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Home Archives for 2008

Archives for 2008

6/4/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

NEA Endorses Obama, Giving the Rest of Us a Reason to Vote McCain

Did you need a reason not to vote for Barack Obama? Perhaps need a reason to vote for John McCain? If I'm not convinced already, this press release from the National Education Association sure helps to push me in that direction:National Education Association President Reg Weaver announced today that he will ask the 9,000 locally elected delegates to the Association's Representative Assembly to take a formal vote to recommend that NEA's 3.2 million members support Barack Obama in his bid to become President of the United States.... The contrast between Obama and McCain on issues that matter most to NEA members – the economy, education and health care – is indeed stark. Obama opposes using public tax dollars to provide financial … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, endorsement, John McCain, National Education Association, rhetoric, vouchers

6/3/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter Could Be Left All Alone to Defend His Property Tax Increase

From Face The State today:While Gov. Bill Ritter has eagerly insisted that he will appeal a Friday court ruling establishing that a mill levy freeze amounts to an unconstitutional tax increase under Colorado law, members of the state Board of Education, a defendant in the case, remain undecided about whether they will formally join in support of Ritter's challenge. It appears the District Court ruling may have emboldened the two Republicans on the State Board to change their mind. The Board meets in executive session tomorrow:Vice Chairman Bob Schaffer, R-Fort Collins, introduced in April a motion for the board to take a formal position, by way of public vote, on whether the department would “defend the lawsuit or [agree with] the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, property rights Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Bob Schaffer, Colorado State Board of Education, Denver District Court, Evie Hudak, Face the State, Pamela Jo Suckla, Peggy Littleton, Property Tax Increase, Randy DeHoff

6/3/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Closing the Loop on Labor Union Disclosure of Member Dues Money

Union members in Colorado and across the nation stand to gain from newly proposed federal rules that would provide a clearer picture of how union leaders are spending their hard-earned dues money. If you're a glutton for punishment, there's the official 103-page document with the new rules. For the rest of us, compliments of the Public Service Research Foundation, there is a layman's version of the new pro-worker rules:They require that unions specify the costs of benefits being provided to officers and employees. Under the present system the cost of benefits is only reported as one big lump sum. The new regulations will allow union members to see how much they are paying in benefits for each officer and employee. This will … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: disclosure, LM-2, luxury trips, public comment, Public Service Research Foundation, Transparency, U.S. Department of Labor, union financial disclosure, union leaders

6/3/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter and the Democrats’ Senate Bill 200 Also Bad for Business

I haven't written much about Senate Bill 200, so-called "anti-discrimination" legislation, recently signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter. But I certainly took notice when libertarian Ross Kaminsky assailed it in his latest Human Events column:In the quadrennial marathon to see who can be the nation’s worst governor, Colorado’s Bill Ritter is in a full sprint. On Thursday, Ritter signed Senate Bill 200 which expands “anti-discrimination” law to cover sexual orientation, meaning not only homosexuality or bisexuality, but also “transgender status or another person’s perception thereof.” The bill is so ripe for abuse and creates so much risk for private business that it’s no surprise the ordinarily media-hungry Ritter signed … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: anti-discrimination, Ben Hummel, Bill Ritter, Human Events, Jennifer Veiga, Joel Judd, liberal intelligentsia, Politix Cartoons, Ross Kaminsky, Senate Bill 200, social issues, transgendered

6/2/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Congrats to Mark Hillman

One last order of business to follow up on from Saturday: congratulations to Mark Hillman for winning the vote for national committeeman, and to Mark and wife Heidi for the coming arrival of their first child. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General Tagged With: Mark Hillman, Republican National Committeeman, Republican State Convention

6/2/2008 By Ben 6 Comments

Hillary Supporter Lashes Out at Obama, Democrats; Promises McCain Victory

As much as Republicans are less than enthusiastic about their Presidential nominee, a video like this helps to confirm my suspicions that the Democrats have bigger problems: The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has more details here on what exactly made this woman and so many other Hillary supporters angry. Clinton's overwhelming primary win in Puerto Rico doesn't add any more clarity - or confidence -to the Democrat nomination picture. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: Chris Cillizza, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Presidential election, Puerto Rico, Republicans, Washington Post, YouTube

6/1/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Professional Teacher Organization Leader Condemns Denver “Sick-Outs”

In a letter at the Denver Post, the executive director of the Professional Association of Colorado Educators (PACE) offers his opinion about the recent "sick-outs" in Denver Public Schools:It is disheartening to see some Denver teachers abandon the children they teach, instead choosing to participate in “sick-outs” and “park-outs” to protest the district’s generous and unprecedented offer. Sadly, for these individuals the education of children is not a priority. Districts and communities deserve the opportunity to invest in hard-working, quality teachers who are committed to educational excellence and should be able to reward teachers for the important work they do. Teachers deserve an association which promotes the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General Tagged With: Denver Post, Denver Public Schools, Kris Enright, Professional Association of Colorado Educators, sick-out, teachers union

6/1/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Best Destiny: How Not to Respond to the Taxpayers’ Courtroom Win

Yesterday's Colorado Republican State Convention - with key video at Slapstick Politics and a great recap from Night Twister - was bolstered by the announcement of the taxpayers' legal victory against Gov. Bill Ritter for his unconstitutional property tax hike. But Michael at Best Destiny has some sage cautionary advice for Colorado Republicans on how to respond to Friday's courtroom decision:Republicans MUST NOT go out in public and seem too giddy about this. They should talk about checks and balances, and limiting the governor's ability to act unilaterally, and the majority's clear disregard for the Constitution. But if they seem like they're just glad to have the money taken back by the general public, it'll be a lot harder to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Best Destiny, Bill Ritter, Bruce Randolph, cautionary advice, Democrats, Denver Public Schools, education reform, innovation, Night Twister, property tax hike, Republican State Convention, Slapstick Politics, teachers union

5/31/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Now Liveblogging at The Minority Report

At the invitation of Night Twister, I am switching over to join him and others live-blogging the State GOP Convention at The Minority Report. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, General Tagged With: Night Twister, State GOP Convention, The Minority Report

5/31/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Ron Paul Supporters Numerous Among National Delegate Candidates

From the GOP Convention in Broomfield... Balloting is ongoing from state delegates. One of the things they are deciding on is the slate of delegates to the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities. There is a list of nearly 400 candidates for national delegate in the Colorado Statesman along with their Presidential preference. About 40 percent have no preference listed - nearly the same amount (155) are pledged to John McCain. Poised to wreak havoc are 74 Ron Paul supporters, followed by a handful each listed for Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. State conventions can be strange things, though this is a particularly strange year. On a different note, Sen. Shawn Mitchell just compared Bill Ritter to Jimmy Carter ... ouch. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Broomfield, Colorado Republican Party, Colorado Statesman, GOP Convention, Jimmy Carter, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Republican National Convention, Ron Paul, Shawn Mitchell

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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.

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