Overview for FF Spotlight

Gingrich Knows Illegals Break the Law

Recent comments by Newt Gingrich to the effect that illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for 25 years, “obey the rules, have children and belong to a church” should be allowed to remain here are deliberately deceptive. His premise is that an illegal immigrant can somehow live and work in …

Written by Howard Foster on Friday December 2, 2011

Austerity Comes to Britain

Dagenham is an industrial suburb east of London, hard-hit by the decline of manufacturing in the United Kingdom. It was the site of tonight's Question Time program on BBC, where I occupied a chair hoping that I wouldn't get asked too many questions about the British educational system. Question …

Written by David Frum on Friday December 2, 2011

State Legislators Like Romney, A Lot

Scottsdale, AZ--Even as he continues to fight off challenges from an ever-changing troop of "flavor of the week" candidates, Mitt Romney's organization appears to be gaining the type of support it most needs to win primaries--the support of conservative legislators. Here, as the American …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Thursday December 1, 2011

What Friends of Israel Face in Britain

As an example of the attitudes my friends at the Anglo-Israel Association bump up against in contemporary Britain, there's this : A Labour MP has caused outrage by suggesting that Britain's first Jewish ambassador to Israel has divided loyalties because he has "proclaimed himself to be a …

Written by David Frum on Thursday December 1, 2011

Let Europeans Vote for EU Officials

In my column for The Week I explain why the European Union needs more democratic accountability: The European Union is not a democracy because until now it has been regarded as an association of democracies. The institutions at the center of Europe existed to serve democratic governments, …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday November 30, 2011

The Cost of the Tea Party

Here's some interesting data from Pew. Americans turning against the "tea party" (however they understand the "tea party" to mean) is not exactly a new story, but here it continues to accelerate. More surprising: the tea party seems to be contaminating the larger Republican brand. …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday November 30, 2011

Gingrich Passes a Very Low Bar

Newt Gingrich has a voluminous history of misdeeds as a public figure. But since he is now emerging as the consensus alternative to Mitt Romney, we should pause to appreciate how he is succeeding where others have failed in auditioning for that role. I write this not as a Newt Gingrich fan, …

Written by Jay Gatsby on Tuesday November 29, 2011

Poland to Germany: We Need You to Act!

In an important speech in Berlin, Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski expressed a thought maybe has never been heard before on German soil from a Polish leader: What, as Poland’s foreign minister, do I regard as the biggest threat to the security and prosperity of Poland today, on 28 th …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 28, 2011

Don't Reform Law School; Abridge it

The New York Times published an editorial several days ago which discussed the need for reform of legal education in the United States. This editorial took particular aim at the casebook method approach to legal education (sometimes also called the case method, as in the article) and …

Written by Mark R. Yzaguirre on Monday November 28, 2011

Signs of Hope, Part 4

Frum Forum is on the lookout for Signs of Hope that the conservative movement is moving towards intellectual openness . Today's entry comes in the form of a new Facebook group: Republicans for Responsible Reform . The group was started by friends of the site D.R. Tucker and Michael …

Written by FrumForum Editors on Monday November 28, 2011

Res Judicata: The Case for Kagan's Recusal

The Solicitor General of the U.S. (a position Elana Kagan held in 2010) is the government’s advocate in every case heard in any federal court. Typically the Solicitor will personally argue some cases in the Supreme Court. He or she will certainly be involved with any case that challenges the …

Written by Howard Foster on Monday November 28, 2011

A `New Europe' Plan to Save the Euro

Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski will deliver an outline of a plan to save the euro currency in a speech today in Berlin. Poland, remember, has not yet joined the Euro, and has escaped the crisis that has engulfed other Central European countries whose memberships have already taken …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 28, 2011

Illinois' New Prison Record

Here's an interesting fact: With former Governor Rod Blagojevich headed for what's almost sure to be a long stay behind bars (his most important ally, Tony Rezko, just got a 10 1/2 year sentence ) Illinois will have the dubious distinction of being the first state in U.S. history to have two …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday November 28, 2011

Signs of Hope, Part 2

American elections are always hotly contested, and 2012 already conforms to type. Yet Mitt Romney at least is opening the contest by acknowledging the realities faced by President Obama in 2009: {Y]ou were dealt a hard hand. You came into office in the midst of an economic crisis that was not …

Written by FrumForum Editors on Tuesday November 22, 2011

Signs of Hope

My article in New York magazine on the state of conservatism presented a grim picture. Yet there are also signs of hope in the conservative world, evidences of intellectual openness and readiness for problem-solving. We'll try to monitor them here, with links as they appear one by one. …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 22, 2011

Make Schumer and Pelosi Defend Tax Deductions for the Rich

Michael Barone points out the three big tax deductions which are hard to eliminate: the charitable deduction, the home mortgage interest deduction, and the state and local tax deduction. I agree with him that elimination of the charitable deduction is wrong for Republicans. Home mortgage …

Written by John Vecchione on Tuesday November 22, 2011

Face it Buchanan, America is Changing

In British tradition there is a one-line statement that announces the passing of a monarch: “The King is dead. Long live the King.” A political institution with a 1500 year history spanning war, conquest, and in several instances its own apparent extinction, can afford to take a little bad …

Written by Chris Ladd on Monday November 21, 2011

Yes, You Can Get an Affordable Education

Noah Kristula-Green and David Frum have written articles in the past week about the high cost of college tuition and its linkage to student loan debt. Noah aptly points out that one way affluent parents can pass along wealth to their children is by paying for college so their children won't have …

Written by Mark R. Yzaguirre on Monday November 21, 2011

College, Schmollage

I am already fretting about where my four year old will go to college. David Frum , also touring colleges with his son, is even more worried than I am. My parents worried like crazy over where my sister and I would go to college. There’s a good argument that all of this is a waste of energy. …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday November 21, 2011

Where's My Party?

Last month, New York magazine challenged me to answer the question: Why are the other Republicans so mad at you? What's the argument about--and how's it going? They allowed me generous space for an answer, which you can read here .

Written by David Frum on Sunday November 20, 2011