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4/25/2009 By Ben 4 Comments

A ‘Nonpartisan’ Reason to Challenge California Anti-Taxpayer Media Bias

It's quite often the subtle bias in the dominant liberal media that can make a significant difference. Witness yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle piece on a California ballot initiative to impose tax-and-spending limitations on state government. Writer John Wildermuth quotes from two Colorado sources to establish views on our own state's experience with the stronger Taxpayer's Bill of Rights limit (emphases added):"Nobody disagrees that (the cap) kept government spending lower," said Carol Hedges, a senior fiscal analyst for the nonpartisan Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, which opposes the state's budget cap. "But supporters don't like to talk about the human cost of keeping government smaller."... Across the nation, anti-tax … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, media bias, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: accurate, adjective, anti-tax advocates, argue, ballot initiative, budget cap, California, Carol Hedges, Colorado, Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, conclusion, credibility, degree, Democratic, descriptor, difference, dominant liberal media, downhill, establish, experience, fiscal analyst, fiscal conservatives, free market, full disclosure, Independence Institute, John Wildermuth, Jon Caldara, machine, misleading, newspapers, nonpartisan, objective, out of business, outsourced arm, predetermined, President, primary source, progressive, quotes, rolls, San Francisco Chronicle, significant, sources, story, subtle bias, tax-and-spending limit, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, technical sense, think tank, undeserved, views, writer

3/16/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Undeterred by Plain Reading of Constitution, State Supremes Stick It to Colorado Taxpayers

Update, 3/17: Law student Constructively Reasonable says the decision is a cause for "outrage". A watcher says Colorado may not as well even have a constitution. The Colorado Supreme Court has done it again, showing its disdain for taxpayer protections in the state constitution. From the majority opinion:When it issued its declaratory judgment order, the district court did not have the benefit of our recent decision in Barber v. Ritter, 196 P.3d 238 (Colo. 2008), in which we held that a statute challenged under article X, section 20 must be proven to be unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court erroneously held that the relevant test of SB 07-199s constitutionality came from the interpretive guideline included in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Judiciary, PPC, property rights Tagged With: 49 states, Allison Eid, arbitrary rule, Ari Armstrong, boss, campaign issue, Cary Kennedy, clairvoyance, Colorado Supreme Court, common sense, compelling case, conservatives, constitutional sanity, constitutionality, Cory Gardner, Democrat, Denver Post, dissenting voice, downgrading, faith, fiscal restraint, forthcoming, full retreat, government, Governor, Grand Junction Jon Caldara, higher threshold, inescapable, Josh Penry, just, justice system, kudos, law, legal arena, libertarian, life support, local elections, local tax revenues, loyalist, most partisan, observation, offense, other ideas, partisan interests, plain reading, realization, reasonable, Republicans, SB 07-199, school districts, senate minority leader, simpler, state constitution, state house, state legal system, state of Colorado, state representative, state senate, state treasurer, tactical idea, tax dollars, tax policy change, tax revenue gain, taxpayer protections, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, The Colorado Index, violated, voter permission, weigh in, writer

11/1/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado’s Amendment 47 Poster Child Living High off Workers’ Dues

Face The State reports on the poster child for Amendment 47:Ernest Duran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, paid himself and two of his children combined salaries of over $430,000 in 2007. Duran collected a salary of $162,368 for 2007, according to records with the U.S. Department of Labor. Two of Duran's children also work for the UFCW Local 7. His daughter Crisanta Duran, an associate counsel, pulled in $133,410 in 2007. His son, Ernie Duran, III, earned $134,378 in 2007 as an executive staffer. According to Salary.com, a Denver-area grocery cashier can earn about $24,377 annually, an assistant manager at the same store earns approximately $48,950, and a store manager earns about $66,800 a year. The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: agency-fee payers, Amendment 47, anti-47 campaign, assistant manager, associate counsel, Craig Daily Press, Crisanta Duran, Dominic Brazzale, doomed, dues, earnings, Ernest Duran, Ernie Duran, executive staffer, Face the State, grocery cashier, law-breaking, polls, poster child, right-to-work, Safeway, salary, Salary.com, six-figure salary, store manager, Tuesday, U.S. Department of Labor, UFCW attorney, unexpected miracle, union contract, union members, union official, United Food and Commercial Workers, workers' voice, writer

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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

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  • Loveland Politics
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National News and Politics

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Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
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  • E!! The True Conservative Story
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  • 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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Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
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Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
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Colorado Blogs

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Other Sites

  • Technorati
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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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