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Home Archives for recession

2/24/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Democrats and Marostica: “Forget the Constitution, California, Here We Come”

When talking politics or economics, it's usually a powerful rhetorical tactic to compare our own Colorado to California - especially these days. In that light, here's a fitting and timely reminder from state senator Ted Harvey:The lesson Colorado’s legislators must learn from this recession is clear: fiscal responsibility works. Even though the legislature collectively fell short of creating a rainy day fund, TABOR and the Arveschoug-Bird 6% spending cap forced Colorado legislators to keep spending low. Had the government enjoyed free rein in ramping up spending – which is a great temptation to many lawmakers tasked with spending other people’s money – Colorado’s budget crisis would be as serious as California’s. [emphasis … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC, transportation Tagged With: 1992, 6 percent cap, Al Jolson, Arveschoug-Bird, best case, budget crisis, California, cap, Colorado, committee, conclude, court, Democrats, Don Marostica, economics, entitlement programs, Face the State, fiscal responsibility, fitting, good idea, government, government growth, legal advisers, legislative prerogative, legislators, lesson, memo, override, politics, recession, reminder, rhetorical tactic, Senate Bill 228, state constitution, state legislature, state senator, TABOR, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, Ted Harvey, temptation, timely, transportation, voter approval, voters

2/13/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

The “Stimulus” Bill is Even Worse? Now is the Time to Speak Up Loud & Clear

Even the Congressional Budget Office recognizes that any small positive effect of the stimulus bill would be erased by long-term economic stagnation and debt. And that was the previous version of the legislation. As Joshua points out from the Wall Street Journal, the "compromise" version the House votes on today is even worse:The latest version of the economic-stimulus package is expected to provide less near-term support for the economy and make it less likely that the economy will pull itself out of recession before late this year. Meanwhile, Karen Hanretty (via Jon Henke) explains why Barack Obama and the Democrats are trying to speed this disaster through:President Obama is in a race against time. Because you don’t build … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Barac Obama, behemoth, citizens, compromise, conference committee, Congressional Budget Office, Congressman, contact, debt, disaster, economic stagnation, Ed Perlmutter, erased, House, Jon Henke, Joshua Sharf, Karen Hanretty, legislation, long-term, lose support, message, No Stimulus, office, online, petition, pledge, positive effect, previous version, race against time, recession, sausage, serving, stimulus bill, sunshine period, Transparency, votes, Wall Street Journal

2/5/2009 By Ben 9 Comments

Rossputin Explains Why The Current Recession is So Uniquely Bad

A few days ago I raised the question based on a provocative American Thinker essay by Randall Hoven: How deep is this recession? Is it really the worst crisis in 70 years? I am not that well versed in - nor closely attuned to - macroeconomic data and the trends they indicate. Something seemed incomplete in the essay. So I'm glad to see that Rossputin has weighed in with a thoughtful and thorough response, disagreeing with Hoven. Whether you are more swayed by Hoven or Rossputin, Rossputin's conclusion is something we all should easily be able to agree with:The Democrats’ medicine will be worse than our current illness, and will turn what should have been a moderately annoying case of the fiscal flu into a devastating economic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: agree, American Thinker, Americans, aversion, conclusion, crisis, Democrats, devastating, disagree, economic pneumonia, encouraging news, essay, fiscal flu, incomplete, macroeconomic data, medicine, prescription, question, Randall Hoven, recession, Rossputin, thorough, thoughtful, toxic, trends, weighed in, well versed

1/15/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Phony Hiring “Freeze” Latest Example of Bill Ritter Really Stepping in It

