Free Republic

Attorney General Martha Coakley is seeking $4 million penalty from the Western Massachusetts Electric Company, saying the utility failed to adequately communicate with residents and municipal officials or secure proper staffing levels during the October 2011 snow storm. In a press release, Coakley is recommending that the state Department of Public Utilities issue the $4 million penalty. In a legal brief filed Tuesday, Coakley said that the electric company failed to meet three separate standards of its plan for responding to storms. “The October 2011 snow storm left thousands of Western Massachusetts customers without power for as many as 12...

Attorney General Martha Coakley, the state’s top prosecutor, said Thursday she agreed with the decision by a Florida special prosecutor to bring charges against the man responsible for killing Florida teen Trayvon Martin. But when asked if she would ever ask the residents of Massachusetts to pray for her to win a conviction – as Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey did Wednesday - she chalked it up to Florida being Florida.

Say what historians will about this shameful aspect of our history, at least Massachusetts didn't honor John Hathorne after he participated in the mass hysteria that sent 19 alleged witches to the gallows here in 1692. Years later, Hathorne, a judge who acted more as prosecutor according to the transcripts of the witchcraft trials, came to be seen for what he was — a disgrace to the concept of justice and a sad excuse for a human being. At least that's how he's portrayed in his great-grandson Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel "The House of the Seven Gables." We less superstitious...

An advocacy group pressing for a ballot law that would force schools to prioritize teacher effectiveness over seniority in hiring, layoff, and transfer decisions says it has amassed more than 100,000 voter signatures, but the state’s largest teacher’s union is gearing up to fight the proposal in court. Attorney General Martha Coakley, who is charged with reviewing ballot questions to ensure they comply with legal criteria, certified the teacher evaluation proposal in August, clearing the way for advocates to launch their signature drive. But the MTA argues that the proposal should never come before voters because it violates laws governing...

Candidates lob shots during convention Open season on Scott Brown officially kicked off yesterday with five of the six Democratic candidates seeking to reclaim the “people’s seat” training their sights and barbs squarely on the freshman U.S. senator during speeches at their party’s state convention in Lowell. “When Ted Kennedy went behind closed doors with lawmakers and lobbyists, he always fought for us,” Bob Massie, the nonprofit executive who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1994, told some 3,000 Democratic delegates gathered on the floor of Tsongas Center. “When Scott Brown goes behind closed door with lawmakers and lobbyists and...

This guy has the lead touch. Next time your liberal friends tell you what a great leader Obama is, just point to what happened in Asia last week. One of the main purposes of the Asia trip was to sign a free-trade agreement with South Korea. The deal had already been fully negotiated (under Bush), was all set to go, it just needed the President's signature. So what does Know-It-All do? He tries to renegotiate the terms to be more friendly to his union buddies back home. End result? Talks collapse, no trade deal. Obama heads home empty-handed - again....

Union Influence: The White House picks its most frequent visitor to sit on its deficit commission. He believes in big government, in big spending, and that the workers of the world should unite. What could go wrong? Computer security firms have been known to hire the best former hackers because they know best how to stop others like them. But the appointment of Andy Stern, president of the Service Employee International Union (SEIU), to a bipartisan commission to come up with ways to deal with the rapidly rising federal budget deficit is like having a serial arsonist organize Fire Prevention...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — As voters head to the polls in Massachusetts, nervous Democrats have already begun to blame one another for putting at risk the Senate seat Ted Kennedy held for more than 40 years

Sen.-elect Scott Brown (R-MA), who won his seat in last night's special election, has already recorded a robo-call for Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) re-election campaign. Brown's campaign confirmed that he recorded the call, which asks voters to call McCain and thank him for supporting Brown. The number goes to Friends of John McCain, the senator's campaign. McCain is facing an election this November. He may also find himself vulnerable in the Republican primary if the more conservative J.D. Hayworth challenges him. A reader from Arizona who received the call tells us that Brown praises McCain for supporting him when no...

"Intellectuals and their followers have often been overly impressed by the fact that intellectuals tend, on average, to have more knowledge than other individuals in their society. What they have overlooked is that intellectuals have far less knowledge than the total knowledge possessed by the millions of other people whom they disdain and whose decisions they seek to override." (Thomas Sowell)

Senate Years of Service: 1937-1944; 1947-1953 Party: Republican; Republican LODGE, Henry Cabot, Jr., (great-great-great grandson of George Cabot, great-great grandson of John Davis of Massachusetts, great-great grandson of Elijah Hunt Mills, grandson of Henry Cabot Lodge, brother of John Davis Lodge, and nephew of Augustus P. Gardner), a Senator from Massachusetts; born in Nahant, Essex County, Mass., on July 5, 1902; graduated from Middlesex School, Concord, Mass., in 1920 and from Harvard University in 1924; engaged in newspaper work 1924-1931; member, Massachusetts State legislature 1933-1936; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1936; reelected in 1942, and...

