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Home Archives for General

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Cast Vote for Best Slogan to Describe Government Borrow-and-Spend Habits

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation is concluding its Stop Spending Our Future "Give It a Name" contest with the chance for you to vote on which of the five finalists best conveys "the threat of government over-spending and/or excessive debt using 10 words or less". While you're there casting your vote, you can also sign the petition to tell Washington the common-sense truth that we can't borrow and spend our way to prosperity. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Americans for Prosperity Foundation, borrow, contest, excessive debt, finalists, Give It a Name, government, over-spending, petition, prosperity, sign, spend, Stop Spending Our Future, vote, Washington

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Public-Sector Unions vs. Taxpayers: Timely Lesson for Governor Bill Ritter

Quick post, but an important read for a Friday: As clearly and as effectively as I've seen done, Steven Malanga's Wall Street Journal column explains the negative impact of public-sector union strength on the well-being of taxpayers. (H/T Labor Pains) Read it. Maybe it will help clarify the reasons why Governor Bill Ritter ought to veto Senate Bill 180. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Bill Ritter, clarify, column, Friday, Governor, important read, Labor Pains, negative impact, public sector, quick post, reasons, Senate Bill 180, Steven Malanga, strength, taxpayers, union, veto, Wall Street Journal, well-being

2/7/2026 By Ryan Leave a Comment

Two Problems with Hate Crimes Laws

A hate crimes bill has passed through the US House (H.R. 1913) and is now before the Senate (S. 909).  Basically, a hate crimes bill makes not only actions done against others criminal, but also the motives behind the actions. The bill in question would make it an extra crime to commit crimes against people due to a hatred of their sexual orientation (includes homosexuality, pedophilia, being normally married, etc.), or a number of other things (such as race and religion).  I would like to suggest two basic problems with hate crimes legislation: 1. The hate crimes bill/concept breaks one of the fundamental principles of our country, equal intrinsic human value: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, General, National Politics, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

If the Federal Debt Could Be Imagined as a Map of the United States…

Less than 3 minutes is all it takes for this excellent visual explanation of the rate of our mounting national debt (H/T Gene Kinsey): Brought to you by the same guy who cleverly explained Barack Obama's proposed spending "cuts" in terms of pennies and large containers of water. I hope he keeps these coming. For the record, I'm not comfortable with any rate of speed going westward at this point. Rather than drag-racing to Los Angeles, I'd be happy to see us hitchhiking back to the Big Apple (metaphorically speaking, that is). … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Barack Obama, Big Apple, comfortable, drag-racing, explanation, Gene Kinsey, hitchhiking, large containers, Los Angeles, metaphorically speaking, mounting, national debt, pennies, President, rate, speed, spending cuts, video, visual, water, westward, YouTube

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Quote of the Day

Former state senate leader and former state treasurer Mark Hillman, in his column lambasting the arrogance behind Colorado Democrats' Senate Bill 291, which would strip away state education funds from school districts that opt to reinstitute taxpayer protections:This from the party that claims to do everything “for the children.” In reality, the Democrats do everything “for the government” and aren’t above using your children as hostages in their extortion racket. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: arrogance, Colorado, Democrats, education funds, extortion racket, for the children, for the government, former, leader, Mark Hillman, reinstitute, school districts, Senate Bill 291, state, state senate, state treasurer, taxpayer protections

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

RMA Blog Talk Radio Tonight at 8:30: Legislative Session, Rep. Kent Lambert

Tune in tonight at 8:30 PM local Mountain time for the 27th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. We hope to dedicate this episode to a review of the good, the bad, and the ugly from the recently concluded legislative session in Denver. Our special guest will be Representative Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, vice chair of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado. If you miss the live show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: Blog Talk Radio, Colorado, Colorado Springs, Denver, episode, Kent Lambert, legislative session, podcast, representative, Republican Study Committee, Rocky Mountain Alliance, sidebar, vice-chair, widget

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Big Labor Ramps Up Pro-EFCA Efforts with Biased Report, Religious Lobbyists