Governor Bill Ritter's political future looks bleaker and bleaker. It sure looks like the phony hiring "freeze" issue will come back to haunt him. If you think I was hard on Ritter, check out Rossputin's hard-hitting essay:I think it's just one more step toward Bill Ritter being a one-term governor. He ran as a "pro-business Democrat." In fact, what he really is is a "pro-business-as-usual Democrat," something rational people knew we couldn't afford before and someone whom I hope the rest of the voters are coming to realize is clueless, ineffective, and reckless with their money. Clueless. Ineffective. Reckless. I see the wheels turning in Republican strategists minds as they imagine campaign ads for 2010. Meanwhile, the Denver Post - … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: 2010, bad news, Bill Ritter, bleaker, campaign ads, clueless, Colorado bloggers, controversy, Denver Post, employees, endorsed, good news, government, Governor, hard-hitting, haunt, heartburn, hiring freeze, hiring practices, ineffective, non-essential workers, one-term, political future, pro-business, pro-business-as-usual, public records, recession, reckless, Republican strategists, Right-leaning, Ritter administration, Rossputin, state, taxpayers, wheels

1/13/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Bill Ritter Ginning Up Excuses for His Attack on Taxpayer Protections

Wandering out to the Western Slope on his cross-state jaunt with his U.S. Senate protege Michael Bennet, Governor Bill Ritter yesterday sat down with the editors of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. When asked about his reckless anti-TABOR remarks ("the straightjacket") in his State of the State speech, here's reporter Mike Saccone's retelling of how Ritter defended himself:He started by saying that if Colorado has taken all the money it has refunded under TABOR and kept it in a rainy-day fund, Colorado would not have had to make massive budget cuts in the last recession and an estimated $600 million worth of cuts this year. Here's the problem, though. Bill Ritter already chose to pass up a legitimate chance to put money from Referendum … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: anti-TABOR, Bill Ritter, blame, budget cuts, cross-state jaunt, editors, fiscally irresponsible, Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Michael Bennet, Mike Saccone, protege, rainy day fund, Reason, recession, reckless remarks, Referendum C, reporter, retelling, sincere, State of the State, straightjacket, taxpayer protections, U.S. Senate, weak leadership, Western Slope

1/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Mark Hillman Credibly Criticizes Dems for Failure to Save State Money

Mark Hillman - former state senate majority leader and former state treasurer - once again has established himself as a leading voice of fiscal sanity in Colorado. In an op-ed in today's Denver Post, he assails Governor Bill Ritter and his Democratic colleagues at the helm of the state legislature for their ongoing mismanagement of the looming budget crisis:Balancing a budget during a recession is a difficult job, certainly. But balancing this year's budget didn't need to be this hard if only the leaders at the Capitol had learned from the last recession — or listened to those who experienced it. Last spring, as the economic storm clouds gathered, Gov. Bill Ritter and legislative leaders had opportunities to take precautions. One … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Amendment 23, balancingn the budget, Bernie Buescher, Bill Ritter, Capitol, Cary Kennedy, chief executive, Colorado, Democrats, Denver Post, economic storm clouds, election, fiscal sanity, Governor, looming budget crisis, majority leader, Mark Hillman, mismanagement, op-ed, permanent tax increase, precautions, proposal, rainy day fund, recession, Referendum C, reserve fund, SCR 13, Senate floor, state legislature, state senate, state treasurer, TABOR, treasurer

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

7/11/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Phil Gramm’s Foot-in-Mouth Problem vs. Barack Obama’s Ongoing Elitism

Did you hear what Phil Gramm - former U.S. Senator, McCain for President economic adviser - said? If you're reading this blog, it's almost impossible to have missed it. (Hey - don't whine at me if you haven't heard what Gramm said!) It's become so bad that less than 24 hours into the story the big media is referencing the extent of its own coverage:Remarks by former Sen. Phil Gramm (R), a top economic advisor to Sen. John McCain, are drawing heavy negative attention for the candidate in the latest media cycle. 1996 was a long time ago - it was the first Presidential election in which I was eligible to vote. Yesterday helped to remind me why the Phil Gramm campaign never left the ground. The man is an economic whiz and one of the most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, Democrats, double standards, economic elitism, foot-in-mouth disease, John McCain, Phil Gramm, recession, U.S. News and World Report

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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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