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Home 2009 Archives for May 2009

Archives for May 2009

5/30/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Union LIAR Ready to Suck Money from Workers to Attack Bill Ritter?

Sound the alarm on Bill Ritter's re-election chances. Hard-core Democrats are swearing they're going to abandon ship, at least if you take the Dead Governors at their word. But really, Ritter's sagging popularity is not exactly newsworthy for those who have been paying attention the past couple months or so. The real reason I gave a link to Colorado Pols was the unintentional humor behind a new union political group aimed at challenging (or at least threatening) Colorado's incumbent Democratic governor:A group calling itself Labor Initiatives Against Ritter - or LIAR - has filed the paperwork needed with the Internal Revenue Service to begin raising money for political purposes. Mark Johnson, an International Brotherhood of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, liberty, PPC Tagged With: abandon ship, agency fees, agent, alarm, area, Bill Ritter, certainty, challenging, chances, Colorado, Colorado Pols, Colorado Springs, Dead Governors, Democrats, filed, greater, hard-core, hard-earned money, Humor, Internal Revenue Service, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Labor Initiatives Against Ritter, LIAR, link, Mark Johnson, member, money, newsworthy, paperwork, paying attention, plans, political group, political purposes, popularity, portion, re-election, really, Reason, sagging, sound, swearing, Trust us, unintentional, union, union goons, union members, word, workers

5/29/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Ask Congressman Mike Coffman to Sign On to Federal Reserve Transparency

It won't be the first time I write it, nor likely the last. But Republican officials in Washington D.C. cannot hope to return to power simply by pointing out that they aren't as socialist as the Democrats. A vital piece of a successful 2010 and beyond involves the need to unite aggressively behind an affirmative platform of fiscally responsible government reform. Robert Romano on the Americans for Liberty blog brings our attention to a specific bill that represents a golden opportunity to do right by the taxpayer:Most of the financial bailouts have been conducted by the Federal Reserve, and on February 26th, Congressman Ron Paul introduced the legislation that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: 2010, 6th Congressional District, advance, affirmative, agenda, aggressively, Americans for Liberty, ask, attention, bill, blog, Board of Governors, bonds, buzzword, cause, Colorado, Congress, Congressman, consent, contact, Democrats, do right, Federal Reserve, financial bailouts, first time, fiscally responsible, fix, golden opportunity, government reform, growing, HR 1207, inordinate, insight, interest rates, issue, join, last time, ledgers, Mike Coffman, monetary policy, more closely, mortgage securities, necessity, officials, operations, oversight, platform, pointing out, power, representatives, Republican, Republicans, return to power, Robert Romano, Ron Paul, secret, shine the light, sign on, Socialist, successful, taxpayer, timeliness, Transparency, treasuries, U.S. House, unite, Wall Street Journal, Washington DC

5/29/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Obama DOJ Drops Black Panther Voter Intimidation Lawsuit… But Why?

Remember the story of the Black Panthers intimidating Philadelphia voters on our most recent Election Day? Well, there's an interesting update at The Next Right that strongly suggests the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) is happy to let the issue drop. Author Mike Roman makes some cogent points in his conclusion:These actions raise a number of troubling questions. For example, why did the Civil Rights Division voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit that they had effectively already won, against defendants who were physically threatening voters? Is the Division concerned that this dismissal will encourage the New Black Panther Party, or other groups, to intimidate voters? Why did the Division seek such limited relief against a defendant who … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Education, General, Journalism, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: author, Barack Obama, Black Panthers, broadcast, Civil Rights Division, cogent, conclusion, defendants, Department of Justice, dismiss, drop, Election Day, front page, happy, interesting, issue, lawsuit, Mike Roman, network news, New York Times, points, story, The Next Right, threatening, update, voter intimidation

5/29/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Strange Twists and Turns Following Obama’s Sonia Sotomayor Nomination

The other day I highlighted Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's indefensible statement and the need for repudiation. But more serious than a statement at Berkeley is Sotomayor's actual judicial record. It certainly is interesting to see serious criticism directed at Barack Obama's nominee from outside the center-right political spectrum -- and not because she is insufficiently liberal. Take the Denver Post's Chuck Plunkett, for example:You’re supposed to say out-there stuff at Berkeley. Otherwise everyone thinks you’re dull and boorish. But while wearing the robes of justice you’re supposed to be fair. And the Ricci v. New Haven decision Sotomayor was involved in looks just terrible – even to some prominent Democrats. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Cultural Conservatism, General, Judiciary, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: abortion rights, arguments, Barack Obama, Berkeley, boorish, Catholic, center-right, Chuck Plunkett, concerning, confirmation, conservative, Democrats, Denver Post, doubts, dull, expect, groups, highlighted, indefensible, insufficiently, Jonathan Turley, judicial record, justice, lack of depth, law professor, leader, leading, liberal, nominee, oppose, out-there stuff, political, President, pro-abortion, pro-life, prominent, reports, repudiation, Ricci v New Haven, rooting for, Rossputin, seated, serious, serious criticism, Sonia Sotomayor, spectrum, statement, supreme court, terrible, uncertain, unexpected, video, virtual certainty, Washington Times, wild turns, William Donohoe

5/29/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rightosphere and I Agree on the Basics

