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Home Archives for Colorado Politics

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Coloradans, You Can Make a Difference for School Financial Transparency

Update, 1/29: More coverage on Colorado Spending Transparency and Ed News Colorado, as well as a kind link from the Open Records blog. This morning the Colorado Senate Education Committee got a bit of a surprise, it might seem, with a slew of concerned citizens coming forward to testify in support of Senate Bill 57 (PDF) (sponsored by state senator Ted Harvey) - which would bring something akin to full-fledged financial transparency to Colorado public schools. It's unusual to see more than 15 average citizens come forward to testify for a piece of legislation - and rarer yet, to have many of them do so quite eloquently. Most were from the metro Denver area, a couple hailed from Weld County, and one of them drove three hours over the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, PPC Tagged With: against, Arvada, bloggers, Bob Bacon, bureaucrat, centennial, Chris Romer, Colorado, Colorado Association of School Boards, Colorado Association of School Executives, Colorado Open Records Act, Colorado Press Association, Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs School District 11, concerned citizens, corporate executives, cost savings, cripples, David Williams, Denver, Eagle County, eloquently, employee support, everyday apathy, Evie Hudak, financial information, financial transparency, Fort Collins, golden dome, government books, grassroots, Jack Ott, Keith King, legislation, legislative audio, little victory, Littleton, lobbyists, local government officials, metro Denver, Mike Kopp, Nancy Spence, Natalie Menten, online spending database, open government, parents, Peter Groff, political activists, prolonged testimony, proud moment, public eyes, public schools, reconvene, reliable ally, requests, Rollie Heath, searchable database, Senate Bill 57, Senate Education Committee, slew, small business owners, support, surprise, Ted Harvey, testify, Tom Stone, vacation, Weld County

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Etch Yesterday in Stone as Rare Proud Moment for Congressional GOP

It's not often that I can say Congressional Republicans make me proud by their actions. So let's etch January 28, 2009, in stone as one of those momentous occasions. Hats off to the House GOP yesterday for standing 100 percent united against the Obama-Democrat trillion dollar pork bill that promises to mount piles of debt on my generation and future generations. Of course, this is small consolation as there aren't enough Republicans - with or without backbone - to stop the socialist steamroller "stimulus" from gliding through. But at least if the GOP hangs tough and united, rather than set us up for disappointment, the Democrats will own this economic disaster. (Will Senate Republicans follow their House brethren?) … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: backbone, Barack Obama, basic sanity, Beltway, Best Destiny, Colorado, Congress, conservative, conservative leaders, creativity, delegation, Democrats, disappointment, economic disaster, energized, fiscal conservatism, free market, generations, gloomy news, grassroots, hand-wringing, hard work, House GOP, impact, late, limited government, memo, Michael, momentous occasions, necessary, never, party-line vote, piles of debt, political, pork bill, proud, realization, Republicans, rock bottom, Rocky Mountain Right, Senate, small consolation, small rays of hope, Socialist, solidarity, steamroller, stimulus, struggles, tough, trillion dollar, united, waiting, Washington

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Colorado Senate Democrats Flee from True School Financial Transparency

Last night I told you about the inspiring testimony of citizens in support of financial transparency for Colorado schools. Today, it was the legislators' turn to do the damage. And damage they did:Senator Bob Bacon introduced an amendment that establishes a “voluntary pilot program” for transparency. It passed and is now on its way to the full floor of the Senate. Senator [Ted] Harvey asked to open up the bill for additional testimony since it had been altered dramatically. Bacon, chair of the committee, said no. Senator Harvey also tried to kill his own bill. Harvey did say he would bring the bill back next year. Bacon, a former educator, used words like “cruel” and “fear” to describe how school districts may respond to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, General, PPC Tagged With: amendment, bill, bill sponsor, Bob Bacon, Chris Romer, citizens, Colorado schools, cruel, damage, Evie Hudak, fear, financial transparency, floor, former educator, grassroots army, hide, inspiring testimony, legislators, obligatory quote, online, passed, Peter Groff, respond, Rollie Heath, school districts, searchable format, senator, students, taxpayers, teaching, Ted Harvey, trend, voluntary pilot program

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Pollsters Hedge Bets on Ritter Re-Election…Wouldn’t You Right Now?

