Mount Virtus

"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

Ben on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About Ben
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Writer / Editor For Hire
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
  • Archives
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
  • Mary and Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust
  • The Westfield Gardener
Red Mountain View

Mount Virtus?

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

Colorado Capitol

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....

3/18/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Follow Me: You Can Help in Thursday’s Fight for Transparent School Spending

Tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon is the moment of truth at the Colorado state legislature for Senate Bill 57, a measure that would require school districts to open up their financial books online so citizens can search them. It goes before the House Education Committee. Here are things you can do: Starting at sometime shortly after 1:30 PM local Mountain time, listen to the hearing online (House Committee Room 0112) Follow me on Twitter during the proceedings, or join the Tweeting yourself Show up at HCR 0112 and testify yourself, or just pack the room and provide moral support - nothing like an extra concerned citizen or two to remind lawmakers whom they serve Call or email members of the House Education Committee to make your voice … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: accountability, call, citizen, Colorado, Denver Post, email, endorsed, expenses, financial, follow, hearing, House Education Committee, involved, kill the bill, lawmakers, listen, lobbying groups, members, message, moral support, online, pack the room, Peoples Press Collective, proceedings, quietly, revenues, right thing, Rocky Mountain News, salaries, school administrators, school districts, schools, searchable format, Senate Bill 57, serve, Show me the money, small part, taxpayer-funded, terminate, testify, Transparency, Twitter, voice

3/18/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

NCAA Tourney Picks: Day 1

I've decided to do something a little different with this year's NCAA Tournament and the blog. I'll be posting my picks on a day-by-day basis. Below are a list of tomorrow's scheduled first round games with my projected winners in bold: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous, Sports and Leisure

3/18/2009 By Ben 8 Comments

Tell Your State Senator NO on HB 1299: Save the Electoral College

Coloradans need to wake up to the threat of House Bill 1299, which would spit on the U.S. Constitution and render Colorado irrelevant in national political elections. The Left is pushing the issue forward because it can, hoping to prey on the ignorance and apathy of the general populace. But perhaps they forgot what happened with Amendment 36 in 2004, which voters rejected nearly two-to-one. HB 1299 is worse than that: Rather than divide up Colorado's electoral votes proportionally based on our own state's popular vote, this bill would sell all our electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Colorado truly would be political flyover country, our state's interests all but forgotten. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, History, National Politics, PPC

3/18/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter Has an Official Republican Challenger for 2010: Who?

I agree with Rocky Mountain Right: Who? I've been reasonably involved in the Jefferson County Republican Party for six years, and have never heard of this fellow from Evergreen. Methinks he's not the Republicans' best hope to take on Bill Ritter. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, My Life, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Dan Maes, Evergreen, Governor, Jefferson County, Republican Party, who

3/17/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Jon Caldara Comments on Colorado Supremes’ Anti-Taxpayer Ruling

My thoughts are here. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, Judiciary, liberty Tagged With: Colorado Supreme Court, Jon Caldara, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, video, YouTube

3/17/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

RMA Blog Talk Radio Tonight at 8:30: Senator Josh Penry, Nathan Chambers

Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the special Saint Patrick's Day edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. From 8:45 to 9:15, state senate minority leader Josh Penry will join us to discuss yesterday's supreme court ruling, the ongoing debate about lifting state spending limits, and other goings-on under the Golden Dome. Starting at 9:30 we'll talk with Nathan Chambers, candidate for Colorado Republican Party vice chair. We previously interviewed his opponent Leondray Gholston. 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, clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life, PPC

3/16/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Has State Representative Don Marostica Wandered Off the Political Cliff?

Update, 3/17: Link added - check out "Keep The Cap Colorado" Saying state representative Don Marostica is not the future of the Colorado Republican Party was one of the blog understatements of the year. As if latching on to the Democratic caucus to support California-like spendthrift policies wasn't enough by itself, Marostica had to go and try to explain his position. From Don Marostica's hometown, this Loveland Politics report seems to indicate the representative has walked off the political cliff:If the purpose of Saturday's "town hall" meeting was to mend fences within his own party, it failed miserably when the Republican legislator Marostica told those assembled "Now, I know Republicans -- really get nervous about that because … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: abstain, account, Arveschoug-Bird, blog, California, Colorado, coming election, Democratic caucus, Don Marostica, elected, explain, foolhardy strategy, future, higher taxes, hometown, incoherent logic, label, lesson, libertarians, Loveland Politics, mere convenience, overlap, party designations, phony rhetoric, policies, political cliff, reinforced, Republican, Republican Party, spending, spendthrift, state representative, support, talking points, understatements

3/16/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Undeterred by Plain Reading of Constitution, State Supremes Stick It to Colorado Taxpayers

