Overview for News

Silence Won't Save the Super Committee

Hill-focused media report breathlessly that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the “super committee”) has clamped down on possibilities of leaks by allowing each of the 12 members to bring one staffer to meetings. Why? To “prevent leaks,” the staffers say. Given the track record …

Written by Steve Bell on Friday October 7, 2011

The Coming Super Committee Crack-Up

Under any other circumstances, one would expect a technical, lobbyist-dominated group like the Super Committee to do what Congress always does when confronted with a crisis: Kick the can down the road. However, evidence suggests that won't happen this time. Why? Because the only incentives the …

Written by Mytheos Holt on Thursday October 6, 2011

How to Fix Obamacare

In my column for The Week , I discuss ways in which the Affordable Care Act could be streamlined into a workable solution for health care reform: If the election were held today, President Obama would probably lose. The Republicans would very likely score gains in the Senate, but …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday October 5, 2011

Despite the Downturn, Canada Prospers

In 2007, the line ran down the street, as people queued to get in on the action. Some apparently waited for days hoping to purchase a condo in a building to be built. With such demand, the developers kept upping the unit prices – literally posting the ever-rising prices on a billboard. The …

Written by David Gratzer on Wednesday October 5, 2011

FrumForum Wins The Midnight

Politico claims that their reporting Wins the Morning. But when it comes to writing pieces about whether Sarah Palin will run for President, its clear that Frum Forum Wins the Midnight. Mytheos Holt writing for Frum Forum at 12:21 a.m., Will Palin be Forced to Run? Palin’s …

Written by FrumForum Editors on Wednesday October 5, 2011

Speak Latvian, Or Else

It sounds like the nightmare of many cultural relativists: policemen barge through the doors of retail-stores, super-markets, and malls and charge immigrants with fines if they are not proficient in the native language or aware of its fine phonetics. What sounds rather bizarre is custom in Latvia, …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Wednesday October 5, 2011

Will Palin Be Forced to Run?

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Written by Mytheos Holt on Wednesday October 5, 2011

New Ideas from Old Europe

A recent study by the Martin Prosperity Institute ( Creativity and Prosperity: The Global Creativity Index ) makes it clear why a solid, intimate and fruitful transatlantic relationship is needed. While many frantically point to China’s stellar economic growth and hunger for innovation, according …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Tuesday October 4, 2011

Cain Was Not Playing A 'Race Card'

There is a difference between being post-racial and racially blind. Herman Cain’s resume is as long as my driveway. He is highly intelligent and energetic, a mathematician and Navy man who exudes positivism and confidence and has accomplished much. He will tell anyone who listens that he owes …

Written by Brad Schaeffer on Tuesday October 4, 2011

Scott Brown's Path to Victory

The recent UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll of the 2012 Massachusetts Senate race has some sobering news for Scott Brown: among registered voters, he has a slim three-point (41-38) lead over Democratic frontrunner Elizabeth Warren. Other polls have also suggested that this could be a close race. …

Written by Fred Bauer on Tuesday October 4, 2011

Limbaugh: How Dare Cain Find "Niggerhead" Offensive

After a story this weekend unturned the most famous rock in the recent history of presidential politics, some made a prediction which I hoped would prove incorrect: The person most at risk of harm from a racial controversy in the GOP race would prove to be Herman Cain. Cain has thrived in part by …

Written by Jay Gatsby on Tuesday October 4, 2011

This is What Anonymous Funding Looks Like

Who paid William McKinley's presidential campaign expenses? The short answer is: we have no idea. Prior to the 20th century, and especially prior the 1970s, campaign finance was the darkest secret of American politics. Money was raised in secret, often in very large amounts, and spent in ways …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday October 4, 2011

Inflation Hawks: Mugged by Reality, Again

Remember how the Fed's easy money stance was supposed to drive commodity prices higher and higher? Ooops. S&P GSCI Index dropped 24% since April, signalling a bear market 4 Oct, 2011, 0506 hrs IST, Bloomberg LONDON: Commodities fell to a 10-month low as signs of a contraction …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday October 4, 2011

Christie is Ready for the White House

Speculation is rampant as to whether New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will enter the 2012 Republican presidential primary. Almost all the media focus thus far has been on political calculations , such as Christie’s ability to raise money, put together a national campaign organization, and …

Written by Clifton Yin on Tuesday October 4, 2011

Santorum's Don't Ask Don't Tell Stance Makes No Sense

President Obama, justifiably, has scored a few political points by criticizing Republican candidates for not standing up for a gay solider who asked a question at a debate or even thanking him for his service. In a sense, though, the entire situation is being blown out of proportion: the response …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday October 3, 2011

Will America Pay for Europe's Bailout?

In my column for CNN, I discuss what sort of bailout Europe will need when it finally confronts the full scale of its debt crisis: It's been obvious for some time now what has to be done to avert the bank run: a European Super TARP, a version of the Troubled Asset Relief Program that was used …

Written by David Frum on Monday October 3, 2011

Forget the Name, How Did Perry's Family Afford Their Property?

Rick Perry's family leased a hunting property that once went by the name of Niggerhead. That doesn't seem very much of a story. The Perry family did not apply the name. They went to some effort to change it after signing the lease in the early 1980s. Yesterday's Washington Post story questions …

Written by David Frum on Monday October 3, 2011

Take Herman Cain Seriously

I don't believe that Herman Cain is going to be the Republican nominee. The loss of his communications director under slightly mysterious circumstances shows that his surging campaign could be having growing pains. Although I have doubts that it would really generate nearly enough revenue, I find …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Sunday October 2, 2011

Solyndra's Solar Flame-Out

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Written by Hank Adler on Sunday October 2, 2011

Who Wins & Loses in McGuinty's Ontario

In my column for the National Post , I discuss the various political windfalls that have characterized Dalton McGuinty's reign as Premiere of Ontario: Politics is about who gets what, when, and how. Let's apply that famous definition to Dalton McGuinty's Ontario: Who has been getting …

Written by David Frum on Saturday October 1, 2011