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Home Archives for Pueblo Chieftain

10/15/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Former Sen. Hank Brown Touts Colorado Amendment 49 Endorsements

Update: Audio embedded The campaign for Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative, has released a new 30-second radio ad featuring former U.S. Senator Hank Brown: Here's the text of the ad:Both the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post urge you to vote Yes on Amendment 49. 49 stops government from being the bagman for special interests and lobbyists. This is Hank Brown, and I'm thrilled that nearly every newspaper across Colorado agrees: Yes on 49. The Pueblo Chieftain, the Grand Junction Sentinel, the Colorado Springs Gazette, and yes, the Boulder Camera, just to name a few. Join me and Bill Owens in voting Yes on 49. 49 keeps lobbyists in line. Paid for by EthicalStandardsNow.com. I'm not sure if there is any other … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General Tagged With: Amendment 49, bagman, Bill Owens, Boulder Daily Camera, Colorado, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post, endorsements, Ethical Standards, Grand Junction Sentinel, Hank Brown, Independence Institute, lobbyists, major newspapers, Pueblo Chieftain, radio ad, Rocky Mountain News, special interests

9/18/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rocky Mountain News Supports Amendment 49 for Basic “Fairness”

The editors of the Rocky Mountain News slam the deception of Protect Colorado's Future (previously covered here and here), and give a major thumbs up to Amendment 49 on Colorado's ballot:As you may have guessed, we support Amendment 49 - just as we previously supported various versions of this policy at the local level. It would block state and local government agencies from deducting dues or fees from employee paychecks for unions or other membership groups.... The free deduction and collection of dues is a special benefit denied to most other worthy civic organizations. Should Amendment 49 pass, unions and other organizations benefiting from free collections would simply share the same fundraising challenges that other groups … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life, World Events Tagged With: Amendment 49, Arapahoe County, automatic withdrawals, basic fairness, Bill Owens, civic organizations, Colorado ballot, Colorado Springs Gazette, community leaders, deception, Douglas County, dues deductions, editorial, employee paychecks, Ethical Standards initiative, free collections, fundraising, Grand Junction Sentinel, Hank Brown, local version, persuasive, private banking, professional organizations, Protect Colorado's Future, Pueblo Chieftain, retirement contributions, Rocky Mountain News

5/9/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Westminster School District Negligence Makes Case for Online Transparency

I about fell out of my chair when I read this local CBS4 TV news story (video also available):An out-of-state architectural firm has billed an Adams County School District nearly $60,000, for hotels, meals and travel expenses in the last year but the district hasn't bothered to ask for, or review, a single receipt. "It's negligence," said Kevin O'Brien, a former IRS agent, CPA and business ethics professor at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business. "The public has a right to expect there will be some minimum checking on those receipts because its really the public's money." Adams County School District 50 hired Healy, Bender and Associates of Naperville, Ill., last year. The school district enlisted the company to help … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: Americans for Tax Reform, Ben DeGrow, bond election, Brian Maass, CBS4 News, Colorado Open Records request, financial transparency, Healy Bender and Associates, Kevin O'Brien, negligence, Pueblo Chieftain, school construction, school district budgets, Westminster High School, Westminster School District

4/26/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Pueblo Chieftain: “We agree” with Clean Government Payroll Initiative

A ballot initiative proposed for the November 2008 Colorado ballot (and supported by the Independence Institute, where I work) has earned its third major newspaper endorsement, still more than six months out from the election. From the Pueblo Chieftain today:THE INDEPENDENCE Institute, a Golden-based think tank, is circulating petitions for a ballot initiative that would stop governmental agencies from collecting union dues from their employees. In 2001, then-Gov. Bill Owens signed an executive order that stopped the payroll deduction for unionized state employees. Soon after Bill Ritter’s election, the new governor issued a new executive order to resume the automatic deductions. Jon Caldera, president of Independence, says the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life Tagged With: ballot initiative, Colorado, Colorado Springs Gazette, ethical standards for public payroll, Independence Institute, Jon Caldara, Pueblo Chieftain, Rocky Mountain News

4/15/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Tackling Colorado Socialized Medicine

Every once in awhile I step back and realize that I should bring my readers' attention to people with important ideas who they may not have heard. In that spirit, one of Colorado's brightest and most articulate writers challenging the effort to socialize medicine is Brian Schwartz, who introduced a free market proposal to the state's blue ribbon commission on health care reform (since the proposal advocated for more freedom, it was unsurprisingly rejected). Besides blogging regularly at wakalix, Brian also is quite prolific in penning published columns. His latest, assailing the arguments behind "universal health care," appears in the Pueblo Chieftain (H/T We Stand Firm). If you are interested in health care reform, make sure you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Health Care Tagged With: Brian Schwartz, Pueblo Chieftain, universal health care, wakalix, We Stand Firm

11/20/2007 By Ben Leave a Comment

Chieftain: Ritter’s Order Unnecessary, Counterproductive, and Harmful

The Pueblo Chieftain joins other Colorado newspaper editorial voices in rejecting the arguments made for Gov. Ritter's executive order unionizing state employees:While he hopes his partnership arrangements will lead to new efficiencies, just the opposite could result. Unions are notorious for demanding - and receiving - work rules that often run counter to efficient operations. In addition to high medical insurance costs, old-line industries such as steel and autos had work rules that made them less competitive than those plants which operate without unions. The governor maintains that the restrictions on the state budget ensconced in TABOR would limit the amount the state could meet in future union pay demands. But there’s always the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Labor Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Executive Order, Pueblo Chieftain, Unions

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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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