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Home Archives for National Review

3/12/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rob Witwer Tells National Audience about Colorado’s Blue “Rocky Ride”

Some of you may remember many months back when Fred Barnes at the Weekly Standard gave national coverage to "The Colorado Model". Certainly a fine piece in its own right, but you'll find an even more detailed and insightful piece along the same lines in the new issue of National Review, written by my friend and former state representative Rob Witwer. Check out "Rocky Ride". By reading the piece, I learned that Rob and Adam Schrager of 9News (a Wolverine and a history major, a double-plus) are co-authoring a full-length book along the same lines titled The Blueprint: How Democrats Won the West (and Why Republicans Should Care). I plan to read their book (apparently scheduled to be released in 2010) after I get caught up and read … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, My Life, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: 2010, 9News, Adam Schrager, book, co-author, Colorado Model, detailed, double-plus, fine piece, Fred Barnes, history major, insightful, national coverage, National Review, new issue, released, Rob Witwer, Rocky Ride, state representative, The Blueprint, The Principled Politician, Weekly Standard, Wolverine

2/6/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Arming with Knowledge in Debate for Economic Liberty & America’s Future

A must-read end-of-the-week Linkfest, in the midst of a critical national debate: American Thinker's Randall Hoven strikes again, this time with a less controversial and heavily fact-laden piece - reviewing some of the abundant evidence that economic freedom promotes economic growth and the failed history of massive government so-called "stimulus" projects. It's a worthy read. (If the article above triggers your curiosity and interest, and you live in Colorado, then I also strongly recommend you take a look at signing up for the Free People, Free Markets class.) Along the same lines, the Wall Street Journal has been a great place to stay informed. Earlier this week the Journal featured a terrific, hard-hitting piece by economists … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: American Contrarian, American Thinker, bill, brings attention, Bruce McQuain, Colorado, columnist, Congress, critical, Dan Henninger, debt, Dick Armey, economic growth, economic liberty, economists, excellent, failed history, Free People Free Markets class, Freedom Works, government, Great Depression, Harold Cole, Kevin Williamson, Keynesian, laugh, Lee Ohanian, Linkfest, lost brand, must-read, national debate, National Review, outrageous, pork, pork-laden, Randall Hoven, Reason TV, reminder, Republicans, Rossputin, socialism, Stephen Spruiell, stimulis ad, stimulus, Tom Coburn, U.S. Senator, Wall Street Journal

1/14/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Economic Recovery Soon? Even if Obama Slows it Down, He’ll Get Credit

Larry Kudlow is a very knowledgeable voice on economic trends and developments. I sure hope his post at The Corner is correct:Investors continue to ignore one of the very brightest spots in the firmament: Namely, the credit freeze is thawing, according to all manner of key interest rates and spreads. In fact, LIBOR is around 1 percent now, back to where it was in the early summer of 2007 before the crunch started. This means that much of the uncertainty about lending, borrowing, investing, and hiring is receding from the market. This is a very positive sign. While retail sales and jobs are lagging indicators, the credit-market improvement is a leading indicator — pointing to recovery in the economy sometime this spring or summer. I’m … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: bailouts, bank earnings, Barack Obama, credit, credit freeze, credit-market improvement, deep recession, economic trends, George W. Bush, investors, jobs, knowledgeable voice, lagging indicator, Larry Kudlow, leading indicator, lending, markets, National Review, old media, pessimism, recovery, retail sales, stimulus plan, stock market, The Corner, Treasury secretary, uncertainty

12/2/2008 By Ben 2 Comments

Blog Talk Radio Links

The following are links to odds and ends I mentioned this evening as co-host of the Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio show: Neal Gabler's ironic Los Angeles Times column on Joe McCarthy and the American conservative movement: a true "triumph of the American imagination" Historian Arthur Herman's sage insights into lessons America should take from the grim Islamist terrorist attacks last week in India Chicago Tribune editorial from 2006 justifying jeers for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's attempt to secure a pardon for corrupt former Republican Gov. George Ryan - in particular, the tragic but inspiring story of the Willis family - featured in the Tribune editorial - is worth a read And, of course, thanks to guest Todd Bensman - check … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Christianity and Faith, General, National Politics, World Events Tagged With: American conservative movement, Arthur Herman, Blog Talk Radio, Chicago Tribune, corrupt, Dick Durbin, editorial, episode, Face the State, George Ryan, historian, Illinois, India, insights, inspiring, Islamist, jeers, Joe McCarthy, kinks, lessons, Los Angeles Times, National Review, Neal Gabler, podcast, Rocky Mountain Alliance, Ryan Frazier, senator, special guest, terrorist attacks, Todd Bensman, tragic, triumph of the American imagination, Willis family

