Overview for FF Spotlight

Obama's Surprisingly Big Base

The downgrade of the national debt, sagging approval ratings and better poll numbers for Mitt Romney are giving many Republicans hope for a victory in the 2012 elections. Given the inherent differences between elections, I wouldn’t count on current polls or anything else (including what I’m about …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday August 8, 2011

Bachmann's Shameless Response to the Downgrade

Michele Bachmann seems to be competing for the heavily contested title of Most Shameless Politician. As the leader of the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives, she may bear more responsibility for the unprecedented downgrade of the US credit rating than any other individual. So what …

Written by Andrew Pavelyev on Saturday August 6, 2011

Less Politics, More Economics

Over the past few days, I've written on this site about the inadequacy of conservative thinking about the economic crisis that has beset the United States and the world. I've argued in particular that conservatives often overstate President Obama's culpability for the severity of the …

Written by David Frum on Friday August 5, 2011

Bogus Election Predictions

Like most other systems for predicting the winner of the presidential election using income growth to guess who will win (as Noah Kristula-Green does here ) probably isn’t all that valuable. In fact, no far-in-advance predictor of reelection—not the 13 Keys to the Presidency (which is pretty …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Friday August 5, 2011

Is it 1937 Again?

Ezra Klein asks a good question : Where will the recovery come from? The problem is that no one has an answer. And as one hopeful hypothesis after another is dashed, the markets are beginning to panic. It won’t come from the United States. Our recovery has slowed, and updates to the …

Written by David Frum on Thursday August 4, 2011

Obama: Already a Lame Duck?

Politico has a piece discussing the "big drags" on the Obama re-elect effort. Nothing too surprising: there is the lack of economic growth and the bad political map. The usual suspects. What caught my eye was this: A top Democratic strategist who is close to the White House said that Obama’s …

Written by Zac Morgan on Thursday August 4, 2011

The Debt Deal's Biggest Losers

In my new column for The Week I discuss who has lost the most in the new debt deal: The first and most obvious loser: National security. The economist Herb Stein used to advocate a simple model of federal budgeting: a) Decide how much it costs to defend the country. b) Pay for it. …

Written by David Frum on Thursday August 4, 2011

Were Our Enemies Right?

In February 1982, Susan Sontag made a fierce challenge to a left-wing audience gathered at New York's Town Hall: Imagine, if you will, someone who read only the Reader’s Digest between 1950 and 1970, and someone in the same period who read only The Nation or The New Statesman . Which …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday August 3, 2011

Glenn Beck Wants A Whiter Spider-Man

Glenn Beck has a problem with the new Spider-Man, and he thinks Michelle Obama is to blame. In one of Marvel's comic series, Peter Parker has been killed off and the mantle of Spider-Man will be taken up by a new character: Miles Morales, who is half-black and half-Hispanic . On his radio …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Wednesday August 3, 2011

Why No Questions for Rick Perry?

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has taken some heat for his low profile during the debt-ceiling debate and then his having-it-both-ways comments afterward. Fair enough. But why no heat at all for Romney's current leading rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry? The Austin American-Statesman …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday August 3, 2011

The Economic Left is Left Out of the Debt Deal

It is probably crass to cite oneself in an article, but I wrote a piece a few months ago in which I stated: Many Democratic voters support the Party because they see it as the party of social liberalism. While they may also support more government intervention in the economy than most …

Written by Mark R. Yzaguirre on Wednesday August 3, 2011

In Defense of Dulles

Thomas J. Marier and David Frum are both wrong about Dulles Airport. Derided as it is, the airport is actually one of the best, easiest and most convenient large hub airports. Here’s why I love Dulles... It’s actually easy to get to from downtown D.C.: Yes, at 26 miles it’s far away. …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Tuesday August 2, 2011

Tea Party Turns on Debt Compromisers

There goes another lazy narrative. Fifty-nine Republican House freshmen voted ‘yes’ last evening on a debt ceiling compromise, making up about 68% of the freshmen class. In the 60-member tea party caucus led by Rep. Michele Bachmann, 53% voted in favor of the compromise. But what will be the …

Written by Tim Mak on Tuesday August 2, 2011

An Easy $80 Billion in Savings

Cutting at least $1 trillion in government spending over the next decade is going to require some real tradeoffs and cuts to programs (defense, social security, and Medicare) that everyone agrees need to exist in one form or another. Nonetheless, there’s also real waste. Here are more than $80 …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Tuesday August 2, 2011

Humans Are Making it Hotter

Partisanship in Washington has been extreme lately. So has the weather. Might there be a connection? It certainly looks that way. Let’s talk about heat. As anyone living in Washington—or in about three-fourths of the nation for that matter—has surely noticed, this summer has been unusually hot. …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Tuesday August 2, 2011

Perry Nomination Will Alienate Young and Educated Voters

In an AP interview on Saturday, Rick Perry managed to swiftly steer into two topics – gay marriage and evolution – on which his views will likely alienate young and educated voters should he make it into the general election. On gay marriage, Perry said “I am for the federal marriage …

Written by Stephen Richer on Monday August 1, 2011

Res Judicata: Wal-Mart Decision Ends the "Great Society" in our Courts

In 1966, as part of explosion of federal programs that are collectively known as the so-called “Great Society, ” Congress amended Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which governs “class actions.” Prior to that time such cases were rare even though the Rule had been in existence …

Written by Howard Foster on Monday August 1, 2011

Seven Ideas for the GOP After Debt Day

In my column for CNN , I discuss seven ideas for the GOP to take up after the debt crisis has passed: 1) Unemployment is a more urgent problem than debt. The U.S. can borrow money for 10 years at less than 3%. It can borrow money for two years at less than one-half a percent. Yes, the …

Written by David Frum on Monday August 1, 2011

Did Boehner Win - or Did Bachmann Lose?

The Thursday vote on the Boehner debt ceiling bill was a clarifying moment, and one that should be reexamined as House Republicans now consider how to vote on a deal with the White House, announced on Sunday evening. Firstly, the Boehner vote served to illustrate what separates those who would …

Written by Tim Mak on Monday August 1, 2011

Too Soon Old, Too Late Wise

I wish my defense hawk friends at the American Enterprise Institute and the Weekly Standard had discerned before it was too late that a budget framework that calls for: (1) no additional revenues and (2) big cuts in discretionary spending, is not a hospitable climate for a robust defense budget. …

Written by David Frum on Monday August 1, 2011