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Home Archives for PPC

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

My 2.5 Minutes on KOA’s Morning Show – Taxpayer-Friendly School Reform

Yesterday morning I made a hit-and-run appearance on Colorado's Morning News (850 KOA) to discuss a couple simple education reform ideas in the context of announced state budget cutbacks and the so-called federal "stimulus" bill. Thanks to producer Jason Borgmann, here's the audio: Not quite as delirious as I thought I sounded at 7:00 AM. Clearly, this wasn't the medium for going in-depth and really tackling subject matter, but I think I got a couple provocative points across. … [Read more...]

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

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Is This How John Sweeney Will Convince Michael Bennet to Kill the Secret Ballot?

Courtesy of Hot Air, a great video exposing the hypocrisy and dubious logic behind Big Labor's poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act: Of course, the removal of the secret ballot process from workplace elections only presents the more sensational half of the problems posed by this legislation. Costly binding arbitration makes up the other half. But if AFL-CIO president John Sweeney of all people can't tell you why the secret ballot should go (but liberal icon George McGovern can tell you why not), isn't the case rather clear cut? All eyes are on Colorado's newly-selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet to see where he comes down on this issue. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: AFL-CIO, Big Labor, binding arbitration, CASE, clear cut, Colorado, costly, dubious logic, Employee Free Choice Act, George McGovern, Hot Air, hypocrisy, John Sweeney, legislation, liberal icon, Michael Bennet, newly-selected, President, problems, secret ballot process, sensational, U.S. Senator, video, workplace elections, YouTube

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Unions Lobby State Democrats to Slow Down School Building Inspections

Who's in charge at the Colorado State Capitol these days? Big Labor:A bill whose only aim was to make it easier for local school districts to get their new buildings inspected was blindsided today on the Senate floor by union-led opposition, with all but two of the chamber's Democrats voting to kill the measure. Three of the Democrats who voted with the majority against Senate Bill 64 [PDF]--Sens. Bob Bacon, of Fort Collins, Rollie Heath, of Boulder, and Evie Hudak, of Arvada--had voted in favor of it in the Senate Education Committee only two weeks earlier. What changed their minds? The bill's sponsor, the GOP's Sen. Keith King, of Colorado Springs, says it was the fact that the Journeyman Plumbers and Gas Fitters Union began lobbying … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: Arvada, Big Labor, bill, Bob Bacon, Boulder, buildings, California, chamber, clean-up bill, clout, Colorado, Colorado Senate News, Colorado Springs, committee, cool, Democrats, efficient, Evie Hudak, exchange, flabbergasted, flip-flops, Fort Collins, General Assembly, hearing, inspections, Journeyman Plumbers, Keith King, lobbying, Michigan, New Jersey, opposition, Republican, reserved, Rollie Heath, school districts, school inspections, Senate, Senate Bill 64, Senate Education Committee, sponsor, State Capitol, union, union interests, voting, wow

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Beware Stimulus Spam from Nancy Pelosi and Congress in Your Email Inbox

You think the Nigerian email scammers are bad? Be wary if something like this shows up in your inbox. Well-timed and well-done comic relief from Big Hollywood's Ernie Mannix. Check it out. On a serious note, it isn't too late to make your voice heard about the bloated waste and economic poison most commonly known as the federal stimulus bill. If you're ambitious, you can follow Rossputin's lead and pen a letter. The least you can do is sign Americans for Prosperity's No Stimulus petition. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: ambitious, Americans for Prosperity, bad, Big Hollywood, bloated waste, economic poison, email scammers, Ernie Mannix, federal stimulus bill, inbox, letter, Nigerian, No Stimulus, pen, petition, Rossputin, serious note, sign, voice

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

In Denver Area? Come to Feb 3 Event on Worst U.S. Supreme Court Rulings

Interested in a lively and informative presentation and discussion of some of the worst U.S. Supreme Court decisions in our history, and ideas for the federal judiciary to get back on a more Constitutional path? Are you still looking for something to do this Tuesday evening (February 3) and live in the Denver area? Well, here's an event for you. Institute for Justice president William "Chip" Mellor, one of the co-authors of the new book The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom will be speaking at the Independence Institute (directions here). Tomorrow evening's event starts with a 5:30 reception, followed by the program at 6:00. Go here to RSVP. I hope to see you there. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Health Care, Judiciary, National Politics, PPC, property rights Tagged With: Chip Mellor, co-author, Constitutional, decisions, Denver area, directions, Dirty Dozen, event, federal judiciary, freedom, government, History, Independence Institute, informative, Institute for Justice, lively, President, program, reception, RSVP, Tuesday, U.S. Supreme Court

