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Home Archives for Protect Colorado’s Future

11/1/2008 By Ben 3 Comments

Amendments 47, 49, & 54 Good as Grandma’s Freshly-Baked Cookies

Update: Link added below First, there was the real-life absurd "Godzilla" flyer created by Protect Colorado's Future. Then the Denver Metro Young Republicans fired back with the "Kittens for Amendments 47, 49, and 54" ad - famously featured in the sidebar of today's Rocky Mountain News print edition Rocky Mountain News Stump blog. To keep the spirit alive, here's my own contribution to the cause: *WARNING* Satire *WARNING* Satire *WARNING* … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Amendment 47, Amendment 49, Amendment 54, contribution, cookies, deceptive, Denver Metro Young Republicans, don't be stupid, flyer, Godzilla, grandma, Kittens, Protect Colorado's Future, Rocky Mountain News, satire

10/30/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Krista Kafer’s New Face The State Column Brings Needed Perspective

My Leadership Program of the Rockies (LPR) classmate, sometimes Backbone America radio co-host, and Independence Institute senior fellow Krista Kafer debuted a weekly Face The State column today. Here's the timely conclusion of this first installment:Special interests that have much to gain from the demise of Amendments 47 and 49 are funneling millions of dollars into the election. Slick campaigns from candidates and groups lure voters with the promise to “Protect Colorado’s Future.” The advocacy groups, leftist candidates, and sadly, even the media, are banking on the public’s fears for the economy to turn the election in their favor. Unfortunately, conservatives and libertarians have had trouble articulating what’s at stake. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, General, My Life, National Politics, property rights Tagged With: advocacy groups, Amendment 47, Amendment 49, Backbone America, Ben Franklin, conservatives, dark days, electorate, Face the State, fears, free stuff, freedom, Independence Institute, Krista Kafer, Leadership Program of the Rockies, leftist candidates, libertarians, media, Protect Colorado's Future, senior fellow, slick campaigns, special interests, warning, weekly column

10/30/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Believe “Nonsense” Against Colorado Amendment 49? “Don’t Be Stupid”

The Rocky Mountain News today provides the most systematic deconstruction of the grossly misleading, multi-million dollar Protect Colorado's Future campaign against 49:There's no obligation for political campaigns to be fair, let alone balanced, but there are times when messages go beyond the pale. Case in point: the advertising, largely bankrolled by labor unions, to defeat Amendment 49, the "ethical standards" initiative. Muzzle workers and endanger public safety? "In what way? The amendment doesn't say unions can't collect dues. It just says government can't collect dues for them." Threaten public employees' paychecks? "Nonsense." Silence small business? "Bizarre." Backed by multinational corporations? "What a joke." Or as … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 49, bankrolled, Ethical Standards, grossly misleading, labor unions, multi-million dollar, political campaigns, Protect Colorado's Future, Rocky Mountain News, systematic deconstruction

10/30/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Front Range County Sheriffs Refute Campaign Lies against Amendment 49

Readers of this blog are now well familiar with the orchestrated deception by a group called Protect Colorado's Future (PCF) against Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative. In addition to numerous Colorado newspaper editorial boards, respected public figures like former U.S. Senator Hank Brown and former state treasurer Mark Hillman have refuted the lies. Many of PCF's false claims center around purported negative effects on the ability of law enforcement and public safety workers to do their jobs. Who better to refute the lies than respected law enforcement officials whose jurisdictions already have an Ethical Standards policy in place? In today's Denver Post, three Colorado county sheriffs took their turn at batting down the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Arapahoe County, audio, body armor, Boulder County, Boulder Daily Camera, county sheriffs, David Weaver, deceptive attacks, Denver Post, Douglas County, El Paso County, Ethical Standards, Hank Brown, Jeff Shaw, Jefferson County, John Cooke, law enforcement, letter, lies, Mark Hillman, modern equipment, multi-million dollar ad campaign, orchestrated deception, Protect Colorado's Future, public safety workers, refuted, Rocky Mountain News, Sheriff, similar theme, Ted Mink, Weld County

10/28/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

State Should Charge Protect Colorado’s Future with Extortion Processing Fee

The Rocky Mountain News Stump blog reports:Colorado spent more than $200,000 in printing costs and extra postage this fall because the deadline for withdrawing ballot measures comes too close to Election Day, according to a study from the University of Denver. Amendments 53, 55, 56 and 57 were withdrawn by labor groups by an Oct. 2 deadline. But it was too late to keep them off the printed ballot. DU's Center for Colorado's Economic Future offered some advice for the state legislature: rethink the law that allows ballot initiatives to be pulled as late as 33 days before the election. Changing the law on the withdrawal deadline may not be a bad idea, but here's an even better one. Seeing as how Protect Colorado's Culture of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 53, Amendment 55, Amendment 56, Amendment 57, ballot initiatives, ballot measures, ballot scam bill, bid, business leaders, Center for Colorado's Economic Future, Colorado, Election Day, extortion, extra postage, hostage, Jon Caldara, labor groups, printing costs, processing fee, Protect Colorado's Future, Rocky Mountain News, sock puppets, state legislature, Stump blog, University of Denver, withdrawal deadline, withdrawing

