FreedomWorks, a national tea party organization, is wading into Florida's U.S. Senate race with a strong call to support U.S. Rep. Connie Mack's bid to knock off Democrat Bill Nelson.

Comparing the four-term Naples congressman's record with the 16 months that rival Republican George LeMieux served in the Senate, the FreedomWorks analysis argues that Mack is the more reliable conservative.

"Perhaps most significantly, Mack was one of the few members of Congress in 2008 who voted against the TARP/Wall Street bailout -- twice.

Dont expect a state university seeking the maximum 15 percent tuition hike to get the full request, State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan said Monday.

Brogan said a decision last week by the University of Floridas board of trustees not to seek the maximum increase should be considered a shot heard around the world -- or at least across the academic world of Florida -- that many people dont have the appetite for another year of hikes hitting 15 percent.

Criminal justice experts say they weren't surprised by last week's study showing that the time Florida prisoners spend behind bars has grown more than in any other state a 166 percent increase in the average sentence between 1990 and 2009.

Former Department of Corrections Secretary James McDonough ascribed the findings of the report, "Time Served: The High Cost, Low Return of Longer Prison Terms" by the Pew Center on the States to changes in Florida statutes during the mid-to-late 1990's.