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

The Case at Cherokee Trail, and Cracking Down on “Zero-Tolerance”

Over at Ed News Colorado, I authored a post today titled "The Absurdity of Zero-Tolerance Zealots" - about the incident at Cherokee Trail High School. (Just in case you wanted to see my thoughts on the matter.) Mr. Bob wonders if the crackdown is coming on the Color Guard next. Meanwhile, the state senate minority office reports proposed legislation may be coming to address the overreach of "zero-tolerance" policies on students in military-oriented youth groups: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General, PPC, property rights Tagged With: absurdity, Berthoud, Cherokee Trail High School, Color Guard, crackdown, Douglas County, Ed News Colorado, Kevin Lundberg, legislation, Marie Morrow, military-oriented, minority office, Mr. Bob, policies, post, state senate, titled, Young Marines, youth groups, zero-tolerance

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Outrage: Senate Stimulus Costlier

While many now are justifiably irate about Senators Arlen Specter and Susan Collins for their politically and economically destructive behavior, and President Obama sets up strawmen to make the case for Democrats' massive spending spree, it's important to remember that the so-called compromise Senate version of the so-called "stimulus" bill is actually more costly than the version that united Republican opposition in the House. Outrageous ... No Stimulus. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, behavior, compromise, Democrats, destructive, economically, grumbling, House, irate, justifiably, massive, more costly, outrageous, politically, President, Republican opposition, senator, so-called, spending spree, stimulus bill, strawmen, Susan Collins

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

How Deep is This Recession? Is It Really the Worst Crisis in 70 Years?

At American Thinker, Randall Hoven uses some firsthand research of federal statistics to turn down the volume on the alarm of economic "crisis". Hoven shows that while the current recession has not yet quite reached its peak, on several major measures it's not as bad as several others since World War Two:So simply going by averages, this recession should end this year, maybe even in this quarter or the next. If things go bad, or no worse than in the last 60 years, we might not pull out of it until late this year, with lousy employment figures lagging into 2010. By the way, none of the previous recessions was ended by the government spending a trillion dollars. Our current deficit is projected to be 7% of GDP or more. The deficit never … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: American Thinker, art, averages, crisis, current recession, deficit, economic, forecasting, GDP, government, Joshua Sharf, Labor, major measures, numbers, peak, Randall Hoven, Rossputin, science, statistics, trillion dollars, volume

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Rocky Mtn Alliance Blog Talk Radio at 8:30: Cory Gardner, Leondray Gholston

Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the sure-to-be-lucky 13th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. Tonight's scheduled guests are state representative Cory Gardner, a rising legislative star to talk about transportation and other issues at the State Capitol, and Leondray Gholston, Republican activist and candidate for Colorado state GOP vice-chair perhaps most well-known for his stirring speech at last year's State Assembly. Don't forget. If you miss the live broadcast of tonight’s 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: blogging, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC, transportation Tagged With: activist, Blog Talk Radio, candidate, Colorado, Cory Gardner, issues, Leondray Gholston, live broadcast, Mount Virtus, podcast, Republican, Rocky Mountain Alliance, scheduled guests, show, sidebar, state, state assembly, State Capitol, stirring speech, transportation, vice-chair, widget

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

RMA Blog Talk Radio at 8:30: Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Mike Saccone

Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the 12th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio as we launch headlong into February 2009. Tonight's scheduled guests are Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and the Grand Junction Sentinel's ace political reporter and blogger Mike Saccone. Don't forget. If you miss the live broadcast of tonight’s 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: blogging, Colorado Politics, General, PPC, World Events Tagged With: Blog Talk Radio, blogger, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, edition, February 2009, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Grand Junction Sentinel, Mike Saccone, Mount Virtus, podcast, political reporter, Rocky Mountain Alliance, scheduled guests

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Inside

  • About Ben
  • Archives
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
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    • Colorado Ballot 2014
  • Mary and Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust
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  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
  • The Westfield Gardener
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Writer / Editor For Hire

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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  • Complete Colorado
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National News and Politics

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  • Reason
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Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
  • David Harsanyi’s Blog
  • E!! The True Conservative Story
  • EIA Intercepts
  • Evangelical Outpost
  • Hugh Hewitt
  • Instapundit
  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
  • Little Green Footballs
  • Michelle Malkin
  • NRO's The Corner
  • Power Line
  • Red State

Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
  • Mike Anderson
  • Mullings
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  • Right Wing News
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  • Shot in the Dark
  • Talking Points Memo
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  • Volokh Conspiracy

Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
  • Sharper Iron

Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
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  • Dennis Prager
  • Denver Metro Young Republicans
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Colorado Blogs

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Other Sites

  • Technorati
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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
  • The Business Word
  • The Daily Blogster
  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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