Free Republic

The White House and the Senate are working to squeeze House Republicans into accepting a bipartisan compromise from the upper chamber to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. Any emerging deal, however, will leave ObamaCare largely intact, angering conservatives who have demanded defunding or delaying President Obama’s signature achievement. House Republicans are fuming over the prospect that Senate Democrats and Republicans are working on a plan to jam them with a last-minute deal they would have to accept or risk triggering a federal default. “They are trying to jam us with the Senate and we are not going...

BANGOR — The Electronic Benefits Transfer system that allows welfare recipients to buy groceries and other necessities experienced issues on Saturday. In some cases, people weren’t able to buy groceries. The website for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the EBT system, is offline because of the government shutdown.

enate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) are taking the lead on talks to raise the debt limit and reopen the government, according to senators. Reid and McConnell are working off a six-point proposal sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that would fund the government for six months and raise the debt ceiling until Jan. 31, 2014. Senators view discussions between the two leaders as a promising sign of potential bipartisan compromise. “Reid and McConnell are talking now and those discussions continue so I see that as progress,” said Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas)....

Customers at BJ’s Wholesale Club, Hannaford supermarkets and other grocery stores in Maine abandoned their carts at registers and headed home empty-handed earlier Saturday. Lou Craig, the owner of College Carry-Out in Augusta, said he had to turn away about 50 customers Saturday because the system wouldn’t accept their EBT cards. “They just won’t go through,” he said. “It just prints out ‘declined.’ ” Craig said its a particularly busy time for those using food stamps, because their cards are usually reloaded with cash value from the 10th through the 14th. Jason Quincannon, acting store manager at Hannaford on Forest...

People in Ohio, Michigan and several other states found themselves unable to use their food stamp debit cards on Saturday, after a routine check by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a system failure. Shoppers from Maine to Oklahoma had to abandon baskets of groceries because they couldn't access their benefits.Ohio's cash and food assistance card payment systems went down at 11 a.m., said Benjamin Johnson, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio's cash system has been fixed, however its electronic benefits transfer card system is still down. All states that use Xerox systems are affected...

A trio of centrist Senate Republicans is pushing a plan to reopen the government for six months, extend the debt ceiling until Jan. 31, 2014 and make reforms to ObamaCare. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is spearheading the proposal along with Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). It would address Tea-Party conservatives concerns over Medicare by delaying the medical device tax for two years and creating an income verification program under the Affordable Care Act to ensure only eligible individuals receive subsidies on the insurance exchanges. The delay of the Medical Device Tax would be paid for by extending...

"This guy approached him on going to scare, possibly beat, up, not kill somebody, and he would pay him, and pay him quite a bit of money," she explained. They say Dennison went to the home on Foss Hill Lane to scare the homeowner into paying back an outstanding debt. "I know it's not legal, it's not right," Thibault admitted. They say their family is struggling financially and so Dennison was trying to help. But State Police tell another side of this story. "He was up to no good," explained police spokesman Steve McCausland. Police say Dennison, wearing a black...

Rangers issue a handful of citations over the weekend for alleged trespassing. The government shutdown closed the national park Oct. 1. For months, Julie and Eugene Gillies of South Portland planned to celebrate their wedding anniversary in Bar Harbor. They weren’t about to let a political fight in Congress get in the way of their plans to see Acadia National Park, which they visited on their honeymoon 34 years ago. Riding on small motor scooters beneath a bright blue sky Sunday morning, the couple went around the barricades and past the sign declaring the park closed and joined what they...

In which we award today's King Canute Award to that famous pillar of Jell-O, Susan Collins of Maine, useless walking pile of abject irrelevance. "I voted against Obamacare and have repeatedly voted to repeal, reform, and replace it, but I disagree with the strategy of linking Obamacare with the continuing functioning of government-a strategy that cannot possibly work. Instead, I urge the President and congressional leaders to sit down immediately and negotiate at least a stopgap funding measure to avoid a disruption in many vital programs on which our citizens rely. I also call on the President to resume the...

