti-abortion activists will participate in an annual "March for Life" in Washington on Monday.

A day after the state Supreme Court required an election for governor this year, lawmakers appeared divided Wednesday over whether candidates should be nominated by party conventions or a special primary.

Tuesday's decision mandating a 2011 vote cited a state law that calls for nominating conventions. But the opinion also noted that the Legislature could change that as long as a general election winner can take office by Nov. 15.

The deadline is set one year after Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin began serving as acting governor when fellow Democrat Joe Manchin resigned to join the U.S. Senate. Although the state constitution provides for that succession route, the unanimous ruling concluded that it also requires an "elected successor within one year of the date when the vacancy occurred."

That and other legal findings in the opinion have revived questions over Tomblin's decision to focus on the role of chief executive while setting aside his legislative duties. The agenda Tomblin hopes to pursue during the 60-day session could suffer as a result, some key lawmakers said.

While expressing support for Tomblin, Senate Judiciary Chairman Corey Palumbo said, "He knows that he's only guaranteed one session, where previously he thought he might be (acting as governor) for two sessions. He's automatically a lame duck, so to speak, so I think it may give him a little bit less juice."

The ruling has also stoked the debate over the new Senate office of acting president - created for when the actual president is acting as governor - and the election of Marshall County Democrat Jeff Kessler to that post.