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A former Massachusetts State Police commander has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for orchestrating a bizarre and brazen bribery scheme that traded commercial driver’s licenses for everything from snowblowers and driveways to candy and bottled water — a scandal prosecutors called one of the “oddest and greediest” cases of public corruption in state history. Gary Cederquist, 60, of Stoughton, who once led the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Unit, was convicted in May on 48 federal counts, including extortion, mail fraud, falsifying records, and honest services fraud. Prosecutors said the former trooper granted passing road test scores to...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) responded to the Trump administration stating that attacks on Teslas or Tesla dealerships could be domestic terrorism by stating that President Donald Trump believes that “somehow, having a protest in front of a Tesla dealership is” domestic terrorism and Trump believes “freedom and liberties belong to people who agree with him, and that’s it. … That’s not a view that people who believe in our Constitution share.” Host Audie Cornish asked, “[P]ublic backlash against Elon Musk, the Trump administration is now saying that, like, if you are attacking Teslas...

For years, I have written about Gov. Maura Healey blocking the construction of more natural gas pipelines in Massachusetts that would increase our supplies and reduce costs. As attorney general, one of her first acts was to commission a study by a greeny organization that predictably downplayed the need for more capacity, despite 33 other studies, including one by Gov. Deval Patrick, that all concluded the Commonwealth had a major problem. Now the chickens have finally come home to roost with exorbitant bills hitting rate payers. It was the most predictable, most easily-prevented disaster ever. Trying to avoid responsibility, Healey...

As Massachusetts officials prepare to send nearly $3 billion in excess state revenues back to taxpayers starting this week, the Department of Revenue late Monday afternoon clarified its staggered distribution plan for Bay Staters.

Democratic Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts suggested that the House would increase tax rates if his party remains in power following the upcoming midterm elections this fall, according to a congressional reporter. Neal, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Democrats, should they keep power in the House, will look to raise corporate and individual tax rates in 2023, according to a Bloomberg reporter. The Inflation Reduction Act, a social spending and tax increase measure that is expected to pass in the House on Friday, includes a proposed expansion of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The expansion...

Gov. Charlie Baker along with other moderate Republicans are blasting the leaders of their own party after a vote by the Republican National Committee declared the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, “legitimate political discourse.” “The Governor commends anyone who is willing to step forward and tell the truth, and disagrees with this vote. He has been clear that the January 6th riot was a violent insurrection and a sad day for democracy, ”Baker said through adviser Jim Conroy.

A long-running child custody case took a dramatic turn Tuesday, when a Massachusetts juvenile court judge awarded “permanent” custody of teen-ager Justina Pelletier to the state Department of Children and Families. The ruling by Judge Joseph Johnston leaves it up to the agency, not the court, to decide whether or when Pelletier should be returned to her West Hartford, Conn., home. “It’s a huge ruling,” said a person who had been briefed on the decision. “It’s a setback for the parents.” This person said the state, which has had temporary custody of Pelletier for more than a year, has no...

The Boston Tea Party (initially referred to by John Adams as "the Destruction of the Tea in Boston"[2]) was a nonviolent political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16, 1773. Disguised as American Indians, the demonstrators destroyed the entire supply of tea sent by the East India Company in defiance of the American boycott of tea carrying a tax the Americans had not authorized. They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor, ruining the tea. The British government responded harshly and the episode escalated into the American Revolution.

Massachusetts residents have only a few days of tax-free shopping left on Amazon.com. Beginning Friday, the state will apply its 6.25 percent sales tax to purchases made from Amazon, though the tax will not apply to third-party vendors who use the site. The state reached an agreement with Amazon last year. Owners of traditional "brick and mortar" stores have long complained of being at a competitive disadvantage to online retailers who are not required to collect sales taxes. State revenue officials tell The Boston Globe the tax on Amazon purchases is expected to raise nearly $37 million for the state...

Massachusetts residents would overwhelmingly oppose a 15-cent increase in the gas tax to help pay for transportation needs, according to the partial results of a poll obtained by the News Service and conducted for a coalition that supports raising the income tax to invest in cities and towns. The poll, conducted by veteran Boston pollster Tom Kiley for the Campaign for Our Communities, showed 83 percent of Massachusetts residents would disapprove of a proposal to hike the gas tax to 36 cents per gallon, including 68 percent who “strongly disapprove.” A total of 17 percent of respondents said they would...

Mitt Romney was firm and direct with the abortion rights advocates sitting in his office nine years ago, assuring the group that if elected Massachusetts governor, he would protect the state’s abortion laws. Then, as the meeting drew to a close, the businessman offered an intriguing suggestion — that he would rise to national prominence in the Republican Party as a victor in a liberal state and could use his influence to soften the GOP’s hard-line opposition to abortion. He would be a “good voice in the party” for their cause, and his moderation on the issue would be “widely...

