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Home Archives for PPC

4/28/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Ryan Frazier Out Stronger than Ken Buck – Don’t Expect to See Beauprez

If the earliest of trends are any indication, Ryan Frazier has come out of the gate looking the strongest in Colorado's Republican primary to challenge Michael Bennet for the U.S. Senate. After all, the rollout of the Ken Buck campaign could have been handled much more adeptly. But then again, the earliest of trends don't amount to much more than something for bloggers to write about. In the end, it should be a very interesting and competitive showdown between Frazier and Buck (with perhaps something to be heard from Cleve Tidwell). That's right. Count me among those who doesn't see former Congressman Bob Beauprez getting in this race. (At least as much as I can gather from a few fans on Ken Buck's Facebook page, and various … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: adeptly, attorney, bloggers, Bob Beauprez, campaign, Cleve Tidwell, clue, Colorado, competitive, Congressman, contributions, credit, Dan Caplis, earliest, Facebook, former, guess, handled, hazard, indication, interesting, Ken Buck, luck, Michael Bennet, nomination, occur, page, paying attention, primary, race, radio, rebirth, Republican, Right, rollout, scuttlebutt, showdown, significant, strength, talk show host, transformation, trends, U.S. Senate, victory, write, wrong

4/28/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Which Nickname Should Honor Michael Bennet’s Ongoing Indecision?

While we're killing time waiting for newly selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet to make up his mind on the union card-check bill, we can entertain ourselves with a good, old-fashioned nickname debate. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has started a video campaign (watch below the fold) to label Colorado's junior senator as "Back 'N' Forth Bennet": … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Back 'N' Forth Bennet, bill, Both Ways Bennet, candidate, card-check, commission, debate, dilemma, effectiveness, El Presidente, entertain, entries, familiar, gubernatorial, homegrown, ideas, irony, junior senator, killing time, label, Michael Bennet, National Republican Senatorial Committee, newly-selected, nickname, old-fashioned, poll, possible, recycle, Republican, Rocky Mountain Right, struck, submit, U.S. Senator, union, video campaign, YouTube

4/28/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to Teller and Gilpin Counties: “Drop Dead”

With his veto of a widely-supported bipartisan measure that would give mountain communities a representative voice on the Limited Gaming Control Commission, Democrat Governor Bill Ritter essentially has said: "Drop dead, Teller and Gilpin Counties". Maybe Ritter is looking for ways to further weaken his sagging approval ratings. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, PPC Tagged With: approval ratings, Bill Ritter, bipartisan, Democrat, Drop dead, Gilpin County, Governor, Limited Gaming Control Commission, measure, mountain communities, representative, sagging, Teller County, veto, voice, weaken

4/28/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Stand Up Today Against Government Health Care Takeover Attempt

Over at We Stand FIRM, Dr. Paul Hsieh brings attention to an attempt by Washington D.C. Democrats to fast-track a major expansion of government control of health care. If you've been looking for a chance to speak out for liberty, or you are just enraged by the political tactics, as well as the harmful and costly end-game on health care policy, Hsieh provides some great evidence and a couple sample letters you can use to formulate your own letter to Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet. The time to stand up is today ... not tomorrow, not next week. Make your voice heard for individual freedom, personal responsibility, and affordable, free market health care! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Health Care, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: affordable, Colorado, costly, Democrats, end-game, enraged, evidence, fast track, formulate, free market, government control, harmful, Health Care, individual freedom, letter, liberty, major expansion, Mark Udall, Michael Bennet, next week, Paul Hsieh, personal responsibility, policy, political, sample letters, speak out, tactics, tomorrow, U.S. Senators, voice, Washington DC, We Stand Firm

4/28/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

RMA Blog Talk Radio at 8:30: Walker Stapleton, Legislative Session

Tune in tonight at 8:30 PM local Mountain time for the 24th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. Our confirmed guest for this week is Walker Stapleton, the first announced Republican candidate for Colorado State Treasurer in 2010. As the legislative session draws to an end, we also hope to have on a state legislator to talk about important issues for lawmakers still to decide. If you miss the live show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: 2010, Blog Talk Radio, candidate, Colorado, confirmed guest, important issues, legislative session, podcast, Republican, Rocky Mountain Alliance, state legislator, state treasurer, Walker Stapleton

4/27/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Limited Government Week: An Awareness Raiser To Rally Behind

No day, week, or month passes that isn't officially commemorated for some reason. Take April, the month we're in for a few more days: What have you done the last 27 days to honor National Poetry Month, Stress Awareness Month, or even Fresh Florida Tomato Month? That's what I thought ... In the meantime, there are important causes that definitely deserve greater awareness, like this one: Limited Government Week. If you can get down to Colorado Springs anytime in the next few days, you may find one or more valuable events to attend. The highlight is a Tuesday dinner with keynote speaker Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (an excellent book). For more details on the week's activities, go … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Commemorative, Cultural Conservatism, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: Amity Shlaes, angels, April, assessment, author, Barack Obama, believe, CASE, causes, Colorado Springs, commemorated, controls, crowd, devout, dinner, elements, Federalist Papers, Fresh Florida Tomato Month, greater awareness, highlight, honest, hopey-changey, human nature, important, James Madison, Limited Government Week, men, National Poetry Month, principle, Stress Awareness Month, The Forgotten Man, Tuesday, understanding

