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Sometimes the choices are daunting or confusing, sometimes they're as clear as a Mile High view.

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If I had five more writers just like him, I think my job would be the easiest in journalism....

2/5/2009 By Ben 9 Comments

Rossputin Explains Why The Current Recession is So Uniquely Bad

A few days ago I raised the question based on a provocative American Thinker essay by Randall Hoven: How deep is this recession? Is it really the worst crisis in 70 years? I am not that well versed in - nor closely attuned to - macroeconomic data and the trends they indicate. Something seemed incomplete in the essay. So I'm glad to see that Rossputin has weighed in with a thoughtful and thorough response, disagreeing with Hoven. Whether you are more swayed by Hoven or Rossputin, Rossputin's conclusion is something we all should easily be able to agree with:The Democrats’ medicine will be worse than our current illness, and will turn what should have been a moderately annoying case of the fiscal flu into a devastating economic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: agree, American Thinker, Americans, aversion, conclusion, crisis, Democrats, devastating, disagree, economic pneumonia, encouraging news, essay, fiscal flu, incomplete, macroeconomic data, medicine, prescription, question, Randall Hoven, recession, Rossputin, thorough, thoughtful, toxic, trends, weighed in, well versed

2/4/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Cast Your Non-Binding Vote for 2010 U.S. Senate GOP Candidate

Rocky Mountain Right has posted a great straw poll that's just begging your participation. You have until noon on Wednesday, February 11, to vote for your favorite potential GOP candidate to challenge the newly-selected Michael Bennet for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat in 2010. As of this posting, Mark Hillman and Ryan Frazier are deadlocked at 42 percent each. Bob Beauprez lags the pack at 12 percent, while Bentley Rayburn barely registers at 4 percent. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, PPC Tagged With: 2010, Bentley Rayburn, Bob Beauprez, candidate, Colorado, GOP, Mark Hillman, Michael Bennet, participation, Rocky Mountain Right, Ryan Frazier, straw poll, U.S. Senate

2/4/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Jon Henke’s Advice: Keep Our Eyes on The Real Problem Before Us

If you really want to engage in a serious debate about how to implement free market conservative policy solutions with a practical eye on messaging and political coalition building, then you ought to be reading what Jon Henke has to say. Be prepared: you won't get a rosy-eyed view or a mealy-mouthed answer. I appreciated what Jon wrote yesterday about a Republican response to the growing push toward government-sponsored universal health care (Tom Daschle's distracting tax problems aside). I'm not interested in the particularities of the health care debate right now, but if you are, might I recommend you check out the following: Patient Power WE Stand Firm State Policy Network blog However, it's Henke's conclusion that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: appreciate, Big Government, coalition building, conservative, Democrat Party, free market, futile, government, growing push, heavy lifting, ideological ball, insightful, Jon Henke, limited government, limiting, long-term solutions, mealy-mouthed answer, messaging, Patient Power, policy solutions, political, political success, practical eye, principle, readers, recommend, Republican, response, rosy-eyed view, serious debate, State Policy Network, structural, tax problems, The Problem, Tom Daschle, two-party system, universal health care, We Stand Firm, wrong

2/4/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Will Colorado Democrats Overreach on Sticking Taxpayers for Transportation?

As we discussed on last night's Blog Talk Radio show with the Grand Junction Sentinel's Mike Saccone (to listen to a recording, you can go to the sidebar or directly to the RMA page) - the fight over transportation dollars is the big story brewing at the State Capitol. Senate minority leader Josh Penry and the Republicans say their proposals haven't been taken seriously in negotiations and are willing to let the Democrats own measures like the unpopular interstate highway tolls and the controversial Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) fee. Reasonable compromise is part of lawmakers' job, but I hope that conservatives in the House demand a little more from Governor Bill Ritter and the majority Democrats. Namely, the legislature needs to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC, transportation Tagged With: big story, Bill Ritter, Blog Talk Radio, burden, Democrats, Governor, Grand Junction Sentinel, interstate highway, Josh Penry, majority, measures, Mike Saccone, minority leader, negotiations, overreach, prevailing wage, proposals, Republicans, Rocky Mountain Alliance, sources, State Capitol, taxpayers, tolls, transportation dollars, transportation needs, unpopular, Vehicle Miles Traveled, VMT fee