Democrat pollsters are hedging their bets over the re-election chances of Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. The well known, respected local election analyst Floyd Ciruli says:Although Bill Ritter works hard and cares about Colorado, he fails to inspire confidence among the most attentive publics. Of course, Colorado governors tend to be re-elected, and the Republicans are still on the defense after a half a decade of election losses, but Ritter faces a difficult re-election.... Ritter and his party know he is vulnerable. Expect a strong effort to survive. [emphasis added] On the other hand, the Democrat survey firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) observes something different from its new survey results: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: articulate, Bill Ritter, Bob Beauprez, candidate, challenge, Colorado, competent, competitive race, confidence, Dean Debnam, Democrat, demographic, difficult, election losses, fiscally conservative, Floyd Ciruli, Governor, hedging their bets, Hispanic voters, incumbent, local election analyst, pollsters, President, professional pollster, Public Policy Polling, reelection, Republicans, results, revert, Senate candidate, sign up, strong effort, strong favorite, survey firm, survive, Tom Tancredo, trend, unbeatable, vulnerable, white voters

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

He Wasn’t Their First Choice, But Wadhams and Hillman Both Pleased with Michael Steele as RNC Chair

Not exactly breaking news: former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele is the new chairman of the Republican National Committee. Polipundit has a blow-by-blow account of the six rounds (and five hours) of yesterday's balloting to achieve a majority of support from the 168 delegates. Five candidates started the day. At the end it came down to Steele and South Carolina's Katon Dawson. Steele prevailed by a count of 91-77. I followed up with two of Colorado's three voting RNC members afterward to get their thoughts, and received very similar reactions to the results. "Michael Steele will be a great spokesperson for our party," said state GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. "Michael Steele is one of the Republican Party's most articulate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: account, actively engaged, activists, appealing message, articulate, audience, Backbone America, balancing, balloting, beginning, breaking news, candidacy, candidates, chairman, class act, collaborative, Colorado, communication, community, Congratulations, conservatives, conventional wisdom, conversation, convinced, core issues, core principles, delegates, desirable job, Dick Wadhams, Don'tGo movement, Douglas County, dynamic, effective, effective fundraising, emails, enthusiasm, Eric Odom, Facebook, force feed, former, forward-looking, from above, future, GOP, grassroots, Internet, inundated, involvement, John Andrews, Katon Dawson, Ken Blackwell, lieutenant governor, Lilly Nunez, limited government, listening, low taxes, majority, Mark Hillman, marketing, Maryland, Michael Steele, Michigan, Mike Duncan, misused, moderate, momentum, new energy, new face, Ohio, opportunity, opposition, organizational structure, overused, ownership, Party, phone calls, Polipundit, political, political action, political wilderness, Politics 3.0, prevailed, projects, Republican groups, Republican National Committee, results, rounds, Saul Anuzis, Secretary of State, selection process, sense of relief, similar reactions, social conservatives, social media, social network, South Carolina, spokesman, spokesperson, state chair, Steven Nielson, support, supported, surrogates, thoughts, tough choice, tough road, traditional values, Twitter, urgent plea, vocal supporters, voting members, web-based, wild word

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Jon Henke’s Advice: Keep Our Eyes on The Real Problem Before Us

If you really want to engage in a serious debate about how to implement free market conservative policy solutions with a practical eye on messaging and political coalition building, then you ought to be reading what Jon Henke has to say. Be prepared: you won't get a rosy-eyed view or a mealy-mouthed answer. I appreciated what Jon wrote yesterday about a Republican response to the growing push toward government-sponsored universal health care (Tom Daschle's distracting tax problems aside). I'm not interested in the particularities of the health care debate right now, but if you are, might I recommend you check out the following: Patient Power WE Stand Firm State Policy Network blog However, it's Henke's conclusion that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: appreciate, Big Government, coalition building, conservative, Democrat Party, free market, futile, government, growing push, heavy lifting, ideological ball, insightful, Jon Henke, limited government, limiting, long-term solutions, mealy-mouthed answer, messaging, Patient Power, policy solutions, political, political success, practical eye, principle, readers, recommend, Republican, response, rosy-eyed view, serious debate, State Policy Network, structural, tax problems, The Problem, Tom Daschle, two-party system, universal health care, We Stand Firm, wrong

