Overview for News

Who Burned the GOP Brand?

Aaron Blake and Chris Cillizza describe a new CBS/NYT poll : The poll also asked which class voters thought the Obama Administration and Republicans in Congress favored. While people were pretty evenly split on whether the administration favors the middle class, the rich or the poor, …

Written by David Frum on Thursday October 27, 2011

Greece: The End of the Beginning

A deal on the Greek debt may or may not be helpful, but it certainly is clarifying. Now we can begin to understand: the Euro crisis is not about Greece, and it's not even really about European government overspending. It's about the negative consequences of building a monetary union without a …

Written by David Frum on Thursday October 27, 2011

Perry's Plan: Politics not Policy

In my column for The Week I explain that Rick Perry's tax plan is designed to appeal to voters in the Republican primary, not to policy wonks who care about whether or not the plan makes economic sense: The wonks point out that (as conventionally scored) Perry's tax plan would blow a giant …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday October 26, 2011

Alan Greenspan: Wrong on the Euro

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has been reenforcing the conventional wisdom that the current eurozone debt crisis can be traced to a strong> north-south cultural divide

Written by Jeff Cimbalo on Wednesday October 26, 2011

Where Are the Anti-Semites at Occupy Wall Street?

Back in late 2009, when many still believed that Sarah Palin was the future of American politics, left-wing filmmakers Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll took their camera to a Borders book store in Columbus, Ohio, where the former Alaska governor was signing copies of her book Going Rogue . …

Written by Jonathan Kay on Wednesday October 26, 2011

The Alternative to Rick Perry: Trickle Up

Perhaps the greatest single threat to both conservatism in American life and the nation's economic vitality is not Ivy League professors or Hollywood elites or a sinister "progressive" conspiracy but the economic decline of the middle class. Take away hope in the churning of the free market, and …

Written by Fred Bauer on Wednesday October 26, 2011

To Achieve Social Peace, Overturn Roe

David has made what I think is an interesting analogy about abortion but I think follows the wrong path. He has taken lumps on comparing drink to feticide but the main point needs to be addressed, is abortion comparable to drink or to slavery? David says we won’t have a war over abortion …

Written by John Vecchione on Tuesday October 25, 2011

It's True, Both Parties Subsidize Energy

img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-105973" title="nuclear" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-10/nuclear.jpg" alt="" width="377" height="259" />

Written by Jim DiPeso on Tuesday October 25, 2011

Save the Euro? Could be Illegal

At some point in this crisis, the eurozone is going to have to decide whether it wants to have a solvent euro for the moment in part of the Union, or a lawful and democratic Union in all of it. The EU is groping for ways to bail out a list of states that includes Greece, Italy, Portugal, …

Written by Jeff Cimbalo on Tuesday October 25, 2011

There is Nothing Simple About Perry's Tax Plan

Rick Perry's proposal to make his flat-rate tax plan optional seems like a political master-stroke: it lets him propose the type of flat-rate, broad-based tax plan that most economists like while simultaneously promising that nobody will need to pay more. Nice as this sounds, however, it …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Tuesday October 25, 2011

Will Outside Forces Undermine Democracy in Israel?

Israel’s social protest died out with the opening of the school year. Earlier this month, the Israeli Government approved the recommendations of the Trachtenberg Committee, which include far-reaching measures aimed at easing the burden of the middle class and at making life in Israel more …

Written by Emmanuel Navon on Tuesday October 25, 2011

Bumbling Joe

"When he rises to speak, he does not know what he will say. As he speaks, he does not know what he is saying. When he sits down again, he does not know what he has said." That old House of Commons joke about a certain kind of garrulous parliamentarian applies to America's own Joe Biden. CNN …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday October 25, 2011

America's Debt Will Get Kicked Down the Road

While much of Gucci row wonders what the Joint Select Committee (JSC) will do to their client’s specific interests, the more objective analysts seem to be split into three camps—just like they were in mid-August when the JSC was created by the Budget Control Act. In short, nobody knows what …

Written by Steve Bell on Tuesday October 25, 2011

Being Poor Again

I should have sold my eggs , I thought as I drunkenly biked home after I was fired . In an act of kindness, my stunned coworkers bought me dinner and drinks at the bar nearby. I nearly broke down at the table over tacos, but one of my coworkers fiercely shook my shoulders. “No. No. You …

Written by Galatea on Tuesday October 25, 2011

A Future for the Pro-Life Movement

Matthew Schmitz of First Things registers a complaint by Twitter about my CNN column hoping that the abortion controversy may someday be de-escalated: "It is chilling that @davidfrum doesn't have a spare second to consider the morality of abortion. Politics trumps all." For the …

Written by David Frum on Monday October 24, 2011

We Can't Bail Out College Students

The 'Occupy' movement protesters all over the country are angry above all else. Their demands remain unclear, but calls for total (or partial) forgiveness of student loans seem to be a constant among those waiving angry signs. As most Occupy prostesters are either students or recent college …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday October 24, 2011

Mob Rule Comes to Libya

If there was any doubt in my mind that the so-called Arab Spring was nothing more than a backdrop to a long winter freeze, that doubt was set aside by the gory scenes of the death of Col. Gaddafi, played again and again on TV networks. The mad dog of the Middle East was dead, but not before he was …

Written by Tarek Fatah on Monday October 24, 2011

Admit it, The GOP Needs a Smart Nominee

Mitt Romney is the most intellectual of the leading Republican presidential candidates (Romney, Cain, Perry). That can’t be questioned. His masterful debate performances – capped by the October 18th debate's one-on-one destruction of Perry – have evinced quick-wittedness, a deep grasp of policy …

Written by Stephen Richer on Monday October 24, 2011

Rubio's False Bio: Why It Matters

The more I think about the Rubio scandal , the more I am troubled by it. It's not just that having lived in the Soviet Union for a quarter century, I find it offensive when people falsely claim themselves or their families to have been victims of Communist oppression. I am really concerned about …

Written by Andrew Pavelyev on Monday October 24, 2011

An American Soldier in Paris

My French hosts took me out for a special meal at lunchtime. The gent sitting next to me was explaining the specials, written on a chalkboard; "And zis wan ees le poullet - zee chicken - served weeth zee pommes de terre wheech ees zee patoto - and zees wan is le bif-thtek served weeth le …

Written by Sean Linnane on Sunday October 23, 2011