4/27/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Random Monday Morning Musings

Monday morning -- The world of Colorado politics is quiet ... too quiet. About 9 days left in the legislative session, and some version of Senate Bill 228 is still lurking out there. Will Democrats really rush ahead with this taxpayer-unfriendly idea? In other random news, Ken Buck is in the U.S. Senate fray. Immigration almost certainly figures to be a hot-button issue in the primary, if not the general election itself. But what does it all mean, with incumbent appointee Michael Bennet's apparent weakness among Hispanic voters? In other words, it's simply too quiet out here. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Colorado Politics, Democrats, general election, Hispanic, hot-button issue, idea, immigration, Ken Buck, legislative session, lurking, Michael Bennet, primary, quiet, random news, rush, Senate Bill 228, taxpayer-unfriendly, voters

4/25/2009 By Ben 4 Comments

A ‘Nonpartisan’ Reason to Challenge California Anti-Taxpayer Media Bias

It's quite often the subtle bias in the dominant liberal media that can make a significant difference. Witness yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle piece on a California ballot initiative to impose tax-and-spending limitations on state government. Writer John Wildermuth quotes from two Colorado sources to establish views on our own state's experience with the stronger Taxpayer's Bill of Rights limit (emphases added):"Nobody disagrees that (the cap) kept government spending lower," said Carol Hedges, a senior fiscal analyst for the nonpartisan Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, which opposes the state's budget cap. "But supporters don't like to talk about the human cost of keeping government smaller."... Across the nation, anti-tax … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, media bias, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: accurate, adjective, anti-tax advocates, argue, ballot initiative, budget cap, California, Carol Hedges, Colorado, Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, conclusion, credibility, degree, Democratic, descriptor, difference, dominant liberal media, downhill, establish, experience, fiscal analyst, fiscal conservatives, free market, full disclosure, Independence Institute, John Wildermuth, Jon Caldara, machine, misleading, newspapers, nonpartisan, objective, out of business, outsourced arm, predetermined, President, primary source, progressive, quotes, rolls, San Francisco Chronicle, significant, sources, story, subtle bias, tax-and-spending limit, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, technical sense, think tank, undeserved, views, writer

4/23/2009 By Ben 7 Comments

On Socialism and Ron Paul: Two Timely Essays for Lovers of Liberty

A quick-hit double-link in the form of two recent essays I recommend as timely and relevant reading for thoughtful lovers of liberty: "The Welfare State and the Meaning of Life" by Greg Forster, whose work I have come to know through his excellent research and analysis of school choice issues, but in this case makes a strong moral case against socialism "Ron Paul's Secession Lies on Video" by libertarian lawyer and thinker Tim Sandefur, a college classmate of mine who delivers a remedial lesson in United States history and the Constitution to the Congressman and former presidential candidate ... It's one thing to speak up loudly against federal overreaches and for a renewed respect of the 10th Amendment, it's quite another to call for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, Cultural Conservatism, General, History, liberty, National Politics, PPC, property rights Tagged With: 10th Amendment, analysis, articulate, critical times, discerning, essays, federal overreaches, Greg Forster, History, lawyer, lesson, libertarian, lovers of liberty, moral case, reading, recommend, remedial, research, Ron Paul, school, secession, socialism, Texas, thinker, thoughtful, Tim Sandefur, U.S. Constitution, unilateral, union, welfare state

4/23/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Earth Day Hysteria Ignores Progress

Update, 3:00 PM: Michelle Malkin has a great video and some informative links about the eco-indoctrination so many American children have to bear. Yesterday was Earth Day. Where were all the Green folks celebrating four decades of remarkable progress in reducing air pollution (for example)? Yes, that's the sound of clean air-breathing crickets chirping. Taking a day off work for reasons other than the holiday itself, my family took a day trip to the Denver Zoo, where we were treated to a mild dose of eco-crisis hysteria from indoctrinated schoolchildren. When a little girl stopped us and sweetly asked if we wanted to learn more about penguins, I was gullible enough to believe we might learn some facts about the creatures' diet, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Hysteria, Colorado Politics, Education, General, liberty, My Life, PPC Tagged With: agenda, air pollution, Bill Ritter, bombarded, celebrating, chirping, conservationist, crickets, daughter, Denver Zoo, diet, difference, Earth Day, eco-crisis, encounter, enviro-religion, environmentalist, facts, feathers, folks, Green, gullible, habitat, hysteria, important, indoctrinated, learning, lifespan, mild dose, mother Earth, multiplication tables, penguins, priorities, progress, public schools, random facts, reaping, result, scaremongering, schoolchildren, table, teach, waste, well trained

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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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