Conservative groups advising Americans not to sign up for the Obamacare exchanges “are guilty of murder,” according to Maine independent Sen. Angus King. King, who caucuses with the Democrats, told Salon in an interview published Monday that efforts to dissuade young people from signing up is a “scandal,” and a deadly one. “That’s a scandal — those people are guilty of murder in my opinion,” King said in a Friday interview with Salon’s Brian Beutler. “Some of those people they persuade are going to end up dying because they don’t have health insurance.” “For people who do that to other

ROME, Maine — Maine State Police say a man was shot to death in the town of Rome as he was attempting a home invasion. Police said 44-year-old Christopher Dennison of Livermore Falls was wearing a ski mask and brass knuckles as he broke into a mobile home on Foss Hill Lane on Saturday night. Police said the homeowner, 48-year-old Richard Duffy, shot Dennison after a brief altercation with him in the living room. An autopsy by the State Medical Examiner's office showed Dennison died from multiple gunshot wounds. Duffy and his teenage son were not hurt, and there was...

Former President George H.W. Bush was an official witness at the same-sex wedding of two longtime friends, his spokesman said Wednesday. Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush, attended the ceremony joining Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen as private citizens and friends on Saturday, spokesman Jim McGrath said. …

Members of Portland’s Somali community came out in force Tuesday to condemn the terrorist attack of an upscale shopping mall in Kenya, dismiss rumors that a local man was involved and reiterate their commitment to peace. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, met Tuesday afternoon with Portland’s Somali elders at the Islamic Society of Portland and joined several community members afterward to field questions from reporters. “We tell our kids as parents, as community leaders and as religious leaders that what [terrorists] are doing is not representative of Islam,” said local Somali and Deering High School teacher Abdullahi Ahmed. “The newcomers...

20 Sep Republican Sen's Who Are UNDECIDED On Defunding Obamacare! Let's help them decide! Please RETWEET!! #DefundObamacare pic.twitter.com/xn8nG6Y9v6

Senator Susan Collins say a proposal in Congress to slash food stamps funding would hurt Mainers who need it most. House lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that would make around $4 billion dollars in cuts each year to the almost $80 billion dollar-a-year food stamp program. Maine is among the top five states with the biggest share of people on food stamps at 18-percent. Collins says the program needs to be reformed but the proposed cuts are too deep. “We have a lot of elderly people living in rural Maine who really depend on food stamps in order to get...

More than 200 colleges and high schools across the nation participated in Young America's Foundation's 9/11: Never Forget Project. Students came together to establish an American flag memorial on campus consisting of 2,977 flags representing each person murdered in the terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, five student protesters at Middlebury College ripped the flags out of the ground before 3:00 pm. The 9/11: Never Forget Project has been an annual nonpartisan event at Middlebury College for the past ten years. By participating in the 9/11: Never Forget Project, students honor the victims of the attacks, as well as honor the American principles...

Fox confirms Vice President Joe Biden will have dinner Sunday night with a group of GOP Senators who could be swayed on Syria. The topic of conversation is expected to be what the President needs to say in his Tuesday address.

LANG TOWNSHIP — Police say two-time Olympic gold medalist and Maine resident Seth Wescott got an up-close introduction to a moose this week. Franklin County Sheriff's Department Lt. David Rackliffe says Wescott was driving on Route 16 in Lang Township near his home in rural western Maine just after 1 a.m. Thursday when a moose ran out of the woods and struck the left side of the Olympian's van.

In a letter dated August 18, 2013, 13 members of the Maine Republican Party have resigned and/or unenrolled from their political party. The letter outlines many grievances. “Therefore, for the above-stated reasons, we can no longer allow ourselves to be called nor enrolled as Republicans; we can no longer associate ourselves with a political party that goes out of its way to continually restrict our freedoms and liberties as well as reaching deeper and deeper into our wallets.” Full text of letter: August 18, 2013 To Maine State GOP Secretary Chuck Mahaleris: There are times in your life when you...

Gregory Hodge, of Jefferson, is urging people on the political left and right to look critically at their party affiliation. Hodge was the state committeeman for the Lincoln County Republicans until he and 11 other Republicans unenrolled from the Maine Republican Party and resigned related positions this week, Hodge joined five other state committee members, Republican National Committee member Mark Willis, and five other registered Maine Republicans in writing a letter outlining their disaffiliation and the reasons behind it to Maine GOP Secretary Chuck Malaheris. The Aug. 18 letter criticizes a number of people, actions, and groups, including rule changes...

