Overview for CNN Archive

Blame Yesterday's Reforms for Today's Gridlocked Congress

In the mid-1970s, Congress underwent a revolution. The power of the committee chairmen was broken. The number of subcommittees proliferated. The committees met in public. Amendments multiplied. Congress become more open, more egalitarian, more responsive. And stuff ceased to pass. Again and again, …

Written by David Frum on Monday March 1, 2010

Ron Paul's Money Plan is Far from Golden

Ron Paul-style themes have percolated through the conservative movement since Paul's beat-the-spread 2008 presidential campaign. Of all those themes, the one that has achieved the widest audience is Paul's call for a return to money based on precious metals such as gold and silver. The annual …

Written by David Frum on Monday February 22, 2010

Is Israel-Bashing Anti-Semitic?

It's possible to hate Israel without hating Jews. It's even possible to hate Jews without hating Israel. But these interesting theoretical potentialities exist mainly on the blackboard. In real life, it becomes very difficult to separate hatred of the Jewish state from hatred of the Jews who live …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday February 16, 2010

Obama's Anti-Terror Policy is a Mess

The Obama administration says it will assign terrorists on a case by case basis, sending some to civilian courts, others to military tribunals. This seems to offer the worst of both worlds. It took the United States government 18 months to capture Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- and seven years to …

Written by David Frum on Monday February 1, 2010

"Obama the Populist" Doesn't Ring True

If you are a unifier, you have to do unity -- and do it all the time. As President Obama acknowledges, his administration hit a buzz saw in Massachusetts last week. The president will respond as he always does to emergencies: with a speech. In this case, it's his State of the Union address. The …

Written by David Frum on Monday January 25, 2010

America's New Financial Capital is ... Washington

New York City is bleeding jobs, unemployment is over 10 percent. Washington is booming as government agencies like TARP and the General Services Administration expand. New York's crisis and Washington's growth is more than a business page story though. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday January 12, 2010

America's New Financial Capital is ... Washington

New York City is bleeding jobs, unemployment is over 10 percent. Washington is booming as government agencies like TARP and the General Services Administration expand. New York's crisis and Washington's growth is more than a business page story though. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday January 12, 2010

America's New Financial Capital is ... Washington

New York City is bleeding jobs, unemployment is over 10 percent. Washington is booming as government agencies like TARP and the General Services Administration expand. New York's crisis and Washington's growth is more than a business page story though. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday January 12, 2010

Scary Lessons from Argentina

The Argentine experience is one of tragic falling away from a once glorious promise and offers lessons for both the political left and the right. I spent the Christmas holidays in two very similar nations, with two radically different histories. Country 1 is my native Canada: a resource-rich …

Written by David Frum on Monday January 4, 2010

Scary Lessons from Argentina

The Argentine experience is one of tragic falling away from a once glorious promise and offers lessons for both the political left and the right. I spent the Christmas holidays in two very similar nations, with two radically different histories. Country 1 is my native Canada: a resource-rich …

Written by David Frum on Monday January 4, 2010

Scary Lessons from Argentina

The Argentine experience is one of tragic falling away from a once glorious promise and offers lessons for both the political left and the right. I spent the Christmas holidays in two very similar nations, with two radically different histories. Country 1 is my native Canada: a resource-rich …

Written by David Frum on Monday January 4, 2010

Unhealthy Habits are What's Killing Us

For all the money Americans spend on health care (60 percent more per person than any other advanced country), Americans are not an especially healthy people. Originally published at CNN.com . Health care reform is proceeding toward the president's desk, likely to become law in the new …

Written by David Frum on Monday December 28, 2009

Herbal Remedies Need Real Scrutiny

Federal regulators restrict advertising about drugs to the most bland and basic statements. Yet snake oil flim-flam can be huckstered in the most truth-defying way, thanks to a 1994 law coaxed through Congress by the people who make these drugs. Did you know that there exists an all-natural remedy …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 23, 2009

Republicans Heading for a Spectacular Bloodbath in Florida

The Republican fratricide in the November 3 special election in upstate New York may prove just an opening round of an even more spectacular bloodbath in Florida in 2010. The Republican fratricide in the November 3 special election in upstate New York may prove just an opening round of an even …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 16, 2009

Trial Lawyers Could Win Bonanza in Health Care Reform

Small but sophisticated interest groups use big political battles to gain special advantages. Health care reform is, of course, the biggest battle of them all, with trillions of dollars at stake. On Saturday night with the House vote in favor of the health reform bill, the trial lawyers sliced …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 9, 2009