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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.

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

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Is Bill Ritter’s SB 180 Veto a Dare to Big Labor to Challenge His Office?

Update, 9:30 AM: AFL-CIO press release in response to Ritter's SB 180 veto pasted below the fold. Also, Amy Oliver notes that several legislators from northern Colorado went against the will of the people in voting for SB 180 -- having benefited from thousands in labor campaign contributions. Yesterday I gave Governor Bill Ritter kudos for the veto of SB 180. Today's Denver Post follow-up by Lynn Bartels is headlined with the statement that Rep. Edward Casso and organized labor interests see the decision as a "tipping point". It could be my imagination, but I got the impression from reading the story that Ritter essentially is saying something like this to the unions:So yeah, I have this penchant of making a wide spectrum of different … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: bad policy, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, Chamber of Commerce, change his mind, dare, decision, Democrat, Denver Post, different, Edward Casso, follow-up, good policy, Governor, groups, imagination, impression, indecisive, intentions, interests, issue, known, kudos, labor unions, last minute, Lynn Bartels, mad, motivation, Municipal League, open enemy, organized labor, penchant, politics, prevented, primary, SB 180, story, string along, tipping point, Unions, veto, wait

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Kudos to Bill Ritter for SB 180 Veto: Good Public Policy Beats Out Politics

It's not often I laud Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, but he is to be commended today for choosing good public policy over political pressures by vetoing Senate Bill 180 -- the firefighter collective bargaining legislation. While Ritter's official statement put the matter more diplomatically than I have, he didn't buy the phony argument about firefighter safety:Third, the debate on this bill raised important issues about firefighter safety, but there are better ways to address these issues than mandatory collective bargaining in certain communities. We must address firefighter safety at the state level. Doing so ensures that all areas of Colorado can benefit. Under this bill, however, the safety issues would only be addressed in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: announcement, argument, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, choosing, Collective Bargaining, Colorado, Colorado Municipal League, commended, decision, Democrats, diplomatically, escalate, fire chiefs, firefighters, gain, good, Governor, how long, incumbent, intra-party, jurisdictions, laud, legislation, LIAR, mandatory, official, often, open fire, phony, political pressures, politically, public policy, question, safety, Senate Bill 180, sparing, standard, state level, statement, statewide, today, veto, warfare, wrath

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Ritter, Kennedy, and Morse Loosening Fiscal Knot for Taxpayers’ Necks

Today's Denver Post news story on Governor Bill Ritter's signing of Senate Bill 228 offers the generous headline: "Colorado's fiscal knot loosens". I've taken the liberty to complete the thought with my own sub-headline: "Noose nearly large enough to fit around taxpayers' necks". The article is correct insofar as it points out that the impact of this bill in repealing limits on the growth of discretionary government spending likely won't be felt for a couple years. But that provides little solace, especially when you listen to the righteous confusion coming from the Democratic cast of characters behind this anti-taxpayer legislation. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, media bias, PPC Tagged With: 10-point margin, 2010, Amendment 59, another dimension, battle plan, Bill Ritter, black, California, Cary Kennedy, caucus, Colorado, complete, conflicting, crystal clear, Democratic, Democrats, Denver Post, disaster, discretionary, down, expounds, Face the State, fight, fiscal knot, fiscal troubles, fitting, generous, Gordian knot, government, government spending, Governor, growth, headline, heaping, heart, increase, John Morse, liberty, limits, majority leader, measures, memo, mess, message, multi-billion dollar, necks, news, noose, November, offers, old-fashioned, prudent, rainy day fund, raise, reasonable, recipe, repeal, repealing, righteous, Rod Serling, sacred, Senate Bill 228, shell game, shooting down, signing, simple, soul, spending, stake, state budget, state senate, state treasurer, step, story, sub-headline, TABOR, tax dollars, tax-and-spend, taxes, taxpayers, thought, trip, up, vote, voters, white, work

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Continuing the Tiller & Long Discussion

Update, 6/4: Thanks to a comment left by Politically Correct Death author Francis Beckwith, I refer you to his newer and more relevant book Defending Life. I'll have to check it out myself very soon. Update, 9:30 PM: My final thought (for now) on the matter, from Doug Wilson: "The question is whether you would be willing to reduce a society to anarchy for the sake of saving that kid, when you (should) know that the anarchy you introduce is going to be responsible for the deaths of far more children than you managed to save." And for further edification, I will commend the thoughts of Dr. Albert Mohler as being squarely right on the matter. Thanks to one of the more thoughtful liberals I know, David Thielen, a link to this morning's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, Labor, liberty, My Life, World Events

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Lessons: Unparallel Treatment of George Tiller & William Long Murders

No two events are perfectly parallel, but seldom are two such similar and terrible stories juxtaposed for our edification. Within 24 hours and within 500 miles from each other, two notable murders occurred -- both evil acts perpetrated in public by two different men, but both for apparent ideological reasons, both sudden and horribly unexpected events for the families and loved ones of the victims, both suspects quickly brought into custody. That's where the parallels end. What's most informative is some of the prominent responses to the two incidents: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, General, History, liberty, National Politics, World Events Tagged With: abortionists, act, antebellum, anti-government, anti-military, attention, Barack Obama, bigger view, blog, brought, care, ColoradoPols, comment section, communicate, conclusion, context, couple, custody, death, definitions, deprived, destructive, diarist, disagreements, edification, enforced, events, evil acts, families, fanatical, Free Speech, fringe, George Tiller, Google News, greater, groups, hate crime, heinous, ideological, implications, individuals, informative, killed, language, larger, legal concept, liberal, likewise, lone nut, loved ones, military recruiter, Moonbattery, movement, murder, murders, Muslim convert, notable, nut, parallel, peaceful, people, perpetrated, politically correct, preliminary, President, private, pro-life, prominent, Quenton Ezeagwula, quickly, ratio, reasons, relevant, responses, rights, short-sighted, similar, slavery, Southern, speech codes, statement, states, suspects, terrible, terrorist, thought, threats, unjust, victims, White House, William Long, wounded

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

A Critical Mass Awake to the Destructive Effects of Obama’s “Stimulus”?

Remember all the pomp and circumstance of four months ago when President Barack Obama flew out here to Denver to sign the "stimulus" bill? The legislation that had to be rushed through? The legislation that was supposed to prevent "irreversible decline" in our economy? While anyone with decent sense knew the "stimulus" was long-term poison, I can't say I anticipated how badly it would flounder even in the short-term. The Competitive Enterprise Institute's Hans Bader put together a well-documented Open Market blog post noting that public opinion clearly favors canceling the $787 billion spending spree. How many of them have watched this unforgettable video? A few days ago, Mr. Bob posted up the now well-circulated graphic showing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

More Bad Unintended Consequences from Media Swine Flu Hysteria?

So some of y'all must be thinkin' ... Whatever happened to that thar' swine flu thing? Apparently, the World Health Organization is set to issue an alert for a "level 6 pandemic" -- the first such designation in 40 years. Before you start stampeding through the streets in panic, take note:The declaration of a global epidemic was expected Thursday as WHO officials huddled in an emergency session in Geneva in the wake of 141 swine flu deaths worldwide, including 12 in New York City.... If WHO moves from level 5 to level 6 on its pandemic alert scale, it would be the first flu pandemic declared since the Hong Kong flu killed an estimated 1 million people in 1968. On Wednesday, WHO reported 27,737 cases worldwide, most of them mild and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, Journalism, liberty, National Politics, PPC

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

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

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

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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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