Florida Gov. Rick Scott earned some national face-time Thursday morning, co-hosting CNBC-TV’s Squawk Box — using the program to make a pitch for businesses to come to Florida and peppering a few guests with questions.

On set, Scott shared a screen with guest including Adrian Jones, general manager of the new Legoland opening in Central Florida, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the presidential contender and Scott’s rival for the self-bestowed title of  jobs governor.

Scott tossed a few questions out to the guests. And he also used the big platform to get his own points across about the economy and governing.

Among them:

On dealing with federal environmental regulators: “My goal is to build a relationship,” Scott said, saying he has been trying to work with the feds on an acceptable Everglades policy and water standards.

On Florida’s economic rebound: “One of the things we have to have in Florida is more manufacturing,” Scott said, saying tourism is a given, but producing goods will yield jobs.

On Europe’s debt crisis: “Stop spending money,” Scott said, likening the Continent to truculent teen-agers.

On cutting unemployment benefits, as Florida has:  ”You can’t afford it,” Scott said of businesses struggling to pay unemployment benefits. “Don’t give companies a reason not to hire people.”

Scott also came close to his own “Ponzi-scheme” moment, when he chimed in on Perry’s defense of his characterization of Social Security as effectively a criminal fraud because it pays current beneficiaries with money from those new in the system.

Scott said the Florida Retirement System also is less than fully funded, although he left out the part about how it has been declared actuarially sound by state and national analysts, the latest blessing coming just this week from state economists.

“You’ve got to make it sustainable,” Scott said of the FRS, and Social Security. Scott reiterated that he still wants to see the pension plan disappear, and be replaced with a 401(k)-style plan for government workers.

Gov. Charlie Crist performed as the Sunshine State’s chief pitch-man, blowing off Florida’s historic population loss and touting the fine weather in a CNBC interview this morning.

Florida saw a drop of 58,000 residents last year, the first population decrease since military residents left the state after World War II.

“It’s not that big a deal, to be honest with you,” Crist shrugged off the decline on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” show today.

The governor then launched into a Sunshine State sales pitch, touting declines in property taxes and property insurance rates and the weather.

“And it’s Florida. It’s a beautiful place. It’s a gorgeous day today down here in South Florida. You just can’t beat the Sunshine State,” said Crist, who is in Miami. Florida I really think is on the rise and it’s a great deal for an awful lot of people, too.”

Although Florida’s unemployment rate is nearly 11 percent, Crist was upbeat about the job market and pointed to Palm Beach County as a shining example.

Palm Beach County’s unemployment rate was 11.7 percent in July, one percentage point above the state average.

“Even in the Palm Beach County area where Scripps and Torrey Pines and some of these other scientific institutes have located, Max Planck…it’s been great for that area of the state,” Crist said. “We’re very pleased with the direction things are going. We wish they were better, don’t misunderstand me. But we’re not sitting still. We’re on the move. And I continue to be optimistic and encouraged about where we’re going.”

Crist, who drew the wrath of fellow Republicans by urging Congress to pass President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan, reversed that position on the health care reforms now being considered in Washington.

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