I participated in the latest edition of Right Wing News' "Rightosphere Temperature Check". In case you're wondering, I happened to vote with the majority on each of the seven A or B questions. Digging further into the details likely would yield more disagreement, but when you only have two options.... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: details, digging, disagreement, edition, further, latest, majority, options, questions, Right Wing News, Rightosphere, vote, yield

5/28/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

San Diego Petty Tyrants: Pay Out the Nose for Permit to Host Bible Study

From Fox News, a reminder that the federal government has nowhere near cornered the market on petty tyranny: Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County. "On Good Friday we had an employee from San Diego County come to our house, and inform us that the Bible study that we were having was a religious assembly, and in violation of the code in the county." David Jones told FOX News. Wow ... simply wow. Just a friendly reminder that we need fellow liberty-loving citizens representing us at all levels of government. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, liberty, PPC, property rights Tagged With: Bible study, citizens, code, cornered, David Jones, federal government, Fox News, government, levels, liberty-loving, market, pastor, petty tyranny, religious assembly, reminder, San Diego County, violation, wow

5/28/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Western Slope Pressure Heightens Bill Ritter’s Bad Policy SB 180 Dilemma

As the Grand Junction Sentinel reports today, the day of reckoning draws closer for Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to decide on the bad policy that is SB 180 -- a costly favor to Big Labor. The Sentinel today also editorializes strongly against SB 180 -- using many of the same arguments I've brought forward before, and even one I haven't really emphasized:Strikes would be prohibited under the legislation, but there are no sanctions listed in the bill for those who violate the provision. Now it would seem that Bill Ritter has an opportunity to start mending fences with folks on the Western Slope, where his popularity is low and heckling is a common greeting for him, by vetoing SB 180. He could listen to Grand Junction mayor Bruce Hill, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: arguments, bad policy, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, Bruce Hill, campaign contributions, candidate, coerce, Collective Bargaining, Colorado, Colorado Professional Firefighters, common, community, costly, day of reckoning, debate, deja vu, editorializes, emphasized, excuse, favor, fences, folks, good policy, Governor, Grand Junction, Grand Junction Sentinel, greeting, HB 1072, HB 1170, heckling, inflaming, lockout, low, make up, mayor, measure, mending, observed, opportunity, political favors, political retribution, popularity, promised, reports, rhetorical question, same, sanctions, SB 180, sign, state government, strikes, strongly, supporters, tidbit, union agency fees, union hall, union leaders, veto, Western Slope, workers

5/27/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Carroll: Sonia Sotomayor “Expression of Bigotry” Calls for Full Repudiation

Great piece by Vince Carroll in today's Denver Post on Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointment:If racial and gender bigotry truly have no place in American public life today, then Judge Sonia Sotomayor, during her confirmation hearing for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, needs to utterly repudiate her 2001 assertion that "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Putting that statement "in context" or explaining what she "really meant" will not do. Nor can Judge Sotomayor credibly argue that her assertion was an ill-considered mistake, since it was part of a prepared speech at the Berkeley school of law. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cultural Conservatism, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC, property rights, Second Amendment Tagged With: absurd, affirmative action, American, analysis, appointment, assertion, Barack Obama, Berkeley, better, bigoted remark, biological, blind justice, city council, conclusion, cultural, Damon Root, Declaration of Independence, Denver Post, determinism, early roundup, elected, experiences, expression, groupthink, gun rights, ill-considered, individual liberty, Joshua Sharf, judge, Left, limited government, loco, mistake, nomination, personal responsibility, political correctness, positions, principles, pronouncement, public life, Q and O, racial identity politics, reaction, Reason Online, Republican, repudiate, repudiation, response, richness, rule of law, school board, school of law, Sonia Sotomayor, speech, supreme court, undergirded, Vince Carroll, weighing in, white male, wise Latina woman

5/26/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

RMA Blog Talk Radio Tonight at 8:30: Statewide Races, Higher Education

Tune in tonight at 8:30 PM local Mountain time for the 28th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. Guests for tonight's show are: Longtime GOP political consultant Patrick Davis to dissect the state of play in Colorado's major statewide races for 2010, as fields of Republicans seek to challenge Governor Bill Ritter and appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet Jessica Corry from the Independence Institute, to talk about the ongoing budget controversies at the University of Colorado and possibly the increasing attention on the drug legalization debate If you miss the live show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, property rights Tagged With: 2010, appointed, attention, Bill Ritter, Blog Talk Radio, budget controversies, challenge, Colorado, debate, drug legalization, GOP, Governor, guests, increasing, Independence Institute, Jessica Corry, major, Michael Bennet, Patrick Davis, podcast, political consultant, Republicans, Rocky Mountain Alliance, sidebar, statewide races, tonight show, U.S. Senator, University of Colorado, widget

5/26/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

So-Called Credit Card “Reform: Congress Punishes Responsibility Again

Here's a great quick read to get you back into the routine following a long holiday weekend ... Ari Armstrong's Sunday guest column in the Colorado Daily makes a point I have seen seldom argued in the debate over so-called credit card reform -- namely, that Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall's bill protects the irresponsible and punishes the responsible. With those kind of incentives, the biggest surprise is that nearly 70 members of Congress actually voted against it. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: against, Ari Armstrong, biggest, bill, Colorado, Colorado Daily, Congress, credit card reform, debate, guest column, holiday weekend, incentives, irresponsible, long, Mark Udall, members, protects, punishes, quick read, responsible, routine, Sunday, surprise, U.S. Senator, voted

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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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