Ann Coulter has written an op-ed in defense of the Massachusetts healthcare law which President Obama says gave him the inspiration for the national healthcare law know as Obamacare.  Ann Coulter has been an outspoken supporter of Romney’s run for the Republican nomination for President.

The op-ed was found on her blog and it was called “Three Cheers For Romneycare!”, she explains,

“If only the Democrats had decided to socialize the food industry or housing, Romneycare would probably still be viewed as a massive triumph for conservative free-market principles — as it was at the time.”

Romney has taken as far as a step back as he can from Romneycare.  He is afraid that voters will see him as too much of a moderate for supporting a law that is just like Obamacare.  President Obama is very grateful for Romneycare because if Romney is the nominee it takes the pressure off Obama.  Obamacare is still very widely unpopular.

Coulter lays out what she sees as a basic distinction between the Massachusetts law and the federal law in her op-ed,

“One difference between the health care bills is that Romneycare is constitutional and Obamacare is not.”

Jonathan Gruber, is one of the architects of Romneycare and Obamacare. He was asked what he thinks of a distinction betweenthe two and he says,  “the same f***ing bill.”

Philip Klein of the Washington Examiner went after coulter for treating conservatives like they are idiots.  He said of Coulter,

“defend[ing] big government social welfare policy as conservative and treat[ing] conservatives like they’re too dumb to understand the difference.”

Do you think Romneycare and Obamacare are the same F**king Bill?

Listen to Mark Levin rip Ann Coulter apart about Romneycare.

Ann Coulter Defends Romneycare [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown has made history.  No, I am not talking about being a Republican and being elected in Massachusetts (although I thought I would see a unicorn before that ever happened).  Senator Brown and hid Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren have signed an agreement banning third party ads from their Senate Race.

It isn’t just a gentleman’s agreement either, this deal has some bite to it.  The two agreed that if any third party group runs an ad (positive or negative) in their names their respective campaigns would donate half the cost of the ad buy to charity.

Earlier Warren sent a ltter to Brown saying,

“Elizabeth Warren wants to work on this campaign based on her ideas and her values, and work on what she believes. We have the opportunity to set an example for the rest of the country. Let’s do it”

It seems Brown had the exact same thought process.

In speaking to Fox News Brown said,

“They’re false and misleading. People know better. They’re smarter. … They want to know how a particular candidate is going to draw distinctions and get their vote, earn their vote. They don’t need these outside groups trying to buy elections and do things inappropriately.”

To be honest with you it isn’t like Massachusetts voters are going to be hurting for ads featuring the two candidates.  Both have raised an obsene amount of money for the campaign in 2012.

Warren’s campaign raised $5.7 million in the fourth quarter and $3.15 million raised in the third quarter of 2011.  She has more than$6 million cash on hand.

Brown’s campaign recently released third quarter donations of $5.3 million raised.  He had an astounding $10.5 million cash on hand.

How do you feel about Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown banning third party ads?

Masachusetts Senate Candidates Ban Outside Ads is a post from: The Inquisitr

Yesterday in Massachussetts, Republican candidate Scott Brown and Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren took the unusual steps of denouncing so-called super PACs, and pledging to attempt to go forward in the hotly contested Senate seat, both are vying for, without the PAC’s money or influence.

Super PACs are an emerging issue in the 2012 election- Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart have been pounding the issue hard on their respective shows to flog Colbert’s satirical Citizens For a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow- but few candidates are very focused on the very real ethical concerns posed by such large infusions of cash from organizations that have very clearly stated interests. Warren is an anti-corruption crusader, consumer advocate and voice for the middle class, and it is interesting that Brown has moved to his position on the issue of Super PACs.

Speaking at an event in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day yesterday in the state, Warren stated that she’d like Brown to join her in attempting to limit the influence of money on the campaign. She said:

“What I’d like to do is I’d like to be able to run my campaign… I’d like for Sen. Brown to run his campaign and we both be responsible for what is said. I think that is the right way to be able to run the campaign.”

According to Politico, Brown was in agreement speaking at an American Legion post in Mattapan. The Senator indicated he was “glad professor Warren seems to be coming around on this issue,” and said he wanted to stop the super PAC spending all along:

“I think by sending a joint message to stay out, I’m hopeful they’ll accept that message. This is going to be decided by the people of Massachusetts, not by the tens of millions of outside interest dollars coming into our state.”

Of her statement that she wanted an enforceable pact, Warren elaborated Monday that she’d prefer “something that actually means something. No more politics as usual.” Do you think the growing ability of corporations to influence the outcome of elections is worrisome, or is it just free market Capitalism?

Scott Brown, Elizabeth Warren Call Truce on Super PAC Spending is a post from: The Inquisitr

Before preparing to launch his first presidential bid in 2007 aides for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney paid nearly $100,000 of taxpayer money to order hard drives from his time as governor erased and destroyed.

According to reports Romney’s staff purchased the hard drives of their state-issued computers and then proceeded to wipe out emails from state servers before signing a lease for new computers for the governor’s office, breaking a former lease and costing the state $97,000.