Update, 3/17: Law student Constructively Reasonable says the decision is a cause for "outrage". A watcher says Colorado may not as well even have a constitution. The Colorado Supreme Court has done it again, showing its disdain for taxpayer protections in the state constitution. From the majority opinion:When it issued its declaratory judgment order, the district court did not have the benefit of our recent decision in Barber v. Ritter, 196 P.3d 238 (Colo. 2008), in which we held that a statute challenged under article X, section 20 must be proven to be unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court erroneously held that the relevant test of SB 07-199s constitutionality came from the interpretive guideline included in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Judiciary, PPC, property rights Tagged With: 49 states, Allison Eid, arbitrary rule, Ari Armstrong, boss, campaign issue, Cary Kennedy, clairvoyance, Colorado Supreme Court, common sense, compelling case, conservatives, constitutional sanity, constitutionality, Cory Gardner, Democrat, Denver Post, dissenting voice, downgrading, faith, fiscal restraint, forthcoming, full retreat, government, Governor, Grand Junction Jon Caldara, higher threshold, inescapable, Josh Penry, just, justice system, kudos, law, legal arena, libertarian, life support, local elections, local tax revenues, loyalist, most partisan, observation, offense, other ideas, partisan interests, plain reading, realization, reasonable, Republicans, SB 07-199, school districts, senate minority leader, simpler, state constitution, state house, state legal system, state of Colorado, state representative, state senate, state treasurer, tactical idea, tax dollars, tax policy change, tax revenue gain, taxpayer protections, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, The Colorado Index, violated, voter permission, weigh in, writer

3/16/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Well Represented Among Top Conservative Columnists

It seems Colorado's own David Harsanyi is getting some national attention for his column-writing talents. Witness "The 30 Best Conservative Columnists for 2009" list compiled by John Hawkins of Right Wing News. David breaks in at number 22. Yes, David is a native New Yorker and not really from Colorado. (Then again, few of us really are from Colorado.) But he's certainly made a name for himself while on the editorial board of the surviving Denver Post. Some of us even can say we knew him "when". You can find his columns here and his blog contributions here. Of course, Michelle Malkin - who regularly graces the lists of top conservative columnists and comes in at number 7 on the latest - is officially a Coloradan as of last … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Commemorative, Cultural Conservatism, General, Journalism, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: blog contributions, Coloradan, Colorado, column-writing, compiled, conservativce columnists, David Harsanyi, Denver Post, editorial board, John Hawkins, list, Michelle Malkin, New Yorker, officially, Right Wing News, talents, well represented, writers

3/15/2009 By Ben 3 Comments

Hugo Chavez? Say It Ain’t So, Magglio

A mildly disturbing story that makes me wish sometimes we could keep the world of sports / entertainment separate from the larger political world. From an ESPN article about my favorite baseball team's All-Star right fielder and a loathsome, repressive dictator:President Hugo Chavez came to the defense of Magglio Ordonez on Sunday, slamming Venezuelan baseball fans who booed the major leaguer at the World Baseball Classic. Chavez lamented that his friendship with Ordonez prompted catcalls from the mostly Venezuelan crowd during the team's 3-1 victory over the Netherlands in Miami on Saturday, saying the fans who booed the Detroit Tigers slugger "have no shame."... Ordonez, one of Venezuela's biggest baseball stars, appeared in a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, General, PPC, Sports and Leisure, World Events Tagged With: All-Star, Baseball, booed, catcalls, constitutional amendment, crowd, defense, Detroit Tigers, dictator, eliminate, entertainment, friendship, game, Hugo Chavez, loathsome, Magglio Ordonez, major leaguer, match, Miami, mildly disturbing, Netherlands, Opening Day, outfielder, political world, President, proposal, repressive, right fielder, slugger, Socialist, softball, sports, stars, state television, story, television ad, term limits, Venezuela, vote, World Baseball Classic

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • …
  • 267
  • Next Page »

Inside

  • About Ben
  • Archives
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
    • Colorado Ballot 2014
  • Mary and Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust
  • Mount Virtus?
  • 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

  • Colorado Senate News
  • Complete Colorado
  • Independence Institute
  • Loveland Politics
  • The Colorado Observer

National News and Politics

  • Drudge Report
  • Hot Air
  • National Review
  • Politico
  • Real Clear Politics
  • Reason
  • The Washington Times
  • TownHall
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Weekly Standard
  • World Magazine

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
  • Professor Bainbridge
  • Right Thinking
  • Right Wing News
  • Right Wing Nuthouse
  • Shot in the Dark
  • Talking Points Memo
  • Virginia Postrel
  • Volokh Conspiracy

Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
  • Sharper Iron

Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
  • Colorado Republican Study Committee
  • Dennis Prager
  • Denver Metro Young Republicans
  • Free Republic
  • Heritage Foundation
  • Jefferson County Republican Party
  • Mackinac Center for Public Policy
  • Mark Steyn
  • Michael Medved
  • Rush Limbaugh

Colorado Blogs

  • American Kestrel
  • Bob Agard
  • Colorado Charter Schools
  • Colorado Peak Politics
  • Colorado Pols
  • Colorado Right
  • Conservative Libertarian Outpost
  • Coyote Gulch
  • Ed Is Watching
  • Free Colorado
  • Jeff Crank Show
  • Mark Hillman
  • Patient Power
  • PirateBallerina
  • Protein Wisdom
  • Reagan Girl
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 1.0 (Archive)
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0 (Archive)
  • Rossputin
  • Stop the ACLU Blog
  • The Spot (Denver Post)
  • We Stand Firm

Other Sites

  • Technorati
  • Word Press

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

Copyright © 2025 RSS Feed · WordPress · Log in