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Home Archives for My Life

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

School Leaders Seeking More Taxpayer Money in Presidential Election Year

In an article printed today, the Denver Post's Jeremy Meyer asks why Colorado school district leaders are pushing a massive slew of construction bond proposals on the ballot:But presidential elections produce large voter turnouts, and 90 percent of Colorado school ballot issues pass when they are on the general election ballot. "My hypothesis is the larger turnout means (districts) are reaching into a voter base that is generally less informed about local issues and more inclined to give money to schools because it sounds like it is the right thing to do," said Ben DeGrow, education-policy analyst for the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank based in Golden. On the other hand:DeGrow, however, said he thinks Colorado … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: Ben DeGrow, bond proposals, Colorado, Denver Post, different perspective, education policy, financial transparency, Independence Institute, Jeremy Meyer, November ballot, reporters, school construction, school district, tax increases, taxpayers, think tank

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

A Different Perspective on Metro Denver School District Bond Elections

When 9News reporter Nelson Garcia wanted a different perspective on school district bond elections, he asked to interview me. If you want to see the video - or just read it in print so to avoid having to look at me - the story is here:Ben DeGrow is the education policy analyst for the Education Policy Center within the Independence Institute, which is a conservative political think tank. DeGrow says too many middle class families are coping with high gas prices and a poor real estate market to think about raising their own property taxes for schools. "This may be a tough year for JeffCo and other metro school districts to be asking for money," said DeGrow. JeffCo is just one of the major districts around Denver poised to ask voters … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: 9News, Aurora, Ben DeGrow, bond elections, Cherry Creek, Denver, Education Policy Center, high gas prices, Independence Institute, JeffCo, mill levies, Nelson Garcia, policy analyst, presidential elections, real estate market, school districts, shameless self-promotion, think tank

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Live-Blogging First Campaign Debate between Bob Schaffer and Mark Udall

Today I'm taking a few personal hours from work to go cover the first debate of Colorado's 2008 U.S. Senate campaign. Hopefully, El Presidente and I will be live-blogging the event between Bob Schaffer and Mark Udall over at the Schaffer v Udall blog. Doors open to the public at 9:30 AM local time, with the debate scheduled to take place from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Bob Schaffer, Colorado, debate, El Presidente, live blogging, Mark Udall, Schaffer v Udall, U.S. Senate

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Mt. Virtus Update

A significant and very exciting change came to the Virtus household yesterday. Needless to say, blogging will be sporadic, at best, for awhile. More important things are going on! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

What an Amazing USA Comeback and a Slap Back at French Arrogance

Yes, after several days off, mostly busy and relatively sleepless though enjoyable, I'm back. Thank you for your patience and forbearance. Few things could rouse me from my blogging slumber so fitfully and so excitedly as that AMAZING Olympic swimming relay comeback victory by the United States. The image of American swimmers Michael Phelps and Garrett Weber-Gale in raw exultation as teammate Jason Lezak helped secure them and Cullen Jones a USA victory in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay has become indelible. Only slightly less rewarding was watching the stunned and sullen looks on the faces of the French swimmers, the favorites in the race, whose anchor leg teammate and 100-meter freestyle world record holder Alain Bernard couldn't close … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life, Sports and Leisure Tagged With: 2008 Summer Olympics, Alain Bernard, arrogance, comeback victory, Cullen Jones, France, Garrett Weber-Gale, gold medal, heroics, Jason Lezak, Michael Phelps, relay, Swimming, United States

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Libby Szabo is a Legislative Candidate Worthy of Conservative Support

Face The State yesterday featured a campaign money breakdown for what figures to be Colorado's hottest state legislative race - and quite possibly a bellwether for others across the state - and that's Senate District 19:In Jefferson County's closely contested Senate District 19, Democrat Evie Hudak has started raking in union cash, while Republican Libby Szabo has seen her large-donor support come mostly from pro-business organizations and the state's energy providers. Libby Szabo is a personal friend and a common sense conservative with plenty of real-world experience in raising a family and running a business. Unfortunately, I live just outside her district and can't vote for Libby. But I'm glad to commend her to readers, especially … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, My Life Tagged With: campaign contributions, Colorado, conservative, Evie Hudak, Face the State, Jefferson County, Libby Szabo, limited government, Senate District 19

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Congrats and Welcome Home, Jared

Congratulations and welcome home, Jared! Sounds like a lot of waiting on God and just plain waiting has been rewarded. It brought a smile to my face to see the picture with your new son. All the best and richest blessings to you and your family! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, My Life Tagged With: Congratulations, Exulatate Justi, Jared

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

From the Front Pages of the Lefty Political Playbook

Here's a little insight for the day ... Recently, I posted at the Schaffer v Udall blog a response to the latest trumped-up faux controversy heaped against the Republican U.S. Senate candidate. Rossputin followed it up at Politics West with an even abler and more thorough refutation of the charges - using relevant facts and evidence. I got a chuckle today when my friend pointed out to me the first comment added to Rossputin's post:when are you going to stop dodging my question about your work for the Heartland Institute? "DeGrow points out a few subsequent articles which show the attack to be erroneous as well as discussing how two of the "big names" leading the attack, former high-level diplomats, are now Democratic activists and at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, General, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: anonymity, guilt by association, Heartland Institute, Independence Institute, Lefties, name-calling, political playbook, Rossputin, tactics

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Denver Gives Democrat Officials Tax Exemption, Risks Public Resentment

A few days ago I had a conversation with some non-political family members about the pains of hosting a national political convention. One of them lives in the Twin Cities. The rest of us live in and around Denver. Doubtless this means some inconveniences and annoyances for denizens, regardless of whether it's the Republicans or Democrats coming to your town. But the Denver Post today reports a small outrage I hadn't even considered before (H/T Slapstick Politics):Several Denver City Council members are questioning why the Democratic National Convention Committee has a contract with the city to fill up their fleet of vehicles with tax-free fuel. The $466,000 contract, only $9,700 of which has been paid so far by the DNCC officials, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Energy, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Democrat National Convention, Democratic National Convention Committee, Denver, Denver City Council, Denver Post, DNCC officials, gasoline, John Hickenlooper, Minneapolis, Republican National Convention, tax-exempt

2/7/2026 By Ben 6 Comments

Beautifying the Street Where I Live

How surprised I was this morning as I went to the driveway to collect the newspapers to also find a cleverly packaged piece of white supremacist "nationalist" hate-group literature nearby on the ground. After opening it and being repulsed, I then looked around and saw that our house wasn't the only one on the block to have been so greeted. With the help of my 2-year-old daughter, we walked the block and cleaned up more than a dozen pieces of trash littered along the sidewalk and street. After writing this, I may come to find out that I inadvertently insulted the work of some local neo-Con blogger's friends. Nevertheless, the kind of ideology littered along my street this morning is a repulsive affront to true Christian religion and our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life Tagged With: hate literature, neighborhood clean-up, neo-Confederate, whitesupremacists

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Inside

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    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
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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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  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
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  • NRO's The Corner
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  • Red State

Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
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  • Flypaper
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  • IMAO
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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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