Mount Virtus

"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

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Home Archives for My Life

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Podcast on Ritter’s Union Partnerships

For the auditory learners out there, check out my new podcast with Jon Caldara on Gov. Bill Ritter's union "employee partnerships." Visual learners can turn to the full report, or if you're short on time, the two-page nuts and bolts version. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Labor, My Life Tagged With: Gov. Bill Ritter, iVoices podcast, Jon Caldara, union employee partnerships

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Who’s at Samsphere Denver?

I forgot to recap the Samsphere Denver established blogger participants, and now it's small-group discussion time. Here's the whole list of bloggers, with those in my group highlighted in bold:CONFIRMED BLOGGERS Anthony Surace at Rocky Mountain Right Denise Mund at Colorado Charter Schools Brian Schwartz at Wakalix John Martin at The Drunkablog Ray Thomas at The Thoma$ Report Randy Ketner at Night Twister Ben DeGrow at Mount Virtus Michael Sandoval at Slapstick Politics Ross Kaminsky at Rossputin Jon Caldara at The Cauldron Brad Jones at Face the State David Harsanyi at David Harsanyi Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom Patrick Sperry at Conservative Libertarian Outpost Bob Ball at The Daily Blogster Marty Neilson at Colorado … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, My Life Tagged With: Samsphere Denver

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Samsphere Denver Liveblog Part II

… [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, My Life Tagged With: Brad Jones, David Harsanyi, Jon Caldara, live blogging, Samsphere, Trent Seibert

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Westminster School District Negligence Makes Case for Online Transparency

I about fell out of my chair when I read this local CBS4 TV news story (video also available):An out-of-state architectural firm has billed an Adams County School District nearly $60,000, for hotels, meals and travel expenses in the last year but the district hasn't bothered to ask for, or review, a single receipt. "It's negligence," said Kevin O'Brien, a former IRS agent, CPA and business ethics professor at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business. "The public has a right to expect there will be some minimum checking on those receipts because its really the public's money." Adams County School District 50 hired Healy, Bender and Associates of Naperville, Ill., last year. The school district enlisted the company to help … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: Americans for Tax Reform, Ben DeGrow, bond election, Brian Maass, CBS4 News, Colorado Open Records request, financial transparency, Healy Bender and Associates, Kevin O'Brien, negligence, Pueblo Chieftain, school construction, school district budgets, Westminster High School, Westminster School District

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Congressional Democrat Payback of Big Labor Marches On: Public Safety Edition

Update, Part Deux: Sources have contacted me to correct my update. The Act hasn't officially passed the Senate yet. The final vote will be later this week. The first vote was a procedural motion that appears to be a strong indicator of a final vote. Anyway, there is hope for this bad legislation to die yet. Update: Just as I was publishing this post, it looks like the Act has passed the Senate, with a lot of so-called Republicans also enabling the legislation. So goes the world... Unsurprisingly, the Democrats in Congress haven't accomplished much since they took over. Most notably, Nancy Pelosi's 2006 "plan" to bring down gas prices is still in the works. One special interest group to which Democrats have been busy pandering is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Alliance for Worker Freedom, Big Labor, Congressional Democrats, Employee Free Choice Act, Heritage Foundation, Independence Institute, iVoices podcast, James Sherk, John Cooke, Nancy Pelosi, Public employee unions, union coercion, Wall Street Journal, Weld County Sheriff

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Speaking Out for Individual Workers’ Right to Choose, Free from Coercion

For the second time in the span of a week, I have been quoted in the Rocky Mountain News. Quite astonishing, really, except for the fact that the writers of these stories on all the political battles over right-to-work and other initiatives must be glad to find a different voice than the standard pro-business and pro-labor mouthpieces. I was glad to be able to give a pro-liberty view to the article:"The Labor Peace Act is unique and offers some protection, but it doesn't offer complete protection," said Benjamin DeGrow, an analyst at the Independence Institute. "Anything that best protects the individual worker's right to decide what they want is the right sort of policy." Instead of addressing the argument in the story, the other side … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Labor, My Life Tagged With: Beck rights, Ben DeGrow, coercion, freedom, Independence Institute, Labor Peace Act, labor unions, right-to-work laws, Rocky Mountain News, Roland Zullo

