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Home Archives for Transparency

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

5/29/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Ask Congressman Mike Coffman to Sign On to Federal Reserve Transparency

It won't be the first time I write it, nor likely the last. But Republican officials in Washington D.C. cannot hope to return to power simply by pointing out that they aren't as socialist as the Democrats. A vital piece of a successful 2010 and beyond involves the need to unite aggressively behind an affirmative platform of fiscally responsible government reform. Robert Romano on the Americans for Liberty blog brings our attention to a specific bill that represents a golden opportunity to do right by the taxpayer:Most of the financial bailouts have been conducted by the Federal Reserve, and on February 26th, Congressman Ron Paul introduced the legislation that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: 2010, 6th Congressional District, advance, affirmative, agenda, aggressively, Americans for Liberty, ask, attention, bill, blog, Board of Governors, bonds, buzzword, cause, Colorado, Congress, Congressman, consent, contact, Democrats, do right, Federal Reserve, financial bailouts, first time, fiscally responsible, fix, golden opportunity, government reform, growing, HR 1207, inordinate, insight, interest rates, issue, join, last time, ledgers, Mike Coffman, monetary policy, more closely, mortgage securities, necessity, officials, operations, oversight, platform, pointing out, power, representatives, Republican, Republicans, return to power, Robert Romano, Ron Paul, secret, shine the light, sign on, Socialist, successful, taxpayer, timeliness, Transparency, treasuries, U.S. House, unite, Wall Street Journal, Washington DC

5/11/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

“The Time Is Now” to Get Connected with the American Liberty Alliance

If we are to be successful, pro-liberty groups and individuals are going to have to be more collaborative. There is strength in numbers. To a good extent, this movement has begun in Colorado -- with the People's Press Collective, Liberty on the Rocks, and other projects. But plenty of work remains to be done on many levels. Kudos to all those in the trenches. On the most recent episode of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio we talked with blogger and online activist Ken Marrero about -- among other things -- his work with the national Tea Party movement and the development of a group called American Liberty Alliance. It turns out that as of today Ken is now the executive director of this national grassroots movement. It's an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: advocates, American Liberty Alliance, Americans, Big Government, Blog Talk Radio, blogger, broken, businesses, citizen, city councils, Coalition for a Conservative Majority, collaborative, Colorado, Colorado Union of Taxpayers, concerned, corrupt, county commissions, dictate, Don't Go Movement, Eric Odom, evolution, executive director, extreme spending, federal encroachments, fiscally responsible, free market, getting connected, grassroots, groups, individuals, Ken Marrero, Liberty on the Rocks, local action, majority votes, movement, national, online activist, organizer, outgoing, over-governed, Peoples Press Collective, politicians, pro-liberty, projects, R Block Party, Rocky Mountain Alliance, school boards, society, special interest groups, spontaneous energy, state legislatures, streamline, successful, Tea Party, teachers unions, tolerated, Transparency, trenches, unproductive, work

4/3/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

What Kind of Online State Spending Database Will Colorado Get?

Update, 4/4: The editors of the Denver Post agree with my commonsense observation, saying "We would prefer to see Ritter's project hew more to the kind of details espoused in the legislative proposal." What kind of online state spending database are Coloradans going to get if they are going to hope to keep an eye on state government and help find cost efficiencies to save us all money? This is the question of the hour, after Governor Bill Ritter's weak executive order came out yesterday. We're also learning that the Governor is working to kill bipartisan House Bill 1288, which would provide the real detail that is lacking from his watered-down order. The highly impressive new State Representative B.J. Nikkel is the sponsor of HB … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC Tagged With: advocates, Americans for Tax Reform, B.J. Nikkel, Bill Ritter, Coloradans, cost efficiencies, credit, current course, database, Democrats, good legislation, Governor, highly impressive, hour, House Bill 1288, interests, issue, keep an eye, kill, lacking, limelight, members, memo, money, National Taxpayers Union, online, opposing party, plaudits, playing games, pointless, protects, question, real detail, Republicans, save, share, state government, state representative, state spending, steal, taxpayers, toothless tiger, Transparency, weak executive order, yesterday

4/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Democrats: Governing Themselves Out of the Majority?

