Mount Virtus

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

Ben on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About Ben
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Writer / Editor For Hire
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
  • Archives
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
Home Archives for money

5/30/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Union LIAR Ready to Suck Money from Workers to Attack Bill Ritter?

Sound the alarm on Bill Ritter's re-election chances. Hard-core Democrats are swearing they're going to abandon ship, at least if you take the Dead Governors at their word. But really, Ritter's sagging popularity is not exactly newsworthy for those who have been paying attention the past couple months or so. The real reason I gave a link to Colorado Pols was the unintentional humor behind a new union political group aimed at challenging (or at least threatening) Colorado's incumbent Democratic governor:A group calling itself Labor Initiatives Against Ritter - or LIAR - has filed the paperwork needed with the Internal Revenue Service to begin raising money for political purposes. Mark Johnson, an International Brotherhood of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, liberty, PPC Tagged With: abandon ship, agency fees, agent, alarm, area, Bill Ritter, certainty, challenging, chances, Colorado, Colorado Pols, Colorado Springs, Dead Governors, Democrats, filed, greater, hard-core, hard-earned money, Humor, Internal Revenue Service, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Labor Initiatives Against Ritter, LIAR, link, Mark Johnson, member, money, newsworthy, paperwork, paying attention, plans, political group, political purposes, popularity, portion, re-election, really, Reason, sagging, sound, swearing, Trust us, unintentional, union, union goons, union members, word, workers

4/3/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

What Kind of Online State Spending Database Will Colorado Get?

Update, 4/4: The editors of the Denver Post agree with my commonsense observation, saying "We would prefer to see Ritter's project hew more to the kind of details espoused in the legislative proposal." What kind of online state spending database are Coloradans going to get if they are going to hope to keep an eye on state government and help find cost efficiencies to save us all money? This is the question of the hour, after Governor Bill Ritter's weak executive order came out yesterday. We're also learning that the Governor is working to kill bipartisan House Bill 1288, which would provide the real detail that is lacking from his watered-down order. The highly impressive new State Representative B.J. Nikkel is the sponsor of HB … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: advocates, Americans for Tax Reform, B.J. Nikkel, Bill Ritter, Coloradans, cost efficiencies, credit, current course, database, Democrats, good legislation, Governor, highly impressive, hour, House Bill 1288, interests, issue, keep an eye, kill, lacking, limelight, members, memo, money, National Taxpayers Union, online, opposing party, plaudits, playing games, pointless, protects, question, real detail, Republicans, save, share, state government, state representative, state spending, steal, taxpayers, toothless tiger, Transparency, weak executive order, yesterday

3/5/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Study: Union Card-Check Could Cost Thousands of American Jobs

A new study released gives you one more reason to write your Congressman and Senators to tell them to vote No on the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Economist Anne Layne-Farrar's quantitative analysis finds that "for every 3 percentage points gained in union membership through card checks and mandatory arbitration, the following year's unemployment rate is predicted to increase by 1 percentage point and job creation is predicted to fall by around 1.5 million jobs." Let's simplify: EFCA (or union card-check legislation, if you prefer) will keep many, many Americans from a productive job and a paycheck - an especially devastating effect in the midst of our current economic turmoil. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: American, Anne Layne-Farrar, arguments, Barack Obama, binding arbitration, card-check, challenge, Congressmen, devastating effect, economic turmoil, economist, Ed Morrissey Show, Employee Free Choice Act, employment, holding my breath, Hot Air, job creation, Labor Pains, Labor Relations Institute, massive threat, Michael Bennet, money, mouth, newly-selected, paycheck, poorly-named, productive job, quantitative analysis, rights, secret ballot, senators, sound research, U.S. Senator, unemployment rate, union, wasteful spending, workers, write

2/25/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Add Dave Schultheis to the List of GOP Lawmakers with Foot in Mouth

