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

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4/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

RMA Blog Talk Radio Solo Hosting Stint: Helpful and Humorous Links

Last night I was honored to host Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio by myself. I was blessed to have three great conversations - including an update on the Fort Collins city council elections with Randy Ketner, a discussion on a range of fiscal issues with prospective state treasurer candidate J.J. Ament, and 12 minutes with my wife and Independence Institute colleague, the lovely Mrs. Virtus, to talk about parental rights and homeschooling freedoms. A rank amateur flying solo by the seat of my pants, I filled in the rest of the time with a monologue referencing several stories. Here are the links for anyone who is interested: Vince Carroll's excellent "Blowing the lid off TABOR" column in yesterday's Denver Post -- which Ament … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: adoptable, apostates, apostles, Arne Duncan, Blog Talk Radio, BYU, candidate, city council, colleague, column, Complete Colorado, conversations, Denver Post, Education News Colorado, Education Secretary, elections, flying solo, Fort Collins, freedoms, great sources, homeschooling, Independence Institute, J.J. Ament, links, lovely, monologue, Mrs. Virtus, parental rights, PETA, pets, photo caption, podcast, Randy Ketner, rank amateur, Rocky Mountain Alliance, state treasurer, stint, student newspaper, TABOR, Vince Carroll, vouchers, Washington DC, wife

4/1/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Government Transparency Facing a Crucial Crossroads

Everybody's talking about "transparency" as the buzzword at the Colorado state legislature this year: even the Sterling Journal-Advocate has taken notice. I've spent plenty of time talking about what happened to Senate Bill 57 and school district transparency. But there's also the promise of greater transparency in House Bill 1288's proposal for a state government spending database, and the threat to transparency in House Bill 1293's sick person tax. My Independence Institute colleague Amy Oliver joined me to discuss these different proposals at the State Capitol on a 9-minute iVoices podcast: The last month of the current legislative session will be a crucial time to see whether Colorado - with the Democrats in charge - will … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, My Life, PPC Tagged With: Amy Oliver, backward, buzzword, colleague, Colorado, Democrats, forward, House Bill 1288, House Bill 1293, Independence Institute, iVoices, plenty of time, podcast, promise, school district, Senate Bill 57, sick person tax, State Capitol, state legislature, state spending database, Sterling Journal-Advocate, threat, Transparency

3/3/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Will Colorado Democrats Really Line Up and Bow to Big Labor on Card-Check?

Is Colorado's Democratic Congressional delegation really going to play Pavlov's dog to Big Labor officials? News came out earlier today that Colorado Democratic Congresswoman Betsy Markey has agreed to co-sponsor - just as U.S. Senator and former Congressman Mark Udall did in the recent past - the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) -- aka card-check. Or as my colleague and fellow blogger Amy Oliver put it: "Markey pays back labor unions". If not for the money, why else would Markey leap into action as an EFCA co-sponsor? As policy, it's terrible for business and the rights of workers. As 4th Congressional politics goes, it's equally bad - opening the door wide for a strong, credible, business-backed challenge in 2010. At … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: 2010, 4th Congressional District, AFL-CIO, Amy Oliver, bad legislation, Betsy Markey, Big Labor, blame, business, card-check, co-sponsor, colleague, Colorado, Congressman, Congresswoman, Democratic, Ed Perlmutter, EFCA, email reminder, Employee Free Choice Act, labor unions, letter, Mark Udall, Michael Bennet, Pavlov's dog, payback, politically, response, take a stand, U.S. Senator, workers' rights

1/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Complete Colorado Offers Up Top 10 Political (& Non-Political) Stories of 2008

On New Years Day, CompleteColorado.com's Todd Shepherd (also a colleague of mine at the Independence Institute) shared his respective lists of Colorado's Top 10 political and non-political stories of 2008 with AM 740 KVOR guest talk radio host Jeff Crank (H/T El Presidente). A few of Todd's entries may take you by surprise, or trigger something lost in the memory banks. The entire broadcast is nearly an hour long, but any time you can give will glean some interesting perspectives: And if you haven't bookmarked Complete Colorado for regular stops, now is a good time to do so. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Commemorative, General Tagged With: broadcast, colleague, Colorado, Complete Colorado, El Presidente, entries, Independence Institute, interesting perspectives, Jeff Crank, KVOR, memory banks, non-political stories, political stories, Slapstick Politics, surprise, talk radio, Todd Shepherd, Top 10

12/11/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Would Ed Perlmutter Vote our Taxpayer Dollars to Bail Out the Big Three?

From The Hill (via Rocky Mountain Right):Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) sat on an exercise bicycle at the Wheat Ridge Recreation center this weekend, hearing unvarnished advice from constituents about the auto bailout. “It was one after another,” Perlmutter recounted. “One guy would come up and say, ‘You can’t let them fail.’ The next guy would say, ‘Let them go bankrupt.’ ” Perlmutter said he was leaning in favor of the bailout, but couldn’t say for certain until he sees final language. As a constituent of Ed Perlmutter who is paying very close attention to these developments, count me among the latter: Let them go bankrupt. It's the bitter medicine needed, certainly not a vast government takeover at the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: 2010, advice, auto bailout, bankrupt, colleague, Colorado, Colorado delegation, constituents, Democratic, Ed Perlmutter, fail, Jared Polis, leaning, massive bailout, Rocky Mountain Right, The Hill, Wheat Ridge Recreation Center

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    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
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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

  • Top Books I Read in 2020
  • The All-New Christmas Music Countdown: Bigger, Better and Brighter Than Ever
  • Does the USA Face Future Divorce?
  • Resources for Veterans and their Families Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak
  • How To Keep Your Children Engaged While Learning from Home

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Completing the Blogroll

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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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