Overview for News

Who Supports Government Space Programs?

After quoting from a speech where a Republican presidential candidate praises the space program, Mark Palko writes : I [Palko] don't know what the reaction of the crowd was (the reporting wasn't that detailed) but I'd imagine it was friendly. You can usually get a warm response from a …

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Written by Andrew Gelman on Monday January 2, 2012

Change Iowa's Secret Ballot

University of Iowa professor Stephen Bloom has gotten a lot of well-deserved criticism for an error-ridden piece in em> The Atlantic

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Written by Eli Lehrer 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 …

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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. …

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Written by David Frum on Monday January 2, 2012

Res Judicata: Can an E-Verify Mandate Be Enforced?

Enforcement of the law prohibiting the employment of illegal immigrants, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), enacted in 1986, has been pathetic. When the was first enacted, illegal migration from Mexico initially slowed to a trickle as Mexicans waited to see how seriously the U.S. …

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Written by Howard Foster on Monday January 2, 2012

Watch: Noah Kristula-Green on MSNBC

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy On the morning of January 1st, I was able to join the panel for Up With Chris Hayes on MSNBC. I'd of course recommend watching both part 1 and part 2 of the show, but if you are short on time, I'd watch part 2 …

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Written by Noah Kristula-Green 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. …

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Written by David Frum on Sunday January 1, 2012

All American Muslims Remember 9/11

Like those of a previous generation remembering November 22, 1963 or December 7, 1941, most of us alive today will never forget "where we were" that dark day ten years ago, when the world changed. But TLC's controversial All-American Muslim series rings in the New Year with a provocative new …

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Written by Telly Davidson on Sunday January 1, 2012

Catch Noah Kristula-Green on 'Up With Chris Hayes'

Don't sleep in once you are done with your New Year's Eve party. Instead, make sure to check out MSNBC's Up With Chris Hayes at 8am (EST) on New Year's Day. Frum Forum's Managing Editor Noah Kristula-Green will be on the show's panel. Also on the panel for the January 1st show will be …

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Written by FrumForum Editors on Saturday December 31, 2011

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 …

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Written by David Frum on Saturday December 31, 2011

The Voice of the Celtics

With the NBA season finally upon us, I find myself thinking about an NBA legend who never laced up the sneakers – legendary Celtics announcer, Johnny Most. I’ve written about sports voices before, those I loved (Dave Zinkoff) and those I hated (John Sterling). With Johnny Most, I had trouble …

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Written by Alan Hirsch on Friday December 30, 2011

Best of FF: A Party of Jerks

As 2011 comes to a close, Frum Forum plans to re-run some of our best featured pieces from the year. Here is Eli Lehrer's observation on the GOP leadership. I’m not the first to make this comment , but the current debt limit debate shows what the Tea Party movement (which I once …

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Written by Eli Lehrer on Friday December 30, 2011

Ron Paul: No Pro-Lifer

For at least some of the Republican candidates, I don't doubt that the position that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape, incest and the mother's life stems from sincere, deep moral conviction. But Iowa front-runner Ron Paul's position that states should outlaw abortion even in …

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Written by Eli Lehrer on Thursday December 29, 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. …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday December 29, 2011

Middle Class Taxpayers Still Lose

The recent fight over the extension of the payroll tax holiday has once again shown that the Republican Party does not particularly care about the middle class tax burden. The party is quite interested though in cutting taxes on the highest earners. What gets completely ignored is the fact that …

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Written by Andrew Pavelyev 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 …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday December 29, 2011

Best of FF: Confessions of a Climate Change Convert

As 2011 comes to a close, Frum Forum plans to re-run some of our best featured pieces from the year. D.R. Tucker wrote an especially provocative piece about how he changed his position on climate change and global warming. I was defeated by facts. It wasn’t all that long ago when …

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Written by D.R. Tucker on Thursday December 29, 2011

Wikileaks Wasn't a Threat

As 2011 draws to a close, the issue of Wikileaks disclosures remains to be resolved – a breach of trust to some, the right to know to others. However, if one examines the record, it’s pretty hard to see much of a  threat to American (or intentional) security, in the disclosures by …

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Written by Peter Worthington on Wednesday December 28, 2011

Best of FF: Fox Geezer Syndrome

As 2011 comes to a close,  Frum Forum plans to re-run some of our best featured pieces from the year. We will be running past pieces up until January 2nd of 2012. We start with an analysis of 'Fox Geezer Syndrome' by Richard Ramsay. Conor Friedersdorf strong> remembers what a pain it was to …

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Written by Richmond Ramsey on Wednesday December 28, 2011

Don't Blame Romney for Ballot Trouble

The Republican Party of Virginia is on the verge of the appearance of a significant scandal. Allegations , fueled by a post by Richard Winger at Ballot Access News , are swirling, suggesting that the Virginia GOP changed the rules for the validation of signatures in October 2011: But what has …

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Written by Fred Bauer on Tuesday December 27, 2011