Update (2/26): El Presidente weighs in, along with Rocky Mountain Right and David Harsanyi. A little good judgment, please? Perhaps an apology or two? The list of Republican state legislators over the past week with foot in mouth reaches three: Don Marostica Scott Renfroe Dave Schultheis There's much I could say about Senator Schultheis' comments and rationale, but for the sake of time I'll limit it to this: The best way to expose the pro-abortion Democrats' hypocrisy on the issue would be to cast a vote in favor of life, not in favor of a confused moral message. There is much, much, much room for the Republican Party to be the conservative party, the predominantly pro-life party, to welcome and encourage social conservatives … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: behavior, brush, comments, confused, conservative, Dave Schultheis, Democrats, Don Marostica, elevating, foot in mouth, honoring, hypocrisy, isolated minority, issue, Lefty, manipulators, message, money, moral message, political, politically incorrect, pro-abortion, pro-life, rationale, Republican, Republican Party, rhetoric, Scott Renfroe, silly, spend, state legislators

2/24/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Boulder Valley School Board Considers Costly Appeal in Anti-Charter Lawsuit

After spending nearly $200,000 in taxpayer funds to sue the state to stop students from attending state-authorized charter schools, and being ruled against twice, the Boulder Valley School Board meets tonight to decide whether to appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court and spend even more. Aren't there any more effective ways they could be using this money to ... (I don't know) ... educate children? Read more at the Independence Institute's new GoBash website. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General, PPC Tagged With: appeal, Boulder Valley, charter schools, children, Colorado Supreme Court, educate, effective ways, GoBash, Independence Institute, lawsuit, money, ruled, school board, taxpayer funds

2/3/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Another Landmark Day for Colorado Citizens Fighting for Open Government

Today was another landmark day in the struggle for open, transparent government spending in Colorado. On CBS4 Denver, the Associated Press reports:About 30 people turned out at the state Capitol Tuesday to show their support for a bill from Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, which originally would have required such reports to be posted monthly in a searchable database. [link added] A memorable line from the bill sponsor:"If you can't defend it, don't spend it," Harvey said, echoing one of the slogans on the signs at the group's rally. Where have I seen that phrase before? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, PPC Tagged With: 19th century, 21st century, Associated Press, Aurora, average, bill, bowling, Carnival Cruise, CBS4 Denver, checkbooks, citizen activist, citizens, Colorado, common sense, credit card, cruise, debate, defensible, drinks, educating, expenses, faculty, farm towns, fix, fundraisers, if you can't defend it don't spend it, involved, Jeffco Public Schools, Ken Wyble, landmark day, legislation, letter, limited information, Lynn Setzer, miniature golf, money, Natalie Menten, online financial transparency, outings, rally, reports, Rocky Mountain News, school administrators, school system, search, searchable database, small villages, soda machines, spending, spending records, spokeswoman, Starbucks, State Capitol, stress headache, students, tax money, Ted Harvey, tickets, time, transparent government, vocational students, website

1/28/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Will Democrats Try to Stiff Us with Another Arbitrary, Pointless Tax Hike?

Four years ago, a narrow majority of Coloradans bought the slick advertising of the Referendum C tax hike. Today, statehouse Democrats seem to have forgotten all their grandiose promises. (Or were they not telling us the truth in the first place?) A great catch by Face The State (go and listen to the brief audio clip for yourself):So we were shocked to hear JBC vice-chairman Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, assert during last week's discussion that “Ref C wasn’t designed to fix anything," and that "Ref C was an arbitrary amount of money.” … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: arbitrary, audio clip, Bill Ritter, blank check, Boulder, budget expert, cats and dogs, clarify, Coloradans, Colorado, Democrats, economics, Face the State, Governor, grandiose promises, Jack Pommer, Joint Budget Committee, majority, money, politicians, proposal, rainy day, Referendum C, Rossputin, slick advertising, state government, state legislature, state programs, statehouse, stiffed, surprised, tax hike, times of plenty, truth, vernacular, voters

1/13/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Shedding No Tears for the Shane Co. – No Diamond Business Friend of Mine

