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Home Archives for Colorado Politics

7/25/2007 By Ben Leave a Comment

Harsanyi Highlights Ritter’s High-Stakes Mismanagement

Just in case you missed it, you may wish to check out the latest example of high-stakes mismanagement from Colorado's Democratic Governor Bill Ritter: What are we to make of Gov. Bill Ritter's swift firing of Chris Olson, his original choice to head the Division of Emergency Management? The administration refuses to answer virtually any queries on the matter - which tells us plenty. Only a few short weeks ago, Ritter sent out a news release fawning over Olson's "commitment to emergency management, his longtime experience in public safety and service to the community ..." Yet, when The Post sounded the alarm regarding Olson's troubling history - including a domestic-violence call summoning police to his home, a civil-rights violation … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

7/23/2007 By Ben Leave a Comment

Hillman Debunks Sacred Text of Colorado Left

About a month ago, I highlighted the release of a liberal interest group's report that used selective and distorted statistics to argue that Colorado needs a huge tax increase. Predictably, local Lefty bloggers leaped to embrace the work with little appearance of critical hesitation. Then I wrote: My friends, the Left in Colorado is growing desperate and increasingly irrational. They blindly accept a report written by their ideological allies that shares their premises. Come to this site for a critical analysis of the report. And hopefully others will offer their critical analyses, as well. Then we may see a little bit more independent thinking taking place. Well, I've been slow to add my critical analysis. It is summertime, after all. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

7/23/2007 By Ben 1 Comment

More Horn Tooting

El Presidente is tooting his own horn, having climbed to the top of the most recent rankings of influential Colorado political blogs. The other horn noise you hear comes from a tailgating Mount Virtus, close on his bumper at #2. El Presidente won't be able to ease off the accelerator too much with such friendly competition. More interestingly, seven of the top 10 on the influence meter are right-leaning blog sites. I'm not sure if this fact says more about the nature or the quality of the political debate or more about the secret methodology used to create the rankings. Regardless, you as a reader are part of the success. Thanks for your continuing visits. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, My Life

7/20/2007 By Ben 1 Comment

“Tax ’em all” Udall and Another Liberal Double Standard

Liberal gotchas like this one might hold more credibility if they were accompanied by a little consistency. Citing a CBS-4 Denver report, a diarist on the Dead Guvs' site highlights the following critique of one part of a Republican ad against Boulder liberal Mark Udall: He didn't vote to raise taxes, he voted against a tax cut passed by a Republican Congress and vetoed by President Clinton. While critics say Udall's vote had the same effect as supporting higher taxes, the fact remains, Udall voted to maintain the status quo, which is not the same as voting for a tax hike. "He didn't vote to raise taxes, he voted against a tax cut...." When was the last time you saw a liberal attacking a conservative lawmaker with the allegation of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

7/18/2007 By Ben 1 Comment

Quashing Liberal Rumors

Liberal distortions about Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer's early fundraising totals continue to circulate among the blogosphere's left-wing echo chamber without any serious reflection or criticism. The latest repeat of an unsubtantiated rumor that the $717,000 has fueled the fire for a more "moderate" Republican to join the race shows up at a site called The Political Realm: Bob Schaffer, Udall's likely opponent, apparently has some Colorado Republicans worried that he may not be able to keep up with Udall's strong fundraising. Of course, I already refuted the distortion earlier, but Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi has taken the explanation even further on a new blog to which he contributes: Republicans of a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

7/18/2007 By Ben Leave a Comment

Udall Undercuts Enforcement of White-Collar Crime

Boulder liberal Mark Udall has cast his lot with the Democrat caucus and corrupt union leaders at the expense of law enforcement and defrauded workers. Udall voted to defeat an attempt that would have spared the modest budget of the Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) from draconian cuts. So, apparently, OLMS was a highly ineffective and wasteful branch of government, right? The Democrats just wanted a leaner and more efficient operation, right? Wrong on both counts. As John Fund noted in yesterday's Opinion Journal: In the past six years, the Office of Labor Management Standards, or OLMS, has helped secure the convictions of 775 corrupt union officials and court-ordered restitution to union members of over $70 million in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

7/17/2007 By Ben Leave a Comment

Denver Post: Udall out of Step with “Western Values”

A scathing editorial in yesterday's Denver Post calls out Colorado Democrats for bowing to Big Labor with their support of HR 800, the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (read here, here and here). Though all Democrats in the state's delegation voted for the bad legislation, the Post specifically singled out bill co-sponsor Boulder liberal Mark Udall - the man who would be U.S. Senator- first for his anti-business agenda: The proposal, which passed the House with support from Rep. Mark Udall, contained an offensive and little-known provision that would have allowed a government arbitrator to impose a two-year contract on businesses and workers that actually specified wages and working conditions. Neither the employer nor the workers … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

7/16/2007 By Ben 4 Comments

“We’re All 49th”: Colorado TABOR-Bashing, Northwest Style

It seems like whenever another state proposes a taxpayer-friendly ballot measure, the big government crowd turns up the scare factor by looking at Colorado and dredging up the same discredited and refuted statistics [PDF - full disclosure: I am the author of the linked Independence Institute publication]. The latest round comes from Washington State, where proponents are pushing Initiative 960 to require lawmakers to reach a supermajority or receive voter consent in order to raise taxes. Admittedly, I don't know a lot about the measure itself, though it sounds like a fine idea on its face. What has me convinced that Washington State likely would benefit from the proposal is the fact that leading opponents have dug into the well of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Random and Miscellaneous

7/12/2007 By Ben Leave a Comment

Schaffer’s Fundraising Figures “Inconvenient Truth” for Left

First, let's start with the good news: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer announced that he raised more than $717,000 in the second quarter (April-June). As pointed out in the campaign press release: Walt Klein, Schaffer campaign consultant said "Schaffer's contributions averaged more than $119,000 a week in the brief time Bob has been a candidate – a remarkable start for the long campaign ahead." There were 1789 individual contributions to Schaffer, with more than 83% coming from Colorado. The full report will be available on July 15th. [Full Disclosure: Mt. Virtus was part of the 83+%, contributing a small amount to Schaffer in June.] Schaffer's $119,000 a week surpasses liberal Boulder Democrat opponent Mark Udall, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

7/11/2007 By Ben 1 Comment

Merrifield: Math & Science Mandates Are So Last Millennium

Yesterday the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) raised admission standards for the state's public colleges and universities, effective in 2010. The final set of standards is less rigorous than originally planned, with no increase in the one-year foreign language requirement and the allowance of a watered-down math course to fulfill the requirement. Still, some weren't satisfied - among them one who believes charter school supporters have a "special" reservation in the torrid nether regions. From 9News: Other opponents worry that creating more emphasis on taking math and science will stifle student creativity. State Representative Mike Merrifield, who is also the chairman of the House Education Committee, told the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General

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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
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  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition

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