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Home Archives for PPC

11/9/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Do We Still Celebrate the Berlin Wall’s Collapse 20 Years Later?

Twenty years ago today the Berlin Wall came down. Not exactly breaking news for my well-informed readers, but the significance of the event is hard to overstate. For five minutes of valuable reflection on the power of freedom with a stirring Beethoven soundtrack, check out this terrific video from the Competitive Enterprise Institute: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Commemorative, General, History, liberty, My Life, PPC, World Events

11/6/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Reminder: Call Congress Today to Oppose H.R. 3962 Obama Care

I was planning to post a notice today about the need to take action against the Pelosi version of Obama Care. And today is the time to do it! But being busy, I got permission to paste this email (with a couple slight tweaks) from a friend:Hello to all! If you want tax dollars funding abortions and for medical coverage to become less available, now is the time to do nothing! The house version of the health care "reform" bill will come up for a vote tomorrow (Saturday). … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC

11/6/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

How Long for Michael Bennet to Decide on Fed Reserve Transparency?

In a savvy political move that promotes a good, old-fashioned commonsense idea -- something very rare in the halls of Congress -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck has called on incumbent appointee Michael Bennet to join the bipartisan Congressional co-sponsorship of a very important transparency bill:In an e-mail to Bennet, Buck, a Republican candidate for the Senate seat Bennet currently holds, wrote that “auditing Federal Reserve operations isn't a political question. It's a simple matter of good government and financial responsibility.”... The Federal Reserve Sunshine Act would force the Fed to open its books to the Government Accountability Office. The bill has 30 Senate co-sponsors, and 309 representatives are co-sponsoring … [Read more...]

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

11/5/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Scott McInnis’ No-Debate Strategy: “Party Unity for Me, But Not for Thee”

In a Denver Post column today, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis justifies his decision not to engage in debates with his primary opponents Josh Penry and Dan Maes: "I will work diligently over the next year to ensure that our party is unified, and that we avoid past mistakes where Republicans wrote the Democrats' television commercials for them." So McInnis suggests not only that debates will inevitably lead to nasty personal infighting but also that party unity is his primary motivation for his no-debate strategy. However, was party unity his primary motivation: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, National Politics, PPC

11/5/2009 By Ben 6 Comments

Help Steer the Local Political Discussion: It’s Time for the November Survey

Mount Virtus readers, this post will remain sticky through the end of the survey (November 13). For newer postings, please scroll down. It's that time again. Yes, El Presidente and I have commissioned and fashioned another survey that we hope you will take 10 minutes or so to complete — especially if you’re from Colorado. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill quick-hit polls. Once again we’ve gone a little more in-depth. Some of the questions are the same. Some are new. One interesting added follow-up is asking what the most important factor is for you in choosing to support a Republican primary candidate for governor and U.S. Senate. Click here to take the November 2009 Colorado online political survey Your opinion counts. Take a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC

11/5/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

What Happened in NY-23?

Everyone and his brother (a particularly strange piece of slang I picked up from my childhood) has been offering spin to explain why on an election night so good for Republicans and conservatives, insurgent Conservative Doug Hoffman came up short against Democrat Bill Owens. I think that's looking at it the wrong way: given the facts and observations provided by Michael Patrick Leahy, it's fairly remarkable Hoffman came as close as he did. I spot three major factors Leahy cites that determined the outcome. First: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC

11/4/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Kent Lambert’s Announcement Thursday: Going for Senate District 9?

Yesterday Republican state senator Dave Schultheis announced he would be retiring from office in 2010. This evening a press release went out from (and about) one of my Leadership Program of the Rockies classmates:Representative Kent Lambert, House District 14, will make a short public political announcement on Thursday, November 5, at 12:00 at the El Paso County Republican Headquarters, 205 Sutton Road, Colorado Springs, CO, 80907. An opportunity for media Q&A will follow. [link added] Connection between the announcements of Schultheis and Lambert? It would be hard to speculate as anything else. You didn't think Tom McDowell would go unchallenged in his quest for Senate District 9, did you? No one has a stronger 2009 rating from the … [Read more...]

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

11/4/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Colorado Supreme Court & School Funding: Case to Clear the Bench

Despite all the hoopla (much of it well-deserved) about the election results, let's not lose focus on an easily overlooked issue that should factor into some of our important decisions for 2010 -- namely, the Colorado Supreme Court delving into political questions of how our schools are funded in Lobato v State. You now can listen to my recent 8-minute interview on this very topic with Brad Jones on Face The State Weekend edition. Whether or not you get to listen, let me explain -- no, let me sum up: The case for Clear The Bench Colorado is now overwhelming. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Judiciary, PPC

11/4/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Election 2009, From Va. to Local School Board: Mixed Bag, More Good Than Bad

Quick reflections on last night's election results ... National The Bad: In what was a late insurgent campaign, conservative Doug Hoffman loses New York 23 (though Erick Erickson tries to spin it into a favorable light). Tax-limitation initiatives in Maine and Washington went down in flames. The Good: Obviously, the Republican sweep in Virginia -- governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, seven more seats in the state assembly -- is the big national victory. And a Republican governor in New Jersey? Priceless. Colorado Local The Bad: Pro-union, anti-reform forces strike back and claim a narrow majority on the Denver school board Reformers Amy Attwood and Natalie Menten both narrowly lose Lakewood city council … [Read more...]

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

11/3/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Josh Penry Effectively Calls Out Governor Bill Ritter for “Hiring Farce”

Channel 7 investigative reporters Arthur Kane and John Ferrugia have exposed Democrat Governor Bill Ritter's so-called "hiring freeze" for what it really was:Gov. Bill Ritter promised a hiring freeze last year to help bridge the budget gap, but a CALL7 investigation found that as many as 2,300 employees were hired during the “freeze.” As much as a year ago I called out Ritter's phony "freeze". In January Denver Post reporter Jessica Fender described Bill Ritter's so-called "freeze" as "more of a chill". Back then I asked "Doesn’t anyone want to run for governor against this guy?" … [Read more...]

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

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Inside

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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

Colorado News

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National News and Politics

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Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
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Completing the Blogroll

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Christian Commentary et al.

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Conservative and GOP Sites

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Other Sites

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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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