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Home Archives for General

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Dispelling Facebook Membership as Motive to Scott McInnis Voicemail Story

Can't help but say that I'm a bit disappointed in the Grand Junction Sentinel for the shoddy article and headline erroneously equating the Facebook group membership of my colleagues Todd Shepherd and Justin Longo with support of Josh Penry. On the other hand, the Dead Guvs' complicity in their own headline writing and truly bizarre conspiracy theorizing is downright amusing. It reinforces the case that they're out of touch with local Republican politics and are relying on deductive logic to perpetuate a pre-fabricated narrative. They'll have to do better if they wish to be believable as something other than a fountain of Democrat talking points. When Todd -- a man of journalistic integrity (and amazing vocal impersonation skills) -- … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Journalism, liberty, My Life, PPC Tagged With: amusing, article, bizarre conspiracy, CASE, colleagues, Complete Colorado, complicity, Dead Guvs, deductive logic, Democrat, disappointed, downright, equating, erroneously, Facebook, fountain, Governor, Grand Junction Sentinel, headline, Josh Penry, journalistic integrity, membership, narrative, origin, outof touch, perpetuate, politics, pre-fabricated, Republican, Scott McInnis, serious questions, settles, shoddy, support, talking points, Todd Shepherd, vocal impersonation, voicemail, writing

2/7/2026 By Ben 5 Comments

Senate Bill 180: Another Big Labor Veto Dilemma for Vulnerable Bill Ritter

Two years ago Governor Bill Ritter came right out of the gate and ran smack into a tough veto choice that caused friction with his Big Labor supporters. Ritter made up for the nixing of House Bill 1072 later in 2007 with an executive order giving union organizers a gold-plated invitation into Colorado state government. Now, to some extent, history is replaying itself. As the Denver Post's John Ingold reports, the choice Bill Ritter is confronted with now is whether to sign or veto the bad policy that is Senate Bill 180. The bogus argument used for SB 180 -- which narrowly passed the Democrat-controlled legislature -- is that firefighters need greater union bargaining rights to ensure they get needed safety equipment. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: alienate, approval ratings, argument, Aurora, bad policy, bargaining agreements, bargaining rights, benefits, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, bogus, business community, choice, Colorado, Colorado Municipal League, confronted, costly, curry, decide, Democrat, Denver Post, disses, Drop dead, Englewood, evidence, Executive Order, favor, fire departments, firefighters, Fort Collins, friend, gold-plated, government, Governor, Greeley, heroes, higher, History, House Bill 1072, invitation, issues, John Ingold, legislature, little attention, local communities, local officials, management rights, mountain communities, narrowly, nemesis, opposition, overwhelmingly, passed, political, political side, power, Pueblo, rejected, reports, safety equipment, safety records, Senate Bill 180, sign, state government, state mandate, statement, sunk, union organizers, uphold, veto, wages, wise course

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Bob Beauprez Eyeing 2009 Fundraising for Ryan Frazier and Ken Buck?

The Hill provides a birds-eye Beltway view of the Republican primary challenge shaping up to take out the indecisive and vulnerable Michael Bennet, Colorado's newly selected junior U.S. Senator. Writes Aaron Blake:Republicans lately have been talking a lot about fresh faces, with mixed success in actually obtaining them. While the GOP has lined up current and former House members in most other open primaries, Colorado stands out as the one where they may be content to go with a wholly new brand. That change would be particularly stark with [Ryan] Frazier, a 31-year-old African-American city councilman who has opened an exploratory committee for the race and appears set to run. But it’s also apparent with [Ken] Buck, a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Aaron Blake, Attorney General, Beltway, Bob Beauprez, calendar year, campaign contribution, Cleve Tidwell, Colorado, Dan Caplis, decision, former Congressman, guess, indecisive, John Suthers, Michael Bennet, numbers, open primaries, radar, The Hill, threshold, U.S. Senator, underwhelm, vulnerable, wait-and-see approach

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

RMA Blog Talk Radio at 8:30 Tonight: Blue Collar Muse and More …

Tune in tonight at 8:30 PM local Mountain time for the 25th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. Our confirmed guest for this week is Ken Marrero, an entrepreneur and one of the leading bloggers on the Right, better known to many as Tennessee's Blue Collar Muse. A possible guest from the Colorado state legislature also may join us, but these being the final hectic hours of the session we're playing it by ear. 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, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Blog Talk Radio, bloggers, Blue Collar Muse, Colorado, entrepreneur, hectic, Ken Marrero, legislative session, playing it by ear, podcast, Right, Rocky Mountain Alliance, state legislature, Tennessee

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Sign of Bill Ritter’s Sagging Popularity

Governor Bill Ritter is wrestling with another veto decision over a labor issue. But there are plenty of other reasons why his popularity has hit the skids with Coloradans. A faithful Mount Virtus reader snapped this photo of a sign near Highway 285 and 291 in Chaffee County: Colorado Republicans are revving their engines in search of a candidate who will lead them down the right road to victory and back to lower taxes and responsible limited government in 2010. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, PPC Tagged With: 2010, Bill Ritter, candidate, Chaffee County, Coloradans, Colorado, decision, Governor, hit the skids, issue, Labor, Mount Virtus reader, photo, popularity, reasons, Republicans, responsible government, sign, veto, wrestling

2/7/2026 By Ryan Leave a Comment

UNCRC: Foreign Tyranny over American Families?

