Overview for News

Ending the Senatorial Hold Privilege

Of all forms of filibuster, the one that seems most unjustifiable to me - and also by the way most injurious to Republicans - is the practice of the senatorial "hold" on presidential appointees. The Democratic majority in the Senate has dropped below 60, and suddenly the air is thick with calls …

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Written by David Frum on Saturday January 23, 2010

Filibusters: Trying to Kill Them Only Makes Them Stronger

Another caution to keep in mind about the filibuster: as with campaign finance reform, past attempts to reform it have instead aggravated the very conditions that reformers most deplore. The Democratic majority in the Senate has dropped below 60, and suddenly the air is thick with calls for …

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Written by David Frum on Saturday January 23, 2010

In a World Without Filibusters

Filibuster critics argue that it enhances the minority at the expense of the majority. People who know the Senate well tell me that this is not precisely accurate. The Democratic majority in the Senate has dropped below 60, and suddenly the air is thick with calls for filibuster reform. As a …

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Written by David Frum on Saturday January 23, 2010

Fixing the Filibuster

The Democratic majority in the Senate has dropped below 60, and suddenly the air is thick with calls for filibuster reform. This is the first installment in a series. Click here to read the rest of the series. The Democratic majority in the Senate has dropped below 60, and …

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Written by David Frum on Saturday January 23, 2010

Defending Internet Speech

I have just finished Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the Court in Citizen United v. FEC and one thing is mightily clear -- conservatives are now the chief defenders of free speech and the internet, and the importance of the blogosphere has broken through to the Justices. I have just finished …

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Written by John Vecchione on Saturday January 23, 2010

How Chavez Rules

President Chavez's Bolivarian "missiones" are a highly personalized form of presidential largesse financed by the secret unaudited accounts of Venezuela's oil revenues. But these "missiones" do not function like a social welfare program. Click here for all of David Frum's posts from Venezuela. …

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Written by David Frum on Friday January 22, 2010

Fox's Own Poll Shows Tea Party, Palin Less Popular Than Obama

Voters in a Fox News poll prefer Barack Obama to a hypothetical Tea Party candidate. And it's a result Fox News chose to bury in its reporting on the poll -- choosing instead to highlight "anti-Obama" voter sentiment. A new  Fox News survey shows that Americans remain deeply wary of the tea …

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Written by Tim Mak on Friday January 22, 2010

Healthcare Status Quo is Not an Option

Right now, convincing the system that you've got a disability and dropping out of the workforce is a surer path to long-term health insurance than getting up and going to work every day. I have read all day about the democratic process in action in Massachusetts. I'm a little puzzled that one …

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Written by M. Scott on Friday January 22, 2010

Obama Must Learn from Clinton

If the Democrats are smart, they will take a page from Dick Morris’ winning formula for Clinton’s resurgence and pull Obama back to the center. As Yogi Berra would say, is this political déjà vu all over again?  If so, then despite their recent major setbacks, all is not lost for the …

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Written by Brad Schaeffer on Friday January 22, 2010

GOP Should Take Lead in Championing Disability Rights

In the 2008 elections, both parties released disability policy statements but the issues that concern the disability community have never been fully addressed. Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down. –George H. W. Bush on the signing of the Americans with Disabilities …

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Written by Dana Commandatore on Friday January 22, 2010

U.S. Air Reaction to Praying Jew Understandable

Some rabbis have criticized a US Air crew for religious insensitivity when it diverted a plane and called in a bomb squad to investigate a Jewish teen who turned out to be... praying . However, the reaction of the staff was very much understandable. Some rabbis have criticized a US Air crew for …

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Written by Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld on Friday January 22, 2010

SCOTUS: No Means No

The Supreme Court must be wondering: When will you blockheads get the message? Limits on political giving are OK. Limits on political spending are not. The Supreme Court has again and again struck speech restrictions to the ground, only to be confronted with ever new attempts to control speech. …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday January 21, 2010

More Fun Venezuela Facts: Anti-Semitism

Driving through an older part of Caracas, graffiti everywhere, most of it copies of 1990s U.S. gang tags. But also saw this, in letters 2 feet high : a star of David, and a slogan: "Israel, cause of all our misery." Entrance to a Caracas synagogue. Pedestrian access blocked, auto only, through a …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday January 21, 2010

RNC to Offer Members Alternative to "Purity Test"

FF Exclusive: The Republican National Committee is backing away from a controversial "litmus test" for GOP candidates and will offer members a significantly watered-down version to vote upon at its annual conference next week, Frum Forum has learned. The Republican National Committee is …

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Written by Tim Mak on Thursday January 21, 2010

Has the GOP Learned its Lesson Too?

Scott Brown won in Massachusetts with a big-tent Republican campaign. Perhaps the GOP is coming to recognize that victory doesn't wear an ideological straitjacket. Congratulations Scott Brown! Yah-boo to the defeated Democrats. But now the challenge returns to the GOP: Can we learn the right …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday January 21, 2010

Edwards' Confession

John Edwards will acknowledge today that he has lied for more than a year about the paternity of his child with Rielle Hunter. It's a pathetic end to a squalid story. John Edwards will acknowledge today that he has lied for more than a year about the paternity of his child with Rielle Hunter. It's …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday January 21, 2010

Palin's Bunker Mentality

To Sarah Palin, every media figure -- even those like Glenn Beck who support her -- has become the enemy. Let's start off with a fact: America doesn't elect victims to the White House.  Michael Dukakis did not become our 41st chief magistrate by complaining about the worst ads he'd seen in 25 …

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Written by Zac Morgan on Thursday January 21, 2010

Brown's Win Gives GOP a Voice in the Health Reform Debate

Scott Brown's win won't kill healthcare reform. It will however force the Democrats to listen to Republican concerns and craft a bill that can win broad support. Last Friday, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) told the em> Los Angeles Times

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Written by Matt Cavedon on Thursday January 21, 2010

Thank RINOs for Saving the Filibuster

Just five years ago, conservatives were hailing the prospect of abolishing the filibuster and Bill Frist nearly did so just to approve a few judges. How the tables have turned. How the tables have turned. Just five years ago, when chatter about a "permanent Republican majority" was still on the …

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Written by Alex Knepper on Thursday January 21, 2010

Jumping on the Brown Bandwagon

Tim Pawlenty and every other 2012 and 2010 candidate will try to get in front of the Scott Brown parade, but it seems that Pawlenty may have missed what the parade is about. httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Sm4ROKgus On Tim Pawlenty’s Freedom First PAC homepage you’ll find first a …

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Written by Bryce McNitt on Thursday January 21, 2010