10/27/2008 By Ben 6 Comments

Mark Hillman Cuts Through Deception Used Against Amendments 47, 49, 54

Another prominent, respected Colorado voice joins the chorus of those denouncing the nonsensical attacks against Amendments 47, 49, and 54. Former state treasurer Mark Hillman makes a couple of terrific points in his piece:Amendment 49 (”ethical standards”) prohibits state and local governments from intercepting a worker’s paycheck to collect dues or contributions for unions, lobbyists or any other special interest. It simply requires all interest groups to ask supporters directly for their contribution, rather than use government payroll systems as their collection agency. Groups from the National Rifle Association to the Sierra Club rely on voluntary contributions, so why can’t labor unions and other special … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 47, Amendment 49, Amendment 54, ask directly, attacks, Big Bad Wolf, Coloradans for Middle Class Relief, Colorado, commercial, Denver Post, dishonest, dues, employees, Ethical Standards, firefighter, government payroll system, greedy owners, indentured servants, labor unions, lobbyists, Mark Hillman, membership, National Rifle Association, Political contributions, profit motive, Protect Colorado's Future, respected voice, Sierra Club, special interest groups, state treasurer, voluntary contributions, white noise

10/22/2008 By Ben 7 Comments

Teachers Union Twists Facts to Cover for Anti-Amendment 49 Violation

Joanne Kelley reports on the Rocky Mountain News Stump blog:Supporters of Amendment 49 filed a campaign finance complaint over $2,800 of "in-kind" contributions a teachers union committee made to a group fighting the ballot measure. The complaint alleges the Colorado Springs Education Association's issue committee made contributions to a group created to address statewide ballot issues when the teachers' committee was created to promote issues in its own district. "I find it disturbing to see the teachers union funnel resources earmarked for local education issues into a fight against statewide political issues they don't happen to like," said Colorado Springs resident and former school board candidate Reginald Perry, who was named on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 49, campaign finance complaint, Colorado Education Association, Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs Education Association, Deborah Fallin, different, Ethical Standards, in-kind contribution, Joanne Kelley, local education issues, Protect Colorado's Future, purpose, Reginald Perry, reports, Rocky Mountain News, School District 11, Secretary of State, Stump, teachers union

10/20/2008 By Ben 9 Comments

Yes, Virginia, ACORN’s Voter Registration Fraud Leads to Vote Fraud

Update: Blue Collar Muse answers more liberal efforts to shift blame from ACORN, and provides a boatload more evidence. And Palestra documents more sinister voting activity connected with the Obama campaign in Ohio. It's hard to keep up with all the evidence pouring forth. A liberal denizen of my comments section likes to repeat the claim that ACORN's repeated acts of voter registration fraud are harmless, that I shouldn't waste my time writing about it, and that he is so bored by the topic that he just has to keep commenting on it. Yes, the same ACORN under FBI investigation that prominently endorsed the deceptive issue campaign Protect Colorado's Culture of Corruption Future. But then you look at New Mexico, and you see where … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: ACORN, Ballotpedia, Barack Obama, Board of Elections, campaign, commenter, credit card numbers, crisis of legitimacy, Cuyahoga County, Darnell Nash, deception, Democratic primary, fake address, FBI investigation, Justine Fox Young, Lefties, liberals, New Mexico, Ohio, paper ballot, Protect Colorado's Future, Republican, reregistered, review, Soren Dayton, state representative, Transparency, voter fraud, voter registration fraud

10/16/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Sen. Ken Salazar Repeats Discredited Anti-Amendment 49 Talking Point

Colorado U.S. Senator Ken Salazar made the mistake of letting his name appear on a letter recently published in the Fort Morgan Times, a letter that repeats at least one special interest group lie:Amendment 49 targets public employees, including law enforcement officials, fire fighters and teachers, who provide vital services for all of us. Amendment 49 will interfere with the personal choice of working Coloradans over how they want to spend their hard-earned paychecks. This echoes the deceptive flyers distributed by the well-heeled committee Protect Colorado's Culture of Corruption Future (the issue committee known for its perpetual deception), in which they falsely state that Amendment 49 dictates how firefighters and other public … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: 850 KOA, Amendment 49, audio, Boulder Daily Camera, Colorado, deception, deceptive flyers, Ethical Standards, firefighters, Fort Morgan Times, freedom of choice, government restriction, Grand Junction Sentinel, Hank Brown, Ken Salazar, law enforcement, letter, Mike Rosen Show, nonsense, paychecks, personal choice, Protect Colorado's Future, public employees, Rocky Mountain News, special interest group, spend, talking points, teachers, U.S. Senator, vital services, well-heeled

10/14/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Voter Fraud ACORN Opposes Colorado Amendment 49, Ethical Standards

ACORN, the increasingly notorious voter fraud group, is part of the Colorado C-3 Roundtable going around "educating" voters about various ballot initiatives. Among the initiatives ACORN hates and opposes (and which the Roundtable won't invite supporters to share their side of the debate) is Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative. This amendment "will prohibit governments from bundling money from public employees’ paychecks and delivering the funds to special interests, like unions. These special interests use the money to lobby the same politicians who just delivered the cash to them." So why is ACORN part of the virulent opposition? We could start with its own ethical lapses, which include not only voter fraud but also an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: ACORN, Amendment 49, bad precedent, ballot initiatives, Boulder Daily Camera, business groups, civic organizations, Colorado C-3 Roundtable, Colorado Springs Gazette, common sense, community leaders, corruption, Denver Post, ethical lapses, Ethical Standards, good-government measure, investigations, lobbyists, major newspapers, misuse of tax dollars, opposition, politicians, prohibit, Protect Colorado's Future, Rocky Mountain News, special interests, voter fraud

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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.

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