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Home Archives for PPC

6/23/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

New Ryan Frazier Video Effectively Sells “A New Way Forward” Message

El Presidente has posted the slick new video from the Ryan Frazier for U.S. Senate campaign. Check it out. It's really worth the 2+ minutes to view. Kudos both to the person(s) who recorded the raw video footage of Ryan's speech and to the person(s) who edited it into a high-quality product. It looks like "A New Way Forward" is going to be the theme for the Frazier campaign, and if continued to be presented as in this video, it will be effective. After all, who can deny that the Republican Party needs to forge a new way forward? On a side note, this afternoon only 20 minutes after I received the Frazier campaign email announcing the release of the video I received a fundraising "personal message" from another Republican U.S. Senate … [Read more...]

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

6/23/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Democrats Trying to Spare Unions from Massive National Health Care Tax

Say what? The Washington Examiner reports that Democrats are proposing to exempt unionized workers from the massive tax hike needed to fund government health care:With cost estimates already as high as $1.6 trillion, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has proposed paying for the bill in part by taxing health care benefits for workers who earn more than $100,000, or $200,000 for married couples, according to those familiar with the discussions. Baucus is also weighing a tax based on the value of health care benefits that exceed a yet-to-be determined cap. A tax on benefits that exceed the cap by a mere $3,000 could amount to $750 in taxes annually for a worker who earns as little as $34,000, say experts. But those … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, Labor, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Barack Obama, Big Labor, Cato Institute, Collective Bargaining, Congress, Constitutional, Democrats, Health Care, John Fund, Jon Henke, legislation, Max Baucus, Montana, Obama, Obamacare, oblivion, Patient Power, payback, political diary, reform, senator, statists, tax, taxpayers, The Next Right, Unions, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, We Stand Firm

6/22/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Come Meet Daniel Hannan, British Voice for Liberty, Friday in Denver

That's MEP Daniel Hannan, a breath of fresh political air from the other side of the pond. And he'll be in our Rocky Mountain backyard at the end of this week. Hannan will be the guest of honor and speaker at a Denver reception sponsored by the Independence Institute. You're invited! Stirring oratory ... a voice for liberty and fiscal sanity ... with a British accent. Sounds like a winning trifecta to me. Hope to see you there. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, liberty, PPC, World Events Tagged With: British accent, Daniel Hannan, Denver, fiscal sanity, Independence Institute, liberty, MEP, oratory, reception, Rocky Mountain, stirring, trifecta, winning, YouTube

6/22/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter’s Chance to Jump On Board Union Transparency Bandwagon

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter screwed up with his handling of the Senate Bill 180 veto. Stumbling across a good public policy decision, he provoked the wrath of labor union special interests. Since Bill Ritter has found himself on this sensible path, perhaps he could continue a little longer and throw his weight behind an idea which time has come: financial transparency for labor unions representing state and local government employees. Of course, in doing so, Ritter would have to buck the trend of Big Labor cronyism being advanced by his party leader, President Barack Obama. From my recent Independence Institute op-ed: … [Read more...]

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

6/22/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Liberty on the Rocks Red Rocks A Veritable Who’s Who of Local Politics

I go out of town for a week, miss an edition of Liberty on the Rocks - Red Rocks, and organizer Jeff Sacco outdoes himself. Face The State reported on the growing political heft that attended last Monday's meeting. If you live on the west side of the Denver metro area, and you haven't dropped by to one of the meetings yet, now is your chance to get connected. … [Read more...]

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

6/18/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Democrats’ Taxpayer-Funded Arrogance on Full Display Now

Colorado Democrats ... arrogant? Can't exactly say I'm shocked. But the brazenness of using taxpayer dollars for a Democrats-only team-building retreat only heightens my desire to make Brandon Shaffer's term as state senate president as short as possible. The least we can hope for (and work for) is divided government. Republicans should have their sights set on the governor's mansion and one of the two house of the state legislature in 2010. In the meantime, Mr. DNA at Rocky Mountain Right has some good advice:I hope every reader of this blog will join me in calling their leadership office and telling them that I am not going to stand for this kind of pork. … [Read more...]

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

6/15/2009 By Ryan Leave a Comment

The “Public Option” and the People’s Government

I (Ryan, not Ben) haven’t had too much time to write up political thoughts recently, but here are a couple musings: Nutshell argument against the "public option" being touted by President Obama in the area of health care reform: As Hugh Hewitt and Congressman John Campbell were explaining as I drove home from work on Friday, if the "public option" is cheaper to corporate and government employers (though not to taxpayers), then employers will largely switch over to it.  At this point, the government will be paying for health care, money will run out, and care will be denied.  (But smile – you will still be insured, along with all the others who can't get care!) Our Congressmen and Senators must not enact this “public … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, General, Health Care, National Politics, PPC

6/11/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

A Critical Mass Awake to the Destructive Effects of Obama’s “Stimulus”?

Remember all the pomp and circumstance of four months ago when President Barack Obama flew out here to Denver to sign the "stimulus" bill? The legislation that had to be rushed through? The legislation that was supposed to prevent "irreversible decline" in our economy? While anyone with decent sense knew the "stimulus" was long-term poison, I can't say I anticipated how badly it would flounder even in the short-term. The Competitive Enterprise Institute's Hans Bader put together a well-documented Open Market blog post noting that public opinion clearly favors canceling the $787 billion spending spree. How many of them have watched this unforgettable video? A few days ago, Mr. Bob posted up the now well-circulated graphic showing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous

6/11/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

More Bad Unintended Consequences from Media Swine Flu Hysteria?

So some of y'all must be thinkin' ... Whatever happened to that thar' swine flu thing? Apparently, the World Health Organization is set to issue an alert for a "level 6 pandemic" -- the first such designation in 40 years. Before you start stampeding through the streets in panic, take note:The declaration of a global epidemic was expected Thursday as WHO officials huddled in an emergency session in Geneva in the wake of 141 swine flu deaths worldwide, including 12 in New York City.... If WHO moves from level 5 to level 6 on its pandemic alert scale, it would be the first flu pandemic declared since the Hong Kong flu killed an estimated 1 million people in 1968. On Wednesday, WHO reported 27,737 cases worldwide, most of them mild and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, Journalism, liberty, National Politics, PPC

6/10/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Harmful Card Check Bill Union Cash Cow, Michael Bennet Still Undecided

Update: It's also worth noting that EFCA supporters have engaged in a full-fledged campaign of deception. Someone should ask Senator Michael Bennet if he's buying it. We know the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (aka card-check): Deprives workers of a secret ballot in workplace elections, exposing them to intimidation Imposes costly government bureaucratic intervention in private workplace negotiations Threatens to cost our fragile national economy and hard-working Americans of many thousands of jobs Now, thanks to a new report released by the Workforce Fairness Institute, we see more clearly and concretely the real beneficiaries of this three-headed monster legislation: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Americans, appointed, bailout, beneficiaries, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, bureaucratic intervention, card-check, cash cow, clearly, Colorado, concretely, decide, disability, Employee Free Choice Act, fragile, good, government, Governor, hard-working, hide out, intimidation, jobs, labor unions, legislation, little, longer, membership, Michael Bennet, mismanaged, monster legislation, months, national economy, pension funds, political activity, private, report, Republican Party, revenue, Rocky Mountain Right, secret ballot, silent, Sotomayor, spending, still, take the heat, trust funds, U.S. Senator, union dues, vote, workers, Workforce Fairness Institute, workplace elections, workplace negotiations

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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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