Perry's Wit: It May Not Be Good, But It's Slow
At the CNN/Tea Party GOP debate, Mitt Romney questioned whether Rick Perry truly deserved the credit for Texas' strong job performance. ROMNEY: Well, look, I think Governor Perry would agree with me that if you're dealt four aces that doesn't make you necessarily a great poker player. And …
What Exactly is a "Green" Job? (Updated)
Here's a skill-testing hypothetical for you environmentalists out there. Some future US government decides to impose a tax on oil to maintain the price above $125 a barrel. Responding to this price signal, more Americans tell their real estate agents they want housing from which they can walk …
Granny's Doing Fine
The Census reports that over 65s have actually seen their income rise during the Great Recession: Perhaps no households have weathered the downturn better than those headed by people 65 and older, whose incomes rose 5.5 percent from 2007 to 2010. By contrast, household income for every …
The New Poor
In my column for The Week , I discuss what needs to be done to reduce rising poverty levels: The collapse of the American job market has pushed the poverty rate to the highest level since 1993 — back before welfare reform was even enacted. The poverty rate touched bottom in the year 2000 at …
Sauce for The Goose
Democrats horrified by a proposed change in the assignment of Electoral College votes in Pennsylvania seem to have forgotten they tried the exact same trick in Colorado in 2004.Perry: Slow on His Feet
Here's a sharp observation at National Journal about last night's GOP debate: In the most pivotal moment of the debate, Romney laid a trap for Perry by asking if he was going to “retreat’’ from the idea that Social Security is an unconstitutional federal program that should be turned over …
Even if You're Pro-Immigration...
... what's now being proposed in Ontario, Canada, should shock you. Canada's largest province votes in a provincial election early next month. Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty is seeking a third term. It's a tough re-elect for McGuinty. Once effortlessly economically dominant, Ontario is …
Romney's Task: Show Perry isn't Electable
Republicans watched Rick Perry's stumbling, unprepared performance in last week's debate - and decided they were watching a president in action. The latest CNN/Opinion Research poll has Perry at 32% among Republicans nationwide, Romney tumbled deep into second place at 21%. (If Palin entered …
Why Bush Didn't Mention Canada After 9/11
After the horror and grief of the 9/11 attacks came a distinctively Canadian after-shock: The jolt of a seeming direct insult to Canada by the president of the United States. Nine days after the attacks, president George W. Bush addressed both houses of Congress. The president opened with …
The Two Party System
Comparing and contrasting the jobs speeches of Mitt Romney and President Obama, Americans face an unhappy choice. One political party has decided that the only thing that matters - or anyway, that can be achieved - is to enhance America's long-term growth path by reducing regulations, rationaliz…
Barbara Frum 1937-1992
Today would have been her 74th birthday. " I hate falseness...I hate a lie - the big ones as well as the little tiny ones...and that really fuels me." - Barbara Frum
Never Stop Talking About Reagan
Reading Mitt Romney's op-ed in USA Today , I was saddened by a missed opportunity. Gov. Romney commits to opening more trade talks to build a "Reagan Economic Zone": "a partnership among countries committed to free enterprise and free trade." Good start. But why is only the trade plan named …
Post-Auto America?
The Wall Street Journal reports this morning (in the print edition) that Americans drove 14% fewer miles in June 2011 than June 2010. This marks the fourth consecutive year-over-year reduction in driving mileage. The bad economy explains much of the decline: unemployed people don't commute to …
9/11 Plus 10: The Country We Lost
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-103080" title="unity2" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-09/unity2.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="280" />Advice to Public Sector Unions
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-103036" title="library" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-09/library.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="280" />Home News
Frum Forum alumni continue to move on. Former Managing Editor Meg Mali was hired away by The Hill . Reporter Tim Mak has proceeded to Politico . Now we are about to lose the most crucial Frum Forum team member of them all. Danielle Crittenden Frum, who around here goes by the title of …
Let's Call it Hurricane Euro
In my Marketplace column , I ask why no one is preparing for the coming collapse of the Euro: But why is it only weather stories that command such breathless attention? Meanwhile, the world's largest currency union -- the euro -- continues to careen toward disaster. The euro's travails …
Rick Perry's Land Deals: Why They Matter
Jim Geraghty replies to our blogposts on Texas Governor Rick Perry's uncannily successful land dealings: Last year the Democrat gubernatorial candidate in Texas, Bill White, tried to make an issue of it , and Texans largely yawned. Some of these deals go back to Perry’s time as Texas …
Debunking the Payroll Tax Cut Idea?
Over the past 2 years, I've banged the drum for a payroll tax cut as a way to put more money into workers' hands quickly and efficiently, arguing against most other forms of fiscal stimulus as too slow and unwieldy. Bruce Bartlett states the counter-case today in the New York Times : First, …