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5/29/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Ask Congressman Mike Coffman to Sign On to Federal Reserve Transparency

It won't be the first time I write it, nor likely the last. But Republican officials in Washington D.C. cannot hope to return to power simply by pointing out that they aren't as socialist as the Democrats. A vital piece of a successful 2010 and beyond involves the need to unite aggressively behind an affirmative platform of fiscally responsible government reform. Robert Romano on the Americans for Liberty blog brings our attention to a specific bill that represents a golden opportunity to do right by the taxpayer:Most of the financial bailouts have been conducted by the Federal Reserve, and on February 26th, Congressman Ron Paul introduced the legislation that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: 2010, 6th Congressional District, advance, affirmative, agenda, aggressively, Americans for Liberty, ask, attention, bill, blog, Board of Governors, bonds, buzzword, cause, Colorado, Congress, Congressman, consent, contact, Democrats, do right, Federal Reserve, financial bailouts, first time, fiscally responsible, fix, golden opportunity, government reform, growing, HR 1207, inordinate, insight, interest rates, issue, join, last time, ledgers, Mike Coffman, monetary policy, more closely, mortgage securities, necessity, officials, operations, oversight, platform, pointing out, power, representatives, Republican, Republicans, return to power, Robert Romano, Ron Paul, secret, shine the light, sign on, Socialist, successful, taxpayer, timeliness, Transparency, treasuries, U.S. House, unite, Wall Street Journal, Washington DC

5/4/2009 By Ben 5 Comments

Senate Bill 180: Another Big Labor Veto Dilemma for Vulnerable Bill Ritter

Two years ago Governor Bill Ritter came right out of the gate and ran smack into a tough veto choice that caused friction with his Big Labor supporters. Ritter made up for the nixing of House Bill 1072 later in 2007 with an executive order giving union organizers a gold-plated invitation into Colorado state government. Now, to some extent, history is replaying itself. As the Denver Post's John Ingold reports, the choice Bill Ritter is confronted with now is whether to sign or veto the bad policy that is Senate Bill 180. The bogus argument used for SB 180 -- which narrowly passed the Democrat-controlled legislature -- is that firefighters need greater union bargaining rights to ensure they get needed safety equipment. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: alienate, approval ratings, argument, Aurora, bad policy, bargaining agreements, bargaining rights, benefits, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, bogus, business community, choice, Colorado, Colorado Municipal League, confronted, costly, curry, decide, Democrat, Denver Post, disses, Drop dead, Englewood, evidence, Executive Order, favor, fire departments, firefighters, Fort Collins, friend, gold-plated, government, Governor, Greeley, heroes, higher, History, House Bill 1072, invitation, issues, John Ingold, legislature, little attention, local communities, local officials, management rights, mountain communities, narrowly, nemesis, opposition, overwhelmingly, passed, political, political side, power, Pueblo, rejected, reports, safety equipment, safety records, Senate Bill 180, sign, state government, state mandate, statement, sunk, union organizers, uphold, veto, wages, wise course

4/18/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

The Principled Politician Brings True Tale of Colorado Statesmanship to Life

It's been awhile since I've done any sort of book review. But having just completed Adam Schrager's The Principled Politician: The Ralph Carr Story, it seemed an apt time to change that. Those who won't want to miss this book include students of Colorado history, fans of the World War II era (especially the home front), and anyone interested in a sadly forgotten inspirational story that seems foreign in today's all-too-jaded and polarized world of politics. As introduced to readers in The Principled Politician, Ralph Carr (1887-1950) -- Republican governor of Colorado from 1939 to 1943 -- was a rare model of statesmanship. Fittingly, he held deep admiration and adulation for our nation's 16th president Abraham Lincoln. He recognized the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Book Reviews, Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, History, Random and Miscellaneous, World Events Tagged With: Abraham Lincoln, absence, absolute, accessible, account, Adam Schrager, administration, admiration, adulation, all-too-jaded, Americans, ant-Japanese, book, book review, burdens, Carr Street, circumstances, citizens, Colorado history, commitment, constitutional rights, cost, demigod, devastating, disagreements, domestic terrorism, elected officials, engaging, era, essential, ethnic origin, ex-governor, exhibits, fans, fiscal responsibility, flawed, forgotten, fresh, frustrations, happen, History, home front, humane, hysteria, inspirational, intimately, invasion, Japanese-born, lessons, liberty, limited government, major theme, marble man, maxim, model, narrative, national origin, nationwide, originally researched, overreaching, paean, passions, Pearl Harbor, poignant, polarized, political career, politics, power, principles, public opinion, question, quirks, Ralph Carr, rare, recognition, refusal, Republican, respectfully, responding, sadly, sense of humor, statesmanship, steadfast, story, students, The Principled Politician, ultimately, vindicated, World War II, written

4/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Democrats: Governing Themselves Out of the Majority?

