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Home Archives for state senate

6/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Learning from Bill Ritter’s Four Mistakes (so far) in the Senate Bill 180 Veto

I asked before if Bill Ritter called the bluff of Big Labor with his veto of Senate Bill 180. If we're to judge by last Friday's union-organized rally, then Ritter made a mistake. To see what I mean, take a step over to Face The State's slideshow, and see signs like "Why does Ritter hate fire fighters?" and "Ritter lied to my dad" (or just Senator Lois Tochtrop's angry expression). Of course, Ritter didn't make a mistake from the standpoint of choosing good policy over bad policy. But he has made four mistakes surrounding this issue: Don't make promises you don't intend to keep. Backroom campaign promises can come back to burn you. As observed at ColoradoPols and demonstrated by the little girl's "Ritter lied to my dad" sign, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: angry, apparently, astroturfing, backroom, bad policy, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, blogosphere, bluff, bulk, burn, called, campaign, chief executive, ColoradoPols, compared, conveyed, damaging, decision, Democrat, Denver Post, enjoy, expression, Face the State, feet, fire fighters, fires, forced, good policy, harping, hide, intend, judge, keep, kill, labor bills, lied, Lois Tochtrop, media, minor, mistake, news conference, observed, offense, Party, politically, promises, prop, public, rally, Rocky Mountain Right, save, SB 180, Senate Bill 180, senator, show, sign, sit back, slideshow, standpoint, state house, state senate, stoked, support, threefold, traction, union-organized, veto, whoops

6/4/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Ritter, Kennedy, and Morse Loosening Fiscal Knot for Taxpayers’ Necks

Today's Denver Post news story on Governor Bill Ritter's signing of Senate Bill 228 offers the generous headline: "Colorado's fiscal knot loosens". I've taken the liberty to complete the thought with my own sub-headline: "Noose nearly large enough to fit around taxpayers' necks". The article is correct insofar as it points out that the impact of this bill in repealing limits on the growth of discretionary government spending likely won't be felt for a couple years. But that provides little solace, especially when you listen to the righteous confusion coming from the Democratic cast of characters behind this anti-taxpayer legislation. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, media bias, PPC Tagged With: 10-point margin, 2010, Amendment 59, another dimension, battle plan, Bill Ritter, black, California, Cary Kennedy, caucus, Colorado, complete, conflicting, crystal clear, Democratic, Democrats, Denver Post, disaster, discretionary, down, expounds, Face the State, fight, fiscal knot, fiscal troubles, fitting, generous, Gordian knot, government, government spending, Governor, growth, headline, heaping, heart, increase, John Morse, liberty, limits, majority leader, measures, memo, mess, message, multi-billion dollar, necks, news, noose, November, offers, old-fashioned, prudent, rainy day fund, raise, reasonable, recipe, repeal, repealing, righteous, Rod Serling, sacred, Senate Bill 228, shell game, shooting down, signing, simple, soul, spending, stake, state budget, state senate, state treasurer, step, story, sub-headline, TABOR, tax dollars, tax-and-spend, taxes, taxpayers, thought, trip, up, vote, voters, white, work

5/18/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Quote of the Day

Former state senate leader and former state treasurer Mark Hillman, in his column lambasting the arrogance behind Colorado Democrats' Senate Bill 291, which would strip away state education funds from school districts that opt to reinstitute taxpayer protections:This from the party that claims to do everything “for the children.” In reality, the Democrats do everything “for the government” and aren’t above using your children as hostages in their extortion racket. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: arrogance, Colorado, Democrats, education funds, extortion racket, for the children, for the government, former, leader, Mark Hillman, reinstitute, school districts, Senate Bill 291, state, state senate, state treasurer, taxpayer protections

5/6/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Sine Die

It sounds like a garbled threat, or possibly a song from the High Mass. Sine die means neither, but it is cause for high celebration: The Colorado state legislature is adjourned for 2009, at least for the regular session. (I'm hearing insiders say that the Governor very well may call a special session in the summer.) In one sense, it's a shame to see the legislature walk away from its responsibility: Democrats have kicked the state's fiscal problems a little ways down the road. But then again, the majority Democrats aren't likely to grow a sense of responsibility any time soon. So staunch the bleeding while there's still time. Because, in fact, Democrats are now openly touting a recent state supreme court decision to say they can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Judiciary, liberty, PPC Tagged With: adjourned, approve, bleeding, capital gains, Clear the Bench Colorado, Colorado, decision, Democrats, deserving, down the road, fiscal problems, garbled threat, Governor, havoc, high celebration, high court, High Mass, insiders, majority, plain language, raise, regular session, responsibility, sense, Sine die, song, soon, special session, state constitution, state house, state legislature, state senate, state supreme court, staunch, summer, support, tax hikes, taxes, vote of the people, walk away, wreak

4/9/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Which Party Will Miss Peter Groff as Senate President More: GOP or Dems?

It seems almost certain that Democrat Senate President Peter Groff has tried to remain mum about the news of his impending departure to join the Obama administration in Washington to avoid distraction from an especially difficult budget process in the state legislature this year. But the cat's out of the bag now. Kind, classy words in the Denver Post from the Republican opposition:"Washington's gain is our loss," said Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray.... "I hope that President Obama gives him a job with a lot of power in the Department of Education," said Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction. It's hard to say which party will miss him more at the helm of the state senate in 2010. For Republicans, he's a strong ally on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: 2011, adversary, bandied about, budget process, classy, critical, Democrat, Denver Post, Department of Education, difficult, education reform, election year, fiscally conservative, Grand Junction, Greg Brophy, helm, Josh Penry, kind, likable, motivation, mum, Obama administration, other issues, perceived, Peter Groff, potential, reasonable middle, replacements, Republican, sad, senate minority leader, Senate President, state legislature, state senate, strong ally, Washington, well-respected, words, Wray

3/27/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Help Save Us From the Political Chaos in Colorado House Bill 1299

So Democrats have moved the bill to destroy the Electoral College (HB 1299) to the floor of the state senate. Time for a last-ditch effort to make your voices heard and stop this legislation. Via Amy Oliver, Rossputin has posted this excellent and timely information explaining why it would be such a terrible idea. If you care about the Republic, follow the link and take action: contact your state senator and Governor Bill Ritter. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, liberty, National Politics Tagged With: Amy Oliver, bill, Bill Ritter, Democrats, destroy, electoral college, excellent, floor, follow, Governor, information, last-ditch effort, legislation, link, Republic, Rossputin, state senate, state senator, stop, take action, terrible idea, timely, voices

3/26/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

More Reasons to Make Sure Senate Bill 180 Doesn’t Simply Stall, But Dies

It's encouraging news that the Colorado state senate keeps putting off a vote on Senate Bill 180. The Democrats would seem not to have confidence in the votes to override local control, impose collective bargaining, raise the cost of government services, and threaten the rights of our state's police officers and firefighters. If you need more reason to understand why SB 180 is a bad idea, and why you should keep the pressure on and tell your state senator to vote against it, you should listen to this new iVoices podcast I recorded with Stan Greer from the National Institute of Labor Relations Research: What might seem on the surface like a nice thing to do for our public safety employees is really bad public policy when you take a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, PPC Tagged With: amok, bad idea, bad public policy, closer look, Collective Bargaining, Colorado, confidence, cost, Democrats, Democrats Gone Wild, employees, encouraging news, firefighters, government services, impose, iVoices, legislative session, local control, National Institute of Labor Relations Research, override, podcast, police officers, pressure, public safety, Reason, rights, Senate Bill 180, special labor interests, Stan Greer, State Capitol, state senate, threaten, understand, vote

3/25/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Join Me in Shining Light on Democrat Attempts to Destroy Electoral College

Starting sometime after 2 PM this afternoon (pending a preceding hearing on another bill) I will be keeping tabs on the vital state senate committee testimony on HB 1299 - which statehouse Democrats are proposing to destroy the electoral college and render Colorado politically impotent. You can follow me on Twitter. You also can listen online here (click on Senate Committee Room 353). … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, liberty, My Life, PPC Tagged With: afternoon, Colorado, committee, Democrats, destroy, electoral college, follow, keeping tabs, listen, online, politically impotent, proposing, state senate, statehouse, testimony, Twitter

3/16/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Undeterred by Plain Reading of Constitution, State Supremes Stick It to Colorado Taxpayers

Update, 3/17: Law student Constructively Reasonable says the decision is a cause for "outrage". A watcher says Colorado may not as well even have a constitution. The Colorado Supreme Court has done it again, showing its disdain for taxpayer protections in the state constitution. From the majority opinion:When it issued its declaratory judgment order, the district court did not have the benefit of our recent decision in Barber v. Ritter, 196 P.3d 238 (Colo. 2008), in which we held that a statute challenged under article X, section 20 must be proven to be unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court erroneously held that the relevant test of SB 07-199s constitutionality came from the interpretive guideline included in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Judiciary, PPC, property rights Tagged With: 49 states, Allison Eid, arbitrary rule, Ari Armstrong, boss, campaign issue, Cary Kennedy, clairvoyance, Colorado Supreme Court, common sense, compelling case, conservatives, constitutional sanity, constitutionality, Cory Gardner, Democrat, Denver Post, dissenting voice, downgrading, faith, fiscal restraint, forthcoming, full retreat, government, Governor, Grand Junction Jon Caldara, higher threshold, inescapable, Josh Penry, just, justice system, kudos, law, legal arena, libertarian, life support, local elections, local tax revenues, loyalist, most partisan, observation, offense, other ideas, partisan interests, plain reading, realization, reasonable, Republicans, SB 07-199, school districts, senate minority leader, simpler, state constitution, state house, state legal system, state of Colorado, state representative, state senate, state treasurer, tactical idea, tax dollars, tax policy change, tax revenue gain, taxpayer protections, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, The Colorado Index, violated, voter permission, weigh in, writer

3/3/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrats’ Anti-Taxpayer Shell Game Demands a Principled “Party of No”

The other half of Colorado Democrats' shell game rolled through the state senate last night - with one of the longest debates on a state legislative bill in recent memory. Senate Bill 228 would repeal the state general fund's 6 percent spending limit and allow additional funds to be diverted from transportation to pet government programs (now mainly supported by Democrats). It's the latest in a series of actions by Governor Bill Ritter to raise taxes and grow government without asking the people of Colorado first. So much for confidence in his own agenda. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, PPC, transportation Tagged With: amendments, ask first, Barack Obama, Bill Ritter, children's future, Colorado Democrats, compromise, confidence, debate, debates, Democrats, diverting funds, economy, expense, funding stream, general fund, government expansion, government programs, Governor, grow government, Harry Reid, hog wild, ill, Lefty bloggers, legislative bill, longest, Nancy Pelosi, party of No, programs, raise taxes, repeal, Senate Bill 228, shell game, solve, spending limit, State Capitol, state constitution, state senate, transportation, unfettered, vision, welfare state

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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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