Are the Democrats at the State Capitol trying to govern themselves out of the majority? They sure are making it easier for the GOP - with a string of shenanigans and assorted bad ideas just from the past several days: From slamming the door on school spending transparency To ignoring critical scholarly arguments in order to push through a nakedly partisan ploy to weaken Colorado's political influence and undermine the Electoral College To cravenly moving a vote while a Republican lawmaker was out of town (aiding a relative with Alzheimer's) - all to pass a constitutionally dubious bill that grants in-state tuition to illegal aliens To talking out loud about exploiting a partisan, anti-taxpayer state supreme court ruling to repeal some … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, liberty, PPC Tagged With: 2010, Alzheimer's, anti-taxpayer, bad ideas, Colorado, comprehensive list, constitutionally dubious, Democrats, electoral college, exemptions, exploiting, GOP, govern, illegal aliens, in-state tuition, lawmaker, majority, partisan ploy, policy outcomes, political influence, power, recessionary strain, Republicans, ruling, scholarly arguments, school spending, severe, shenanigans, State Capitol, supreme court, tax credits, Transparency, vote, weaken

4/1/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Government Transparency Facing a Crucial Crossroads

Everybody's talking about "transparency" as the buzzword at the Colorado state legislature this year: even the Sterling Journal-Advocate has taken notice. I've spent plenty of time talking about what happened to Senate Bill 57 and school district transparency. But there's also the promise of greater transparency in House Bill 1288's proposal for a state government spending database, and the threat to transparency in House Bill 1293's sick person tax. My Independence Institute colleague Amy Oliver joined me to discuss these different proposals at the State Capitol on a 9-minute iVoices podcast: The last month of the current legislative session will be a crucial time to see whether Colorado - with the Democrats in charge - will … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, My Life, PPC Tagged With: Amy Oliver, backward, buzzword, colleague, Colorado, Democrats, forward, House Bill 1288, House Bill 1293, Independence Institute, iVoices, plenty of time, podcast, promise, school district, Senate Bill 57, sick person tax, State Capitol, state legislature, state spending database, Sterling Journal-Advocate, threat, Transparency

3/18/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Follow Me: You Can Help in Thursday’s Fight for Transparent School Spending

Tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon is the moment of truth at the Colorado state legislature for Senate Bill 57, a measure that would require school districts to open up their financial books online so citizens can search them. It goes before the House Education Committee. Here are things you can do: Starting at sometime shortly after 1:30 PM local Mountain time, listen to the hearing online (House Committee Room 0112) Follow me on Twitter during the proceedings, or join the Tweeting yourself Show up at HCR 0112 and testify yourself, or just pack the room and provide moral support - nothing like an extra concerned citizen or two to remind lawmakers whom they serve Call or email members of the House Education Committee to make your voice … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC Tagged With: accountability, call, citizen, Colorado, Denver Post, email, endorsed, expenses, financial, follow, hearing, House Education Committee, involved, kill the bill, lawmakers, listen, lobbying groups, members, message, moral support, online, pack the room, Peoples Press Collective, proceedings, quietly, revenues, right thing, Rocky Mountain News, salaries, school administrators, school districts, schools, searchable format, Senate Bill 57, serve, Show me the money, small part, taxpayer-funded, terminate, testify, Transparency, Twitter, voice

3/1/2009 By Ben 3 Comments

“Stand Up for Liberty!”

Update: El Presidente has posted a video recap of the different speakers at yesterday's rally. Earlier today was the kickoff rally for Colorado's new Gadsden Society. About 70 to 80 people showed up on a Sunday afternoon at the State Capitol. Tell your friends to come out and join us for the next one. Check back for updates. Pictures of today's gathering below the fold (more pictures and video of the event should be available soon at Slapstick Politics and the People's Press Collective): … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: air guitar, audience, Aurora, candidate, chants, Christopher Gadsden, citizen activists, city councilman, CU Regent, David Williams, Democrat, Denver Post, flag, Gadsden Society, higher education, Jeff Sacco, Jefferson County, Justin Longo, landmark, Lenina Close, Liberty for All, Liberty on the Rocks, Linda Sasenick, Morgan Carroll, Peoples Press Collective, rally, Rand, Republican, Ross Kaminsky, Ryan Frazier, special districts, Stand Up for Liberty, State Capitol, state senator, surreal, Tom Lucero, Transparency, U.S. Senate, Wes Dickinson

2/26/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Tell Congress to Read the Bill: Why Not Sign the Online Petition Today?

Transparency (or the lack thereof) is the name of the game these days. After the Generational Theft Act got shoved down our throats in such a hurry - with Congress having a matter of only a few hours to read the mammoth bill - supporting this idea is the most basic sort of common sense we can ask for in our representative form of government. So go ahead and sign the online petition at Read the Bill, a very simple process that will take you one minute or less (H/T Soren Dayton). Why? The Democrats in charge of Congress don't want you to do it It might help the Republicans find a backbone and champion real reform on the issue It's the right thing to do For more on the government transparency movement (at least in Colorado), visit … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: backbone, champion, common sense, Congress, Democrats, Generational Theft Act, government, issue, mammoth bill, name of the game, Read the Bill, real reform, representative, Republicans, right thing, Soren Dayton, supporting, Transparency

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

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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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