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Home Archives for House

4/16/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Good News, Bad News Today at Colorado State Capitol

This morning, good news comes from the Colorado State Capitol: the state house approved House Bill 1288 (PDF), the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act, by the overwhelming margin of 61-4. This legislation will create a detailed online searchable database of state government revenues and expenditures. The bad news? Among the four (all Democrats) voting against open government are my own representative Sara Gagliardi and Gwyn Green, also from Jefferson County. Rest assured, I will do my part to make it known their No votes will not be forgotten. And I will be watching how the senate votes, as well. In other bad news, Senate Bill 180 (PDF) squeaked past the finish line in the state senate, 18-17. This union-backed bill is bad for a host … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, PPC Tagged With: bad news, bill, Bill Ritter, Colorado, consequences, costly, Democrats, desk, difference, elections, expenditures, fail, finish line, good news, good sense, Governor, Gwyn Green, House, House Bill 1288, intrusive, Jefferson County, Jim Isgar, Joyce Foster, legislation, measure, Moe Keller, not forgotten, online searchable database, open government, pass, positive note, rest assured, revenues, Sara Gagliardi, Senate, Senate Bill 180, Senate District 26, signature, State Capitol, state government, Taxpayer Transparency Act, union-backed, votes

3/13/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

The Education Empire (Quietly) Strikes Back at SB 57 School Transparency

Senate Bill 57, the school financial transparency bill, has defied anyone's expectation and made it through one-half of the legislature. From the senate, it's now on to the house. Apparently, but not too surprisingly, the lobbyists for the education establishment are looking for a way to kill the bill without looking like they oppose transparency. The COST blog exposes the details. School districts can use low-cost technology to place expenditures and revenues online in a searchable format; that excuse has been worn thin. So I guess it's time to resort to other ineffective arguments, along with procedural tactics and other technicalities. What about the people's lobby? Will they turn out again to speak out for their right to see … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: Colorado, education establishment, excuse, expenditures, financial transparency, House, House Education Committee, ineffective arguments, kill the bill, legislature, lobbyists, low-cost, online, oppose, people's lobby, procedural tactics, revenues, school, searchable format, Senate, Senate Bill 57, speak out, spent, tax dollars, technicalities, technology, turn out

2/13/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

The “Stimulus” Bill is Even Worse? Now is the Time to Speak Up Loud & Clear

Even the Congressional Budget Office recognizes that any small positive effect of the stimulus bill would be erased by long-term economic stagnation and debt. And that was the previous version of the legislation. As Joshua points out from the Wall Street Journal, the "compromise" version the House votes on today is even worse:The latest version of the economic-stimulus package is expected to provide less near-term support for the economy and make it less likely that the economy will pull itself out of recession before late this year. Meanwhile, Karen Hanretty (via Jon Henke) explains why Barack Obama and the Democrats are trying to speed this disaster through:President Obama is in a race against time. Because you don’t build … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Barac Obama, behemoth, citizens, compromise, conference committee, Congressional Budget Office, Congressman, contact, debt, disaster, economic stagnation, Ed Perlmutter, erased, House, Jon Henke, Joshua Sharf, Karen Hanretty, legislation, long-term, lose support, message, No Stimulus, office, online, petition, pledge, positive effect, previous version, race against time, recession, sausage, serving, stimulus bill, sunshine period, Transparency, votes, Wall Street Journal

2/10/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Outrage: Senate Stimulus Costlier

While many now are justifiably irate about Senators Arlen Specter and Susan Collins for their politically and economically destructive behavior, and President Obama sets up strawmen to make the case for Democrats' massive spending spree, it's important to remember that the so-called compromise Senate version of the so-called "stimulus" bill is actually more costly than the version that united Republican opposition in the House. Outrageous ... No Stimulus. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, behavior, compromise, Democrats, destructive, economically, grumbling, House, irate, justifiably, massive, more costly, outrageous, politically, President, Republican opposition, senator, so-called, spending spree, stimulus bill, strawmen, Susan Collins

12/26/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Christmas Roundup, Light Blogging Here at Mount Virtus Until 2009

It was nice to take a couple days off blogging to celebrate Christmas. Around the house we have a 2-year-old who definitely was interested in getting "more" presents but also who is just beginning to see that Christmas is mainly about the Savior's birth. She sat still to hear one of us read a version of the biblical Christmas story 5 different times over the 2 days. Good times. Memorable times. Around here we hear a lot of the toddler rendition of "Away in a Manger". She also has a fairly decent grasp on "Joy to the World." Other songs she doesn't sing but likes to request: Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday to Jesus. Last night, after we baked the cake for Jesus' birthday (a first-time tradition for our family), we had to explain that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, General, My Life, National Politics, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: 2-year-old, 2009, Away in a Manger, biblical, birth, blogging, Blue Ribbon Committee, cake, Christmas, Christmas story, eating, Family, football, friends, girl, good times, governor's office, Happy Birthday, hard to grasp, House, interview, Jesus, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, Ken Salazar, logic, out of the box, presents, reading, recommendations, rumor, Savior, sleeping, songs, tradition, U.S. Senate, usual sense, version, writing project

9/30/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Wake Up, America: Why We Can’t Give Democrats Keys to the Treasury

Update: Ross Kaminsky has a great column at Human Events explaining this in more depth. In case you haven't figured it out yet, and are wondering what's the main reason why our nation is in the financial mess it's in, take 9 minutes of your life to watch this: Barack Obama and the Democrats have been given way too much of a free pass on this issue. And their House leader Nancy Pelosi doesn't seem too serious about solving the problem either. If Americans elect these people into power, we get what we deserve. Just don't punish the rest of us -- wake up before you cast your vote! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: Americans, Barack Obama, Democrats, deserve, financial crisis, free pass, House, Nancy Pelosi, punish, voting, YouTube

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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

Colorado News

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National News and Politics

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Blogs Extraordinaire

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Completing the Blogroll

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Christian Commentary et al.

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Colorado Blogs

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Other Sites

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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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