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Mount Virtus?

Every day is seeking to rise to the challenge, 'neath the shadow of the mighty Rockies.

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Colorado Ballot Reviews

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

Writer / Editor For Hire

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

10/1/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Gov. Bill Ritter’s “Slow (Hiring) Freeze” vs. Bill Owens’ Immediate Action

Here's a nice, clear contrast in leadership for you. Last Thursday, Gov. Bill Ritter sent out a press release announcing ways to save state taxpayers money. First on the list:Implementing a hiring freeze for the Executive Branch effective Oct. 1. For those doing the math, that left a few extra days to give all departments notice to fill all open positions. In 2002, then-Gov. Bill Owens, also facing a fiscal crunch, issued an executive order with a similar purpose:Pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-2-102(4), I order a hiring freeze applicable to state government. This hiring freeze is effective immediately. [emphasis added] It will be interesting to see how many last-minute hires came in before Bill Ritter's "slow freeze" went into effect. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Bill Owens, Bill Ritter, contrast, departments, difficult economic circumstances, Executive Branch, Executive Order, hiring freeze, immediately, leadership, open positions, press release, savings, taxpayers

10/1/2008 By Ben 5 Comments

Protect Colorado Future’s Deception Starting to Get Monotonous

Protect Colorado's Culture of Corruption Future, opponents of the good government reforms Colorado Amendment 49 and Amendment 54, must be going after the world record for most deceptive campaign. They're certainly making a run for it, as their latest effort may take the cake. In today's Rocky Mountain News, CBS4 reporter Raj Chohan dissects their latest out-of-this-world fable:A new political commercial suggests that a trio of Colorado ballot measures would give special breaks to multinational corporations such as Halliburton. The 30-second spot comes from a union-backed group called Protect Colorado's Future. Ad: This is a voter alert. Colorado ballot amendments have built-in loopholes. Amendments 49 and 54 would not apply to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: "educational" forum, advertising, Amendment 49, Amendment 54, ballot measures, CBS4 reporter, Colorado, deceptive, ethical reforms, global warming, good government, Halliburton, international terrorism, labor unions, lobbyists, Lyme disease, mailer, male pattern baldness, millions of dollars, misleading, most deceptive campaign, multinational corporations, North America, political clout, Protect Colorado's Future, Raj Chohan, reforms, Rocky Mountain News, scare tactics, special interest groups, television ad, voters, world record

10/1/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Will VP Debate Moderator Gwen Ifill Disclose Her Conflict of Interest?

Question before tomorrow night's vice-presidential debate: Will moderator Gwen Ifill disclose to the viewing audience her clear conflict of interest? Just wanted to lay that out up front. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, National Politics Tagged With: conflict of interest, debate, disclosure, Gwen Ifill, moderator, vice presidential, viewing audience

9/30/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Wake Up, America: Why We Can’t Give Democrats Keys to the Treasury

Update: Ross Kaminsky has a great column at Human Events explaining this in more depth. In case you haven't figured it out yet, and are wondering what's the main reason why our nation is in the financial mess it's in, take 9 minutes of your life to watch this: Barack Obama and the Democrats have been given way too much of a free pass on this issue. And their House leader Nancy Pelosi doesn't seem too serious about solving the problem either. If Americans elect these people into power, we get what we deserve. Just don't punish the rest of us -- wake up before you cast your vote! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: Americans, Barack Obama, Democrats, deserve, financial crisis, free pass, House, Nancy Pelosi, punish, voting, YouTube

9/30/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Taxpayer Resources Used to Campaign Against Colorado Amendment 46

Despite Governor Bill Ritter's denial, a state official acknowledged to the Rocky Mountain News that Ritter's administration used official taxpayer resources to invite people to an anti-Amendment 46 campaign event (H/T Face The State):Even as Ritter announced his opposition, Amendment 46 backers complained his administration had used state resources to campaign against the measure, which would be a violation of state law. Ritter denied that. But later, his director of economic development, Don Elliman, acknowledged his office had used state time to invite people to a Sept. 22 forum on Amendment 46, which featured a well-known opponent of such measures, but no one who supported them. "We blew it," Elliman said. "It would appear from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General Tagged With: administration, Amendment 46, Bill Ritter, campaign event, citizens, Colorado, Don Elliman, economic development, equal rights, Face the State, Fair Campaign Practices Act, forum, opponent, Rocky Mountain News, special interest groups, state law, state official, supporter, taxpayer resources, transgression, violation

9/30/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Mount Virtus Hosting Group Liveblog of Thursday Biden-Palin Debate