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Sharing Samsphere Link Love

Promoted with more updates: El Presidente has posted some key video excerpts, and (under imaginary threat of compulsion) here is a post written by one of Jon Caldara's minions. Follow-ups on Samsphere Denver: - Brad Jones' Buzz at Face The State - Bob Agard - Randy Ketner, Night Twister If you were at Samsphere Denver and posted on the topic, but I overlooked you, please drop an email or a comment with a link to your post, and I'll put it up. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, General, My Life Tagged With: Bob Agard, Face the State, Jon Caldara, Night Twister, Samsphere Denver, Slapstick Politics

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Constructively Reasonable

My good friend, a conservative Christian law student at the University of Colorado, has entered the world of blogging at Constructively Reasonable. If you get a chance, please stop by and encourage him to continue blogging, even as he seeks to survive the rigorous first-year final exams! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, My Life Tagged With: Constructively Reasonable, University of Colorado

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Setting the Record Straight

I saw this post from The Colorado Index earlier in the week. Busy at the time, I just shook my head and moved on. But when Rossputin - the subject of the post - brought it to my attention again, I decided it was worthy of a quick response. A watcher is entitled to his opinions and to the manner of delivering those opinions, but a couple factual corrections are in order: 1. A watcher wrote: "'Blogger Extraordinaire' Ross Kaminsky - the self promoter who admits he doesn't read conservative Colorado blogs...." Fact: The implication behind the use of "Blogger Extraordinaire," which was used twice in this post, was that it was a title Ross chose for himself. In fact, it was the Samsphere promoters who devised and used the label. To my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, My Life Tagged With: dispute, facts, Rossputin, Samsphere, The Colorado Index

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

For All the Latest on Colorado’s Bob Schaffer-Mark Udall Senate Race

For the latest in Colorado's U.S. Senate race between Republican Bob Schaffer and Democrat Mark Udall, head on over to Schaffer v Udall, a blog project on which I collaborate. Why is this a great time to visit if you have never been, or haven't in awhile? Just in the last day, you'll find posts up on these intriguing topics: - How a Democrat attack ad on Bob Schaffer is backfiring - Terrific analysis by my colleague El Presidente showing the problems with the "latest" poll in the race - Udall's ongoing difficult dilemma as a superdelegate - Udall's questionable earmarks ethics and his questionable pledge to swear off earmarks (temporarily) If you're interested in Colorado politics or the 2008 campaign for the U.S. Senate, you'll … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Bob Schaffer, Democrats, earmarks, Mark Udall, polls, Schaffer v Udall, superdelegate

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Inside

  • About Ben
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  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
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    • Colorado Ballot 2014
  • Mary and Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust
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  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
  • The Westfield Gardener
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Writer / Editor For Hire

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

Colorado News

  • Colorado Senate News
  • Complete Colorado
  • Independence Institute
  • Loveland Politics
  • The Colorado Observer

National News and Politics

  • Drudge Report
  • Hot Air
  • National Review
  • Politico
  • Real Clear Politics
  • Reason
  • The Washington Times
  • TownHall
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Weekly Standard
  • World Magazine

Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
  • David Harsanyi’s Blog
  • E!! The True Conservative Story
  • EIA Intercepts
  • Evangelical Outpost
  • Hugh Hewitt
  • Instapundit
  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
  • Little Green Footballs
  • Michelle Malkin
  • NRO's The Corner
  • Power Line
  • Red State

Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
  • Mike Anderson
  • Mullings
  • Professor Bainbridge
  • Right Thinking
  • Right Wing News
  • Right Wing Nuthouse
  • Shot in the Dark
  • Talking Points Memo
  • Virginia Postrel
  • Volokh Conspiracy

Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
  • Sharper Iron

Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
  • Colorado Republican Study Committee
  • Dennis Prager
  • Denver Metro Young Republicans
  • Free Republic
  • Heritage Foundation
  • Jefferson County Republican Party
  • Mackinac Center for Public Policy
  • Mark Steyn
  • Michael Medved
  • Rush Limbaugh

Colorado Blogs

  • American Kestrel
  • Bob Agard
  • Colorado Charter Schools
  • Colorado Peak Politics
  • Colorado Pols
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  • Conservative Libertarian Outpost
  • Coyote Gulch
  • Ed Is Watching
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  • Jeff Crank Show
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  • Patient Power
  • PirateBallerina
  • Protein Wisdom
  • Reagan Girl
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 1.0 (Archive)
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  • Rossputin
  • Stop the ACLU Blog
  • The Spot (Denver Post)
  • We Stand Firm

Other Sites

  • Technorati
  • Word Press

Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
  • The Business Word
  • The Daily Blogster
  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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