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Home Archives for PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Learning from Bill Ritter’s Four Mistakes (so far) in the Senate Bill 180 Veto

I asked before if Bill Ritter called the bluff of Big Labor with his veto of Senate Bill 180. If we're to judge by last Friday's union-organized rally, then Ritter made a mistake. To see what I mean, take a step over to Face The State's slideshow, and see signs like "Why does Ritter hate fire fighters?" and "Ritter lied to my dad" (or just Senator Lois Tochtrop's angry expression). Of course, Ritter didn't make a mistake from the standpoint of choosing good policy over bad policy. But he has made four mistakes surrounding this issue: Don't make promises you don't intend to keep. Backroom campaign promises can come back to burn you. As observed at ColoradoPols and demonstrated by the little girl's "Ritter lied to my dad" sign, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: angry, apparently, astroturfing, backroom, bad policy, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, blogosphere, bluff, bulk, burn, called, campaign, chief executive, ColoradoPols, compared, conveyed, damaging, decision, Democrat, Denver Post, enjoy, expression, Face the State, feet, fire fighters, fires, forced, good policy, harping, hide, intend, judge, keep, kill, labor bills, lied, Lois Tochtrop, media, minor, mistake, news conference, observed, offense, Party, politically, promises, prop, public, rally, Rocky Mountain Right, save, SB 180, Senate Bill 180, senator, show, sign, sit back, slideshow, standpoint, state house, state senate, stoked, support, threefold, traction, union-organized, veto, whoops

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Calling All Colorado Congressmen to Back Federal Reserve Transparency

Update, 6/11, 10:30 AM: Impressively, HR 1207 now has 208 Congressional co-sponsors. But only two from Colorado: Republican Doug Lamborn and Democrat Ed Perlmutter. Open government is an important non-partisan issue. I recently brought readers' attention to the need to persuade Republican Congressman Mike Coffman to sign on in support of transparency for the nation's Federal Reserve bank. It's good to see Face The State join the cause and raise the stakes by urging members of Colorado's delegation across the political spectrum to back HR 1207. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: attention, cause, Colorado, Congressman, delegation, Face the State, Federal Reserve, HR 1207, join, members, Mike Coffman, persuade, political spectrum, raise, readers, Republican, sign on, stakes, support, Transparency, urge

2/7/2026 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

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Mystery Tidwell Volunter Steps Over the Line, Hopefully Astroturfing Stops

I am relieved to learn that U.S. Senate candidate Cleve Tidwell was not posting bizarre online comments himself. As Mr. Tidwell joins us for tonight's Blog Talk Radio show, I hope to hear what the campaign learned from this episode. I also hope today's revelation marks the end of the online astroturfing. Inquiring minds will be left to wonder who the campaign volunteer was who had access to Mr. Tidwell's private email address and "might have stepped over the line". … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: astroturfing, bizarre, Blog Talk Radio, campaign, candidate, Cleve Tidwell, comments, episode, online, relieved, revelation, show, U.S. Senate

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

‘Noble Pride’ Lives On: A Principled Lesson for the ‘Hillsdale of the East’

Unbelievably, a few weeks ago I passed the 10th anniversary of my graduation from Hillsdale College with a bachelors degree. But the spirit of school pride lives on, and my heart smiled when today I read William McGurn's Wall Street Journal column "How Hillsdale Beats Harvard". After explaining how Hillsdale's principled stand of not accepting any federal funds fits right in with the school's warm welcome of military recruiters on campus, McGurn concludes:If Harvard believes that our Armed Forces are inconsistent with its values, surely the honest thing to do is to stand on principle and accept the funding consequences. The folks at Hillsdale would be glad to show the way. Back in the good old college days, there was a running quip … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, Education, General, liberty, My Life, PPC Tagged With: accepting, alma mater, Armed Forces, bachelors degree, campus, column, consequences, East, federal funds, graduation, Harvard, heart, Hillsdale College, honest thing, inconsistent, lives on, Midwest, military recruiters, noble pride, principled stand, quip, right reasons, running, school pride, smiles, spirit, values, Wall Street Journal, warm welcome, William McGurn