You're invited to tune in this Thursday evening (7:00 PM local Mountain time) for a group liveblog of the vice-presidential debate. Members of the Rocky Mountain Alliance and Peoples Press Collective are coming together to give you their on-the-spot responses and insights as Joe Biden and Sarah Palin duke it out on national television. You can come here to follow along and even add your (moderated) comments. Others who have agreed to participate in the group liveblog so far are: Thinking Right, Rocky Mountain Right, and Drunkablog. I'll notify you if more bloggers agree to participate. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, National Politics Tagged With: Drunkablog, Joe Biden, liveblogging, Peoples Press Collective, Rocky Mountain Alliance, Rocky Mountain Right, Sarah Palin, Thinking Right, vice-presidential debate

9/30/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Political Fault Lines Clearly Shifting Around Federal Bailout Bill Debate

One thing that's clear is the Congressional bailout debates have shifted political fault lines in unusual ways. The Denver Post highlights the odd split in Colorado's Congressional delegation: Mark Udall, John Salazar, Doug Lamborn, and Marilyn Musgrave against the bill vs. Tom Tancredo, Diana Degette, and Ed Perlmutter for it. Then, there's my two favorite fiscally conservative national think tanks. Co-authoring an issue brief for the Heritage Foundation, former Attorney General Ed Meese says the bailout bill was "vital and acceptable," while Cato Institute scholar Jagadeesh Ghokale notes:Overall, it's not a pretty picture--but score one for supporters of the free market who insist on allowing market reorganization of the financial … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Attorney General, bad debt, bailout, billions, Cato Institute, Colorado, Congress, courage, debate, Democrat, Denver Post, Diana Degette, Doug Lamborn, Ed Meese, Ed Perlmutter, financial sector, free market, freedom, Heritage Foundation, Jagadeesh Ghokale, John Salazar, lesser of two evils, libertarian, Marilyn Musgrave, Mark Udall, policy, political fault lines, Republican, scholar, taxpayers, Tom Tancredo

9/29/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Jon Caldara and Denver Post Agree on Amendment 49: Stop the Presses!

As of today, the Denver Post becomes the fifth major Colorado newspaper to line up in support of Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative (H/T Ethical Standards). One line from the Post's lead editorial shows how truly remarkable a development this endorsement of Amendment 49 is:It prevents state and local governments from collecting dues for labor unions or other groups that use such funds to elect or lobby the very public officials who hire them and set their salaries and benefits. It's a modest but important ethical rule that will help keep partisan politics, with its echo of the 19th century "spoils system," out of the merit systems that regulate most state and local government jobs. We usually don't agree with the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Amendment 49, bipartitsanship, cats, consensus, Denver Post, Detroit Lions, dogs, endorsement, Ethical Standards initiative, Independence Institute, Jon Caldara, lead editorial, remarkable development, Super Bowl, world peace

9/29/2008 By Ben 3 Comments

Introducing Ben’s Guide to the Colorado Ballot 2008

Due to the unrivaled success of providing a guide to Colorado's 2006 ballot measures, and an even larger slate of Initiatives and Referenda to consider, I give you Ben's guide to the Colorado ballot for 2008. The author is solely responsible for the opinions contained therein. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, property rights Tagged With: 2008, ballot initiatives, Colorado, legislative referenda

9/29/2008 By Ben 3 Comments

Newsbusters: Soldier’s Family Told Barack Obama Not to Wear Bracelet

Do you remember in Friday's presidential debate where the Obamessiah had his little "me too" moment, and showed off the deceased soldier's bracelet given for him to wear? Well, to his credit, Warner Todd Huston at Newsbusters dug a little deeper and found that the family asked Barack Obama not to wear the bracelet:[Father Brian] Jopek began by saying that his ex-wife was taken aback, even upset, that Obama has made the death of her son a campaign issue. Jopek says his wife gave Obama the bracelet because "she just wanted Mr. Obama to know Ryan's name." Jopek went on to say that "she wasn't looking to turn it into a big media event" and "just wanted it to be something between Barack Obama and herself." Apparently, they were all shocked it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, bracelet, Brian Jopek, debate, Newsbusters, Obamessiah, soldier, Warner Todd Huston

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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
  • 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

  • Colorado Senate News
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National News and Politics

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Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
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  • E!! The True Conservative Story
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  • Evangelical Outpost
  • Hugh Hewitt
  • Instapundit
  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
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  • NRO's The Corner
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Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
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Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
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Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
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Colorado Blogs

  • American Kestrel
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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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