"And everybody praised the Duke,
Who this great fight did win."
"But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Peterkin.
"Why that I cannot tell," said he,
"But 'twas a famous victory."

Surviving sexual abuse is a difficult and painful process, but so is a 500-mile walk from Aventura to Tallahassee.

Health care continues to dominate most of the conversation on Capitol Hill this week following the U.S. House passage of the Senate Health Care bill Sunday night.

Within hours of the U.S. House passing health care reform legislation Sunday night, Republicans in Florida began mobilizing to push back against the new federal mandate.

Republicans, with Attorney General Bill McCollum leading the charge, are preparing to specifically challenge the federal mandate that every citizen have health insurance coverage.

Last week, McCollum unveiled plans to sue the federal government as soon as the health care legislation passed. He asked other states to join him.

Well get a better glimpse this week of what the budget may look like as the budget bills and amendments emerge in the full budget committees in both chambers. The House will go first with a full Appropriations Council meeting on Tuesday. Senate Ways and Means will have its combined bill out Monday night, but wont have it before the committee until Thursday with a Tuesday deadline for amendments.

With a $3.2 billion deficit and pet projects on the chopping block, the work is likely to be slow-going.

A bill to massively expand a state voucher program is headed to the Senate floor after winning approval from a key Senate committee Friday.

Teacher pay would be based on how well students do on standardized tests under a bill set for a final fight in the Senate where ruling Republicans look poised to strike a blow against Floridas Democratic-allied teachers union.

The Senate Ways and Means committee approved the measure (SB 6) by a 15-8, party-line vote, with Democrats saying it was wrongheaded to base all teachers' pay on student performance, while warning it could drive instructors from the classroom.