Former Romney representatives say the practice followed all proper uses of law and precedent however the former director of administration for the Governor’s office says the efforts to wipe out all forms of records was unprecedented in her 23 years of serving successive Governors.

Massachusetts state laws have not been updated to include digital records requests which has caused an influx of requests for paper records from Romney’s time as governor, including some documents he failed to destroy before leaving office. In the meantime Romney has argued that a 1997 state court ruling states that governor records in the state are not subject to disclosure, a contention that is being fought against by various public records rights activists.

Do you think records of public matter should be allowed to be erased and destroyed as a governor leaves office or should those documents be made available as a record of public interest barring classified documents.

When serving as Governor Mitt Romney worked with a Democrat-led state house to correct a budget shortfall and he signed into law a healtcare bill that required all state residents to buy insurance or face penalties, a bill that helped the Obama administration model the Health Care Reform act. It’s likely that as Romney now criticizes the Obama plan that he wanted those records erased to protect his new attack platform against the President.

Do you think Mitt Romney is attempting to hide information that would destroy his chances to become the next President of the United States?

[Image via Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com]

Mitt Romney Aides Paid $97,000 To Erase Governorship Records is a post from: The Inquisitr

When a commercial fishing crew managed to snag a 881-pound bluefin tuna, they were probably expecting a pretty big payday. Considering that early this year a 754-pound bluefin was sold in Japan in an auction for about $396,000, they would have been right.

After hearing from his crew of the accidental catch – it’s believed that the fish got caught up in the trawling gear as the crew was fishing for bottom-dwelling specimens – boat owner Carlos Rafael contacted a bluefin tuna hotline operated by fishing regulators.

When the crew managed to reach land in Provincetown Harbor, however, feds were there waiting for them; they took the massive tuna from the crew, telling them that their catch was illegal – tuna must be caught with a rod and reel, not a net.

This was news to Rafael.

“They never brought up you could only catch with a rod and reel, not with a net. Just they tell me this is the size, and time to get it in by and so forth,” he said. “So we come in, and Uncle Sam gets the fish.”

After confiscating the large bluefish tuna, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agents said that his catch would be sold by the NOAA, but Rafael and his crew likely won’t be getting any of the reward for themselves. Instead, they’ll most likely be receiving a warning from the NOAA.

Rafael and his crew did have tuna fishing permits for the boat – they’ve had several in the past, in fact – but that didn’t stop the feds from beign able to take the tuna away. Now, Rafael says he’s considering giving his tuna fishing permits up, as they’re apparently worthless.

Check out a video interview with the boat’s owner from FOX News below.

Source: South Coast Today

Fishermen catch 881-pound tuna, feds take it away is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Massachusetts couple were forced to call 911 after they entered a corn maze just before sunset and were unable to exit the maze before darkness fell.

The couple entered the maze at Connors Farm just north of Boston with their infant and when the farm shut down and bugs descended the parents decided to call 911.

During the dispatch conversation the mom said:

“I’m stuck at Connors Farm. I’m really scared. It’s really dark and we’ve got a 3-week-old,” while adding, ”I don’t know what made us do this. Oh, my goodness. The mosquitoes are eating us alive, and I never took my daughter out, this is the first time. Never again. This is embarrassing.”

Her husband then chimed in by telling the dispatcher:

“I can see lights over there, but we can’t get there. We’re smack in the middle of the corn field.”

Thankfully the family was found quickly and removed from the 8-10 acres maze.

It should be noted that Connor Farms urges people to enter the maze no later than one hour before closing time and they explain that passing through the corn maze typically takes 45 minutes.

The design firm who created the maze for the farm says it’s the first time they have heard of police needing to rescue someone from inside a corn maze.

Personally I would find a night time corn maze to be far more fun than a daytime maze, then again I would be wearing insect repellent and wouldn’t have a 3-month-old child with me. Would you prefer a daytime or nighttime corn maze challenge?

Couple Call 911 After Getting Stuck In Corn Maze is a post from: The Inquisitr

One hit wonder Stevie B, real name Steven Bernard Hill was arrested in Massachusetts for failure to pay child support. According to officials the singer owes $420,000 in unpaid support.

Stevie B is best known for his song “Because I Love You (The Postman Song) which reached No .1 on the Billboard charts in the 1990s.

The singer was on tour in Springfield, Mass., when authorities entered the MassMutualCenter where he was performing with other groups from the past including Lisa Lisa and Expose. Mid-set police took to the stage and arrested the singer, handcuffing him in front of fans.

Child support is owed to a female living in Agawan, Mass. and Springfield police Sgt. John M. Delaney said Hill was surprised by the arrest and also worried that he might miss a performance scheduled for the weekend in Providence, Rhode Island.

Do you think police should have allowed Stevie B to finish his set or was his arrest in the middle of his set fitting given his failure to provide child support?

Stevie B Steven Bernard Hill Arrested During Performance is a post from: The Inquisitr

Daniel Kerrigan, 70, father of Olympic silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan, has died in Stoneham, Massachusetts.

