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Home Archives for General

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 Leave a Comment

Do We Still Celebrate the Berlin Wall’s Collapse 20 Years Later?

Twenty years ago today the Berlin Wall came down. Not exactly breaking news for my well-informed readers, but the significance of the event is hard to overstate. For five minutes of valuable reflection on the power of freedom with a stirring Beethoven soundtrack, check out this terrific video from the Competitive Enterprise Institute: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Commemorative, General, History, liberty, My Life, PPC, World Events

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 1 Comment

Scott McInnis’ No-Debate Strategy: “Party Unity for Me, But Not for Thee”

In a Denver Post column today, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis justifies his decision not to engage in debates with his primary opponents Josh Penry and Dan Maes: "I will work diligently over the next year to ensure that our party is unified, and that we avoid past mistakes where Republicans wrote the Democrats' television commercials for them." So McInnis suggests not only that debates will inevitably lead to nasty personal infighting but also that party unity is his primary motivation for his no-debate strategy. However, was party unity his primary motivation: … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

How Long for Michael Bennet to Decide on Fed Reserve Transparency?

In a savvy political move that promotes a good, old-fashioned commonsense idea -- something very rare in the halls of Congress -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck has called on incumbent appointee Michael Bennet to join the bipartisan Congressional co-sponsorship of a very important transparency bill:In an e-mail to Bennet, Buck, a Republican candidate for the Senate seat Bennet currently holds, wrote that “auditing Federal Reserve operations isn't a political question. It's a simple matter of good government and financial responsibility.”... The Federal Reserve Sunshine Act would force the Fed to open its books to the Government Accountability Office. The bill has 30 Senate co-sponsors, and 309 representatives are co-sponsoring … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Evading Serious Questions Ties Bill Ritter and Obama Nominee Villafuerte

President Obama's nomination of Stephanie Villafuerte to be Colorado's next U.S. Attorney has put Governor Bill Ritter in an unwanted situation. Serious questions remain unanswered about Villafuerte's role in the political smear of federal ICE agent Cory Voorhis during the 2006 election that led to his near conviction. But Ritter thinks it's too much trouble for us to bother with the questions now:She also declined to answer questions this week about whether she provided the FBI with a complete accounting of any contacts she had with the DA's office about [illegal immigrant Carlos] Estrada-Medina. A message and detailed e-mail left by The Post for Villafuerte were returned instead by Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Ritter. He said Villa fuerte, … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

How Bill Ritter Has Made Union Leaders Feel at Home on Taxpayers’ Time

Have any doubts that Ritter's union executive order has made Big Labor feel all cozy at home in state government? The intrepid Colorado Loses team reports on their union counterparts soliciting for members at an official meeting, on taxpayers' time:This past week, WINS organized and held a budget information meeting at the unemployment office. There was some budget guy from the state, there, along with a couple of union thugs. After the budget guy showed us the state of the state economy, a union guy got up and started soliciting for members. “We need to organize in our communities and in our offices.” WINS used a formal budget information format to seek membership. THIS IS INAPPROPRIATE USE OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, liberty, PPC, property rights

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Josh Penry Wins Hometown Support; Bill Ritter Wins Root Canal Crowd

The Denver Post this morning published a pair of follow-up stories analyzing the campaign finance reports in the race for Colorado governor: "...Grand Junction residents overwhelmingly voted with their wallets for state Sen. Josh Penry over former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis in the opening salvo of their primary battle." As they say, those who know the two hometown candidates best.... "Gov. Bill Ritter can thank dentists, satellite TV executives and unions for a big chunk of the $450,000 he raised last quarter for his re-election bid." Despite all the loud noise, there's no big surprise some labor groups still will pour the maximum into Ritter's campaign. But dentists? Well, the governor's car tax and accompanying late fees have felt … [Read more...]

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

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

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

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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
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