So the Shane Co. files Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As one not in the habit of frequenting jewelry stores, you might think I'm utterly indifferent. But then you'd see that I'm blogging on the topic, so perhaps you're wondering there must be something prompting me to waste a few minutes. Well, you're right. The lovely Mrs. Virtus and I are here laughing about the story, because we never intend to go back to the Shane Co., Chapter 11 or no. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: a watcher, argue, arrogance, automakers, bankruptcy, business, Chapter 11, conceded, condescension, Detroit, employee, engagement ring, errands, fiancee, forgiveness, gumball machine, hassle, haughty, indifferent, insurance, jewelry stores, laughing, metro Denver, mistake, money, Mrs. Virtus, palpable, rich, Rocky Mountain News, rough appraisal, rudeness, saleslady, scoffed, Shane Co., solder, sorry, tasks, tax bracket, timetable, unapologetic, unmoved, value, weariness, wedding, wedding band

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

11/24/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

The Case for Colorado Spending Transparency: Jeffco Schools Edition

Quite simply, the people of Colorado deserve open, accountable, and transparent government. Not the kind where you as a taxpayer walk into the school district admin building, get a barrage of questions for asking for a copy of the district's credit card transactions, and have to pay $75 from your own pocket just to see how your money is being spent. That's Natalie Menten's story with Jeffco Public Schools, and you can hear it on an iVoices podcast: Shouldn't it be easier for citizens to access this information? Is creating a comprehensive, user-friendly, online searchable database asking too much of our governments? In these tumultuous economic times, placing the public eye on government spending should help ensure that money is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: appropriate, citizens, Colorado, Colorado Spending Transparency, credit card transactions, cutting edge, government spending, governments, hard economic times, Independence Institute, information, iVoices podcast, Jeffco Public Schools, money, Natalie Menten, open government, pocket, prudent, public eye, questions, school district, searchable database, State Capitol, taxpayer, Transparency, user-friendly

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Inside

  • About Ben
  • Archives
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
    • Colorado Ballot 2014
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Writer / Editor For Hire

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

Colorado News

  • Colorado Senate News
  • Complete Colorado
  • Independence Institute
  • Loveland Politics
  • The Colorado Observer

National News and Politics

  • Drudge Report
  • Hot Air
  • National Review
  • Politico
  • Real Clear Politics
  • Reason
  • The Washington Times
  • TownHall
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Weekly Standard
  • World Magazine

Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
  • David Harsanyi’s Blog
  • E!! The True Conservative Story
  • EIA Intercepts
  • Evangelical Outpost
  • Hugh Hewitt
  • Instapundit
  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
  • Little Green Footballs
  • Michelle Malkin
  • NRO's The Corner
  • Power Line
  • Red State

Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
  • Mike Anderson
  • Mullings
  • Professor Bainbridge
  • Right Thinking
  • Right Wing News
  • Right Wing Nuthouse
  • Shot in the Dark
  • Talking Points Memo
  • Virginia Postrel
  • Volokh Conspiracy

Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
  • Sharper Iron

Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
  • Colorado Republican Study Committee
  • Dennis Prager
  • Denver Metro Young Republicans
  • Free Republic
  • Heritage Foundation
  • Jefferson County Republican Party
  • Mackinac Center for Public Policy
  • Mark Steyn
  • Michael Medved
  • Rush Limbaugh

Colorado Blogs

  • American Kestrel
  • Bob Agard
  • Colorado Charter Schools
  • Colorado Peak Politics
  • Colorado Pols
  • Colorado Right
  • Conservative Libertarian Outpost
  • Coyote Gulch
  • Ed Is Watching
  • Free Colorado
  • Jeff Crank Show
  • Mark Hillman
  • Patient Power
  • PirateBallerina
  • Protein Wisdom
  • Reagan Girl
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 1.0 (Archive)
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0 (Archive)
  • Rossputin
  • Stop the ACLU Blog
  • The Spot (Denver Post)
  • We Stand Firm

Other Sites

  • Technorati
  • Word Press

Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
  • The Business Word
  • The Daily Blogster
  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

Copyright © 2021 RSS Feed · WordPress · Log in