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Cast Your Non-Binding Vote for 2010 U.S. Senate GOP Candidate

Rocky Mountain Right has posted a great straw poll that's just begging your participation. You have until noon on Wednesday, February 11, to vote for your favorite potential GOP candidate to challenge the newly-selected Michael Bennet for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat in 2010. As of this posting, Mark Hillman and Ryan Frazier are deadlocked at 42 percent each. Bob Beauprez lags the pack at 12 percent, while Bentley Rayburn barely registers at 4 percent. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, PPC Tagged With: 2010, Bentley Rayburn, Bob Beauprez, candidate, Colorado, GOP, Mark Hillman, Michael Bennet, participation, Rocky Mountain Right, Ryan Frazier, straw poll, U.S. Senate

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Democrats Kill Clean Government, Anti-Political Blackmail Bill

From the Denver Post:A bill that would have barred back-room ballot initiative deals got the heave-ho at the state Capitol Tuesday. House Bill 1069, from state Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, would have made it illegal for anyone with a ballot initiative certified by the secretary of state to then withdraw that initiative because of a deal offering money, gifts or any “other valuable consideration.” A provision like that already exists in state law when it comes to candidates for office. It's official: your Democrats in charge at the Colorado statehouse once again come out against clean government. In voting down House Bill 1069, they have winked at the use of the citizens' ballot initiative process for political blackmail by … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: Amy Stephens, backroom deals, ballot initiative, Beth McCann, bill, business, Chicago, citizens, clean government, Colorado, current majority, Democrats, Denver Post, House Bill 1069, illegal, kudos, Labor, lobbyists, moneyed, Monument, party line, political blackmail, protection, provision, public interest, Rod Blagojevich, special interests, State Capitol, state legislator, statehouse, unholy marriage, winked

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rossputin: Bill Ritter’s Transparent Try to Set Stage for Another Tax Hike

When I recently pointed out Governor Bill Ritter's public proclamation in favor of transparency, this wasn't the kind of transparency I was talking about. Rossputin explains:There's a reason that the first thing Ritter is proposing to do is cut education and prison funding, and "temporarily" suspend the homestead exemption which lowers property tax for many senior citizens, and it's the oldest liberal trick in the book: He's setting the stage for a tax increase proposal "for the children" and with the specter of violent felons roaming the streets unless we go along. Well, it's time to just say no to more liberal government expansion. Yes, Bill Ritter's announcement should make it rather transparent that he and the Democrats are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: alternative, Bill Ritter, budget proposal, Democrats, Education, enough, for the children, government expansion, Governor, homestead exemption, opportunity, ploys, prisons, proclamation, property tax, Republicans, responsible citizens, Rossputin, scare tactics, senior citizens, tax increase, Transparency, violent felons

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Remembering the Clarion Call for Life After 36 Years of Roe v Wade

Update II: El Presidente has posted an excellent video produced by Catholic Votes, which makes the case against abortion using Barack Obama's own story. Updates: Gateway Pundit notes that Obama is using the occasion to expand American taxpayer funding of abortions overseas. Kyle-Anne Shiver appreciates taking on intellectually honest, pro-abortion atheists in debates. And LaShawn Barber points us to a sad account of a woman who deeply regrets her abortion. Lest all the pomp and circumstance accompanying the 44th President's bold new Leftward agenda drown it out, we should pause to remember that today is the 36th anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision. The devastating consequences of this terribly rendered Supreme Court ruling rest … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: 36th anniversary, Alternatives Pregnancy Center, Americans United for Life, Barack Obama, belongs, births, Blogs for Life conference, circumstance, Colorado, conservative, daughters, decision, demoralizing, Denver, disagree, emotionally, establishment media, fantastic work, friends, intellectually, Leftward agenda, March for Life, middle, nation's capital, neglected, occupant, overturning, personal, persuade, poignant, policy differences, pomp, pray, pregnancy, President, private groups, pro-life, ranking, Roe v Wade, speak out, spectrum, spiritually, state lawmakers, states, support, theoretical, U.S. Supreme Court, unborn child, Washington DC, White House

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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

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