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Home Archives for PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Overcoming the Decline in American Economic Freedom

Here's a great quick video to watch, drawing the connection between America's declining economic freedom and a host of problems, including the rising tide of debt which daily comes closer to drowning us all: Who will wake up and turn this ship around? Just in case you didn't understand why the 2012 national elections were so important... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, liberty, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Jeffco GOP Assembly Recap: Conservative Justin Everett Takes Top Line in House District 22

This past Saturday many Colorado county political parties held their biennial assemblies for the purpose of approving resolutions and nominating candidates for the primary ballot. For the fifth consecutive time, I attended the Jefferson County Republican Assembly as a voting delegate. The new and spacious Lakewood church venue was needed, with more than 1,200 certified delegates in attendance. The strong turnout was most impressive in terms of first-time delegates, which an impromptu show of hands revealed made up somewhere around two-thirds of those attending north Jeffco's Senate District 19 assembly. Similar anecdotes and reports from other districts suggest the large-scale infusion of fresh grassroots political blood was a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, liberty, My Life, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

HD 22 Candidate Loren Bauman: TABOR Has Done “Some Things That Have Hurt the Republican Party”

Yes, it's been several months since I've posted here. Life is busy, and the political season has been slow in these parts. Last time I checked in it was to report that conservative state house candidate Justin Everett had taken top line on the ballot at the Jefferson County GOP Assembly. His race against Loren Bauman turns out to be the county's only primary race on the June 26 mail-in ballot. If you needed more reason to see the clear difference between the two Republican candidates in HD 22, this 13-second clip (MP3) from a May 29 debate of Bauman summarizing his assessment of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) should raise some eyebrows: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, liberty, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Sen. Michael Bennet Dissing Sesame Street? Grover Fuzzy & PURPLE?

We've all seen how the waning days of the 2012 national campaign have fixed President Obama and the Democrats on the alliterative petty themes of Big Bird, Bayonets and Binders. It didn't take long after the first debate for the incumbent's campaign to pile on the Republican challenger's mention of the large, lovable Sesame Street character. Team Obama unleashed a laughable commercial and a "four-Pinocchio" fundraising appeal. Say what you will, but at least the Obama team didn't tell America that Big Bird was, say, green. For that they might have had to hire the staff of Colorado junior U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. This morning Bennet's office sent out a fundraising appeal for Congressional candidate Sal Pace. The email message (with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, liberty, My Life, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Despite Minor Flaws, Spielberg’s Lincoln Worthwhile Viewing for History Geeks

Finding enjoyable movie fare for American history geeks typically presents a challenge. The nature of the genre leaves diehard purists perpetually frustrated. Yet even those of us willing to allow some minor transgressions of fact or character to pass too often are disappointed by the shallow Hollywood luster that insults its audience and kicks a compelling true story to the curb. Now and again, though, one can leave the theater with a contented smile. On Friday evening my wife and I took in Lincoln at the local multiplex. The usher at Arvada's Olde Town Stadium Theatre entered the nearly packed auditorium and gave some introductory remarks about the movie's production and casting. The movie, already a long time in director Steven … [Read more...]

Filed Under: History, liberty, Movie Reviews, National Politics, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Dougco 2013 Showdown Could Lead to Wisconsin-Like Vindication, Or….

For the past couple years, Wisconsin has been the locus of the political battle to weaken public-sector union power. After Gov. Scott Walker not only survived but thrived amid a failed recall election, conservatives breathed a sigh of relief. Most prominently, the costly but decisive victory revived hopes that fiscal sanity and a sense of fairness could be restored. Modest cuts to lavish benefits for government employees, along with some of the accompanying tools approved in Walker's controversial Budget Repair Bill, put the Badger State back on a healthy fiscal setting and brought compensation more back in line with private sector workers. But a new video from the Association of American Educators reminds us that the Wisconsin … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Labor, liberty, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Going Further than Right-to-Work to Relieve Labor Leaders’ Burdens

Earlier this week I told you that it looked like Right-to-Work legislation was coming to the Big Labor stronghold of Michigan. And has it ever come quickly! Some of Wisconsin's early 2011 scenes played out yesterday at the State Capitol, as protestors thronged and chanted favorites like, "A people united will never be defeated!" and "Hey hey, ho ho, Right-to-Work has got to go!" News outlets report that Michigan State Police arrested eight people trying to break into legislative chambers as the state senate gave preliminary approval to send the workplace freedom measure on to supportive Governor Rick Snyder. (When similar legislation is introduced here in Colorado in 2013, the reaction almost certainly will be much more quiet... and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Labor, liberty, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rubio’s Bold Call for Scholarship Tax Credits Should Fuel Choice in Colorado

Last week, as the honored recipient of the 2012 Kemp Leadership Award, Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio laid out a vision for parent-empowered education reform. On one point especially, Coloradans should take heed. When a Republican politician speaks competently, compassionately and courageously about real education reform, my ears perk up. When that politician happens to be hailed as one of the GOP's top contenders for the national ticket in 2016, I also smile optimistically. Rubio framed the education message in his D.C. award acceptance speech around the goal of opening wide the doors to America's middle class. A linchpin is his bold proposal to expand educational choice at the federal level in a way that has not really been … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, liberty, PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

How Bad Was the Fiscal Cliff Deal? Michael Bennet May Have Teed One Up for the Teetering GOP

Conservatives have plenty of reason to mope in the fiscal gloom these days, maybe even enough to indulge in a bit of dark humor. That brings us to the Colorado political junkie joke of the week, the first of 2013: "How bad was the fiscal cliff deal Congress approved?" "I don't know. How bad was it?" "The fiscal cliff deal was so bad that Michael Bennet couldn't even vote for it." The serious question, though, that follows Congress' pathetic kicking-the-can-down-the-road exercise -- which strangely divided Colorado's Democratic tag-team duo in the U.S. Senate -- is whether Colorado Senator Michael Bennet's dissent may have set the stage for Republicans to start taking a necessary hard line on the next tough issue around the bend. … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben 5 Comments

Colorado Prop 103: Weak Case for Tax Hike’s Job-Killing “Domino” Effect

Update, 11/2: Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers... Thanks for the link! Colorado has one issue on the statewide ballot this year: Proposition 103, a large tax hike sold as a way to increase revenues for K-12 and higher education. Unfortunately, there are two major problems with this proposal that render it unworthy of support. First, it's a job-killer that very well could prolong and deepen our state's current recession. An Independence Institute issue paper by Dr. Barry Poulson finds that more than 11,000 jobs will be killed, a devastating analysis of the Prop 103 "domino" effect most creatively expressed in this amazing 3-minute video: Second, the case for more K-12 education funding rests on a very weak foundation that lacks … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, liberty, My Life, PPC

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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.

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