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2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

School Choice for Kids Website

I have been remiss in not blogging about this sooner, but many of my readers probably aren't aware of an innovative new website created by the Independence Institute (full disclosure: where I work), a website created and maintained in part by a lot of intensive labor from my own Mrs. Virtus. If you are a parent of school-age children in Colorado, nor if you care at all about education reform, please pay attention. You can watch this 28-minute video recently aired on Colorado public television to learn more about the School Choice for Kids website (and/or read about some of the site's features below): Add to My Profile | More Videos The School Choice for Kids site contains significant information about every public school in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General, My Life Tagged With: Colorado public schools, homeschooling, Independence Institute, No Child Left Behind, open enrollment, scholarships, School Choice for Kids

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Meet the CAGEUG

My creative (and apparently not-too-busy) colleagues at the Independence Institute put together this fun little (less than 2-minute) YouTube video to highlight some recent revelations following Gov. Ritter's executive order: How accurate is this parody? You can find the original story here. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: CAGEUG, Executive Order, Gov. Bill Ritter, Independence Institute, labor unions, parody, YouTube video

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Get the President’s Ear on Earmark Reform

An email from our friends at RedState.com:Dear RedState Reader, Tomorrow the President will decide whether or not the Constitution is still a legally binding document. Seriously. After Congress passed the omnibus spending bill, members of Congress inserted into the conference report that accompanied the legislation more than 9,000 earmarks worth several billion dollars. The earmarks were not voted on by the House and Senate. Yet, Congress maintains that the earmarks are legally binding. This violates the process for passing legislation in the Constitution of the United States. Tomorrow, the President will decide whether he should issue an executive order telling government agencies to ignore the earmarks. If the President … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: Earmark reform, RedState

2/7/2026 By Ben 6 Comments

Romney Out: Let the Unifying Begin

Well, Mitt Romney's candidacy is over (but his political future may not be done). Not much more I can say that hasn't been repeated across the blogosphere in the past 20 hours or so. I have to say it's quite jarring to witness an overwhelming Romney win at my local caucus, and in the state of Colorado as a whole, and less than 48 hours later to see his campaign come to an end. But the former Massachusetts governor's withdrawal speech at CPAC only confirmed my confidence in him. The speech was full of class and grace and poise, but also resounded on the pre-eminent theme of victory in the GWOT. Though initially disappointed to see the result of Romney's Super Tuesday performance, hopefully we will look back in months to come and probably … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: CPAC, GWOT, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, presidential primary, Ron Paul, Wayne Allard

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Huck Yes but Romney No? Why, Clay?

Over at Slapstick Politics, El Presidente provides a brief digest of Colorado conservative blogosphere voices on the Presidential race. My opinions are well known by readers here, but I was a little befuddled to read the order of candidate preference from my friend Clay Calhoun, who blessedly appears to have returned from a long exile. In particular, I'm pleased to see he allies first with Fred Dalton Thompson, but for the life of me can't figure out why the Huckster comes in second. I can understand the skepticism about McCain and Giuliani and Ron Paul, but can't quite understand the seemingly knee-jerk antipathy for Mitt Romney:No thank you very much. I will vote for a Democrat before I will vote for Mitt Romney. End of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: Colorado bloggers, presidential primary

2/7/2026 By Ben 12 Comments

VDH on McCain’s Appeal to Conservatives

Over at the Corner, Victor Davis Hanson spells out why conservatives should support McCain over the Democrat alternatives, and what the Arizona Senator can do to close the deal. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: conservatives, GWOT, immigration, John McCain, National Review, taxes, Victor Davis Hanson

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Paul Wrong on Civil War: Dittoes Here

I've had a recent exchange with Snaggle-Tooth Jones over some historical issues of contemporary political significance: my initial response is here; his latest post is here. I haven't had time to draft a thorough and thoughtful response to his latest, but in the meantime would like to point him to an eloquent piece written by my friend Joshua Sharf at the Denver Post's Gang of Four about Ron Paul's misguided take on Civil War history (key excerpt follows):Paul's argument isn't right. It isn't even wrong. It misses so many fundamental facts of life in 1860 that it could only appeal to that narrow slice of the electorate whose civics education ended in 12th grade, but who actually remember what they were taught. You can't be completely … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, History, National Politics Tagged With: American Civil War, Ron Paul

2/7/2026 By Ben 6 Comments

Huckabee Camp’s Washington Complaints: Nothing There

One of Saturday's three Republican presidential caucuses stirred up some controversy, an unfortunate occurrence that needlessly poured fuel onto the Huckabee campaign's conspiratorial fire, with his chairman reviving memories of Al Gore in Florida 2000:Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is crying foul after John McCain's apparent victory in the Washington caucuses on Saturday. Huckabee's campaign released a statement Sunday saying it will be exploring all available legal options regarding the ''dubious final results.'' Arizona Sen. McCain was announced as the victor in the caucuses with 26 percent of the vote to Huckabee's 24 percent. But Huckabee's campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, said Luke Esser, Washington's Republican … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: Al Gore, Captain's Quarters, Ed Rollins, election scandal, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, presidential primary, Washington caucus

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

The New Face the State for 2008

Face the State unveiled a new face today, and it's certainly a big improvement. This is a must-bookmark or RSS for anyone who wants to stay on top of what's going on in Colorado, with a conservative edge. The first new report is about a rumored political power switch by two Democrat officials that could be bad news for supporters of limited government and school choice:Political insiders are speculating about gossip that Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada, will resign her seat before the end of her term. The move would open the door for fellow Democrat and State Board of Education member Evie Hudak to take over and run as an incumbent this year, an important advantage in a Democrat primary field likely to be crowded with multiple candidates. Of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General Tagged With: Evie Hudak, Face the State, Sue Windels

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

The School Autonomy Roadblock outside Bruce Randolph

My first op-ed for the Boulder-based Colorado Daily appears in today's edition. The topic is the school autonomy movement growing out of events at Bruce Randolph School. I've pasted the entire op-ed below, for fear that the link provided soon will be broken: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General, Labor Tagged With: Bruce Randolph School, Colorado Daily, Denver Classroom Teachers Association, Innovation Schools Act of 2008, Manual High School, Sen. Peter Groff

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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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