(Editor's note: Welcome back, Ryan!) "Best interests provides decision and policy makers with the authority to substitute their own decisions for either the child's or the parents', providing it is based on considerations of the best interests of the child.  Thus, the Convention challenges the concept that family life is always in the best interests of children and that parents are always capable of deciding what is best for children." [underline added] Unfortunately, this quote is not from a discredited radical talking about a theoretical idea.  It is Geraldine Van Bueren, an original drafter of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), talking about one aspect of the treaty.  According to the above-linked … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Earth Day Hysteria Ignores Progress

Update, 3:00 PM: Michelle Malkin has a great video and some informative links about the eco-indoctrination so many American children have to bear. Yesterday was Earth Day. Where were all the Green folks celebrating four decades of remarkable progress in reducing air pollution (for example)? Yes, that's the sound of clean air-breathing crickets chirping. Taking a day off work for reasons other than the holiday itself, my family took a day trip to the Denver Zoo, where we were treated to a mild dose of eco-crisis hysteria from indoctrinated schoolchildren. When a little girl stopped us and sweetly asked if we wanted to learn more about penguins, I was gullible enough to believe we might learn some facts about the creatures' diet, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Hysteria, Colorado Politics, Education, General, liberty, My Life, PPC Tagged With: agenda, air pollution, Bill Ritter, bombarded, celebrating, chirping, conservationist, crickets, daughter, Denver Zoo, diet, difference, Earth Day, eco-crisis, encounter, enviro-religion, environmentalist, facts, feathers, folks, Green, gullible, habitat, hysteria, important, indoctrinated, learning, lifespan, mild dose, mother Earth, multiplication tables, penguins, priorities, progress, public schools, random facts, reaping, result, scaremongering, schoolchildren, table, teach, waste, well trained

2/7/2026 By Ben 7 Comments

On Socialism and Ron Paul: Two Timely Essays for Lovers of Liberty

A quick-hit double-link in the form of two recent essays I recommend as timely and relevant reading for thoughtful lovers of liberty: "The Welfare State and the Meaning of Life" by Greg Forster, whose work I have come to know through his excellent research and analysis of school choice issues, but in this case makes a strong moral case against socialism "Ron Paul's Secession Lies on Video" by libertarian lawyer and thinker Tim Sandefur, a college classmate of mine who delivers a remedial lesson in United States history and the Constitution to the Congressman and former presidential candidate ... It's one thing to speak up loudly against federal overreaches and for a renewed respect of the 10th Amendment, it's quite another to call for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, Cultural Conservatism, General, History, liberty, National Politics, PPC, property rights Tagged With: 10th Amendment, analysis, articulate, critical times, discerning, essays, federal overreaches, Greg Forster, History, lawyer, lesson, libertarian, lovers of liberty, moral case, reading, recommend, remedial, research, Ron Paul, school, secession, socialism, Texas, thinker, thoughtful, Tim Sandefur, U.S. Constitution, unilateral, union, welfare state

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to Teller and Gilpin Counties: “Drop Dead”

With his veto of a widely-supported bipartisan measure that would give mountain communities a representative voice on the Limited Gaming Control Commission, Democrat Governor Bill Ritter essentially has said: "Drop dead, Teller and Gilpin Counties". Maybe Ritter is looking for ways to further weaken his sagging approval ratings. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, PPC Tagged With: approval ratings, Bill Ritter, bipartisan, Democrat, Drop dead, Gilpin County, Governor, Limited Gaming Control Commission, measure, mountain communities, representative, sagging, Teller County, veto, voice, weaken

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Stand Up Today Against Government Health Care Takeover Attempt

Over at We Stand FIRM, Dr. Paul Hsieh brings attention to an attempt by Washington D.C. Democrats to fast-track a major expansion of government control of health care. If you've been looking for a chance to speak out for liberty, or you are just enraged by the political tactics, as well as the harmful and costly end-game on health care policy, Hsieh provides some great evidence and a couple sample letters you can use to formulate your own letter to Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet. The time to stand up is today ... not tomorrow, not next week. Make your voice heard for individual freedom, personal responsibility, and affordable, free market health care! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Health Care, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: affordable, Colorado, costly, Democrats, end-game, enraged, evidence, fast track, formulate, free market, government control, harmful, Health Care, individual freedom, letter, liberty, major expansion, Mark Udall, Michael Bennet, next week, Paul Hsieh, personal responsibility, policy, political, sample letters, speak out, tactics, tomorrow, U.S. Senators, voice, Washington DC, We Stand Firm

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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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