Gov. Paul LePage told a group of Republicans last week that President Obama "hates white people," according to two state lawmakers who say they heard the remark directly. The governor made the comment during a Maine Republican Party fundraiser on Aug. 12 at the home of John and Linda Fortier in Belgrade. According to the invitation, the fundraiser was a "meet and greet" for LePage and first lady Ann LePage, and an opportunity to meet Rick Bennett, the new party chairman. The lawmakers, both Republicans, confirmed the comment when asked by a Portland Press Herald reporter but asked that their...

Alorah Gellerson loves her three-month-old son. "He's a really good baby. He's always happy. He likes to eat," she said. But what baby Carson eats has caused a lot of trouble for this 17-year-old mother. When the baby didn't take to breastfeeding, Gellerson started feeding him homemade goat milk formula. "Oh, he loved it," Gellerson said. "We put celery juice in it, and he just loves that, and it worked really well with his body, and he grew like a weed." But when her doctor reported this to the Department of Health and Human Services, things got messy. "She came...

A pair of hikers who had been rescued after getting lost in the fog and rain inside a Maine state park drowned on Tuesday night when their car plunged into the water off a boat launch as they were trying to leave. Amy Stiner, 37, and Melissa Moyer, 38, were found dead inside a minivan in 20 feet of water about 175 feet from the boat ramp on the edge of Roque Bluffs State Park, the Washington County Sheriff's Department said. A dog, a pit bull mix who was with them, also drowned. Officials say the women, who had just...

ROQUE BLUFFS, Maine (AP) — A pregnant Maine woman and her friend visiting from Pennsylvania got lost hiking and were rescued but died later that evening, authorities said, when they accidentally drove their car into the ocean in the nighttime fog.

BOWDOINHAM, Maine (Reuters) - A Florida motorcyclist known as the "fastest man on two wheels," died Sunday after crashing at just under 300 miles per hour while trying to break his own record for the fastest speed on a conventional motorcycle in a time trial in Limestone, Maine...

AUGUSTA, Maine — Lawmakers who are also military veterans were angered Tuesday when a host of their colleagues switched votes on a bill that would have required public schools to give recruiters in uniform access to school grounds. According to the Maine Department of Education, a handful of schools in Maine have disallowed uniformed recruiters but those opposed to the legislation said there was no evidence recruiters in uniform were being barred. The bill was offered by the administration of Maine's Republican Gov. Paul LePage. Republicans who supported the bill, LD 1503, noted 20 Democrats who voted for the measure...

Police open investigation into deadly derailment in Quebec as dozens of bodies remain buried in ruins. At least 15 people were killed and many more went missing after an oil train derailed at a speed of 63mph [EPA] Canadian police have opened a criminal probe into a fatal oil train blast in the town of Lac-Megantic, following claims and counter claims by operators and firefighters over the causes.Police also raised the death toll from Saturday's blast to 15 from 13 on Tuesday and said the total number of dead and missing people was 50.Quebec police inspector Michel Forget told a...

AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage has wielded his veto pen more than any other Maine governor in recent history — and the session isn't over yet. Throughout the contentious session, the Republican governor has spiked 57 bills the Democratic-led Legislature sent to his desk, recently surpassing former Independent Gov. James Longley, who previously held the record for single-session vetoes with 49 in 1977. In a statement, LePage quoted former President Calvin Coolidge, who said, "It is better to block a bad law than sign a good one."

BANGOR, Maine — A 43-year-old man in a Park Street residence who fired 70 or more rounds from a gun was taken into custody unharmed early Thursday afternoon, according to police. Perrin Oliver of Detroit, Mich.,

Democratic Rep. Michael H. Michaud’s Thursday announcement that he is exploring a run for governor in Maine could spark crowded primaries for his competitive 2nd District. Michaud has won that district with comfortable margins for six terms, but his seat could be competitive if he launches a gubernatorial bid. President Barack Obama won it with 53 percent last year. “This obviously becomes a nationally targeted race if Michaud runs for governor,” said Erik Potholm, a Republican consultant who has worked extensively in Maine politics. “For Republicans, it’s a tremendous opportunity to pick up a new seat, because the … rural...

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) on Thursday went after a Democratic state senator by using a vulgar metaphor involving lubricant. LePage told reporters that state Sen. Troy Jackson “claims to be for the people, but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline.”LePage then walked away, later returning to explain his comment.“That comment is not politically correct,� he said. “But we gotta understand who this man is. This man is a bad person. He doesn’t only have no brains; he has a black heart.�(Full audio can be found here, starting at about the 2:25 mark.)....

