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"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

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Home Archives for metro Denver

3/12/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Poor Timing of FasTracks Tax Announcement Only Tip of Iceberg

It's kind of surreal to find these two headlines in the same edition of the Denver Post: Colo. jobless at 21-year high: "The unemployment rate hasn't been this high since April 1988, when it was at 6.7 percent. It is also higher than the 6.3 percent rate reached during the depths of the dot-com bust from 2001 to 2003." Doubling FasTracks sales tax gets nod: "On Wednesday, a majority of the Metro Mayors Caucus tentatively approved a plan to salvage FasTracks by asking voters for another 0.4 percent sales tax. The mayors, hoping to see the entire $6.9 billion expansion finished by 2017, are gambling that voters will maintain support for the project despite higher costs and some of the weakest economic conditions in the past … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Energy, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC, RTD, transportation Tagged With: alternatives, benefits, collision, costs, deceptions, Denver Post, disproven claims, edition, encroachment, expansion, expensive, expert, FasTracks, headlines, higher costs, Independence Institute, inefficient, irony, jobless, land use, laughable timing, light-rail plan, majority, mayors, metro Denver, Metro Mayors Caucus, more, overpriced, Randal O'Toole, report, RTD, sales tax, skeptical, sorry, striking, support, surreal, tip of the iceberg, Titanic, transportation, unclean, unemployment, voters, weak economic conditions

1/28/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Coloradans, You Can Make a Difference for School Financial Transparency

Update, 1/29: More coverage on Colorado Spending Transparency and Ed News Colorado, as well as a kind link from the Open Records blog. This morning the Colorado Senate Education Committee got a bit of a surprise, it might seem, with a slew of concerned citizens coming forward to testify in support of Senate Bill 57 (PDF) (sponsored by state senator Ted Harvey) - which would bring something akin to full-fledged financial transparency to Colorado public schools. It's unusual to see more than 15 average citizens come forward to testify for a piece of legislation - and rarer yet, to have many of them do so quite eloquently. Most were from the metro Denver area, a couple hailed from Weld County, and one of them drove three hours over the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, PPC Tagged With: against, Arvada, bloggers, Bob Bacon, bureaucrat, centennial, Chris Romer, Colorado, Colorado Association of School Boards, Colorado Association of School Executives, Colorado Open Records Act, Colorado Press Association, Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs School District 11, concerned citizens, corporate executives, cost savings, cripples, David Williams, Denver, Eagle County, eloquently, employee support, everyday apathy, Evie Hudak, financial information, financial transparency, Fort Collins, golden dome, government books, grassroots, Jack Ott, Keith King, legislation, legislative audio, little victory, Littleton, lobbyists, local government officials, metro Denver, Mike Kopp, Nancy Spence, Natalie Menten, online spending database, open government, parents, Peter Groff, political activists, prolonged testimony, proud moment, public eyes, public schools, reconvene, reliable ally, requests, Rollie Heath, searchable database, Senate Bill 57, Senate Education Committee, slew, small business owners, support, surprise, Ted Harvey, testify, Tom Stone, vacation, Weld County

1/13/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Shedding No Tears for the Shane Co. – No Diamond Business Friend of Mine

So the Shane Co. files Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As one not in the habit of frequenting jewelry stores, you might think I'm utterly indifferent. But then you'd see that I'm blogging on the topic, so perhaps you're wondering there must be something prompting me to waste a few minutes. Well, you're right. The lovely Mrs. Virtus and I are here laughing about the story, because we never intend to go back to the Shane Co., Chapter 11 or no. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: a watcher, argue, arrogance, automakers, bankruptcy, business, Chapter 11, conceded, condescension, Detroit, employee, engagement ring, errands, fiancee, forgiveness, gumball machine, hassle, haughty, indifferent, insurance, jewelry stores, laughing, metro Denver, mistake, money, Mrs. Virtus, palpable, rich, Rocky Mountain News, rough appraisal, rudeness, saleslady, scoffed, Shane Co., solder, sorry, tasks, tax bracket, timetable, unapologetic, unmoved, value, weariness, wedding, wedding band

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

  • Do Nonprofits Really Help Developing Countries?
  • Helping Older Family Members With End-of-Life Issues
  • Examining California’s Drug Problem
  • Going to School with a Full-Time Job or Career
  • Las Vegas Schools in the Grips of a Drug Crisis

Colorado News

  • Colorado Senate News
  • Complete Colorado
  • Independence Institute
  • Loveland Politics
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National News and Politics

  • Drudge Report
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  • National Review
  • Politico
  • Real Clear Politics
  • Reason
  • The Washington Times
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Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
  • David Harsanyi’s Blog
  • E!! The True Conservative Story
  • EIA Intercepts
  • Evangelical Outpost
  • Hugh Hewitt
  • Instapundit
  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
  • Little Green Footballs
  • Michelle Malkin
  • NRO's The Corner
  • Power Line
  • Red State

Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
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  • Shot in the Dark
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  • Virginia Postrel
  • Volokh Conspiracy

Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
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Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
  • Colorado Republican Study Committee
  • Dennis Prager
  • Denver Metro Young Republicans
  • Free Republic
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Colorado Blogs

  • American Kestrel
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  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 1.0 (Archive)
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  • Stop the ACLU Blog
  • The Spot (Denver Post)
  • We Stand Firm

Other Sites

  • Technorati
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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
  • The Business Word
  • The Daily Blogster
  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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