Are the Democrats at the State Capitol trying to govern themselves out of the majority? They sure are making it easier for the GOP - with a string of shenanigans and assorted bad ideas just from the past several days: From slamming the door on school spending transparency To ignoring critical scholarly arguments in order to push through a nakedly partisan ploy to weaken Colorado's political influence and undermine the Electoral College To cravenly moving a vote while a Republican lawmaker was out of town (aiding a relative with Alzheimer's) - all to pass a constitutionally dubious bill that grants in-state tuition to illegal aliens To talking out loud about exploiting a partisan, anti-taxpayer state supreme court ruling to repeal some … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, liberty, PPC Tagged With: 2010, Alzheimer's, anti-taxpayer, bad ideas, Colorado, comprehensive list, constitutionally dubious, Democrats, electoral college, exemptions, exploiting, GOP, govern, illegal aliens, in-state tuition, lawmaker, majority, partisan ploy, policy outcomes, political influence, power, recessionary strain, Republicans, ruling, scholarly arguments, school spending, severe, shenanigans, State Capitol, supreme court, tax credits, Transparency, vote, weaken

12/21/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Democrat Moe Keller Happy to Spend Your Money While Spending is Good

Hey, Colorado, guess what? Leave the Democrats in charge in your state for too long, and taste the fruits of bad fiscal judgment. Witness this Face The State story about my own state senator:Audio from April 3 uncovered by Face The State reveals Sen. Moe Keller, a Wheat Ridge Democrat and chairwoman of the Joint Budget Committee, optimistically arguing that Colorado’s economic future is a bright one, even though Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted on that same day the country was headed into a recession. "We do not have a projection from our economists that we are going into a fiscal train wreck," she said. Moe Keller and her fellow Democrats at the State Capitol are just happy to spend your money while the spending is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: bad fiscal judgment, Ben Bernanke, Bill Ritter, chairwoman, citizens, Colorado, Democrats, Denver, Denver Post, economic downturn, economic forecasters, economists, Face the State, Federal Reserve, fiscally conservative, gamble, Grand Junction, Joint Budget Committee, Josh Penry, legislative session, legislative staff, Long Bill, minority leader, Moe Keller, overly optimistic, policies, power, predicted, priorities, rainy day fund, recession, Republicans, sensible, smarts, special interests, state, State Capitol, state leader, state senator, taxpayer dollars, Wheat Ridge

9/9/2008 By Ben 3 Comments

Hypocritical Attacks from Opponents of Amendment 49 and Amendment 54

No doubt the political season is upon us, and the hypocrisy of large special interest groups is on display. Nowhere is this more true in our state than with the political group Protect Colorado's Future. Their spokesman said in an interview last week with Channel 7:"When you have these out-of-state, or narrow corporate interests trying to divide Coloradans, it's bad for all Colorado," said Jess Knox, wearing a pin that says, "No on 47, 49 and 54." So Protect Colorado's Future wants to make a big deal out of "out-of-state" campaign funds? Well, as Face The State points out today:It’s no secret that out-of-state money is flooding Colorado from both sides. In the unions’ case, the out-of state money is coming from the pockets of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: 9News, Amendment 47, Amendment 49, Amendment 54, ballot fight, CBS4Denver, Channel 7, clean government, Colorado, deceptive advertising, Ethical Standards, Ethical Standards initiative, Face the State, hypocrisy, Independence Institute, Jess Knox, lobbyists, narrow interests, no-bid contracts, out-of-state, political season, power, privilege, Protect Colorado's Future, right-to-work, special interest groups, spokesman, Truth Test, union workers, worker freedom

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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
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