Mount Virtus

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

Ben on Social Media

Home Archives for Ben

By Leave a Comment

Ably Deconstructing the Work of Ritter’s Long Term Fiscal Stability Commission

The antithesis of the conservative reform agenda now being heavily touted by many Colorado Republican leaders is the sort of stale tax-and-spend thinking that emanates from the many taxpayer-funded commissions appointed by Bill Ritter and the Democrat legislature. Such an example is the Long-Term Fiscal Stability Commission. Three of the minority party members who suffered through hours sitting on the panel -- state representative Cheri Gerou, Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway and my Independence Institute colleague Amy Oliver Cooke -- ably deconstruct the work of the commission in a column for yesterday's Denver Post:The commission squandered a golden opportunity to reform government and provide long term fiscal stability. Instead, … [Read more...]

By 3 Comments

Oblige Michael Bennet’s Lost Vote for Obama Care and Bring Him Home

Huffington Post is running video of our appointed junior U.S. Senator Michael Bennet saying he will vote for Obama Care socialized medicine even if it means losing his job. In other words, he's completely ignoring you. But sounds like a good idea to me. A few sensible Democrats remaining in the Senate join Republicans to block increased political controls in medicine, but Bennet votes for it anyway and punches his ticket to come home in 2011. Let's help make it happen. … [Read more...]

By 5 Comments

Josh Penry Backs Scott McInnis, GOP Unites Behind 20 Governing Principles

Word has leaked to the Grand Junction Sentinel that state senate minority leader Josh Penry will formally announce his endorsement of former rival Scott McInnis for Colorado governor. The endorsement was contingent on the McInnis formally agreeing to 20 conservative governing principles. "These are the principles that swept the GOP to victory in New Jersey in Virginia," Penry said. "And they can re-unite our Party too, and pave the way for a successful campaign and, more important, a successful governing party when the election's over and done with." Without further ado, here's the list of unified governing principles that was forwarded to Mount Virtus, a list that contains a fair amount of specificity: … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Friday PM Quick Hits

A devastating story for the scaremongering "climate change" religionists breaks today because of illegal hacking activity: Climate Audit, "Mike's nature trick" Ed Morrissey, Hot Air, "Do hacked e-mails show global warming fraud?" Paul Chesser, American Spectator, "Get that hacker a pimp coat" On a different note, George Will has a great column about the power of states to nullify a coercive Obama Care law -- a Plan B I hope we can keep in mothballs. … [Read more...]

By 2 Comments

Ryan Frazier Touts Endorsements from Wide Range of “Influential Coloradans”

As Don at Business Word notes, the Ryan Frazier campaign yesterday touted a list of endorsements from "nearly one hundred influential Coloradans" in his bid to be the next Congressman from the 7th District. Yes, the list contains the names of some heavy-hitters -- including Phil Anschutz, Pete Coors, Attorney General John Suthers, and former Governor Bill Owens. But at least as telling to me is that Ryan Frazier has earned the support from both my friends Jessica Corry and Libby Szabo, the last two Republican candidates for state senate District 19. Why so significant? Jessica is a young up-and-comer from the more libertarian wing of the party. Libby is more of a traditional conservative and a longtime activist well known in Jefferson … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Celebrating the Independence Institute’s Silver Anniversary This Evening

This evening the Independence Institute celebrates its 25th anniversary with a sold-out Founders' Night dinner featuring keynote speaker P.J. O'Rourke. It should be a good family reunion of sorts. Count me as one of the crazy, freedom-fighting cousins. No one in the area is better at leveraging the media spotlight than my boss Jon Caldara. Witness today's perfect-pitch feature by the Denver Post's Jessica Fender:Asked what has allowed Colorado's free-market think tank, the Independence Institute, to live long enough for a 25th-anniversary celebration tonight, the organization's famously bawdy president offers a joke. "Embezzlement," says Jon Caldara. "Embezzlement and glossy black-and-white photographs of politicians in compromising … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Someone Doesn’t Like Senator Mark Udall’s Autoreply Form Letters

This was forwarded to me a little while ago. Someone named Kathy from Evergreen apparently (and doubtless with good reason) is not happy with the responsiveness of Congress to her concerns about Obama Care and a rapidly growing and spending federal government. She took a mechanical form letter from Colorado Democrat U.S. Senator Mark Udall's office and interjected her own thoughts in italics. I gathered a screenshot and pasted it below (click "fullscreen" and use the "Zoom" for greater reading ease): … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Listen to Colorado Loses’ Podcast Update: AFSCME’s Mass Mail Screwup

Last Saturday I reported that thousands of Colorado state employees who never signed up to join a union were barraged with membership cards from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) -- one of the union partners in the "Colorado WINS" coalition brought to life by Governor Bill Ritter's 2007 executive order. Well, apparently, AFSCME somehow reversed their membership and non-membership lists, and in the process annoyed a lot of state workers and wasted tons of paper. As to where they found the home addresses, the State of Colorado says it didn't hand them out. And I guess AFSCME isn't telling. Click the play button below (or follow this link) to hear a 10-minute podcast as state employee and "The … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

A Campaign Volunteer Opportunity that Gives Back to the Community

If you live in the Denver metro area, Ryan Frazier, a Republican candidate for Colorado's 7th Congressional District, is advertising a volunteer opportunity for you that does not involve stuffing envelopes, knocking on doors or waving signs. Rather, it's a way to help those in the community who are struggling during these difficult economic times:Please join us on Monday, November 23 from 9:30am - noon as we volunteer our time at the JeffCo Action Center. We will be helping to sort and box food in their warehouse 8035 W. Colfax Avenue in Lakewood. The JeffCo Action Center needs to know how many of us to expect, so please RSVP by clicking here or emailing Marc Massey at marc@frazierforcolorado.com by noon on November 20. … [Read more...]