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Home Archives for Ben

2/7/2026 By Ben 6 Comments

Help Steer the Local Political Discussion: It’s Time for the November Survey

Mount Virtus readers, this post will remain sticky through the end of the survey (November 13). For newer postings, please scroll down. It's that time again. Yes, El Presidente and I have commissioned and fashioned another survey that we hope you will take 10 minutes or so to complete — especially if you’re from Colorado. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill quick-hit polls. Once again we’ve gone a little more in-depth. Some of the questions are the same. Some are new. One interesting added follow-up is asking what the most important factor is for you in choosing to support a Republican primary candidate for governor and U.S. Senate. Click here to take the November 2009 Colorado online political survey Your opinion counts. Take a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Reminder: Call Congress Today to Oppose H.R. 3962 Obama Care

I was planning to post a notice today about the need to take action against the Pelosi version of Obama Care. And today is the time to do it! But being busy, I got permission to paste this email (with a couple slight tweaks) from a friend:Hello to all! If you want tax dollars funding abortions and for medical coverage to become less available, now is the time to do nothing! The house version of the health care "reform" bill will come up for a vote tomorrow (Saturday). … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Jeffco GOP Central Committee Recap: Governor Hopefuls Speak, Gholston Steals Show, Frazier Team Absent

Last night I attended the Jefferson County Republican Central Committee meeting, along with nearly 200 other local precinct and district leaders. Considering the central order of business was to ratify new by-laws and the snows of the big storm were just beginning to fall, turnout was not at all bad. The main bill might also have helped bring some folks in. All three Republican gubernatorial candidates got their six-minute turn on the stump. And Alex's observations notwithstanding, all three comported themselves well and were equally well received by the audience. The biggest loser at last night's event was obviously Bill Ritter -- whose unpopularity seemed unrivaled. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben 4 Comments

Great News and a Great Belwether? Marco Rubio Surging Close in Florida

If there's one 2010 race outside Colorado I'm following more closely than any other, it's the Florida Republican Senate primary -- a battle for the soul of the party between left-of-center governor Charlie Crist and conservative state legislative leader Marco Rubio. Despite being a huge underdog, Rubio has shown a lot of momentum. Red State's Erick Erickson has posted the latest good news -- check it out. … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Arvada City Council Candidates Respond to Financial Transparency Idea

All politics is local, right? Mail ballot municipal elections already are underway, so late last week I decided it was finally time to ask the Arvada city council candidates on my ballot what they think of the idea of detailed financial transparency. Below I've pasted the message I emailed to the two at-large candidates and the two district candidates and what I learned: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, My Life, PPC, property rights

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Kent Lambert’s Announcement Thursday: Going for Senate District 9?

Yesterday Republican state senator Dave Schultheis announced he would be retiring from office in 2010. This evening a press release went out from (and about) one of my Leadership Program of the Rockies classmates:Representative Kent Lambert, House District 14, will make a short public political announcement on Thursday, November 5, at 12:00 at the El Paso County Republican Headquarters, 205 Sutton Road, Colorado Springs, CO, 80907. An opportunity for media Q&A will follow. [link added] Connection between the announcements of Schultheis and Lambert? It would be hard to speculate as anything else. You didn't think Tom McDowell would go unchallenged in his quest for Senate District 9, did you? No one has a stronger 2009 rating from the … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Is Maine’s Question 4 a Belwether of Limited Government Sentiment?

A lot of people are looking at the Virginia governor's race -- or even the New York 23 race -- as a belwether of conservative, limited government political sentiment and activism going into the 2010 midterm elections. Me? I'm looking at a ballot initiative in Maine that would institute tax and spending limits similar to those in Colorado. As Question 4 trails in the polls, citizen activists have uncovered opponents using legislative resources to promote pay-to-play scheme. Enough to turn the tide? Perhaps, but not likely given conventional political wisdom. But what might be interesting to see is if the 2009 version generates any late momentum or outperforms the 2006 Maine Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, that lost 54-46. It might offer us … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Ed Perlmutter’s Health Care Solution: Raise Taxes, More Government

As the political stomach turns ... My Democratic Congressman Ed Perlmutter wants to raise taxes (H/T Complete Colorado) on investments to pay for government health care. As if that will do anything but further slow down America's economic engine and further erode your personal medical freedoms. Don't just get angry. Put your support behind one of our good Republican candidates running to oust Perlmutter: Ryan Frazier or Brian Campbell. … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Government Run Amok Again: Don’t Offer Paid Rides to Airport in Nevada

A new story from the files of government authority run amok... Following shortly on the heels of the Michigan woman harassed by social services for watching some neighbor kids before they catch the school bus, comes a doozy from Nevada. Vin Suprynowicz recounts the story of Delinda Epstein's costly brush with the County Transportation Authority when she tried to make private arrangements to drive someone to the airport. Read this story and ask yourself: Is it anything but common sense to insist on limiting the size and scope of government? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, General, liberty, PPC, property rights

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Rasmussen: GOP Congress Out of Touch, Democrats Even Less Trusted

I've spent the past several days trying to reach a coherent synthesis from these two poll results taken by Rasmussen: 73 percent of Republican voters say Republicans in Congress have lost touch with their base -- men and older voters are more likely to share these sentiments; and (unsurprisingly) far more voters obviously are concerned about economic, fiscal, and national security issues than domestic or cultural issues General election voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 key electoral issues -- with double-digit advantages in national security, Iraq, taxes, economy and abortion So what should Republican politicians and candidates learn from these results? I mean, besides the fact that it's hard to make too much … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, 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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National News and Politics

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Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
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  • E!! The True Conservative Story
  • EIA Intercepts
  • 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
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
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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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