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

San Diego Petty Tyrants: Pay Out the Nose for Permit to Host Bible Study

From Fox News, a reminder that the federal government has nowhere near cornered the market on petty tyranny: Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County. "On Good Friday we had an employee from San Diego County come to our house, and inform us that the Bible study that we were having was a religious assembly, and in violation of the code in the county." David Jones told FOX News. Wow ... simply wow. Just a friendly reminder that we need fellow liberty-loving citizens representing us at all levels of government. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, liberty, PPC, property rights Tagged With: Bible study, citizens, code, cornered, David Jones, federal government, Fox News, government, levels, liberty-loving, market, pastor, petty tyranny, religious assembly, reminder, San Diego County, violation, wow

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rightosphere and I Agree on the Basics

I participated in the latest edition of Right Wing News' "Rightosphere Temperature Check". In case you're wondering, I happened to vote with the majority on each of the seven A or B questions. Digging further into the details likely would yield more disagreement, but when you only have two options.... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: details, digging, disagreement, edition, further, latest, majority, options, questions, Right Wing News, Rightosphere, vote, yield

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Strange Twists and Turns Following Obama’s Sonia Sotomayor Nomination

The other day I highlighted Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's indefensible statement and the need for repudiation. But more serious than a statement at Berkeley is Sotomayor's actual judicial record. It certainly is interesting to see serious criticism directed at Barack Obama's nominee from outside the center-right political spectrum -- and not because she is insufficiently liberal. Take the Denver Post's Chuck Plunkett, for example:You’re supposed to say out-there stuff at Berkeley. Otherwise everyone thinks you’re dull and boorish. But while wearing the robes of justice you’re supposed to be fair. And the Ricci v. New Haven decision Sotomayor was involved in looks just terrible – even to some prominent Democrats. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Cultural Conservatism, General, Judiciary, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: abortion rights, arguments, Barack Obama, Berkeley, boorish, Catholic, center-right, Chuck Plunkett, concerning, confirmation, conservative, Democrats, Denver Post, doubts, dull, expect, groups, highlighted, indefensible, insufficiently, Jonathan Turley, judicial record, justice, lack of depth, law professor, leader, leading, liberal, nominee, oppose, out-there stuff, political, President, pro-abortion, pro-life, prominent, reports, repudiation, Ricci v New Haven, rooting for, Rossputin, seated, serious, serious criticism, Sonia Sotomayor, spectrum, statement, supreme court, terrible, uncertain, unexpected, video, virtual certainty, Washington Times, wild turns, William Donohoe

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Obama DOJ Drops Black Panther Voter Intimidation Lawsuit… But Why?

Remember the story of the Black Panthers intimidating Philadelphia voters on our most recent Election Day? Well, there's an interesting update at The Next Right that strongly suggests the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) is happy to let the issue drop. Author Mike Roman makes some cogent points in his conclusion:These actions raise a number of troubling questions. For example, why did the Civil Rights Division voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit that they had effectively already won, against defendants who were physically threatening voters? Is the Division concerned that this dismissal will encourage the New Black Panther Party, or other groups, to intimidate voters? Why did the Division seek such limited relief against a defendant who … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Education, General, Journalism, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: author, Barack Obama, Black Panthers, broadcast, Civil Rights Division, cogent, conclusion, defendants, Department of Justice, dismiss, drop, Election Day, front page, happy, interesting, issue, lawsuit, Mike Roman, network news, New York Times, points, story, The Next Right, threatening, update, voter intimidation

2/7/2026 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.

Recent Posts

  • AI-Enhanced Cyberbullying: The Dark Side of Teen Innovation
  • My Baker’s Dozen of Top 2023 Reads
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  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
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bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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