Res Judicata: Defending Romneycare
The Massachusetts health care law signed in 2006 by Governor Romney has three main parts: 1. It requires all citizens to buy a state-approved health insurance plan, 2. It provides subsidies to certain low-income people to pay for insurance, 3. It requires employers to provide health …
The Rookie as the Nominee
Consider this scenario: During midterm elections, voters deliver a stinging rebuke to a Democratic President whose plans to rescue a country from a serious downturn appear to have failed. This leads to record Republican pickups in the House of Representatives. As an economy that once appeared …
Running Down the Road
Everybody wants to be a hometown hero. I was interviewed this month by Quinte & County Living , the lifestyle magazine of Prince Edward County, Ontario, where my wife and I and my kids have been spending summers since 1988. After almost 20 years of schnorring off my in-laws, this year …
Our Frum Family Sukkah
Washington's rains finally ceased and so we were able to build a Frum family sukkah in time for night 4 of the holiday. Those are sheaves of corn stalk standing beside, and more corn stalks forming the roof. I'm thinking that Sukkot, not Hanukkah, truly is the Jewish answer to Christmas, at …
Recovery First, Fiscal Discipline Second
In my column for the National Post , I explain why long term deficit reduction needs to happen after the economy recovers, not before: That's why the bottom of a bad recession is a bad time to worry about deficits. The recession makes the deficit problem look bigger than it really is. …
John Sterling: The Adolescent Radio Announcer
The New York Times recently ran an enormous and mostly favorable article about the Yankees’ controversial radio announcer, John Sterling. The article quotes Sterling, who has a staggeringly high opinion of himself, as saying: “I never hear any criticism to my face.” This wasn’t always the …
Fresh Fertility Eggs for Sale
As I wait for the fertility specialist to print out the fifty pages of documents informing me about the process of selling one’s eggs—legal rights, psychological warnings, and medical disclaimers—I’m desperately left grasping for small talk. “I’m sorry that the printer is so slow, ” she …
Fast and Furious Failure
Over at Huffington Post Canada , Sun News Network producer Miranda Frum points out the many problems with the enforcement of laws against contraband trafficking: The drug war in Mexico is an American war, the only difference being those fighting and those who are dying happen to almost be …
The Highest Form of Flattery
During the "shameless plugs" segment of MSNBC's Daily Rundown, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele announced a new website he will be launching on Monday, October 17th. We at Frum Forum were particularly big fans of the name he choose: I'm proud to announce on Monday we are launching the …
Is Wikileaks Responsible for Iran's Latest Plot?
Eli Lake asks : Was Iran's plot to murder Saudi ambassador to the US Adel-el Jubeir inspired by Wikileaks revelations? If the Iranians needed a motive to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States they may have found it in a diplomatic cable leaked earlier this year by …
If I Do Say So Myself
Googling one's own name is sometimes called a "vanity search." In my case, the practice calls for another name, since I can assure you the results are generally 10-1 ungratifying to vanity. Call it defensive Googling. But this morning it did yield a positive result, unearthing a line I'd written in …Romney Can't Stop the Tea Party
By all appearances Mitt Romney seems likely to walk away with the Republican Party’s 2012 nomination. We can still expect a few scares, particularly in Iowa and South Carolina, but it’s getting harder to construct a credible scenario in which Romney fumbles this one away. He looks smart, savvy, …
Who Watches the Watchmen?
Matt Yglesias says he doesn't "get" why Tyler Cowen would describe public-choice theorem as important. Here's why. There's much more to public choice than a cynical assertion that politicians act in self-interested ways. Public choice (like so much else!) builds on an insight of the great …
Now Here's a Movement Conservative!
Blogger and friend of the site Robert Stacy McCain makes his case for why he should be David's replacement on Marketplace at the American Spectator : My deepest sympathies regarding the recent news that your longtime token "conservative" commentator, David Frum, has decided to resign …
Keep Ground Forces a Defense Priority
One of the things that we've learned in the past decade is that failed and failing states are probably the single greatest threat to America. They too often become breeding grounds for terrorists and radical extremists. The corollary of this, of course, is that there is no substitute for …
Does the Tea Party Have a Future?
In my column for The Week , I discuss what the future of the Tea Party will be if Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee for President: The astounding result: After three years of battling against ObamaCare, the most likely winner of the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 is the …
'Democracy Denied' is the Guide to Fighting Over-Regulation
Phil Kerpen’s Democracy Denied ($24.95 in hardcopy; $9.99 for Kindle) Is a none-too-long book that, if widely read (which it deserves to be) would provide something that’s absent from today’s politics: a coherent and useful agenda for the Tea Party and its fellow travelers. Kerpen’s manifesto-l…
My Farewell Interview with Marketplace
My final interview with Marketplace is up on the web: RYSSDAL: So why this move? Why is this no longer a good fit for you? FRUM: Well, we've been doing a point/counter-point here between me and Bob Reich for a couple of years. And it's been a lot of fun. I've certainly learned a lot …
Cain's 999 'Plan' is Just a Slogan
At last night's Republican debate, Michele Bachmann said "If you turn 999 upside down, the devil is in the details." It was a clever line. Problem is that when it comes to Herman Cain's 999 plan, there are no details, because there is no plan. What there is is a slightly longer list of talking …