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3/12/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Michael Bennet Votes to Nix D.C. School Choice – Bidding for Union Support?

When Democrat Michael Bennet was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, I knew we would have our healthy share of policy disagreements. But not so much on education reform:Fifty-eight U.S. Senators - including Colorado’s own Michael Bennet and Mark Udall - have decided to spend billions on wasteful pork projects, but can’t spare anything to keep 1,700 students from exercising the choice to enroll in a better school. What am I talking about? Bennet voted against an amendment to save the modest D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program from funding extinction. To be fair, so did most other Democrats: except interestingly, Robert Byrd and John Warner, along with independent Joe Lieberman. Only two days ago … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: advance, amendment, better school, Bill Ritter, choice, Colorado, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, decision, Democrat, Denver Public Schools, education reform, Employee Free Choice Act, enroll, fishing, funding extinction, Governor, healthy share, independent, Joe Lieberman, John Warner, Mark Udall, Michael Bennet, newly-selected, Orwellian-named, policy disagreements, political support, pork projects, Robert Byrd, U.S. Senate, Unions, wasteful

3/4/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Michael Bennet Can’t Be Counted On to Challenge Obama’s Wasteful Spending

Colorado's newly selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet is seeing his chances to stand up as an independent-minded, moderate Democrat slipping away. Even a group of 14 Senate Democrats (including Indiana's Evan Bayh) now have emerged to say "enough is enough" with Barack Obama's destructive massive intervention in the U.S. economy - his pork-laden, wild spending spree. Michael Bennet is not among the 14 Democrats showing a shred of fiscal sanity. The Denver Post's Chuck Plunkett - hardly a right-wing fanatic - asks the question on Colorado's mind: "Where are our moderates?" While Michael Bennet remains dazzled by the Obama glow, his "senior" Senate colleague Mark Udall shows what a farce his campaign as a centrist really was. Udall … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Barack Obama, campaign, centrist, Chuck Plunkett, Colorado, compelling story, dazzled, Democrat, Denver Post, Denver Public Schools, destructive, economic agenda, enough is enough, Evan Bayh, farce, fiscal sanity, glow, independent, Indiana, intervention, Left, Mark Udall, massive, Michael Bennet, moderate, moderates, newly-selected, pork-laden, powerful message, primary challenge, right-wing fanatic, Ryan Frazier, shred, silly putty, spending spree, strong principles, superintendent, taken down, tremendous style, U.S. economy, U.S. Senator

1/13/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Less than Independent Michael Bennet Invites Fresh, Articulate GOP Opponent

In his Rocky Mountain News column today, Vince Carroll points out that Bill Ritter's new U.S. Senate designate Michael Bennet hasn't shown much in the way of original, independent thought thus far:I've listened to Bennet speak about education issues often enough to appreciate his intelligence and what I sense is an independent mind. And I really didn't expect to see evidence of the latter in these early days. But if he's going to make a case across Colorado for his election in 2010, he'll have to prove he's his own man. And what better way to achieve this than for him to trample on a few of his own party's shibboleths? Once he's been safely sworn in, of course. Looking ahead, Colorado Republicans in 2010 need to rally around a fresh, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: 2010, articulate voice, Bill Ritter, candidate, Colorado, Democrats, education issues, fiscal conservative, hoping, independent, Michael Bennet, own mind, pablum, Republicans, Rocky Mountain News, shibboleths, sworn in, U.S. Senate, Vince Carroll, Washington

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

10/14/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Nick Kliebenstein for House District 33: Creative Ad, Conservative Leader

Nick Kliebenstein is one of the more impressive candidates I've seen this year. Running for the Colorado State House in District 33, which includes Broomfield and surrounding areas, Nick came up with this creative piece of Web advertising: At least I don't have to pronounce his name as I'm writing this post, but I am looking forward to hearing more about Nick Kliebenstein's independent conservative leadership in the state legislature for years to come. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General Tagged With: Broomfield, Colorado, conservative, creative, District 33, independent, Nick Kliebenstein, pronunciation, state house, Web advertising, 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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Blogs Extraordinaire

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Completing the Blogroll

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Christian Commentary et al.

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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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