A Senate panel will consider two proposals to revise Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law on Tuesdaythat would require law enforcement agencies to set guidelines for neighborhood watch programs. One bill was written by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, who originally drafted the statute nearly 10 years ago.

As he continues his bid for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., former state Rep. Carl Domino ripped into the incumbent and President Barack Obama on Tuesday over the federal shutdown.

America should count itself fortunate that four of our first five presidents -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe -- did not have sons that survived to adulthood. Otherwise the early days of our republic would have featured presidential elections which would have seemed like wars of dynastic ambitions. There were certainly some political dynasties -- the Adams family, the Harrisons, the Pierces, the Tylers, the Van Burens, the Lincolns and even a populist like Andrew Jackson whose nephew Andrew Jackson Donelson ran for vice president.

Abraham Lincoln famously declared at Gettysburg that the Founding Fathers "brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal," but a new Rasmussen Reports poll shows half of Americans think the Founding Fathers would view the nation they created as a failure today.

Former U.S. Rep. Allen West weighed in on Monday on the capture of Abu Anas al Libi, the al-Qaida leader captured by American military forces in recent days for his role in planning terrorist attacks in Africa. West expressed strong disapproval of plans to try al Libi as a criminal and insisted he should be held as a prisoner of war at Guantanamo Bay.

Actress and comedian Sherri Shepherd, commenting Monday morning on ABC-TV's "The View," told viewers across America that "a real crime of the government shutdown" is that it had shut down the AMBER Alert program. Not so in Florida, says the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Retired Marine Col. Tom Bowman, who served as the chief of staff and an acting assistant secretary for the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, announced on Monday that he was backing Blaise Ingoglias bid to represent parts of Hernando County in the Florida House.

With California deciding last week to issue drivers licenses to illegal aliens, a new poll finds the overwhelming majority of Americans oppose this policy. Rasmussen Reports released the findings of a national survey on Monday which finds 68 percent of likely voters oppose their state allowing illegal aliens to apply for drivers licenses. Only 22 percent of those surveyed favor the policy. The poll of 1,000 likely voters was taken from Oct. 4-5 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

Former U.S. Rep. Allen West weighed in on the death of Army Specialist Tevin Geike, a white soldier who was killed by African-Americans who taunted him as a cracker. Posting on Facebook on Monday, West wondered why President Barack Obama has remained silent on the issue after the president talked about the death of Trayvon Martin, even saying if he had a son he would look like Martin.

Florida Stop Common Core Coalition is putting pressure on Gov. Rick Scott and Pam Stewart over its disappointment about statements from Stewart on Florida's educational standards. On Friday,theFlorida Stop Common Core Coalition, a statewide coalition representing dozens of organizations and hundreds of thousands of Floridaparents and citizens,sent a letter to the governor with copies to Commissioner Stewart, Board of Education Chairman Gary Chartrand, and the Legislature.

Florida Republicans gathered in Orlando Friday evening for theStatesman's Dinner Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World, not wasting any time in knocking Florida Democrats for a series of political mishaps that have plagued the party in recent weeks. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry called Democrats a "laughingstock" and took aim at Charlie Crist, who is highly anticipated to run against Rick Scott for governor in 2014.

As Tropical Storm Karen moves toward the Gulf Coast, and in response to the declared state of emergency in multiple Florida counties, Attorney General Pam Bondi activated the price gouging hotline on Friday.

The Washington Post released its latest whip count on Friday and found 20 Republicans in the U.S. House who are willing to break with the GOP leadership and pass a clean continuing resolution measure that would not defund President Barack Obamas federal health care law. The Washington Post has identified four Republicans who are leaning toward backing a clean continuing resolution.

A day after businessman Jay Fant announced he was running in the Republican primary for the Florida House seat held by retiring Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville, one of the leading conservatives on the First Coast endorsed primary rival Paul Renner, an attorney and Navy veteran. Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, offered Renner warm words of praise on Friday as he backed his candidacy.

Tropical Storm Karen is making its way to the Gulf Coast on Friday, with landfall expected late Saturday or early Sunday morning. According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami,Karen had maximum winds of 60 mph as of 8 a.m. Friday. The storm was about 275 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River and was moving northwest at 10 mph.It's possible the storm could become a hurricane as it approaches land.