Kerrigan’s brother, 45-year-old Mark Kerrigan, has been arrested on a count of assault and battery on a person over 60 following his father’s death. Nancy Kerrigan’s mother, clearly distraught, spoke to press this morning about the incident during which her husband suffered a “massive heart attack” and subsequently died, and the Boston Herald quoted a police report describing the alleged assault:

A five-page police report of the alleged assault at the Kerrigan Cedar Avenue home in Stoneham states both father and son were yelling and pushing “back and forth” until the elder Kerrigan fell over.

The police report states Brenda Kerrigan told police the two men were battling until her husband fell. Police also report Mark Kerrigan put his “hands around his father’s neck” and he said he thought his dad was “faking it” when he fell to the floor.

Mark Kerrigan had to be subdued with pepper spray, the police report states. He also appeared intoxicated, the report adds.

Kerrigan is perhaps best known for the attack on her by rival Tonya Harding’s camp in 1992. She later went on to take the silver medal in women’s figure skating.

Nancy Kerrigan’s father dies, brother arrested for assault is a post from: The Inquisitr

I don’t talk about politics in public company. It’s one of my rules. I especially don’t talk about American politics even though I probably know it better than I know the politics of my own country.

So why am I stepping into the piranha infested arena of American politics where one can find oneself shredded to the bone faster than you can whistle a teabagger’s theme song?

Because there has been a shift and I figured that maybe an outsider message to President Obama might be in order.

You see normally I talk about things like Social Media and how it has the potential to change our society but then I see how the Democrats have had their collective asses handed to them by an ex-nude model and I wonder if social change is nothing more than a figment of our imaginations.

It is not only handed to them on a silver platter but it happens in the very state that believed in and supported the father of healthcare: Ted Kennedy. While the dissection over the loss will occupy the Democrat party for sometime the message couldn’t be any clearer.

The message is clear President Obama.

The people of the United States do not want healthcare reform.

They don’t care that their country has one of the largest number of people in the civilized world who can’t afford any kind of healthcare.

They don’t care that more people in the greatest democracy in the world face total bankruptcy due to a family member getting sick.

They don’t care that healthcare companies continue to make billions while they make coverage more and more expensive and cover less.

So President Obama I have a suggestion for you.

It’s time to get out of the healthcare business – all of it (excluding the VA).

Seriously. You of all people know that between Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid the United States will be irrevocably on the road to bankruptcy. You can’t afford what you are already providing and as we look to a future of a tsunami of baby boomers reaching retirement the debt required to support them will be mind boggling.

Those who have opposed any change as well as those against any government healthcare support argue that the market or private business will be able to cover the needs of the people.

So, let them.

Get out of the healthcare business President Obama. Shut down Medicare and Medicaid. Let the market handle the problem. Let the healthcare companies meter out care as they see fit. After all this is what the people are telling you.

In the microcosm of Massachusetts – the home of the liberals, the home of the social giants better known as The Kennedy’s – you have been told that healthcare isn’t the responsibility of the government. You’ve been smacked across the face by the very people who helped put you in that office.

Sure it will be a bitter pill to swallow President Obama but at least you will be able to face the American people and tell them that you have given them exactly what they wanted.

Yup. Exactly what they wanted.

Okay President Obama, it’s time to get out of the healthcare business – all of it is a post from: The Inquisitr

A few days before she returned home to Massachusetts from a cruise near Bermuda, 8 year old Meagan Bilodeau dropped a message in a bottle into the ocean, hoping for a new penpal.

Meagan wanted the bottle to find her a cool new penpal, and it did. 11-year-old Teddy Herrick fished the bottle out of the water and read the message inside:

“I always wished someone would find my bottle if I sent one. If found, would you kindly write back to me? Please? Please? Please?” the letter read.

It was early June when the bottle was sent, and Teddy found the message in late July. The girls are excited to be penpals, but they could just hang out in person. In its under-two-months long journey, the bottle was recovered by the second girl less than twenty miles from Meagan’s Falmouth, MA home.

CNN spoke to a pro about the probable travel trajectory for the bottle:

The most likely path for the bottle would have been to or near the United Kingdom, but an eddy could have broken it away from the Gulf Stream, allowing it to float to Massachusetts, said Jenifer Clark, a satellite oceanographer who works for her own company in Maryland after years of employment with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Message in a bottle follows little girl home from Bermuda is a post from: The Inquisitr

A phenomenon that is becoming all too familiar has claimed another victim, 23-year-old Darlene Haynes.

Haynes was found by her landlord, murdered in her Worcester, Massachusetts apartment after police responded to a ”horrifying smell.” Haynes was stashed in a closet and wrapped in bedding, her body so badly decomposed that police had difficulty even confirming her gender. She was approximately eight months pregnant at the time of her death and police are searching frantically for her child, who may have survived the attack.

Although police have not named a suspect, relatives confirmed to media that Haynes was experiencing “harassment” by both her baby’s father and her overly intrusive landlord. Haynes leaves behind three other daughters aged 5, 3 and 1.

Cases of fetal abduction are generally perpetrated by desperate women who have faked a pregnancy and need to produce a child to bear out their deception. In June, 21-year-old Heather Snively was killed in Oregon for her baby. The child did not survive the attack.

Mother-to-be Darlene Haynes killed for her fetus is a post from: The Inquisitr