Newt Gingrich shouldn't chide Mitt Romney for having ties to former Charlie Crist staffers, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Friday.

Crist is disliked by many Republicans after leaving the 2010 GOP Senate primary and running as an independent. He lost to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Some of Crist's political staff now work for Romney.

But Crist is not on the ballot, Bush said.

“That’s not a serious accusation,” Bush told National Review Online, citing Gingrich's criticism.

“Candidates win elections. I’m not a big Charlie Crist fan, as you recall, but these guys shouldn’t have that moniker attached to them, as if Governor Romney is part of some evil plot. That’s ridiculous.”

The president is marking Dec. 1 -- World AIDS Day -- by noting advances in treatment and containment of the disease, but warning that "the fight is not over, not by a long shot."

He said his administration has increased funding to record levels, but announced it will be committing $15 million more for the Ryan White program that supports care provided by HIV medical clinics and $35 million for state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs.

"The federal government can’t do this alone," he said. "So I’m also calling on state governments, pharmaceutical companies, and private foundations, to do their part to help Americans get access to all the life-saving treatments."

And he called on countries that have committed to the Global Fund to pony up the money they promised. "And countries that haven’t made a pledge need to do so," he said. "That includes China and other major economies that are now able to step up as major donors. 

He paid special tribute to former President George W. Bush, who joined the event via satellite from Tanzania. "History will record the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as an extraordinary legacy," Obama said. "That program – more ambitious than even leading advocates thought was possible at the time – has saved hundreds of thousands of lives, spurred international action, and laid the foundation for a comprehensive global plan that will impact the lives of millions."

"Make no mistake, we are winning this fight," Obama said. "But the fight is not over, not by a long shot."

He noted that the rate of new infections may be going down elsewhere, but not in the U.S., where the infection rate has held steady for a decade. He said the U.S. is setting a new target of helping six million people get on treatment by the end of 2013 -- 2 million more than its original goal.

President Obama will team up with former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with President Kikwete of Tanzania and U2's Bono to mark World AIDS Day.

Bono's group ONE and (RED) will host a panel discussion Thursday on reaching "the beginning of the end of AIDS." The groups say major progress has been made in the last 10 years in the fight against AIDS "thanks in large part to US leadership" and that new scientific discoveries hold great promise for reducing infection rates. 

The event will be streamed live on ONE’s official YouTube channel. The panelists will respond to questions from a moderator, as well as to a selection of questions submitted by citizens on YouTube.

Mitt Romney continued Friday to tap previous Bush administrations for advice.

The former Massachusetts governor and top-tier Republican presidential candidate Friday announced the backing of two former attorneys general and three others who served in top positions.

Supporters and advisers include Michael Mukasey, attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2007 to 2009, and William Barr, attorney general under President George H.W. Bush from 1991 to 1993.

Also on the Romney team are George Terwilliger, deputy attorney general from 1992 to 1993; Mark Filip, deputy attorney general from 2008 to 2009, and Alice Fisher, assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division from 2005 to 2008.

Tim Pawlenty, who last month gave up his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Monday endorsed Mitt Romney for the GOP nod.

Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, said in a statement Romney "possesses the unique qualifications to confront and master our severe economic predicament."

Romney, Pawlenty said, has crafted an economic plan "unparalled in the history of American electoral campaigns."

Pawlenty had hoped to woo some of the same mainstream Republicans Romney has courted, but the Minneosta governor gave up his effort after a poor showing in last month's Iowa straw poll.

Romney last week released a 160-page blueprint for how he would fix the ailing economy. It consists of a lot of mainstream Republican ideas, and among his top advisers are two former Council of Economic Advisers chairman during the George W. Bush administration.

"By pressing for fundamental change in the way Washington taxes and spends," Pawlenty said, as well as deals with regulatory and energy issues, Romney "envisions a way to place American back on the path toward rapid economic growth and full employment."

Pawlenty's endorsement is more evidence that Romney is attracting strong support from the conservative-to-moderate wing of the Republican party.

Romney and the seven other major Republican candidates will debate later Monday in Tampa, at a debate where members of the conservative tea party movement will ask most of the questions. Romney is not considered a tea party favorite.

Rival conservative groups are sending different messages to followers Thursday about House Speaker John Boehner's debt reduction plan.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote later Thursday on the Boehner plan to reduce deficits $917 billion over 10 years, and perhaps much more. No tax increases are included. The plan would also provide for two votes to raise the debt ceiling.

