Overview for News

The Two Party System

Comparing and contrasting the jobs speeches of Mitt Romney and President Obama, Americans face an unhappy choice. One political party has decided that the only thing that matters - or anyway, that can be achieved - is to enhance America's long-term growth path by reducing regulations, rationaliz…

Written by David Frum on Friday September 9, 2011

Obama's Cunning Speech

First reactions to the president's big jobs speech: 1) Qua speech, it was excellent - clear, focused, unrhetorical. The core concept - stressing past Republican approval of the major elements of the proposal - ingeniously put Republicans into an awkward spot. And in fact, the maneuver has had …

Written by David Frum on Friday September 9, 2011

The Mother of all Unforced Errors

During the September 7th Republican Presidential debate, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas repeated an earlier assertion of his that Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme. Read that again: in the age of Bernie Madoff, Rick Perry called Social Security a Ponzi Scheme. When the GOP nominating season was …

Written by Jamie McFadden on Thursday September 8, 2011

Perry's Goldwater Gambit

Over at Contentions , John Podhoretz says that “Perry’s handling of the [Social Security] question was crude last night.” However, he adds, Perry’s critics are foolish -- including Mitt Romney’s team -- to imagine that a candidate who says Social Security is unsustainable in its current …

Written by John Guardiano on Thursday September 8, 2011

Perry's Wind Energy Mandate

What would a President Perry mean for the U.S. energy-wise? First, Perry's election would mean environmentalists might as well scrub "climate change" and "global warming" out of their vocabularies for four years. There would be no climate initiatives offered or accepted as such by a president …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Thursday September 8, 2011

The Shameless Profiting from the MLK Memorial

If you don't agree that the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial has problems because the statue looks like a monument to Kim il-Sung, then maybe you will find this argument from The Root more convincing. It turns out that MLK's family has a history of extracting large royalties from any …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Thursday September 8, 2011

In the Shadow of Ronald Reagan

Twenty years ago, historian William Leuchtenberg published a book with the poignant title, In the Shadow of FDR . Leuchtenberg's point: President Roosevelt raised expectations for the modern presidency that his (Democratic) successors could not hope to fulfill. From Truman to Clinton , they …

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 8, 2011

Barbara Frum 1937-1992

Today would have been her 74th birthday. " I hate falseness...I hate a lie - the big ones as well as the little tiny ones...and that really fuels me." - Barbara Frum

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 8, 2011

Perry: Unprepared, Underwhelming

The revelation from the Republican presidential debate: Rick Perry and his team utterly failed to prepare answers to utterly predictable questions on "military adventurism" and Social Security. Worse than that, Perry's Social Security answer delivered President Obama the perfect clip for a 2012 …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday September 7, 2011

Perry Comes Unprepared to the GOP Debate

GOP Reagan Library Debate Pre-Debate Analysis: ---------- Tonight will be Rick Perry’s debut at a GOP presidential debate. As we have seen in this cycle, a good debate performance can provide a real boost to candidates and change the dynamics of the race. Michele Bachmann’s strong …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Wednesday September 7, 2011

Why Obama's Anti-Foreclosure Program is Failing

President Obama's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) isn't effective. Here's why. The Home Affordable Modification Program , which modified loans for eligible homeowners facing foreclosure, is not only failing to make things better for those who stand to lose their homes, it's actually …

Written by John S. Wilson on Wednesday September 7, 2011

With Rick Perry: Hope for the Best

The campaign for the Republican nomination for President now gets serious. A variety of polls indicate that Texas Gov. Rick Perry currently has the lead. Perry’s surge has drawn a range of reactions—fear from his fellow GOP contenders, scorn from the “Progressive” wing of the Democratic Party, …

Written by Steve Bell on Wednesday September 7, 2011

DC Fiddles While the Country Burns

Do you remember the howls that reverberated across the nation when Sarah Palin’s famous bullseye map appeared? Or the tut-tutting and headshaking that accompanied Michele Bachmann's calls for Americans “to take our country back”? Look in the Washington Post local edition, the New York …

Written by Steve Bell on Wednesday September 7, 2011

Romney's Plan: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

To read Mitt Romney's economic plan is to join a more elevated conversation. This is a document written by people who value expertise, and it shows. It avoids overstatements and misstatements. It credits Presidents Bush and Obama for pulling the financial system back from the brink in …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday September 7, 2011

Anti-Corruption, Anti-Democratic

Or so goes Kapil Komireddi's assessment of a disturbing movement among understandably exasperated middle-class Indians: An unusual revolution is underway in India. Over the past 10 days a 74-year-old former soldier and social activist called Kisan Baburao Hazare has been on hunger strike, …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday September 7, 2011

Huntsman: The Truer Conservative

Here’s a brief biography of two candidates: One of them presided over arguably the best business climate in the nation, so good that Forbes magazine ranked it as the best state for business and careers. As governor, he enacted free-market health care reforms, balanced the budget, and thus …

Written by J.D. Hamel on Wednesday September 7, 2011

U.S. Post Admits: Deader Than the Dodo

Fredric V. Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers strong> says

Written by Daniel Alexandre Portoraro on Wednesday September 7, 2011

Welcome Back, Rod Dreher

Frum Forum would like to formally welcome Rod Dreher back to the world of conservative blogging at The American Conservative ! The author of Crunchy Cons is well known for holding heretical and apostate views in the eyes of many conservatives--notably his appreciation for granola and …

Written by FrumForum Editors on Tuesday September 6, 2011

Rick Perry, The Anti-Bush Texan

Frum Forum's contributors have been asked to provide their thoughts about Texas Governor Rick Perry's candidacy and what it might mean for the GOP. Regardless of one's political stance, one can see a difference between Rick Perry and former President George W. Bush with respect to how they …

Written by Mark R. Yzaguirre on Tuesday September 6, 2011

Never Stop Talking About Reagan

Reading Mitt Romney's op-ed in USA Today , I was saddened by a missed opportunity. Gov. Romney commits to opening more trade talks to build a "Reagan Economic Zone": "a partnership among countries committed to free enterprise and free trade." Good start. But why is only the trade plan named …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday September 6, 2011