AUGUSTA, Maine — The often-brash governor of Maine used crude language Thursday to express his frustration over the state budget, targeting a Democratic opponent with a sexually vulgar phrase to describe how he believes he is taking advantage of the people. Gov. Paul LePage made the remark about Sen. Troy Jackson to journalists from two television stations and one newspaper Thursday.

Daniel Musso of Brentwood was one of a group of people protesting the Mayors Against Illegal Guns rally. An anti-gun violence rally at the Statehouse plaza on Tuesday turned ugly when gun rights supporters turned out to protest the event and one pro-gun advocate had to be Tasered by Concord Police after resisting their efforts to detain him. Daniel Musso, 52, of Brentwood attempted to interject commentary while John Cantin of Manchester was speaking about his efforts to influence U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, on the background check issue. Musso, who was wearing a pro-Native American rights T-shirt, asked Cantin...

(Reuters) - Democratic legislators in Maine scrambled on Tuesday to muster the votes needed to override Republican Governor Paul LePage's late-night veto of a bill to expand Medicaid coverage to an additional 60,000 people. LePage late on Monday blocked a compromise bill that would have increased the number of low-income people eligible for the federal insurance program, an expansion allowed by the U.S. healthcare reform that stands as the signature domestic legislative achievement of President Barack Obama's first term. In vetoing the Medicaid bill, LePage warned against repeating past mistakes, calling previous expansions of Medicaid - which contributed to the...

Maine’s highest court will soon decide which restroom Nicole Maines, a 15-year-old transgendered student, should use. Last week the state supreme court heard oral arguments about whether a school district violated her civil rights when it forbid her from using the girl’s restroom. She was in fifth grade at the time. Maines is biologically male but has identified as female since she was very young. As such, she wished to use the girl’s restroom. State law, however, mandates that boys and girls use separate facilities. Her school told her to use the staff restroom instead. These requirements violate the Maine...

Maine's highest court heard arguments Wednesday over whether transgender students can use the bathroom of their choice, and the girl at the heart of the case said she hoped justices would recognize the right of children to attend school without being "bullied" by peers or administrators. Nicole Maines, now 15, watched lawyers argue over whether her rights were violated when the Orono school district required her to use a staff bathroom after there was a complaint about her using the girls' bathroom. Maines said after the hearing in Bangor that she hopes the Supreme Judicial Court will ensure no one...

Where should a transgender schoolgirl be allowed to pee? To some, this may sound like a minor, insignificant question, but not to Nicole Maines, a 15-year-old transgender girl who attended Maine public schools. Born a boy biologically, Maines now self-identifies as a girl, dressing in girls’ clothing and sporting a typical 15-year-old girl’s hair and makeup. In addition to the harassment she faced from other kids, Maines also met intolerance by school officials, who refused to allow her to use the girls’ bathroom. Instead, in a remarkably insensitive decision, the school required her to use a staff bathroom after a...

Dustin Reininger is a U.S. veteran and former police officer serving 3-5 years in a New Jersey prison for possession of firearms that he legally owned. As a result of the extreme and unjust New Jersey gun laws, Reininger was convicted of illegal possession of firearms as he was passing through the state. Dustin Reininger is not from New Jersey. He was actually moving from Maine to Texas and was driving through New Jersey when he parked his car in a parking lot to rest for the night. Reininger was awakened in the night by police officers who searched his...

A twisted story out of Maine, where police say one man's plan to play the hero ended with the death of a 15-year-old girl. Kyle Dube, 20, allegedly planned to kidnap a teen, who he would then "find." Police say he set up a fake Facebook account under the name Bryan Butterfield and used it to convince Nichole Cable to meet him on the evening of May 12 at the end of her street. A ski mask-clad Dube grabbed her, secured her with duct tape, and hid her in his dad's truck, according to a police affidavit; Cable was reportedly...

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — Dr. Michael Ciampi took a step this spring that many of his fellow physicians would describe as radical. The family physician stopped accepting all forms of health insurance. In early 2013, Ciampi sent a letter to his patients informing them that he would no longer accept any kind of health coverage, both private and government-sponsored. Given that he was now asking patients to pay for his services out of pocket, he posted his prices on the practice’s website. The change took effect April 1. “It’s been almost unanimous that patients have expressed understanding at why I’m...

