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Home Archives for Barack Obama

1/21/2009 By Ben 3 Comments

On Best Behavior, Patriotic Opposition Rejects Obama-Lincoln Analogy

I don't have time to put down much original thought this morning, so here are three pieces I commend to readers on the Morning After the inauguration. First, the Denver Post's David Harsanyi eloquently asks the rhetorical question many of us have wanted to ask:Do all Americans truly have a yearning to fundamentally "remake" our nation? There must be a subversive minority out there that still believes the United States — even with its imperfections and sporadic recessions — is, in context, still a wildly prosperous and free country worth preserving. Some of you must still believe that politicians are meant to serve rather than be worshiped. And there must be someone out there who considers partisanship a healthy, organic reflection … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, History, National Politics Tagged With: "un-American", Abraham Lincoln, American Thinker, Andy Levy, apologize, Barack Obama, Bizarro flaws, compelling argument, Confederate Slave States, contrived imagery, counterproductive, David Harsanyi, Denver Post, differences, dissent, divisive, foreigners, free country, guidelines, healthy, historical scholarship, imperfections, inauguration, Jefferson Davis, Joseph Ashby, loyal opposition, morning after, organic, original thought, partisanship, patriotic, pieces, politicians, President, readers, recessions, rhetorical question, serve, souls, subjective, subversive minority, thesis, United States, unity, untenable, worshiped

1/20/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

A Day of Transition

Today is Barack Obama's day. I see it as a break from taking critical stock of his policies and recognizing both the peaceful transition of power that still is a tremendous blessing to our Republic and the historic nature of installing a non-white person into the nation's highest office. This two-fold recognition is a fulfillment of the great and remarkable promise of the Declaration of Independence that gave birth to our nation. Yet the surviving spirit of the Declaration and the importance of Liberty embodied and codified in our Constitution depends more on the character and vigilance of the American people than on the cultish popularity of its leaders. And what of other Right-leaning Colorado bloggers? What do they say? Here's a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: American people, Barack Obama, Best Destiny, blessing, bloggers, character, Colorado, Constitution, Constructively Reasonable, critical stock, cultish popularity, Declaration of Independence, embodied, historic nature, Inauguration Day, leaders, non-white person, peaceful transition, policies, remarkable promise, Republic, Rossputin, surviving spirit, vigilance

1/19/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

How Much Will Barack Obama’s “Stimulus” – er, Pork – Proposal Cost Us?

From the Competitive Enterprise Institute: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, Competitive Enterprise Institute, YouTube

1/15/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Folly and Hypocrisy of Colorado Media Matters in New Deal Debate Exposed

Over at Free Colorado, Ari Armstrong does excellent work deconstructing the silliness of Colorado Media Matters (CMM) and its well-compensated director in the debate about the New Deal. It seems CMM has placed nearly all its intellectual eggs in one basket, the bottom of which has just fallen out. Armstrong took the initiative to contact directly the one source CMM cites to "debunk" those who note the abundant academic evidence of the New Deal's economic failures. Unfortunately for CMM, this economist (Gene Smiley) refutes their case. But don't expect the Left to stop trying to shill for Barack Obama's new massive federal spending program, no matter how little window dressing they are left with to cover their embarrassingly thin … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Ari Armstrong, Barack Obama, basket, Colorado Media Matters, debate, deconstructing, economist, embarrassing, expose, federal spending, folly, Free Colorado, Gene Smiley, initiative, intellectual eggs, Left, New Deal, refutes, silliness, source, window dressing

1/14/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Economic Recovery Soon? Even if Obama Slows it Down, He’ll Get Credit

Larry Kudlow is a very knowledgeable voice on economic trends and developments. I sure hope his post at The Corner is correct:Investors continue to ignore one of the very brightest spots in the firmament: Namely, the credit freeze is thawing, according to all manner of key interest rates and spreads. In fact, LIBOR is around 1 percent now, back to where it was in the early summer of 2007 before the crunch started. This means that much of the uncertainty about lending, borrowing, investing, and hiring is receding from the market. This is a very positive sign. While retail sales and jobs are lagging indicators, the credit-market improvement is a leading indicator — pointing to recovery in the economy sometime this spring or summer. I’m … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: bailouts, bank earnings, Barack Obama, credit, credit freeze, credit-market improvement, deep recession, economic trends, George W. Bush, investors, jobs, knowledgeable voice, lagging indicator, Larry Kudlow, leading indicator, lending, markets, National Review, old media, pessimism, recovery, retail sales, stimulus plan, stock market, The Corner, Treasury secretary, uncertainty

