Overview for News

Violence in Iran - 3

Among other casualties of the violence in Tehran: President Obama’s foreign policy hopes. If he persists now in his deal-making efforts, he’ll be acquiescing in fraud and violence. What is happening in Iran now is this year’s Tiananmen Square, and if Obama tries do business with the regime …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday June 16, 2009

Violence in Iran - 2

Here's Bret Stephens in today's Wall Street Journal : In Cairo two weeks ago, Mr. Obama trumpeted "my commitment . . . to governments that reflect the will of the people." He also lamented that "the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government." …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday June 16, 2009

Gay Marriage: Why Now?

Jeff Lax and Justin Phillips put together a dataset using national opinion polls from 1994 through 2009 and analyzed several different opinion questions on gay rights. Here I'm going to talk about their estimates of state-by-state trends in support for gay marriage. In the past fifteen years, …

Written by Andrew Gelman on Sunday June 14, 2009

Green Bay Makes The Case For Federalism

Yesterday, Barack Obama visited Green Bay, Wisconsin, to tout that city’s successful efforts to rein in the costs of healthcare. Obama used the occasion to make the case for federal healthcare reform, modeled on the success of Green Bay and other cities like it. But Green Bay’s …

Written by Alexander Benard on Friday June 12, 2009

Gop: Obamacare Will Destroy The Best Health Care System The World Has Ever Known

On Sunday, a senior Senate Republican made his case against the Democrats’ plan for a “public option” for health insurance. He explained that the public option would " be the first steps in... destroying the best health care system the world has ever known ." There are very good arguments against …

Written by Henry Clay on Thursday June 11, 2009

Welcome To The Waiting Room

There are not enough primary care physicians to meet the demand for care among the existing insured population. Adding 46 million patients without addressing the shortage of care options will overwhelm an already strained healthcare system. As the health care debate heats up, lawmakers are …

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Thursday June 11, 2009

Home News

Signs are appearing that the Obama administration will soon begin a push for "comprehensive" immigration reform: ie amnesty. My latest column in em> The Week

Written by David Frum on Thursday June 11, 2009

You Read It First At New Majority

The current issue of New York magazine features a profile of New York’s junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The article notes that after law school and a year of practice at a New York firm: [S]he received a prestigious clerkship with Court of Appeals judge Roger Miner, a Republican …

Written by Frum Forum Editors on Tuesday June 9, 2009

The Latest Healthcare Fad

Health reform is dominated by fashionable ideas. Remember when HMOs were the panacea? Add ACOs to a growing list of “cures” touted in Washington today, including price controls for pharmaceuticals and prevention . Mention McAllen, Texas, and people don’t usually think of health care. …

Written by David Gratzer on Tuesday June 9, 2009

Democracy In Albany

Sheer drama took center stage in Albany yesterday. The elements of surprise, betrayal, insurrection and resurrection were in full play as the Republicans retook control of the New York State Senate in what can only be described as a Hollywoodesque coup. The Democrats were just about to approve …

Written by Tom Qualtere on Tuesday June 9, 2009

Serves The North Koreans Right

President Obama may send Al Gore to North Korea to try to negotiate the release of two detained American journalists. And for added negotiating muscle, perhaps Gore might threaten a live-screening of his movie, the director's cut.

Written by David Frum on Tuesday June 9, 2009

Obamahealth: More Money For Worse Care

The Obama Administration is already laying the groundwork for the next health-care debate. After they have passed landmark legislation this year, after tens of millions find themselves in a public plan or an expanded Medicaid, the Administration sees a day when it will be in a position to push …

Written by David Gratzer on Tuesday June 9, 2009

Can't Shut A Bad Man Up

Boston-area talk radio host Jay Severin makes Mark Levin look like Diane Rehm. So it was with great displeasure that I heard about his span> return to the airwaves

Written by James Kirchick on Tuesday June 9, 2009

Mitch Daniels Puts A Better Face On The Gop

iTunes : Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels joins FF reporter Jeb Golinkin and discusses the way forward for conservatives, his stance on cap-and-trade, and whether or not he intends to run for President. Download the FrumForum.com podcast here . More information: Gov. Daniels' …

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Monday June 8, 2009

The Four Phases Of Political Recovery

That's Sir Humphrey Appleby in the art up there - the comic civil servant from the classic British political series, Yes Minister . In Sir Humphrey's world, policy always went through four phases, as in this legendary exchange... Sir Richard: Standard Foreign Office response in a time of …

Written by David Frum on Monday June 8, 2009

Would They Do It Again?

There has been much speculation over whether or not the Israelis will attempt a repeat of their bold operation in 1981 against the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor, this time against the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Operation Opera (???? ??????, Mivtza Opera) was the surprise Israeli air …

Written by Sean Linnane on Monday June 8, 2009

Any Stick Will Do

Any stick will do to beat a dog, goes the old saying, and the same rule seems to apply to the 43d president. Megan McArdle has been doing a fantastic job covering the auto crisis, among the very best anywhere, but this latest blogpost of hers seems massively unfair to George W. Bush: …

Written by David Frum on Monday June 8, 2009

The Canadian Healthcare Way

Another reason why government-run health care is less expensive than private insurance: more efficient use of hospital resources.

Written by David Gratzer on Sunday June 7, 2009

Signs Of The Times ...

Here's a grimly funny symptom of conservatism's intellectual decay: Blogger Matt Lewis recently appeared on BloggingheadsTV to explain why Ross Douthat, Reihan Salam, and myself do not count as "true conservatives." How does Lewis decide who is and who is not a "true" conservative? In this clip , …

Written by David Frum on Saturday June 6, 2009

Pretty In Porn

A friend of mine, the mother of a son, confronted me with some photographs of my daughter and some of her girl friends, at a church camp. All the girls were posing in their underwear, with pouty looks on their faces, like Victoria’s Secret models. Evidently, the pictures had been inadverten…

Written by Cari Clark on Saturday June 6, 2009