Overview for News

Memo to GOP: Don't Run on What Voters Don't Want

With the national debt skyrocketing, a faction on the right is hoping to turn the 2012 election into a debate on entitlement reform. No doubt, many Democrats are hoping the very same thing. Democrats would view that development as a chance to gain politically, while some Republicans would see it …

Written by Fred Bauer on Thursday September 1, 2011

Only Yesterday

I'm overnighting in a New York club. One of the wall decorations in my bedroom is a framed program from a grand dinner in 1965. The menu: Shrimp Cocktail Roast Prime Rib of Beef au jus Asparagus Tips Polonaise Pommes Duchesse -or- Lobster Newburg Mixed Green Saled Frozen …

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 1, 2011

Huntsman Goes All in For Ryan

While watching Jon Huntsman give his remarks on his jobs plan, I paid attention to how his speech described the existential threat of US debt. Huntsman made clear he supports a Balanced Budget Amendment because "our debt is immoral and should be unconstitutional." During a question-and-answer …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Thursday September 1, 2011

Let's Call it Hurricane Euro

In my Marketplace column , I ask why no one is preparing for the coming collapse of the Euro: But why is it only weather stories that command such breathless attention? Meanwhile, the world's largest currency union -- the euro -- continues to careen toward disaster. The euro's travails …

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 1, 2011

Huntsman's Great (Pre-Recession) Jobs Record

Jon Huntsman has unveiled his jobs plan and it is accompanied by an impressive web video touting Huntsman's success in job creation. The video argues that Huntsman not only has a good jobs plan, but that his record as governor is also worth running on. The video says that Utah is the "#1 State in …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Wednesday August 31, 2011

Justice Now for the Lockerbie Bomber

It’s not necessary to have a conspiratorial mind, to be suspicious or cynical about Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the convicted Lockerbie bomber, still being alive--albeit not thriving--in Libya. The guy was supposed to be dead within three months of being released to Libya and Moammar Qaddafi in …

Written by Peter Worthington on Wednesday August 31, 2011

Reg Reform, Meh.

Eric Cantor has announced that regulatory reform of the Clean Air Act and labor laws will top the GOP agenda when Congress resumes its work. As far as these proposals go, baring the National Labor Relations Board from restricting where employers can locate (a key component of economic freedom), …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Wednesday August 31, 2011

Rick Perry's Land Deals: Why They Matter

Jim Geraghty replies to our blogposts on Texas Governor Rick Perry's uncannily successful land dealings: Last year the Democrat gubernatorial candidate in Texas, Bill White, tried to make an issue of it , and Texans largely yawned. Some of these deals go back to Perry’s time as Texas …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday August 31, 2011

Perry's Land Deals: He Discloses, You Decide

What does the law say about Gov. Perry's land transactions? Simple: they are clearly legal. As long as the profits from the sales were not contingent on Perry doing a specific favor for whomever he sold the land to, Perry has nothing to fear from the law. Connections, favoritism and inside …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Tuesday August 30, 2011

Tea Party to O'Donnell: You're Done

Fame is fleeting. The hero who is toasted and cheered by the crowd today is met with apathy tomorrow. The world moves on. Christine O'Donnell, the thrice-failed Tea Party Senate candidate from Delaware, is a living, breathing, case study in what ails our civilization. Her ability to say the …

Written by Fictio Cedit Veritati on Tuesday August 30, 2011

Intern for FrumForum!

Frum Forum is looking for an intern to work in our Washington DC office. The intern will primarily assist the managing editor with copy-editing content and soliciting contributors for stories. The position will also give opportunities to write blog posts, report on events, and work on …

Written by FrumForum Editors on Tuesday August 30, 2011

Debunking the Payroll Tax Cut Idea?

Over the past 2 years, I've banged the drum for a payroll tax cut as a way to put more money into workers' hands quickly and efficiently, arguing against most other forms of fiscal stimulus as too slow and unwieldy. Bruce Bartlett states the counter-case today in the New York Times : First, …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday August 30, 2011

Christie's Good Fight

As a Democrat – and a fairly liberal one by the standards of where I live – it isn’t that often that someone on the right really knocks my socks off. Let alone a Republican! Yet that is exactly what happened on August 25th. From the comfort of my own living room I watched Gov. Chris Christie of …

Written by Jamie McFadden on Tuesday August 30, 2011

What Happened to the Competence Primary?

Jonathan Last argues that Mitt Romney has not been a very effective candidate over his 17 years of office-seeking: [I] in the 2008 cycle he went 3-16 [win/lose]. Combine that with the rest of his runs and you get a 17-year career average of 5-18. Fair shot. Rick Perry certainly has …

Written by David Frum on Monday August 29, 2011

MLK: An American Christian

Like most Americans, I want the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to be great. I want it to be an awe-inspiring monument to greatness and an eternal reminder of the promise of America -- a promise that King helped make real for millions of African Americans and people of color. But alas, …

Written by John Guardiano on Monday August 29, 2011

You Heard it First from Ron Radosh

On August 28, Noah Kristula-Green wrote on Frum Forum about the similarities between the new MLK Memorial statue and several other pieces of totalitarian art. However, Ron Radosh got on the beat earlier . On August 23rd, wrote about the similarities between the memorial statue and the …

Written by FrumForum Editors on Monday August 29, 2011

Red Gold

During Hurricane Irene, I took some time to read Barry Eichengreen's overview of international monetary history: em> Exorbitant Privilege

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Monday August 29, 2011

Sarko Taxes His Way to "Credibility"

On August 24th, in an attempt to stave off a possible downgrade of France’s Triple-A credit rating, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a deficit reduction plan for 2011 and 2012. The proposed austerity measures counteract his previous reform efforts to spur economic competition. French …

Written by Rachel Ryan on Monday August 29, 2011

You Read it First at FrumForum

At Pajamas Media , Barry Rubin writes that the Ground Zero Mosque was never going to be built, and that the venture looks like an investment scam: Readers of my column know that I have written repeatedly that the “Ground Zero” mosque would never be built for reasons having nothing to do …

Written by FrumForum Editors on Monday August 29, 2011

Don't Dianify Jack Layton

The funeral is done, the mourning crowds have dispersed, the media has turned to other things – but in the wake of Jack Layton’s too-early death at age 61, he has somehow become an icon, sanctified as a symbol for a better Canada. By dying at the peak of his political career, before he’d …

Written by Peter Worthington on Monday August 29, 2011