AUGUSTA, ME, May 20, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The number of deaths in Maine now exceeds the number of births, according to a new report released by the Governor's Office of Policy and Management (OPM). Last year, there were 103 more deaths than new babies. The state's birth rate has steadily fallen over the last 23 years, from 14.1 live births per 1,000 women in 1990 to 10.2 per 1,000 women today. The state's analysis of census data found the state has the nation's highest median age, 43, and is tied with Vermont for the lowest percentage of minors. Only 20.7...

President Obama believed that opposition to his healthcare reform law would fade after the 2010 election, according to former Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). Obama courted Snowe’s support in an attempt to make the bill bipartisan. He assured her GOP opposition to the law would be short-lived, she said. “He thought the opposition to it would lessen after the [2010] election. I said, ‘It’s just the beginning.’ I said, ‘It’s going to grow because I can tell you it’s not going to go away and it’s going to get worse,’” Snowe said in a radio interview moderated by Julie Mason, host...

A Maine teenager who advertised his BMW for sale on Craigslist was forced into the vehicle’s trunk at gunpoint and taken on an eight-hour drive to Delaware by a man who masqueraded as a purchaser, The Smoking Gun has learned. After posting his online ad last month, Alexander Filatov, 19, was contacted by Travis Landry, who said he was interested in buying the grey 2004 sedan. Landry, 29, directed Filatov to meet him at the Motel 6 in Portland where he was staying.

Shortly after Barack Obama won reelection in November, New Jersey governor Chris Christie pointed out that Republicans’ cloudy political prospects had a bright silver lining. “One of the reasons you have 30 Republican governors in America, and why we’re the only organization to add Republican strength,” Christie said, “is because people see us getting things done.” Christie’s stance countered most of the elite postelection commentary, which gleefully pronounced the Republican Party’s political irrelevance. But the governor was right. Since Obama first took office in 2008, Republicans have picked up a net nine governorships, bringing their total to 30 states,...

The FBI has revealed that they now know the identity of the American known as Misha who helped radicalize the Boston bombing suspects. Family members of dead bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev have described Misha as the guiding influence in the elder bomber developing radicalized views. Speculation as to who Misha is has varied wildly in the past week, with some suggesting he is the mastermind behind the marathon bombings while others believe he could be a Russian spy - sent to identify and keep tabs on young men like Tamerlan who are at risk of turning to militant Islam. To date...

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Gov. Paul LePage has signed into law a bill to keep confidential names and other information about gun owners who obtain concealed handgun permits. LePage, who has a concealed handgun permit, announced Friday he’d put his signature on the bill, which was approved a day earlier by lopsided votes in the Maine House and Senate.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev stopped talking once he was prematurely read his Miranda rights. That helps the authorities establish the lone wolf narrative. Whatever else we might have learned from him is probably lost. ... District Court Judge Marianne Bowler arrived at the hospital where he is being treated to preside over his initial hearing Monday, when she read him his Miranda rights. ... Judge Bowler has some interesting international connections. She is a member of the Member of the International Judicial Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Apparently in that capacity, she visited and spoke on legal...

After having a husband and a son in the White House, Barbara Bush said she did not miss “one darn thing” about life there. And she does not want another reason to go back, even if it means depriving the country of the “best-qualified man.” On Thursday, Mrs. Bush, the former first lady and first mom, announced on the “Today” show that she does not want her son Jeb Bush to run for president. “He’s by far the best-qualified man, but no. I really don’t,” Mrs. Bush told Matt Lauer when asked if she wanted to see Jeb Bush, the...

Dozens of resorts with permits to operate on national forests have bought or acquired rights to use nearby bodies of water for snowmaking. The Forest Service had adopted a clause that said those resorts had to transfer their water rights to the federal government ... After the National Ski Areas Association sued, a judge ruled last year that the agency violated procedure in not seeking public comment before adopting the clause. The agency now plans open houses April 16 in Lakewood, Colo., on April 17 in Salt Lake City, and April 18 in Lake Tahoe, Calif., to get input.

As more states follow the lead of New York, Connecticut and Colorado, passing rafts of laws which are decidedly unfriendly to Second Amendment supporters, gun and weapons equipment manufacturers have been feeling the squeeze. Some are already looking to pack up their plants and their jobs and head to friendlier climes, and governors like Rick Perry have been quick to welcome them with open arms – pun intended. But the rest of the more freedom oriented states apparently won’t be willing to sit on the sideline and let Perry grab up all the benefits.Governor Paul LePage of Maine is getting...