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Home Archives for National Politics

2/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Beware Stimulus Spam from Nancy Pelosi and Congress in Your Email Inbox

You think the Nigerian email scammers are bad? Be wary if something like this shows up in your inbox. Well-timed and well-done comic relief from Big Hollywood's Ernie Mannix. Check it out. On a serious note, it isn't too late to make your voice heard about the bloated waste and economic poison most commonly known as the federal stimulus bill. If you're ambitious, you can follow Rossputin's lead and pen a letter. The least you can do is sign Americans for Prosperity's No Stimulus petition. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: ambitious, Americans for Prosperity, bad, Big Hollywood, bloated waste, economic poison, email scammers, Ernie Mannix, federal stimulus bill, inbox, letter, Nigerian, No Stimulus, pen, petition, Rossputin, serious note, sign, voice

2/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Dick Wadhams Talks Up Ryan Frazier and Mark Hillman for U.S. Senate Race

Colorado Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams recently sat down with the Colorado Statesman for an extended interview. There isn't much in the way of new information, but there is one passage worthy of comment. Namely, it's interesting to see whom Wadhams is talking up for the U.S. Senate race to challenge the newly-selected Michael Bennet: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Bob Beauprez, candidate, chairman, Colorado Statesman, Dan Caplis, Dick Wadhams, different information, elected official, excellent choice, Governor, humble opinion, interview, Josh Penry, leader, legislature, Mark Hillman, Michael Bennet, Republican Party, Rocky Mountain Right, Ryan Frazier, selected, senator, statewide candidate, straw poll, third, U.S. Senate, young

2/7/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Tom Lucero Touts a Few Big Name Supporters in Contested 4th CD Race

Update: I forgot to mention Fort Collins city councilman Diggs Brown as another candidate being touted to run as a Republican in the 4th CD. Thanks to Night Twister for the reminder. Will Republicans have an interesting primary in Colorado's 4th Congressional District? Who knows, but it won't be for lack of trying. Names like Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck and State Representative Cory Gardner (Yuma) have been floated as leading contenders to take on newly-elected Betsy Markey. But CU Regent Tom Lucero yesterday released the names of his policy advisors and finance team. The list of campaign advisors and fundraisers features some notable and influential names, including business leader Steve Schuck as well as leading radio … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: 4th Congressional District, aggressively, approach, Betsy Markey, business leader, campaign, clean, Colorado, contenders, conventional wisdom, Cory Gardner, CU Regent, District Attorney, fundraisers, Hugh Hewitt, influential, Ken Buck, Mike Rosen, names, newly elected, notable, policy advisors, primary, race, radio business, radio talk show, rates, Republicans, state representative, stay tuned, Steve Schuck, Tom Lucero, underdog, Weld County

2/6/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Arming with Knowledge in Debate for Economic Liberty & America’s Future

A must-read end-of-the-week Linkfest, in the midst of a critical national debate: American Thinker's Randall Hoven strikes again, this time with a less controversial and heavily fact-laden piece - reviewing some of the abundant evidence that economic freedom promotes economic growth and the failed history of massive government so-called "stimulus" projects. It's a worthy read. (If the article above triggers your curiosity and interest, and you live in Colorado, then I also strongly recommend you take a look at signing up for the Free People, Free Markets class.) Along the same lines, the Wall Street Journal has been a great place to stay informed. Earlier this week the Journal featured a terrific, hard-hitting piece by economists … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: American Contrarian, American Thinker, bill, brings attention, Bruce McQuain, Colorado, columnist, Congress, critical, Dan Henninger, debt, Dick Armey, economic growth, economic liberty, economists, excellent, failed history, Free People Free Markets class, Freedom Works, government, Great Depression, Harold Cole, Kevin Williamson, Keynesian, laugh, Lee Ohanian, Linkfest, lost brand, must-read, national debate, National Review, outrageous, pork, pork-laden, Randall Hoven, Reason TV, reminder, Republicans, Rossputin, socialism, Stephen Spruiell, stimulis ad, stimulus, Tom Coburn, U.S. Senator, Wall Street Journal

2/6/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Mount Virtus is Five Years Old (Please Don’t Pinch the Cheeks of my Blog)

Today is a landmark day for Mount Virtus. It was exactly five years ago that I put up my first post back on the old Blogger platform. My how it's grown: In honor of the occasion, I've created a new page that hopefully puts to rest any lingering uncertainty about the origins of the blog's name. Interestingly, today also would have been the 98th birthday of one of our greatest Presidents - and the President during my formative years, Ronald Reagan. A coincidence, no doubt. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Commemorative, General, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: birthday, blogger, five years, formative years, landmark day, Mount Virtus, name, new page, platform, President, Ronald Reagan

2/5/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Is This How John Sweeney Will Convince Michael Bennet to Kill the Secret Ballot?

