Overview for FF Spotlight

Perry's Money Machine Sputters

Back in August, which was a couple of political lifetimes ago, I wrote a piece about Texas Governor Rick Perry's strong fundraising base, specifically his unique ability to access a key part of the GOP's fundraising base--wealthy Republicans in Texas. Well, it looks like that money machine is …

Written by Mark R. Yzaguirre on Friday November 18, 2011

Premature Euro-Skeptics

The New York Times' profile of Euro-skeptic Bernard Connolly--who warned early of the danger of creating a single currency for a polyglot continent--is one more reminder of the enduring force of the old common-law rule: truth is not only no defense; truth actually compounds libel. People …

Written by David Frum on Friday November 18, 2011

How Cyber Warfare Can Stop Iran

Eli Lake at the Daily Beast posts another of his amazing reports on super-secret spy stuff, this time on Israel's campaign of electronic sabotage of Iran's illicit nuclear program. Watching Eli pile up these scoops is starting to be like watching the New York Yankees pile up World Series …

Written by David Frum on Thursday November 17, 2011

Answers for the Next Foreign Policy Debate

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Written by David Frum on Wednesday November 16, 2011

How Gingrich (Literally) Cleaned Up Congress

Newt Gingrich’s surge in the polls raises at least an outside chance that the former House Speaker is going to end up topping the GOP ticket next November. Nobody disputes that Gingrich is very smart and a good debater. He also has the sort of high-level political experience (including foreign …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Tuesday November 15, 2011

The (Liberal's) Case for Mitt

Kevin Drum states it: A few months ago I was pretty much rooting for a Perry or a Bachmann to win the GOP nomination because I figured (a) they'd lose big in the general election, and (b) their loss might push the Republican Party back toward the center sooner than otherwise. But it's just …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 15, 2011

Rick Perry's Chutzpah

Rick Perry is calling for legislators to be thrown into jail for insider trading. Perry's comments are particularly bold given that allegations of insider trading have followed him through his own political career. Most people forget that Michele Bachmann's original criticism of Perry's HPV …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Tuesday November 15, 2011

British Conservatives Face the Future

Anyone who gets drawn into the attempts to modernize the Republican Party inevitably ends up reading about the experiences of the UK and Canadian conservatives. The Canadian Conservatives went through many years in the wilderness before they eventually secured their current governing majority and …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Tuesday November 15, 2011

With Friends Like Obama...

As Chris Sands writes at Huffington Post Canada about the Obama administration's hostile action on the Keystone pipeline, with friends like President Obama, who needs enemies? [Canadian Prime Minister Stephen] Harper has been a great friend to Obama: supportive of the U.S. global warming …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 14, 2011

Merkel's Plan to End the Euro

Whatever political settlement the Lisbon Treaty created to allow for the permanence of the euro is about to change. Chancellor Merkel will propose a significant change in the existing treaties, which will finally allow Greece and perhaps others to leave the euro but not the EU, and likely bestow …

Written by Jeff Cimbalo on Monday November 14, 2011

Waterboarding and the Candidates

Why couldn't one of the candidates have responded to the waterboarding question in Saturday night's CBS/ National Journal debate as follows: I won't second-guess the actions of the Bush administration. But you are asking about policies that were abandoned some 8 years ago, largely at the …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 14, 2011

Res Judicata: Jobs for Americans First

Last week’s blog post on restricting legal immigration as a partial solution to persistently high unemployment drew many comments. They made three basic arguments: 1) immigrants create demand for goods and services that results in a net plus for the economy, 2) immigrants do not compete with …

Written by Howard Foster on Monday November 14, 2011

New Laws Won't Stop the Next Sandusky

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett says he wants new laws to stop crimes like those that Jerry Sandusky is alleged to have committed. He’s wrong. Terrible as former Penn State Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky’s alleged crimes are, there’s no case for new laws. In fact, insofar as Pennsylvan…

Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday November 14, 2011

Killing Keystone Won't Reduce Oil Use

In my column for the National Post I explain why ending the Keystone XL pipeline won't reduce the amount of oil people consume: The true locus of opposition to the pipeline is not Nebraska, but California, where big liberal environmentalist donors have seized on the pipeline as a talismanic …

Written by David Frum on Saturday November 12, 2011

The Free Market Can't Clean Up This Nuclear Mess

Eli Lehrer ably defends the Department of Energy, the flawed and unloved agency whose name fell away from Rick Perry's lips when his neural network took an inopportune coffee break. As Lehrer pointed out, about half of DOE's budget is allotted for watchdogging our nuclear arsenal and cleaning …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Friday November 11, 2011

Upward Mobility: It's a Race Thing

You don’t have to accept some of the anarchistic radicalism at Occupy Wall Street to admit that America is a country with high income inequality and low upward mobility. Some Conservatives have tried to obfuscate this reality but others are actually wrestling with it. A recent issue of National …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Friday November 11, 2011

My Questions for the Next GOP Debate

Had I been on the panel for Wednesday's economics debate, I'd have opened with the question: "Are taxes lower or higher today than on the day President Obama was sworn into office?" Just for fun. CBS and National Journal asked me among others to suggest some questions to ask the candidates at …

Written by David Frum on Friday November 11, 2011

In Defense of the Department of Energy (Sort of)

Before he famously stumbled in the debate earlier this week, Rick Perry said he would eliminate the Department of Energy. Ron Paul agrees. Any time one sees a bunch of libertarian minded people in a room together (heck, even libertarian-leaning liberals) the Department of Energy often ends up on …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Friday November 11, 2011

Bob McDonnell: The Gov Who Governed

More than a few liberal commentators will celebrate the supposed " shellacking " that the Republicans got in the elections on Tuesday. And, certainly, on two major issues--government union power (in Ohio) and abortion (in Mississippi)--the voters sided with the political Left. But, in one of …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Thursday November 10, 2011

Do Facts Matter in the Inequality Debate?

In the Weekly Standard , Matthew Continetti warns conservatives that the data on income inequality might, just might, not be backing up conservative talking points: What too many [conservatives] have done is accept the premise that the purpose of government is to lessen inequalities of …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Wednesday November 9, 2011