Overview for News

The '90s Make a Comeback

The holidays are always a time for nostalgia, and this year has seen a growing outbreak of nostalgia for one decade in particular. Democrats are ranking Bill Clinton (who left office ranked by most historians in the 25-30 range of our forty-odd Presidents) now tied with JFK (and well ahead …

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Written by Telly Davidson on Saturday December 10, 2011

Two Americas

From my Twitter feed : Wasserman: 82% of cong districts that flipped from D to R in 2010 had a Cracker Barrel; just 20% had a Whole Foods. http://wapo.st/uHuYRB

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Written by David Frum on Friday December 9, 2011

Don't Expect Results at a Climate Conference

Another biennial international climate negotiation jamboree wraps up today. What does the world have to show for it? Durban shouldn't turn out to be the belly flop that Copenhagen was in 2009. Other than that, not much. See you in two years and all that. Even a few greens are wondering if …

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Written by Jim DiPeso on Friday December 9, 2011

It's 3AM, Do You Trust Newt Gingrich?

David Brooks makes a great point in his column today about Newt Gingrich's temperament: But how you believe something is as important as what you believe. It doesn’t matter if a person shares your overall philosophy. If that person doesn’t have the right temperament and character, stay away. …

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Written by David Frum on Friday December 9, 2011

GOP Zombies vs. Dem Vampires

A statistical study indicates that our pop culture churns out more vampire-related entertainment under Democratic administrations and more zombie stories under Republicans. The implication of the research is that those icons act as archetypes for each party. Naturally, as a Republican I’m …

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Written by Chris Ladd on Friday December 9, 2011

A Permanent EU "Crisis"?

On December 7th, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented a  0, 5384220.story"> letter to the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy with their proposals for how to solve the current EU crisis. Except their letter was not really a proposal, in that it …

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Written by Jeff Cimbalo on Thursday December 8, 2011

I Love the 90's

David Frum is concerned that a Newt Gingrich revival will bring back memories of the Clinton impeachment scandal, but what if the real danger is the return of one of the most popular children's action-adventure shows? I of course refer to the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. I had heard …

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

Can My Generation Make More Zuckerbergs?

Galatea’ is a columnist writing about her experience looking for work after her recent downsizing. Previous entries in her series can be strong> read here

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Written by Galatea on Thursday December 8, 2011

The Coming GOP Gingrich Freakout

Today's question is: will the Gingrich balloon deflate like all the previous Not Mitt balloons? The answer is: yes of course--but given that these balloons take typically 6-8 weeks to shrivel, the impending Gingrich bust may not arrive soon enough to save Romney. No question though, it will …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday December 8, 2011

How An Entrepreneur Sparked the Arab Spring

I recently had the great pleasure of hearing economist Hernando de Soto speak to a group of think tank types and media members about his perspective on the Arab Spring. De Soto is most famous as an advocate for property rights for the world’s poor. Henando de Soto’s big argument about the …

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

Before the Gold Standard

I'm very much enjoying Charles Mann's 1493 . So much of the book has deep relevance to current affairs, including this piece of monetary history on p. 135: [In contrast to commodity money,] fiat money has no intrinsic value, and is worth something only because a government declares it is. …

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Written by David Frum on Wednesday December 7, 2011

John Bolton as Secretary of State

Newt Gingrich's suggestion that he'd offer the top diplomatic job to the famously rough-edged Bolton reminds me of the shrewd English definition of a gentleman: one who never gives offense unintentionally.

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Written by David Frum on Wednesday December 7, 2011

He Went to Kansas to Say That?

In my column for The Week , I discuss how Obama's speech on income inequality fell short: The Kansas speech was composed of two main parts: a critique of the performance of the U.S. economy over the past generation, and a program for "rebalancing" in the years ahead. The trouble is that …

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Written by David Frum on Wednesday December 7, 2011

The EU's New Budget Motto: "Mother May I?"

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has just floated a proposal to subject all EU members - not just eurozone members - to more rigorous budget scrutiny by Union organs. The proposal is so contrary to the Union treaties and its scope so overreaching to the current eurozone debt crisis …

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Written by Jeff Cimbalo on Wednesday December 7, 2011

How the GOP Should Explain Climate Change

The GOP nomination race has proven to be a hostile environment for concerns about, or even an acceptance of the reality of, anthropogenic global warming. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have made statements that they don’t know what’s causing climate change, in contradiction of earlier …

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Written by Kenneth Silber on Wednesday December 7, 2011

Will Newt Win? Lets Ask President Giuliani!

Though Newt Gingrich seems to be styling himself as the inevitable nominee, a look back at the polling in during the Republican primary race in late 2007 suggests that Gingrich's camp should not get too confident yet. In December 2007, no polls seemed to show McCain as the frontrunner. …

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Written by Fred Bauer on Wednesday December 7, 2011

Obama Can't Bring Back the 1900's.

Walter Russell Meade captures something about the current moment that can be overlooked to easily. Ron Paul and Barack Obama are forces for Americas that don’t and can’t exist anymore. The America where 90% of the people farm is not coming back. But less acknowledged is that the post-war …

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Written by John Vecchione on Wednesday December 7, 2011