As a former Republican Party of Florida chairman, Al Cardenas knew the government in Florida is conservative.

As the chairman of the American Conservative Union, he admits his reaction was Wow when he saw how conservative the Legislature had become.

It was a wow moment for the movement, Cardenas said Tuesday as the ACU released its first conservative ratings of the Florida legislature. You let these experts come up with the matrix and they came with an analysis of dozens of bills and figured out which were best to home in on and then you grade them.

Desperate for money after years of budget cuts from the state, universities are increasingly turning to out-of-state and online students to bring in more revenue.

Through a pilot market-rate tuition program, universities are able to charge different tuition rates for online and continuing education master's degrees and certificate programs. In most cases, this means a higher tuition rate than what was charged before. Money from this tuition is used to help support other college or university programs.

Senators want to change the super exemption tax breaks offered first-time home buyers, and seasonal or second home owners, in a referendum already approved to go before voters next November.

Seeking to pump life into Floridas anemic real estate market by making Floridas property tax structure more equitable, Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, has proposed legislators replace the language in Amendment 4 that was approved for the ballot in the spring.

Is a vote for the Republican Party in 2012 a vote for war?

While businessman Herman Cain was soaring in the polls after his upset win in the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando back in September, three new polls show he is losing ground in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich is gaining momentum.