2/3/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Another Landmark Day for Colorado Citizens Fighting for Open Government

Today was another landmark day in the struggle for open, transparent government spending in Colorado. On CBS4 Denver, the Associated Press reports:About 30 people turned out at the state Capitol Tuesday to show their support for a bill from Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, which originally would have required such reports to be posted monthly in a searchable database. [link added] A memorable line from the bill sponsor:"If you can't defend it, don't spend it," Harvey said, echoing one of the slogans on the signs at the group's rally. Where have I seen that phrase before? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, PPC Tagged With: 19th century, 21st century, Associated Press, Aurora, average, bill, bowling, Carnival Cruise, CBS4 Denver, checkbooks, citizen activist, citizens, Colorado, common sense, credit card, cruise, debate, defensible, drinks, educating, expenses, faculty, farm towns, fix, fundraisers, if you can't defend it don't spend it, involved, Jeffco Public Schools, Ken Wyble, landmark day, legislation, letter, limited information, Lynn Setzer, miniature golf, money, Natalie Menten, online financial transparency, outings, rally, reports, Rocky Mountain News, school administrators, school system, search, searchable database, small villages, soda machines, spending, spending records, spokeswoman, Starbucks, State Capitol, stress headache, students, tax money, Ted Harvey, tickets, time, transparent government, vocational students, website

2/3/2009 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

2/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Residents in Wake of Latest RTD Expansion, See Property Rights Project

Denver's Regional Transportation District (RTD) says it needs to condemn 56 properties in northeast Denver for light-rail expansion. Maybe we can hope RTD has learned some lessons from arousing the ire of property owners on the west side of Denver. The stories of Daniel Gallegos, Kim Snyder, Galen Foster, and others should be instructive. But don't hold your breath. Residents who may be affected by RTD's latest expansion should empower themselves by checking out the resources provided by the Independence Institute's Property Rights Project. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, property rights, RTD, transportation Tagged With: breath, Daniel Gallegos, Denver, empower, Galen Foster, Independence Institute, instructive, Kim Snyder, lessons, light-rail expansion, northeast Denver, property owners, Property Rights Project, Regional Transportation District, resources

2/2/2009 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

2/1/2009 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

1/31/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

He Wasn’t Their First Choice, But Wadhams and Hillman Both Pleased with Michael Steele as RNC Chair

Not exactly breaking news: former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele is the new chairman of the Republican National Committee. Polipundit has a blow-by-blow account of the six rounds (and five hours) of yesterday's balloting to achieve a majority of support from the 168 delegates. Five candidates started the day. At the end it came down to Steele and South Carolina's Katon Dawson. Steele prevailed by a count of 91-77. I followed up with two of Colorado's three voting RNC members afterward to get their thoughts, and received very similar reactions to the results. "Michael Steele will be a great spokesperson for our party," said state GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. "Michael Steele is one of the Republican Party's most articulate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: account, actively engaged, activists, appealing message, articulate, audience, Backbone America, balancing, balloting, beginning, breaking news, candidacy, candidates, chairman, class act, collaborative, Colorado, communication, community, Congratulations, conservatives, conventional wisdom, conversation, convinced, core issues, core principles, delegates, desirable job, Dick Wadhams, Don'tGo movement, Douglas County, dynamic, effective, effective fundraising, emails, enthusiasm, Eric Odom, Facebook, force feed, former, forward-looking, from above, future, GOP, grassroots, Internet, inundated, involvement, John Andrews, Katon Dawson, Ken Blackwell, lieutenant governor, Lilly Nunez, limited government, listening, low taxes, majority, Mark Hillman, marketing, Maryland, Michael Steele, Michigan, Mike Duncan, misused, moderate, momentum, new energy, new face, Ohio, opportunity, opposition, organizational structure, overused, ownership, Party, phone calls, Polipundit, political, political action, political wilderness, Politics 3.0, prevailed, projects, Republican groups, Republican National Committee, results, rounds, Saul Anuzis, Secretary of State, selection process, sense of relief, similar reactions, social conservatives, social media, social network, South Carolina, spokesman, spokesperson, state chair, Steven Nielson, support, supported, surrogates, thoughts, tough choice, tough road, traditional values, Twitter, urgent plea, vocal supporters, voting members, web-based, wild word

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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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