Mount Virtus

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

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Home Archives for Ben

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Bill Ritter Bait-and-Switch Continues … Desperate? Unethical? Incompetent?

Update, 11/2: Another campaign email from Ritter begging multiple times for contributions, with only a brief passing mention of "improving the quality of our children's education" .... Yes, that's one bait-and-switch online petition. The Bill Ritter email bait-and-switch continues. Three weeks ago, during my first and only ever contact on Bill Ritter's website, I signed an online petition urging "the U.S. Department of Education to recognize Colorado’s distinct education reform initiatives, and to award Colorado a 'Race to the Top' grant...." What followed within the first couple weeks were a pair of emails from Ritter urging me to take action in support of Obama Care. Did it occur to anyone in the Bill Ritter re-election office that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, My Life, National Politics, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Barack Obama Could Use Some World Leader Greeting Etiquette Refreshers

(H/T Gene Kinsey) It appears President Obama could have used some world leader greeting etiquette refreshers before giving a deep, subservient bow to the emperor of Japan: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Cultural Conservatism, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, World Events

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Pelosi’s Version of Obama Care “Worst Bill Ever”? Close Enough to Reject

Is Nancy Pelosi's 2,000-page version of Obama Care "the worst bill ever" -- as the editors of the Wall Street Journal describe it? I doubt it. After all, that's some pretty stiff competition. But if you're busy having to defend the so-called health care reform legislation from the charge of "worst bill ever," the Democrats in charge of Congress risk a massive political backlash in 2010. Will my own Congressman Ed Perlmutter vote for the deficit spending, middle-class taxes, rationed care, and greater government control of medicine? If so, he'd better be watching out for Republican Ryan Frazier -- who quite ably lays out the top 12 reasons to reject Nancy Pelosi's health care monstrosity. Check out the Patient Power Now blog to find … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, liberty, National Politics, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben 3 Comments

Senate District 16: Rob Witwer, Dan Maes Out; Penry Touts Cheri Gerou

Update, 11/18: Count out another one, too. Ali Hasan left a comment following my earlier speculation that included his name as a possible candidate: "Sorry Mount Virtus, but I won’t be getting into SD16 at all – I got my eyes on a different race. Honestly, Don Ytterberg ran a great campaign and he would be a terrific candidate for this race, especially since Gibbs’s 2008 win mostly came off of his 75% vote total in Summit County, which propelled his victory – a non-Summit Dem puts this race in the R column, imo." Last night I noted Democrat state senator Dan Gibbs' announced decision not to seek re-election in 2010, and started the speculation about which Republicans might be enticed to step up to the plate. After all, this key seat very … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, liberty, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben 3 Comments

Wow: Obama Stimulus Spending in Jefferson County at $1.1 Million Per Job

In a recent diary at Rocky Mountain Right, Mike Robinson finds that the Obama stimulus bill created 654 jobs in Douglas County at a cost of $131,548 per job. Using the same Recovery.gov website, I learned that Douglas has nothing on my own Jefferson County. According to my calculations, $244,783,814 in ARRA "stimulus" money has been spent in Jeffco. How many jobs created? 221.39 ... For a total of $1,105,667.89 per job. As bad as $230,000 per job nationwide (presuming no union featherbedding is going on) is for stimulus spending, Jeffco really has felt the short end of the stick. Kind of like construction jobs anywhere. Far and away the biggest single Jeffco award went to Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, in Golden: nearly $160 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Baseball Players Stump for EFCA: A Bad Way to Mix Sports and Politics

Here's the latest, greatest example why sports and politics don't mix .... At first, when I read this posting from the Right to Work blog, I thought I had another solid reason to cheer against the New York Yankees for whatever is left of the World Series:Mark Teixeira has a $100 million contract to play baseball with the Yankees. Good for Mark. But it’s too bad that this multi-millionaire is stepping to the plate on behalf of the union bosses by advocating for the Card Check Forced Unionism bill. But then I followed the link and found that two of the 12 Forced Unionism baseball spokesmen were Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies. And horror of horrors, my favorite hometown pitcher Justin Verlander is a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC, Sports and Leisure

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Has John Salazar’s Support of Obama Care Invited a Scott Tipton Challenge?

(H/T Complete Colorado) The Grand Junction Sentinel reported yesterday that Colorado 3rd District Democratic Congressman John Salazar has opted to back Nancy Pelosi and the Party leadership's attempt to push a government health care takeover. Might this development be enough to prompt a repeat challenge from a strong conservative like state Rep. Scott Tipton? My guess is yes, it will. Colorado may have three competitive challenges to Congressional Democrat incumbents in 2010. Stay tuned. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Health Care, liberty, National Politics, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Recovery.gov Fail: $1.1 Million Per Stimulus Job in Jeffco May Be Low

Earlier this month I did a little research on the Obama administration's multimillion-dollar Recovery.gov website and found that one Jefferson County, Colorado, job was created for every $1.1 million spent. And now we find that dollar figure in fact may be low! Why? Among other reasons, $6.4 billion of stimulus money has been spent in phantom Congressional districts -- including, as Mike Robinson points out at Rocky Mountain Right, on Colorado's imaginary 64th Congressional district. Because it comes from the government's own website, and there's reason to believe the figure is if anything on the conservative side, all Jeffco Republican candidates would be wise to repeat the $1.1 million per job point about the wastefulness of their … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben 3 Comments

Taking on the Colorado Supreme Court: Mark Hillman, Mike Rosen & Me

Update, 1:50 PM: I also will be talking about the Lobato case and school funding adequacy on Face The State weekend radio with Brad Jones. In the Denver area, that's AM 710 KNUS on Saturday at 5:00 AM and Sunday at noon. Check local listings for additional stations and times. A sense that the Colorado Supreme Court is growing out of control continues to pick up momentum after the October 19 Lobato v State ruling (PDF), in which the 4-3 liberal majority arrogated to itself the power to determine school funding policy. On Wednesday my friend and former state senate leader Mark Hillman ably dissected the dangers in this decision. Yesterday, Colorado's leading conservative talk show host Mike Rosen leaped into the fray with a strong … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Judiciary, liberty, My Life, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rally With the Tea Party Express in Denver’s Civic Center Today at 5 PM

The Tea Party Express rolls into Denver today for a 5 PM Election Day 2009 rally featuring Joe The Plumber. Angry about the Pelosi-Obama health care monstrosity? Fed up with the billions in "stimulus" money that's done so little for jobs and the economy? Here's your chance to show your support for limited government, liberty and fiscal responsibility:Date/Time: Tuesday, November 3rd at 5:00 pm Rally Location: Civic Center – Greek Theater 100 W 14th Ave Denver, CO 80204 As Joshua points out, today is a busy day of important elections (not to mention the school board election here in Jefferson County) here in Colorado and back East. If you are able to vote in one of these important races (or know someone who is) and haven't … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, liberty, National Politics, PPC, property rights

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Inside

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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

  • AI-Enhanced Cyberbullying: The Dark Side of Teen Innovation
  • My Baker’s Dozen of Top 2023 Reads
  • Common Learning Disabilities in Children
  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition

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Blogs Extraordinaire

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Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
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Christian Commentary et al.

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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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