The Republican upset in the race for the U.S. Senate seat held for nearly half a century by liberal Edward M. Kennedy reflects a huge victory for opponents of U.S. President Barack Obama - and also for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Scott Brown defeated once-favored Martha Coakley for the Massachusetts seat even after U.S. President Barack Obama rushed to Boston on Sunday to try to save her candidacy. Over the past nine months, Netanyahu has managed to curb pressure from Obama, who enjoys a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. Now, however, Obama will be more dependent on the...

Martha Coakley’s campaign had originally planned on spending less money in the general election against Scott Brown than it had spent winning the Democratic primary, its chief strategist said in an interview today. Many people had expected the four-way primary to be tougher than the general election against Mr. Brown, a little-known Republican state senator. So the Coakley campaign, which spent roughly $5 million to win the Democratic nomination, entered the general election with only about $450,000 left and plans to spend only about $1.8 million against Mr. Brown in the final stretch, which was less than two months long....

Health Care: Will the administration seize the moment of Scott Brown's victory to work out real solutions, or will it follow Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid over the cliff? Or is it just about government control? Before Sen.-elect Brown became the Scott heard 'round the world, House Speaker Pelosi was asked what his victory in the bluest of blue states would mean. "Certainly the dynamic will change depending on what happens in Massachusetts," she replied in a bit of an understatement. The dynamic has changed, yet the Democrats, as the country song goes, apparently don't know when to hold them...

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in my life I am proud of Massachusetts, as I paraphrase Michelle (My Belle) Obama. For the first time in my life I am proud of Massachusetts. I seem to remember some hack saying you never want to waste a crisis. Some hack in the White House said that. I think his name was Rahm Emanuel. That's exactly right. Well, they are in a crisis right now, and turnaround is fair play. So let me say, ladies and gentlemen, you never want to waste a crisis, especially when it's the libs experiencing...

Special Post-Election Analysisby Rosa OrtizFormer Chief of Housekeeping Staff, Coakley For Senate CampaignI have been in this country for now many years and I have learn many things. Like to put the 20% away for the rainy day. Do no to mix the permanent press with the cottons. And as Dio is my witness, do no never take the job for the Kennedys.Please for to let me explain. I am being to not blog for many months here because I am very busy. Continued

Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley limps out of the bruising Senate battle with a damaged image and an uncertain future, while state Sen. Scott Brown bursts onto the national scene as a rising Republican star, experts told the Herald yesterday. A prohibitive early favorite, Coakley squandered a 30-point lead to an unknown, upstart state senator, losing “Ted Kennedy’s seat” in an electoral collapse some compared to the worst disasters in Bay State political history. “This is probably more damaging (to Coakley) than Dukakis in the tank,” said political analyst Lou DiNatale. “She’s damaged goods,” DiNatale said. “The question is whether...

Pro-Life Reaction to Scott Brown Defeating Martha Coakley Washington, DC -- Scott Brown defeated pro-abortion activist Martha Coakley Tuesday night in a special election for a U.S. Senate seat that became a national expression of disappointment with the pro-abortion health care bill. Leading pro-life advocates applauded the vote because of its impact on the legislation. http://www.LifeNews.com/state4742.html

There is nothing that William Rivers Pitt loves more than putting on his Pretend Pundit cap and prognosticate as some sort of political insider for the DUmmies. We have seen this many times and Will inevitably ends up with egg on his face. Remember that courtroom somewhere in Ohio where lawyers for John ("I served in Vietnam") Kerry supposedly filed papers that would somehow overturn the 2004 presidential election? That was a Pitt "scoop." Oh, and Obama would have no problem getting ObamaCare passed because he "parked it" according to Pitt after one of his many boring speeches on...

(BUT THE VOTES ALL WENT BROWN IN) MASSACHUSETTSTune: "Massachusetts" Original Sung by the Bee Ohs Feel we've got a lock in Massachusetts Since it's Teddy's seat, it must go blue But the votes all went Brown in Massachusetts They say we lost--I can't believe it's true Tried to run and hide with Marsha Coakley Thought there's not a thing she had to do But the votes all went Brown in Massachusetts They brought me down and now I'm black and blue Talk about the loss in Massachusetts Speak about how freakish it must be But the votes all went Brown...