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Home Archives for comment

5/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado LOSES: Represent State Employees, No Union Middleman

Having already won Colorado Governor Bill Ritter's November 2007 executive order allowing exclusive union representation in state government, the table is set for organized labor to push for full-fledged and permanent bargaining legislation by next year. Many of those who would be purported to benefit from such legislation might have a different idea, however. On an iVoices podcast, I talk with state employee Dave Ohmart about his developing plan to provide representation for state employees without the costly union middleman services of Colorado WINS: Dave says he's open to input to refine and improve his plan. You can contact him by leaving a comment at the Colorado LOSES website. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, PPC Tagged With: audio, bargaining, benefit, Bill Ritter, Colorado, Colorado WINS, comment, contact, costly, Dave Ohmart, developing, exclusive, Executive Order, full-fledged, Governor, idea, improve, input, iVoices, legislation, middleman, organized labor, permanent, plan, podcast, purported, services, set, state employee, state government, table, talk, union, union representation, website

4/20/2009 By Ben 7 Comments

Posting “a think on Cleve Tidwell”

So yesterday I receive this verbatim email message from a mysterious "Victorila Rasheem" (all errors of spelling and syntax preserved):I think taht your website should do a think on Cleve Tidwell. Most say that he has the support of most if not all of the major donors in the state. Also much of the grassroots is excited for him and is backing him to be the senator for colorado. I do not know if Dick Wadhams found him or not but if he did it was a good find because he is a good candidaet and wiill win. He is a very good speaker and will be at most events when he is senator because he will represent people in Colorado. Also, he has not spoken with the press so whatever you might hear if anything is probably just their way of trying to create … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: actual effect, bizarre, blogger, campaign contribution, claims, Cleve Tidwell, coincidence, Colorado, coloradovoterinthesenaterace@gmail.com, comment, disavow, drop a line, email message, errors, far-fetched, hopes, insult, intelligence, meaningless, motive, mystery, Nigerian benefactor, post office box, publicly, quasi-candidacy, random, scheme, spam, spelling, state legislature, supporters, syntax, tactics, testify, tracking down, undermine, Victorila Rasheem

4/5/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Strange But True: Bernie Buescher Lectures Protesters on “Good Policy”

Update, 4/6: A Rocky Mountain Right diarist from Ouray isn't too happy with the Governor's cancellation. What a bummer when you show up to protest someone, and they aren't able to make it in person. Such apparently was the case this weekend in Grand Junction, when inclement weather prevented Governor Bill Ritter from being welcomed by more than 50 Coloradans "totally disgusted" about the negative impacts of his various tax policies and newly-approved oil and gas rules. The interesting tidbit came from local news station KJCT, which reported that Secretary of State (and Western Slope native) Bernie Buescher showed up to take the slings and arrows in Ritter's place:He says the Governor recognizes this is a difficult time and it's time … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Energy, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: appointment, arrogant, arrows, be quiet, Bernie Buescher, Bill Ritter, blind spot, bummer, CASE, Coloradans, Colorado, comment, common ground, current position, Democratic Party, elected, Face the State, go home, governing, Governor, Grand Junction, Grand Junction Sentinel, in person, inclement weather, interesting, KJCT, levers of power, local, majority, native, negative impacts, news station, obvious, oiil and gas rules, partisan bickering, penchant, protest, protesters, Secretary of State, slings, smug, startling, strong words, tax policies, taxpayers, tidbit, totally disgusted, tough issues, weekend, welcomed, Western Slope

2/12/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Is Barack Obama for Transparency, Except As It Might Apply to Labor?

For all the serious disagreements I have with President Barack Obama over policy and philosophy, I have been pleased to hear him promote the idea of greater government transparency. That's something all citizens can rally behind, regardless of partisan affiliation. Only a few days into office, Obama sent out a memo to department heads about the Freedom of Information Act:A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, "sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants."... All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The presumption of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: accountability, Barack Obama, Bloomberg News, burdensome, bureaucrats, Bush administration, campaign, Charles Craver, citizens, collect, comment, commitment, corporations, democracy, Democratic, disagreements, disappointing, disclosure, disinfectants, dues money, excited, financial reports, FOIA, Freedom of Information Act, funded, Generational Theft Act, George Washington University, government transparency, Harry Reid, idea, instructions, Justice Louis Brandeis, Labor Department, labor law, labor unions, memo, Nancy Pelosi, open government, openness, organizations, outfoxed, partisan affiliation, philosophy, policy, President, presumption, promote, proposed, rule changes, shoved, spend, testing ground, The Union Label, Transparency

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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

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bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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