Overview for Frum Now

The Cordray Crisis

Constitutional abuse begets constitutional abuse. President Obama has engaged in a dubious maneuver to force a recess appointment through a Senate that denies it has recessed. (Brad Plumer has a good run-down of the legal issues, here .) The president's action has ignited a fireworks show …

Written by David Frum on Thursday January 5, 2012

Santorum's Flawed Plan for Working America

In my column for The Week I discuss the problems with Rick Santorum economic plan: Santorum's concern for the American middle class has been one of the most attractive features of his candidacy for the Republican nomination. Alone among the Republican candidates, he took note of the …

Written by David Frum on Thursday January 5, 2012

Ron Paul's Bad Memory

Odd experience on CNN this morning. I was on a panel that had a chance to interview Ron Paul. I asked this question : "I attended a precinct caucus last night where the person who spoke on your behalf praised you as a strong social conservative: pro-life, anti-gay marriage. He also described …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 4, 2012

The Secret of Ron Paul's Success

Based on the tiny unrepresentative sample at the precinct caucus I attended: his core group are true believers, who have absorbed his message on Austrian economics and foreign policy non-interventionism. But when they communicate to the broader Iowa Republican rank-and-file, they repackage …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday January 3, 2012

Ron Paul's Personal Responsibility

Andrew Sullivan complained yesterday that I had engaged in a "McCarthyite" attack on Ron Paul by writing the following : A politician isn’t answerable for the antics of every one of his supporters. But there’s surely a reason, isn’t there, that racists, anti-Semites, 9/11 Truthers, and …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday January 3, 2012

Government Jobs Won't Pay the Bills

What is wrong (and right) with Joe Stiglitz’s analysis of the Great Depression? Click here for strong> Part 1

Written by David Frum on Monday January 2, 2012

The Problems With Stiglitz's Depression

What is wrong with Joe Stiglitz's analysis of the Great Depression? Click here for Part 1 . Problem 1: Repeat after me - The Great Depression was a global event. That's a fact American economic historians always have great trouble keeping in mind, and Stiglitz here succumbs to the national …

Written by David Frum on Monday January 2, 2012

Stiglitz Rewrites the Great Depression

Joe Stiglitz's offers in the current Vanity Fair an arresting theory of both the Great Depression and the current economic malaise. Contra the (now) orthodox view propounded by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, Stiglitz argues that the Depression was not fundamentally a monetary event. …

Written by David Frum on Monday January 2, 2012

Will Iran Face Real Sanctions?

On the last day of 2011, President Obama "with reservations" signed the authorization for the 2012 defense budget. The president said he objected to language in the bill that granted him powers to detain terror suspects indefinitely - but forbade him to transfer detainees to the mainland US. …

Written by David Frum on Sunday January 1, 2012

History That Matters

In my column for the National Post , I discuss the importance of the latest issue of the Dorchester Review : I've written before about Canada's important new historical journal, the Dorchester Review. Now they have published a second issue - and I am doing it again. This opening …

Written by David Frum on Saturday December 31, 2011

Lest We Forget

As the gold market tumbles , time to recall: even if the price of gold had remained high forever, people who trusted in Glenn Beck would still have been cruelly cheated . I'm trying to recall a worse case of media ethics malpractice than Glenn Beck and Goldline, but thus far I draw a blank. …

Written by David Frum on Thursday December 29, 2011

The Gold Bubble Pops

( Source ) The price of gold dropped $31 an ounce yesterday. Gold has dropped $400 since the summer. Gold still shows gains over one year ago. And of course people who bought gold at the prices that prevailed before 2008 can claim profits of 50% or better on their investment. (NB: The best …

Written by David Frum on Thursday December 29, 2011

The Coming Rand Paul Campaign

Andrew Sullivan predicts a future Rand Paul run. Fascinating that a movement of self-proclaimed individualists would manifest itself as a dynastic cult of personality.

Written by David Frum on Monday December 26, 2011

The GOP's Followership Problem

Here's a question to worry about in 2012: Does the inability of Speaker Boehner to lead his House caucus foreshadow the inability of a President Romney to lead a dual-chambered Republican Congress? One of the dominant factors motivating the decisions of rank-and-file right-wing House …

Written by David Frum on Monday December 26, 2011

Jesus vs. Santa

In my column for the National Post , I ask who is truly waging the War on Christmas: We hear a lot about the war on Christmas. But the true seasonal struggle is the war within Christmas, a single holiday shared by two deeply antagonistic religions. Religion 1 is the religion of Jesus …

Written by David Frum on Saturday December 24, 2011

Rick Perry's Little Trick

Mike Huckabee has not endorsed Rick Perry for president. On the contrary, there's a long, rich record of Huckabee jabs at Perry. Yet take a look at the new Rick Perry ad, "President of Honor," aimed at the Iowa caucus-voters. The ad montages endorsements and testimonials from winners of the …

Written by David Frum on Friday December 23, 2011

Who is Killing Iran's Currency?

Something - or somebody - is destroying Iran's currency . Steady decline over the past two months has turned into a "panic" over the past 72 hours. [T]he rial fell to unprecedented lows against the dollar Tuesday, amounting to a 15 percent loss in value over the past three days, the Fars News …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday December 21, 2011

Congressional Quagmire

The problem is bigger than the House of Representatives. The prior question is: why did the Senate adjourn having passed such a ridiculous thing as a two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday? It's the answer to that question that reveals the true dysfunction in Congress. The Senate …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 20, 2011

The Right to Rise? Ok!

In today's Wall Street Journal , Gov. Jeb Bush celebrates the "right to rise," a concept he credits to Rep. Paul Ryan. The idea behind the phrase is a powerful one: "We have to make it easier for people to do the things that allow them to rise." At a time when Americans born into the poorest …

Written by David Frum on Monday December 19, 2011

The Anti-Lincoln Brigade

You know what's really discouraging? This is discouraging, this apologetic by Matt Welch, editor of Reason magazine, on behalf of Ron Paul. Welch takes exception to my restatement of the I thought notorious fact about Ron Paul's preference for the Confederate over the Union cause in the …

Written by David Frum on Friday December 16, 2011