Free Republic

Boston, MA - On Tuesday, Mary Maloney, whose son was killed last August by an illegal alien charged with driving under the influence, tearfully addressed the state legislature’s Senate Judiciary Committee in support of legislation which would make it tougher for illegal aliens to remain in Massachusetts. Maloney said: “My son paid the ultimate price with his life because Massachusetts is a safe haven for illegal immigrants. The real question I ask is…Why would illegal immigrants not come to Massachusetts when we are so willing to provide them with jobs and free services they could not get in their native...

....Patrick, a Democrat, is a close friend and supporter of President Obama, and is expected to play a prominent role in his reelection campaign. “As you know, state law strictly prohibits you and your staff from using public resources for political campaign purposes,” reads a letter sent this afternoon by Matt Rhoades, Romney’s campaign manager. “Under state law, a public employee may not provide services to a candidate or campaign during his or her work hours.” “Nonetheless, it is evident that your office has become an opposition research arm of the Obama reelection campaign,” the letter added, citing Reilly’s comments...

Just before Mitt Romney left the Massachusetts governor’s office and first ran for president, 11 of his top aides purchased their state-issued computer hard drives, and the Romney administration’s e-mails were all wiped from a server, according to interviews and records obtained by the Globe. Romney administration officials had the remaining computers in the governor’s office replaced just before Governor Deval Patrick staff showed up to take power in January 2007, according to Mark Reilly, Patrick’s chief legal counsel. Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, said the governor’s aides did nothing wrong.

Mitt Romney rejected Mike Huckabee's call for him to admit that the "RomneyCare" health care program failed, instead saying he's "proud" of "getting everyone covered" when he was governor of Massachusetts. "Mitt Romney is proud of what he accomplished for Massachusetts in getting everyone covered,” Romney’s spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, told the Boston Globe, in the first direct response Team Mitt made to Huckabee's criticism of the health plan in his new book. Fehrnstrom also put daylight between the Romney health care bill and President Obama's reform package, which is unpopular among voters and is the subject of several lawsuits by...

Gov. Deval Patrick says he’ll use his second term to try to implement the rest of an advisory panel’s recent recommendations on immigration reform, including in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students and more English classes. Patrick told immigrant advocates Tuesday that the moves will help better integrate the state’s immigrant population, seventh largest in the country. Last year, an advisory panel released a report on possible Massachusetts immigration reforms, and advocates have been pressing Patrick to push for dozens of recommendations in the report.

BOSTON -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is stepping back into the public spotlight after spending two years behind the scenes laying the groundwork for a second presidential campaign. (snip) Romney has shifted from social issues that brought accusations of flip-flopping and undermined his 2008 White House bid. With unemployment hovering around 10 percent, his new focus is on economic themes and fix-it skills he claims as a former businessman. That plays to what some observers believe would be his strength in a second race. They could also distinguish him from potential rivals such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin,...

A Framingham rapist and Level 3 sex offender is accused of breaking his GPS monitoring bracelet and committing another rape and kidnapping after he violated his probation last month but was allowed to remain free. Prosecutors say William French, 29, raped a woman in Framingham on Thursday, just two days after Middlesex Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead ordered French to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet for one year because he violated the terms of his probation by testing positive for smoking pot Jan. 4.

Deval Patrick is a disaster. A perfect prototype of the same disaster going on in Washington. Why, his good friend Barack Obama even lifted the same campaign slogans and promises. And the land of the gullible bought the idea that one party rule would lead to bipartisanship, better government, and lowed deficits and taxes. Surprise!

Just on Fox, a discussion of what's happening in Boston as the state gears-up for the canonization of Ted Kennedy (the "Liberal Lion of the Senate".) According to Fox, the head of the MA Republican Party is getting ready to seek an injunction to stop Gov. Deval Patrick from signing a singularly outrageous piece of legislation. According to Fox, sources say the MA Legislature needs just one day to write and pass a rewrite of the Ted Kennedy No Republicans Ever in Massachusetts Bill which, in 2004, revoked the governor's right to appoint a senator to finish the term of...

BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Wednesday he would support changing state law to allow him to appoint an interim successor to Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat while a special election is held. Unlike most states, a successor to a vacant U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts is chosen by special election, not appointed by the governor. In a recent letter to lawmakers, Kennedy, who died Tuesday night, said the law should be changed to allow the governor to appoint someone to serve in the Senate during the course of the election—provided that person pledge not to run for the...