1/9/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Congressional Democrats’ Cigarette Tax Hike Could Cost Colorado $24 Million

Too many real policy debates these days get clouded behind the rhetoric of "it's for the children". Sometimes they are also hidden behind a cloud of smoke. Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress are making a top priority out of reauthorizing the SCHIP program - you know, ostensibly government-mandated health insurance for kids too rich for Medicare but unable to afford decent private coverage. Like most government programs, SCHIP isn't all it's cracked up to be. The Independence Institute's Linda Gorman has one good critique of the program. A popular component of the Democrats' current proposal soon to be before Congress is a 61-cent increase in the excise tax on cigarettes, to raise funds and enrollment in SCHIP. Is it a good … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, My Life Tagged With: Americans for Limited Government, Barack Obama, better ideas, blunt instrument, cigarettes, cloud of smoke, Congress, convenient, critique, debate, Democrats, dependent, enrollment, excise tax, Family, foot the bill, for the children, Galen Institute, government, health coverage, health insurance, Independence Institute, kids, Linda Gorman, Medicare, money, non-smokers, parents, policy debates, politicians, premium-support program, private coverage, private plans, program, redistribute wealth, regressive, revenue, scapegoats, SCHIP, state of Colorado, taxation, tobacco, Tobacco Settlement Agreement, underinsured

1/9/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Socialist Ties of President-Elect Obama Appointee Carol Browner Airbrushed?

Back from his overseas trip, Rossputin makes an interesting observation about an apparent effort to airbrush a major Obama appointee's official Socialist organization ties. Check it out. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Climate Hysteria, Energy, General, National Politics Tagged With: airbrush, appointee, Barack Obama, Carol Browner, Rossputin, Socialist organization

1/7/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Self-Delusion or Subtlety Behind Bill Ritter’s Assessment of Michael Bennet?

As we chatted about on last night's Blog Talk Radio program, the fallout from Bill Ritter's appointment of Michael Bennet to the U.S. Senate continues. Liberal angst on behalf of the spurned former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff continues to grow. The latest is Susan Barnes-Gelt's column "What Was Ritter Thinking?" in the Denver Post:Bennet's decade-plus resume, elite pedigree and acute intelligence may confer gravitas-lite. However, his utter lack of legislative experience, political/elected bona fides and thorough knowledge of the state, its issues and character cast doubt on the governor's judgment. What does it say about our state's chief executive that he passed over an equally young, talented, out-of-the-box reformer who boasts an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: Andrew Romanoff, Barack Obama, Bill Ritter, Blog Talk Radio, chief executive, City Club of Denver, Colorado, common sense, complicating, conventional wisdom, Democrats, Denver Daily News, Denver Post, Ed Perlmutter, experience, Governor, gravitas-lite, ideology, independent, John Hickenlooper, Joshua Sharf, liberal angst, loyalty, mastermind, memo, mesh, Michael Bennet, passed over, political future, political target, President-elect, promise broken, reformer, rumors, Secretary of State, self-delusion, self-interest, situation, State Capitol, Susan Barnes-Gelt, team player, U.S. Senate

1/6/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Dig into UAW Golf Course Hijinks Before Obama Ends Union Disclosure

Perhaps you have seen the story about the United Auto Workers-owned golf course in northern Michigan and the controversy about the value of its property and tax history. Well, local blogger Chetly Zarko has dug even deeper to try to figure out why the facility's reported Pension Fund expenses are so high:The only explanation in my mind for this kind of pension fund investment is that the pension contributions are for SOMEONE ELSE other than the workers at the hotel. Just who might be receiving the long-term benefit of those contributions? It's not big enough to pay the pension debt of any serious number of rank-and-file union members - but it is big enough to sauce up a few individual's or union leadership. Or perhaps the UAW is using … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: administration, analysis, artificial loss, Barack Obama, bliss, blogger, Chetly Zarko, contributions, corrupt, Department of Labor, facility, financial disclosure reports, Hilda Solis, ignorance, IRS, Labor Secretary, LM-2, Michigan, Pension Fund, property, shenanigans, speculation, tax evasion, taxes, union, union bosses, United Auto Workers, Wall Street Journal

1/2/2009 By Ben 3 Comments

Cooler Heads: Barack Obama’s “Energy Czar” a Card-Carrying Socialist

For those who may be laboring under the misconception that President-elect Barack Obama is leaning exclusively to the political center in his administrative appointments, Cooler Heads notes that the new "energy czar" Carol Browner is a card-carrying Socialist. Our work is cut out for us. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Hysteria, Energy, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: administrative appointment, Barack Obama, Carol Browner, energy czar, misconception, political center, President-elect, Socialist

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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

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