Vote no, says the conservative Club for Growth. "The increase in the debt limit is immediate and real, but most of the spending cuts are only promised and stretched out over 10 years," it said Thursday. "Nothing binds a future Congress from erasing them."

Vote yes, counters Crossroads Grassroots Political Strategies, a group with links to former Bush administration political guru Karl Rove. "Kudos to Speaker Boehner for showing President Obama what leadership is really about," the group said.

Top Senate Democrats Wednesday praised President Barack Obama's handling of the U.S. mission in Libya, comparing him favorably to President George H. W. Bush.

"I might say that I think this was a very wise course," said Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., of Obama's actions.

"It is reminiscent of George Herbert Walker (Bush)'s effort before our involvement in Kuwait where he lined up support across the board and through the United Nations before any military action was commenced," he said in a conference call with reporters.

Bush put together a coalition to fight Iraq, after it invaded Kuwait in 1990.

The leaders were uncertain whether Congress should give its formal consent to the operation; Bush eventually sought and got congressional approve for the Gulf War in 1991.

"None of us can say with any certainty what will happen when we return," said Durbin. Congress returns Monday from a 10-day spring recess.

He said "it is consistent with our constitutional responsibility to take up that question," but it's uncertain what the status of the conflict will be next week.

Democrats, led by President Barack Obama, should force a New Year's Eve showdown with Republicans, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Sunday.

The Bush-era income tax cuts expire Dec. 31. Obama last week agreed to a compromise with congressional Republicans to extend all the cuts; votes are expected this week. But many Demorats are furious, saying he should have pushed hard to extend the cuts only for those earning less than $250,000.

Levin, interviewed on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" by McClatchy and Congressional Quarterly reporters, outlined the New Year's Eve scenario.

He was asked if Obama is pushing hard enough for the legislation he wants. Generally, yes, said Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"The one thing where I'm not satisfied with the presidential push is that I believe he should use the bully pulpit to say something like this on taxes:

'This is the thing I believe in as president.' Go through the list of things he believes. (Say) 'I don't believe in tax cuts for upper bracket people or that estate tax bonanza for the rich...and I'm going to fight this."

To wage that fight, Levin said, Obama should say, he's going to "use all the power he has on the bully pulpit and urge the Senate to stay in, right up to the new year, and (if) the Republicans at the end of December want to continue to filibuster a tax cut aimed at helping middle income people instead of upper income poeople, that is something which they will have to take on their own heads."

But Levin doesn't expect that scenario to unfold. "That's the problem, that I don't see that kind of a willingness to fight that hard, where he will take that kind of a position, and that's what's necessary in the Senate and House," Levin said.

"These are tests of wills, and we need all the help we can from the president," he said. "Is the help thee? Yes. Does it come to the extend I would like to see it in the way I would like to see it? No, it has not come in that form which I think is essential to come down in the right way, what I believe to be the best way in terms, for instance, of the tax bill."

The Senate's Saturday votes on tax cuts were over, the votes went as predicted, and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was frustrated.

"This Saturday session is a total waste of the American people's time," he said.

As predicted, the Senate failed to cut off debate on two measures, one that would extend only tax cuts for the middle class and poor, the other extending the cuts for those earning up to $1 million.

"Americans don't want political posturing," McConnell, R-Ky., said. "they want jobs. Today's votes were the clearest signal yet that the Democrats in Congress do not take our nation's job crisis seriously."

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., was not about to let that go unanswered.

McConnell, she said, "just insulted many of us..."

She noted that McConnell said last month one of his chief goals is to elect a Republican president in two years.

The Obama administration, Republicans and congressional Democrats are negotiating over a tax compromise.

But, said Landrieu, "How do you start by saying my goal is to defeat you, but here are the packages we want you to accept?" she asked. "Some of us are having a hard time with that kind of negotiation."

The House of Representatives plans to vote Thursday on whether to continue the Bush-era tax cuts for all but the wealthy.

And even though the measure is expected to pass in the House, where Democrats have 255 of the 435 seats, it probably won't go much further. Sixty votes are needed to end Senate debate. Democrats control 58 seats there, and at least five Democrats have indicated they want all the cuts extended.

The House Democratic plan would keep current rates in place for individuals earning less than $200,000 and families making less than $250,000. Republicans and many moderate Democrats want all the rates to continue, at least temporarily.

Republican leaders were angry Wednesday at the prospect of the Democrats' vote.

"The last thing our economy needs is a job-killing tax hike on small businesses, and that's what the Democratic leaders plan would mean," said House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio.