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Home Archives for taxes
How to Train Your Politician: Conservative Ed Hanks Urges Intentional Voting

1/5/2015 By Ben Leave a Comment

How to Train Your Politician: Conservative Ed Hanks Urges Intentional Voting

On December 20, 2014, I chatted by phone with Ed Hanks about his new book How to Train Your Politician: Intentional Voting as a Path to Tea Party and Constitutional Victory. Hanks, an acquaintance and Jefferson County conservative activist who has been one of Colorado's leading voices for Personhood, graciously shared a Kindle copy of his book for me to read prior our conversation. We talked in the wake of the lame-duck Congress passing the corporatists' dream bill, known as Cromnibus, fueling the fires of populist conservative discontent (including yours truly). A mounting frustration definitely brings a growing interest in the strategy Hanks endorses. Yet what I find most appealing about the book and its author is his historical … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Reviews, clean government, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, liberty, National Politics Tagged With: 14th Amendment, abortion, Abraham Lincoln, activism, administrative, Alexander Hamilton, amendment, Article V, authoritarianism, Ayn Rand, balanced budget, Barry Goldwater, Bill Clinton, Bill Owens, candidate, Colorado, conservative, Constitution, Cory Gardner, Cromnibus, Democrats, Ed Hanks, Education, Elizabeth Warren, Establishment, executive, Forrest McDonald, Free Markets, George Washington, government, Governor, gun rights, Hillary Clinton, human nature, initiative, Ivory Tower, John Boehner, journalism, liberal, libertarian, media, Personhood, philosophy, politics, pro-life, Rand Paul, Republican, rights, RINO, Ronald Reagan, Scott Walker, Secretary of State, social issues, socialism, state legislature, taxes, Tea Party, Ted Cruz, Thomas Jefferson, treasurer, William Safire

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

5/6/2009 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

4/8/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Thanks to What?: Posing a Clear Litmus Test Between Left and Right

Blogging for the Heritage Foundation, Conn Carroll points readers to a clear litmus test between the Left and the Right. If you followed that link and said, "Hey, that's not a bad idea, why didn't I think of that?" -- it's pretty safe to say you're on the Left. On the other hand, if you laughed out loud and/or your stomach turned upon reading it, you must be on the Right. But here's my thought: If we're going to be showing our gratitude for painful certainties that show no sign of abating, why not a campaign to get people to say Thanks for this? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: abating, campaign, certainty, clear, Conn Carroll, death, gratitude, Heritage Foundation, laugh, Left, link, litmus test, Right, stomach, taxes, thanks, turned

4/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Hundreds of Iowa Taxpayers Kicked Out of Capitol: Is Colorado Watching?

Update: Here is a better link to Tax Day Tea Party information for all of Colorado. (H/T to Amy Oliver for this story) "Hundreds of Iowans" showed up at the State Capitol in Des Moines to protest a tax on a tax, and ended up getting forcibly ejected by the House Speaker. I've heard of "Iowa stubborn", but not "Iowa rowdy". Not exactly Howard Beale - but a pretty amazing display of organized populist outrage nonetheless. Maybe Colorado pro-liberty grassroots organizers could find something to learn from Iowans for Tax Relief. If you're a Colorado taxpayer not used to these sorts of things but are interested in getting involved, the Denver Tax Day Tea Party on April 15 is a good place to start. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: amazing display, Colorado, Denver, Des Moines, grassroots, House Speaker, Howard Beale, involved, Iowa rowdy, Iowa stubborn, Iowans, Iowans for Tax Relief, populist outrage, pro-liberty, protest, State Capitol, Tax Day Tea Party, taxes, taxpayer

3/30/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

What a Weekend: Human Achievement Hour, “Green” Energy Taxes, & You

My big regret from a low-key weekend? That I somehow forgot to celebrate Human Achievement Hour. Kudos to all those who did, and made a statement for liberty. It's most interesting to me that this weekend's events closely follow the discovery that the infamous solar panels on the Denver Museum of Nature and Science likely won't come close to paying for themselves while state lawmakers seek to induce school districts into installing cost-inefficient "new" "green" energy. Speaking of higher taxes and energy prices for consumers like you and me, Paul Chesser takes on the cap-and-trade folly in the new American Spectator. At least here in the Denver area our big snow has all but melted away ... for now. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Hysteria, Colorado Politics, Energy, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: American Spectator, cap-and-trade, celebrate, consumers, cost-inefficient, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, discovery, energy prices, folly, Human Achievement Hour, installing, kudos, liberty, melted away, Paul Chesser, school districts, snow, solar panels, state lawmakers, statement, taxes, weekend

1/6/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Dig into UAW Golf Course Hijinks Before Obama Ends Union Disclosure

Perhaps you have seen the story about the United Auto Workers-owned golf course in northern Michigan and the controversy about the value of its property and tax history. Well, local blogger Chetly Zarko has dug even deeper to try to figure out why the facility's reported Pension Fund expenses are so high:The only explanation in my mind for this kind of pension fund investment is that the pension contributions are for SOMEONE ELSE other than the workers at the hotel. Just who might be receiving the long-term benefit of those contributions? It's not big enough to pay the pension debt of any serious number of rank-and-file union members - but it is big enough to sauce up a few individual's or union leadership. Or perhaps the UAW is using … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: administration, analysis, artificial loss, Barack Obama, bliss, blogger, Chetly Zarko, contributions, corrupt, Department of Labor, facility, financial disclosure reports, Hilda Solis, ignorance, IRS, Labor Secretary, LM-2, Michigan, Pension Fund, property, shenanigans, speculation, tax evasion, taxes, union, union bosses, United Auto Workers, Wall Street Journal

12/23/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Rollie Heath Wants to Use Economic Downturn to Kill TABOR

It only took seven weeks after the voters of Colorado said no to a statewide proposal that would have gutted the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) - a proposal pushed by a campaign that heavily outspent the opposition - for the Democrats to be back at it again. From today's Denver Post:Rollie Heath, a Boulder Democrat elected to the Senate, said that as lawmakers grapple in the coming session with cutting as much as $600 million from the budget because of declining revenues, they should also look at TABOR, a revenue-capping provision of the state's constitution. The state is in a timeout from TABOR's tax-revenue limits, but that timeout expires in 2010, when Colorado will have to begin refunding to taxpayers any revenue it collects … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: Amendment 59, Boulder, budget-cutting, campaign, Colorado, Democrats, Denver Post, eventuality, flexibility, foresight, lawmakers, limit, opposition, Referendum C, revenue, Rollie Heath, shortfall, state constitution, state government, state senate, statewide proposal, TABOR, tax limits, taxes, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, taxpayers, timeout, voters

9/7/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Putting Today’s Economy in Perspective

It's national election season, which means perspective on the economy is badly needed. Thanks to Rossputin for highlighting this article from economists Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein. Read the whole thing for yourself, but interesting tidbits are that family income last year hit its first all-time high in 7 years, income inequality declined faster than at any point in the previous 45 years, and the poverty rate stayed below its pre-1999 norms. Yes, economic growth has lagged, causing the country to flirt with recession. But according to Wesbury and Stein, "these figures bolster the case that the underlying fundamentals of the US economy were sound in 2007, before the Federal Reserve decided to try to inflate our way out of financial … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: Brian Wesbury, bumper sticker, economic growth, economics, election season, family income, Federal Reserve, free trade, government spending, income inequality, National Taxpayers Union, poverty rate, Robert Stein, Rossputin, taxes

7/29/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

The Only Place Democrats Want to Drill Is Your Wallet

From the Tennessee Republican Party, this is a great idea: Could the Colorado GOP follow suit? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: Colorado GOP, Democrats, Drill, Picture, Republican Party, taxes, Tennessee

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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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