BOSTON — On the Republican campaign trail, the health care debate has focused on the mandatory coverage that Mitt Romney signed into law as governor in 2006. But back in Massachusetts the conversation has moved on, and lawmakers are now confronting the problem that Mr. Romney left unaddressed: the state’s spiraling health care costs. After three years of study, the state’s legislative leaders appear close to producing bills that would make Massachusetts the first state — again — to radically revamp the way doctors, hospitals and other health providers are paid. Although important details remain to be negotiated, the legislative...

Massachusetts Principal Takes Aim at Fall Holidays, Says They're Insensitive Published October 15, 2011 | FoxNews.com An elementary school principal in Massachusetts has banned fall holidays, saying they’re insensitive, MyFoxBoston reported Friday. Somerville principal: Fall holidays are insensitive: MyFoxBOSTON.com Anne Foley, the principal at Kennedy School in Somerville, Mass., sent an email to teachers warning them about celebrating Thanksgiving, the Boston Herald reported. "When we were young we might have been able to claim ignorance of the atrocities that Christopher Columbus committed against the indigenous peoples," Kennedy School Principal Anne Foley wrote. "We can no longer do so. For many...

(snip) Other Republican leaders such as Ron Kaufman, the longtime confidant to President George H.W. Bush, believe 2012 could be a banner year for the state GOP. He pointed to Brown’s upcoming reelection campaign, last November’s gains by Republican state representatives, and the possibility of having former governor Mitt Romney on the presidential ticket. "For us, it’s about getting the message out," said Kaufman, who added that GOP candidates would focus on the economy and their opposition’s record next year. "If you look at the last three speakers of the House in Massachusetts, they’ve all been indicted for one problem...

MASSACHUSETTS'S UNIVERSAL healthcare law turned one in April. To survive, its guardians have had to make many changes, each of which has increased current and future government spending, increased the government's role in regulating the healthcare market, decreased individual responsibility to purchase insurance, and made certain that the plan will fall far short of achieving universal coverage. The promise of the law was simple and seductive: Require people to purchase health insurance, make the insurance affordable, or at least tax-deductible, and then fine those who don't comply. Subsidies could come from the current money devoted to the Uncompensated Care Pool...

Teddymandering is the practice of changing a law to benefit your political party, then reversing the change when your political party will benefit from the original rules to which you objected. Named for former Massachusetts Senator Edward M. "Teddy" Kennedy. Senator Kennedy influenced the Massachusetts state legislature to change the Senatorial succession law during the 2004 election. His reasons were strictly because Senator John Kerry, if elected President, would be replaced by an appointee of (then) Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican. At the time, Kennedy was against any interim appointment until a special election could be held. In 2009, as...

A Mass. State Rep. is crossing the border to buy alcohol in TAX-FREE New Hampshire! ....he was in NH purchasing alcohol instead of supporting Mass businesses and the 6.25% tax they just levied on us common folk... I guess those who pass the laws need not abide by them. You would think that after hours of testimony from Mass businesses saying how the increased tax and the alcohol tax would hurt them by causing people go to NH would have had an effect on these weasels. But, alas, it's proof again that they have no conscience and only serve their...

A new law just passed in Massachusetts imposes fines of up to $1000 per day and up to a 30 day jail sentence for not obeying authorities during a public health emergency. So if you are instructed to take the swine flu vaccine in Massachusetts and you refuse, you could be facing fines that will bankrupt you and a prison sentence on top of that. The YouTube video below is of a news report about this disturbing new law. In particular, pay attention at the 1:40 mark when the anchor and reporter discuss the new penalties for not obeying the...

When President Obama announced on June 9 that some financial institutions would be allowed to repay Troubled Asset Relief Program dollars, he said the massively expensive TARP bailout had made money for the federal government. "It is worth noting that in the first round of repayments from these [TARP recipients], the government has actually turned a profit," the president said. Indeed, TARP supporters have long held out the hope that the program might be profitable. But now Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has come up with a proposal to spend any TARP profits before...

... Last week, Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments in Town Fair Tire v. Massachusetts. In the coming months, the Supreme Judicial Court will decide the issue at hand: whether Massachusetts has the right to force businesses in New Hampshire to collect Bay State sales taxes when selling items to Massachusetts residents. Given the recent vote in the Massachusetts House of Representatives to increase sales taxes by 25 percent, the impulse to dam the flood of Massachusetts shoppers into sales-tax-free New Hampshire grows stronger among Bay State officials perpetually frustrated with potential tax dollars flowing north across the border. Town...