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6/10/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Calling All Colorado Congressmen to Back Federal Reserve Transparency

Update, 6/11, 10:30 AM: Impressively, HR 1207 now has 208 Congressional co-sponsors. But only two from Colorado: Republican Doug Lamborn and Democrat Ed Perlmutter. Open government is an important non-partisan issue. I recently brought readers' attention to the need to persuade Republican Congressman Mike Coffman to sign on in support of transparency for the nation's Federal Reserve bank. It's good to see Face The State join the cause and raise the stakes by urging members of Colorado's delegation across the political spectrum to back HR 1207. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: attention, cause, Colorado, Congressman, delegation, Face the State, Federal Reserve, HR 1207, join, members, Mike Coffman, persuade, political spectrum, raise, readers, Republican, sign on, stakes, support, Transparency, urge

3/5/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

SB 228 a Sure Way to Lower Colorado’s High Economic Freedom Ranking

Sean Paige (the American Contrarian) points readers to a recent study from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University that shows Colorado ranks 3rd among the states in economic freedom. Apparently, statehouse Democrats, along with the occasional useful Republican, strongly feel Colorado ranks too high. How else do you explain Senate Bill 228? One of the leading arguments against SB 228 - including among the moderate sectors of the business community - has been the threat posed to a reliable stream of transportation funding. But a watcher makes the case that the real winning argument is simply to demonstrate the outrageous growth of government caused by repealing the 6 percent spending cap. I say: Give me both arguments. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC, property rights Tagged With: against, American Contrarian, arguments, Colorado, economic freedom, George Mason University, growth of government, Mercatus Center, ranks, readers, Sean Paige, Senate Bill 228, spending cap, states, study, transportation funding

2/4/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Jon Henke’s Advice: Keep Our Eyes on The Real Problem Before Us

If you really want to engage in a serious debate about how to implement free market conservative policy solutions with a practical eye on messaging and political coalition building, then you ought to be reading what Jon Henke has to say. Be prepared: you won't get a rosy-eyed view or a mealy-mouthed answer. I appreciated what Jon wrote yesterday about a Republican response to the growing push toward government-sponsored universal health care (Tom Daschle's distracting tax problems aside). I'm not interested in the particularities of the health care debate right now, but if you are, might I recommend you check out the following: Patient Power WE Stand Firm State Policy Network blog However, it's Henke's conclusion that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: appreciate, Big Government, coalition building, conservative, Democrat Party, free market, futile, government, growing push, heavy lifting, ideological ball, insightful, Jon Henke, limited government, limiting, long-term solutions, mealy-mouthed answer, messaging, Patient Power, policy solutions, political, political success, practical eye, principle, readers, recommend, Republican, response, rosy-eyed view, serious debate, State Policy Network, structural, tax problems, The Problem, Tom Daschle, two-party system, universal health care, We Stand Firm, wrong

1/23/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Huzzah: The Oklahoma 3 Are Free!

Months ago I introduced readers to the story of outrageous injustice against Paul Jacob and the Oklahoma Three. For a little closure, yesterday brought some great news:Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has dropped criminal charges against The Oklahoma Three–Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson and Rick Carpenter–who had been accused of conspiring to violate the state's now unconstitutional law against out of state petition circulators. Kudos to these three for their courage and conviction. In this age, we all should be proud to have citizen watchdogs like them on our side. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, General, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: accused, Attorney General, citizen watchdogs, closure, courage, criminal charges, Drew Edmondson, great news, Oklahoma Three, outrageous injustice, Paul Jacob, readers, state petition circulators, story

1/21/2009 By Ben 3 Comments

On Best Behavior, Patriotic Opposition Rejects Obama-Lincoln Analogy

I don't have time to put down much original thought this morning, so here are three pieces I commend to readers on the Morning After the inauguration. First, the Denver Post's David Harsanyi eloquently asks the rhetorical question many of us have wanted to ask:Do all Americans truly have a yearning to fundamentally "remake" our nation? There must be a subversive minority out there that still believes the United States — even with its imperfections and sporadic recessions — is, in context, still a wildly prosperous and free country worth preserving. Some of you must still believe that politicians are meant to serve rather than be worshiped. And there must be someone out there who considers partisanship a healthy, organic reflection … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, History, National Politics Tagged With: "un-American", Abraham Lincoln, American Thinker, Andy Levy, apologize, Barack Obama, Bizarro flaws, compelling argument, Confederate Slave States, contrived imagery, counterproductive, David Harsanyi, Denver Post, differences, dissent, divisive, foreigners, free country, guidelines, healthy, historical scholarship, imperfections, inauguration, Jefferson Davis, Joseph Ashby, loyal opposition, morning after, organic, original thought, partisanship, patriotic, pieces, politicians, President, readers, recessions, rhetorical question, serve, souls, subjective, subversive minority, thesis, United States, unity, untenable, worshiped

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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
  • My Baker’s Dozen of Top 2023 Reads
  • Common Learning Disabilities in Children
  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition

Colorado News

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National News and Politics

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Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
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Completing the Blogroll

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Christian Commentary et al.

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Other Sites

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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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