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Home Archives for Ben

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Mystery Tidwell Volunter Steps Over the Line, Hopefully Astroturfing Stops

I am relieved to learn that U.S. Senate candidate Cleve Tidwell was not posting bizarre online comments himself. As Mr. Tidwell joins us for tonight's Blog Talk Radio show, I hope to hear what the campaign learned from this episode. I also hope today's revelation marks the end of the online astroturfing. Inquiring minds will be left to wonder who the campaign volunteer was who had access to Mr. Tidwell's private email address and "might have stepped over the line". … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: astroturfing, bizarre, Blog Talk Radio, campaign, candidate, Cleve Tidwell, comments, episode, online, relieved, revelation, show, U.S. Senate

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

‘Noble Pride’ Lives On: A Principled Lesson for the ‘Hillsdale of the East’

Unbelievably, a few weeks ago I passed the 10th anniversary of my graduation from Hillsdale College with a bachelors degree. But the spirit of school pride lives on, and my heart smiled when today I read William McGurn's Wall Street Journal column "How Hillsdale Beats Harvard". After explaining how Hillsdale's principled stand of not accepting any federal funds fits right in with the school's warm welcome of military recruiters on campus, McGurn concludes:If Harvard believes that our Armed Forces are inconsistent with its values, surely the honest thing to do is to stand on principle and accept the funding consequences. The folks at Hillsdale would be glad to show the way. Back in the good old college days, there was a running quip … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, Education, General, liberty, My Life, PPC Tagged With: accepting, alma mater, Armed Forces, bachelors degree, campus, column, consequences, East, federal funds, graduation, Harvard, heart, Hillsdale College, honest thing, inconsistent, lives on, Midwest, military recruiters, noble pride, principled stand, quip, right reasons, running, school pride, smiles, spirit, values, Wall Street Journal, warm welcome, William McGurn

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

A Critical Mass Awake to the Destructive Effects of Obama’s “Stimulus”?

Remember all the pomp and circumstance of four months ago when President Barack Obama flew out here to Denver to sign the "stimulus" bill? The legislation that had to be rushed through? The legislation that was supposed to prevent "irreversible decline" in our economy? While anyone with decent sense knew the "stimulus" was long-term poison, I can't say I anticipated how badly it would flounder even in the short-term. The Competitive Enterprise Institute's Hans Bader put together a well-documented Open Market blog post noting that public opinion clearly favors canceling the $787 billion spending spree. How many of them have watched this unforgettable video? A few days ago, Mr. Bob posted up the now well-circulated graphic showing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous

2/7/2026 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

2/7/2026 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

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Memorial Day: “Remembering”

Click here to watch a Complete Colorado video commemorating Memorial Day with a local flavor. Also, The National Moment of Remembrance recommends taking a special respectful moment of silence at 3 PM local time in honor of all the brave American servicemen and women who have fallen in wars past and present. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: American, brave, Complete Colorado, Memorial Day, moment of silence, National Moment of Remembrance, past, present, Remembering, servicemen, servicewomen, video, wars

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

In Condemnation of the Cold-Blooded Murder of Dr. George Tiller

Yesterday's news of the murder of Kansas abortionist Dr. George Tiller hit me hard. John Andrews at Backbone America captured my sentiments remarkably well: Dr. George Tiller’s murder in cold blood at a Wichita church today should shock the conscience and grieve the heart of every thinking person — especially persons of faith, and above all, those of us who defend the right to life. Wichita Eagle story here. This evil and lawless act deserves absolute condemnation. It is in no way excusable, regardless of the slain man’s inexcusable career as an abortionist. I hope you will join me in praying for Dr. Tiller, for his family and loved ones, for his killer, and for the quelling of passions on all sides that would threaten peace … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, Cultural Conservatism, Education, General, National Politics Tagged With: abortionist, admonition, Apostle Paul, Backbone America, biblical, cold blood, condemnation, conscience, evil, George Tiller, good, grieve, heart, John Andrews, Kansas, lawless, murder, persons of faith, praying, Romans, struggled, Wichita

2/7/2026 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

2/7/2026 By Ben 11 Comments

Memo to NRSC: Stay out of Colorado’s Republican Senate Primary

Update, 5/20: John Hawkins at Right Wing News has posted the following petition to the NRSC (to which I have added my name at the end):Dear Senator Cornyn, We the undersigned believe that the National Republican Senatorial Committee should be committed to serving ALL the members of the Republican Party. Additionally, the NRSC should be focused on defeating Democrats, not Republicans. Towards that end, we believe it was completely inappropriate for the NRSC to endorse a candidate in the Florida primary race. Therefore, we request that both you and the NRSC alter your position on the Florida Senate race, maintain neutrality, and promise to spend no money directly or indirectly in that race. Sincerely yours, Ben DeGrow Mount … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: announcement, candidates, chairman, Charlie Crist, Colorado, decide, developing, endorsement, Florida, foolish, friendly memo, Jim Geraghty, John Cornyn, Mario Rubio, National Republican Senatorial Committee, NRSC, open primary, race, Republicans, skeptical

2/7/2026 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

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Inside

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    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
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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
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  • 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.

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Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
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  • Colorado Republican Party
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Colorado Blogs

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Other Sites

  • Technorati
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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
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  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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