11/11/2008 By Ben 2 Comments

Reasonable, Principled Compromise Needed to Rebuild GOP Coalition

Lately I've struggled for the time and energy to put together some coherent thoughts about what the GOP needs to do to rebuild. Jim Manzi at The Corner said it almost perfectly for me. You need to read the whole post, but here is a key excerpt:While it is always possible to imagine some arbitrary configuration of 51% of voters who have the label “conservative”, Rod’s point [ed: that "no conservative movement that hopes to be successful can do so without religious conservatives"] strikes me as correct as a practical matter. Further, more important than the question of electoral advantage, is the fact that tens of millions of citizens have deeply held beliefs that should be considered in making and enforcing the law. I also believe … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: abortion, abortion debate, almost perfectly, bleak future, coalition, conservative movement, debates, federal funding, federal government, federal law, federalism, fools, gay marriage, good faith, humble, Jim Manzi, libertarians, liberty, life, limited government, local government, national consensus, National Review, Planned Parenthood, pro-life agenda, rallying cry, religious conservatives, Religious Right, Republican Party, Roe decision, social issues, states, strategy, The Corner, thumbnail analysis, tolerate, workable compromise

7/17/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Double Whammy for SEIU

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the biggest boys on the Big Labor block (they spent nearly $1 million in 2006 just on Colorado's elections), has taken a one-two punch today. It doesn't look good for them. First, the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) is urging the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate SEIU's pension funding scheme. AWF's Brian Johnson writes at National Review about SEIU's pension hypocrisy:Unions often champion themselves as protecting rank-and-file workers from corporate greed and malfeasance. Yet DB pension plans, managed by union officers, are often plagued by insolvency, threatening to leave members with little in retirement. For example, the SEIU National Industry Pension Fund — which … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: 2008 election, Alliance for Worker Freedom, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, Brian Johnson, coercive non-member fees, Collective Bargaining, Colorado elections, Colorado state government, federal investigation, hypocrisy, investment advisors, Mark Mix, Michael Mukasey, National Industry Pension Fund, National Review, National Right to Work Foundation, one-two punch, pensions, political fundraising scheme, rank-and-file workers, S & P 500, SEIU leaders, Service Employees International Union, state property, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Department of Labor

3/15/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Obama Exposed: Saturday Roundup

Could there be more to the agent of "change" and "hope" than what the media had led us to believe? The story of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's America-hating longtime spiritual adviser Jeremiah Wright has started to sink into the public psyche. Meanwhile, the center-right blogosphere keeps digging deeper. Since there's very little new I can add to this story from my remote observation post, here's a quick roundup of some of the latest developments and keenest analysis out there: Over at Powerline, Scott Johnson breaks down "The Audacity of Hype," while Paul Mirengoff speculates about Obama's attempts to distance himself from the Leftward fringes of liberation theology Jim Geraghty says Wright could be this campaign … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: American Thinker, Barack Obama, Democrat primary, Jeremiah Wright, National Review, Newsbusters

2/28/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Tribute to Buckley Reminder of “Great Task Remaining Before Us”

Over at Pajamas Media, Scott Johnson eulogizes the late William F. Buckley, Jr.. First, probably his most significant accomplishment:When Buckley founded National Review as the voice of the [conservative] movement, he performed two acts of statesmanship that were vital to the movement’s ultimate, if unlikely, success: he reserved exclusive ownership of the magazine to himself so as to prevent the kind of sectarian brawls that had killed other such magazines, and he prohibited John Birchers and other kooky anti-Semitic organizations from the magazine’s precincts. Johnson also observes what is left undone:Until [Buckley] gave up public speaking in 1998, his frequent campus speaking engagements were part missionary work, part … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, Cultural Conservatism, Education, General Tagged With: Bill Buckley, Free Speech police, God and Man at Yale, National Review, Pajamas Media, Scott Johnson, university

2/27/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Bill Buckley (1925-2008)

Via K.J. Lopez at the Corner, news comes today that the great William F. Buckley, Jr., has passed away. While very few writers and speakers have ever had a greater facility with the English language than Buckley did, there was much more to him than the elegance of his prose. He was an intellectual champion for conservatism long before there was any popularity to be gained by it. From his seminal book God and Man at Yale to his great legacy in the founding of National Review, he did as much as any American in the 20th century to advance the conservative cause through logical, forceful, and passionate argument, as well as through refined wit and good humor. To get a glimpse of the man - his ideas and his rhetoric - you can search a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, Cultural Conservatism, General Tagged With: Conservatism, God and Man at Yale, Hillsdale College, National Review, obituary, William F. Buckley

2/8/2008 By Ben 12 Comments

VDH on McCain’s Appeal to Conservatives

Over at the Corner, Victor Davis Hanson spells out why conservatives should support McCain over the Democrat alternatives, and what the Arizona Senator can do to close the deal. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: conservatives, GWOT, immigration, John McCain, National Review, taxes, Victor Davis Hanson

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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

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