Courtesy of Hot Air, a great video exposing the hypocrisy and dubious logic behind Big Labor's poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act: Of course, the removal of the secret ballot process from workplace elections only presents the more sensational half of the problems posed by this legislation. Costly binding arbitration makes up the other half. But if AFL-CIO president John Sweeney of all people can't tell you why the secret ballot should go (but liberal icon George McGovern can tell you why not), isn't the case rather clear cut? All eyes are on Colorado's newly-selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet to see where he comes down on this issue. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: AFL-CIO, Big Labor, binding arbitration, CASE, clear cut, Colorado, costly, dubious logic, Employee Free Choice Act, George McGovern, Hot Air, hypocrisy, John Sweeney, legislation, liberal icon, Michael Bennet, newly-selected, President, problems, secret ballot process, sensational, U.S. Senator, video, workplace elections, YouTube

2/5/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

My 2.5 Minutes on KOA’s Morning Show – Taxpayer-Friendly School Reform

Yesterday morning I made a hit-and-run appearance on Colorado's Morning News (850 KOA) to discuss a couple simple education reform ideas in the context of announced state budget cutbacks and the so-called federal "stimulus" bill. Thanks to producer Jason Borgmann, here's the audio: Not quite as delirious as I thought I sounded at 7:00 AM. Clearly, this wasn't the medium for going in-depth and really tackling subject matter, but I think I got a couple provocative points across. … [Read more...]

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

2/5/2009 By Ben 9 Comments

Rossputin Explains Why The Current Recession is So Uniquely Bad

A few days ago I raised the question based on a provocative American Thinker essay by Randall Hoven: How deep is this recession? Is it really the worst crisis in 70 years? I am not that well versed in - nor closely attuned to - macroeconomic data and the trends they indicate. Something seemed incomplete in the essay. So I'm glad to see that Rossputin has weighed in with a thoughtful and thorough response, disagreeing with Hoven. Whether you are more swayed by Hoven or Rossputin, Rossputin's conclusion is something we all should easily be able to agree with:The Democrats’ medicine will be worse than our current illness, and will turn what should have been a moderately annoying case of the fiscal flu into a devastating economic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: agree, American Thinker, Americans, aversion, conclusion, crisis, Democrats, devastating, disagree, economic pneumonia, encouraging news, essay, fiscal flu, incomplete, macroeconomic data, medicine, prescription, question, Randall Hoven, recession, Rossputin, thorough, thoughtful, toxic, trends, weighed in, well versed

2/4/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Jon Henke’s Advice: Keep Our Eyes on The Real Problem Before Us

If you really want to engage in a serious debate about how to implement free market conservative policy solutions with a practical eye on messaging and political coalition building, then you ought to be reading what Jon Henke has to say. Be prepared: you won't get a rosy-eyed view or a mealy-mouthed answer. I appreciated what Jon wrote yesterday about a Republican response to the growing push toward government-sponsored universal health care (Tom Daschle's distracting tax problems aside). I'm not interested in the particularities of the health care debate right now, but if you are, might I recommend you check out the following: Patient Power WE Stand Firm State Policy Network blog However, it's Henke's conclusion that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: appreciate, Big Government, coalition building, conservative, Democrat Party, free market, futile, government, growing push, heavy lifting, ideological ball, insightful, Jon Henke, limited government, limiting, long-term solutions, mealy-mouthed answer, messaging, Patient Power, policy solutions, political, political success, practical eye, principle, readers, recommend, Republican, response, rosy-eyed view, serious debate, State Policy Network, structural, tax problems, The Problem, Tom Daschle, two-party system, universal health care, We Stand Firm, wrong

2/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

In Denver Area? Come to Feb 3 Event on Worst U.S. Supreme Court Rulings

Interested in a lively and informative presentation and discussion of some of the worst U.S. Supreme Court decisions in our history, and ideas for the federal judiciary to get back on a more Constitutional path? Are you still looking for something to do this Tuesday evening (February 3) and live in the Denver area? Well, here's an event for you. Institute for Justice president William "Chip" Mellor, one of the co-authors of the new book The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom will be speaking at the Independence Institute (directions here). Tomorrow evening's event starts with a 5:30 reception, followed by the program at 6:00. Go here to RSVP. I hope to see you there. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Health Care, Judiciary, National Politics, PPC, property rights Tagged With: Chip Mellor, co-author, Constitutional, decisions, Denver area, directions, Dirty Dozen, event, federal judiciary, freedom, government, History, Independence Institute, informative, Institute for Justice, lively, President, program, reception, RSVP, Tuesday, U.S. Supreme Court

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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

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