Update, 10:00 AM: Labor Pains' Justin Wilson has a more thorough refutation of Big Labor's new report here. In an effort to ramp up their efforts to pass the Employee Forced Choice Act (EFCA), Big Labor is touting a new report that suggests employers are rampantly breaking the law (PDF) during union organizing elections. The problem? The report's data all are based on interviews with union organizers -- hardly an unbiased source. But anything goes. While Big Labor appeals to EFCA apologists who need rational cover with impressive-sounding reports, it seems they also think they must appeal to the populist masses of religious believers. So they have sent clergy member lobbyists to Washington, DC, to insist that card-check legislation is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: advocacy, aligned, American, apologists, appeal, appointed, balance, believers, Big Labor, binding arbitration, breaking the law, card-check, chances, clergy member, coercion, Colorado, Democrat, deprive, economy, EFCA, efforts, elections, emerge, Employee Forced Choice Act, Employer Advantage, employers, expensive, George McGovern, God, Heritage Foundation, impressive-sounding, interviews, intimidation, jobs, labor law, legislation, liberal icon, lobbyists, mandatory, manufactured, masses, Michael Bennet, moral imperative, myth, nation's capital, new report, opposes, payouts, phenomenon, political desperation, populist, pro-union, procedures, protect, ramp up, rational cover, religious, Religious Left, secret ballot, skewing, social justice, source, stars, struggling, tactics, teetering, thousands, transparent, twin, U.S. Senator, unbiased, union, union organizers, union organizing, Washington DC, weak, weeks, workers, workplace

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Carroll: Sonia Sotomayor “Expression of Bigotry” Calls for Full Repudiation

Great piece by Vince Carroll in today's Denver Post on Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointment:If racial and gender bigotry truly have no place in American public life today, then Judge Sonia Sotomayor, during her confirmation hearing for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, needs to utterly repudiate her 2001 assertion that "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Putting that statement "in context" or explaining what she "really meant" will not do. Nor can Judge Sotomayor credibly argue that her assertion was an ill-considered mistake, since it was part of a prepared speech at the Berkeley school of law. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cultural Conservatism, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC, property rights, Second Amendment Tagged With: absurd, affirmative action, American, analysis, appointment, assertion, Barack Obama, Berkeley, better, bigoted remark, biological, blind justice, city council, conclusion, cultural, Damon Root, Declaration of Independence, Denver Post, determinism, early roundup, elected, experiences, expression, groupthink, gun rights, ill-considered, individual liberty, Joshua Sharf, judge, Left, limited government, loco, mistake, nomination, personal responsibility, political correctness, positions, principles, pronouncement, public life, Q and O, racial identity politics, reaction, Reason Online, Republican, repudiate, repudiation, response, richness, rule of law, school board, school of law, Sonia Sotomayor, speech, supreme court, undergirded, Vince Carroll, weighing in, white male, wise Latina woman

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Western Slope Pressure Heightens Bill Ritter’s Bad Policy SB 180 Dilemma

As the Grand Junction Sentinel reports today, the day of reckoning draws closer for Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to decide on the bad policy that is SB 180 -- a costly favor to Big Labor. The Sentinel today also editorializes strongly against SB 180 -- using many of the same arguments I've brought forward before, and even one I haven't really emphasized:Strikes would be prohibited under the legislation, but there are no sanctions listed in the bill for those who violate the provision. Now it would seem that Bill Ritter has an opportunity to start mending fences with folks on the Western Slope, where his popularity is low and heckling is a common greeting for him, by vetoing SB 180. He could listen to Grand Junction mayor Bruce Hill, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: arguments, bad policy, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, Bruce Hill, campaign contributions, candidate, coerce, Collective Bargaining, Colorado, Colorado Professional Firefighters, common, community, costly, day of reckoning, debate, deja vu, editorializes, emphasized, excuse, favor, fences, folks, good policy, Governor, Grand Junction, Grand Junction Sentinel, greeting, HB 1072, HB 1170, heckling, inflaming, lockout, low, make up, mayor, measure, mending, observed, opportunity, political favors, political retribution, popularity, promised, reports, rhetorical question, same, sanctions, SB 180, sign, state government, strikes, strongly, supporters, tidbit, union agency fees, union hall, union leaders, veto, Western Slope, workers

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

“Principled”, “Solutions-Driven” US Senate Candidate Ryan Frazier Speaks Out

(Co-authored by El Presidente and Ben DeGrow) We were privileged with the opportunity last Saturday to sit down and conduct an exclusive half-hour two-on-one interview with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ryan Frazier (Frazier's two GOP primary contenders are Weld County district attorney Ken Buck and businessman Cleve Tidwell). The conversation was wide-ranging and informative. We left with a clearer picture of the candidate's vision and the campaign's direction. We began by bringing up a recent article in The Hill that portrayed Frazier as part of a "band of centrists", and asked him what he thought of the characterization. He responded: "I'm Ryan Frazier, and I do what I believe to be right. I've never been much for labels.... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, My Life, National Politics

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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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Completing the Blogroll

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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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