Entries

Bartlett: Social Security's Real Problem

Bruce Bartlett writes : On Friday, the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare systems issued their annual reports for 2011. Commentary on these reports always tends to dwell on the date when their trust funds become exhausted; in the case of Social Security it is 2036 and for …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Newt Won't Talk About Tiffany's Bill

Huffington Post reports : Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich declined to offer an explanation when asked about a questionable Tiffany & Co. bill during an appearance on Fox News' "On the Record" on Tuesday night. "My answer to you is, I'm not commenting on stuff like that," said …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

More Businesses Opting Out of Obamacare

More and more businesses are having to face up to Obamacare's fundamental flaw. To paraphrase Jimmy McMillan: the cost is too damn high. Last week, the Obama administration approved over 200 new waivers for the Democrats’ health reform bill, more proof that businesses realize the plan is …

Written by Stanley Goldfarb on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Pawlenty: Health Reform Waivers 'Crony Politics'

The Hill reports : Likely GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday added to already widespread criticism of healthcare reform law waivers, calling the practice an example of "crony politics." Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, said the fact that companies are seeking — …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Cantor: GOP Won't Budge on Cuts

Reuters reports : Republicans in Congress will insist on real budget cuts and reforms of entitlement programs like Medicare before voting to raise the debt ceiling, House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor said on Tuesday. Cantor said he remained "cynical" about whether …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

CIA Drones Watched Bin Laden Compound

Washington Post reports : The CIA employed sophisticated new stealth drone aircraft to fly dozens of secret missions deep into Pakistani airspace and monitor the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed , current and former U.S. officials said. Using unmanned planes designed to evade …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Lake: Will Congress Pressure Russia on Rights?

Eli Lake writes in The New Republic : In 2007, a Russian businessman named Oleg Derapaska applied for a multiple-entry visa to enter the United States. Derapaska certainly had some impressive credentials—he is one of the richest men in Russia, with a fortune of $10.7 billion as of 2010, …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Is Ryan Trying to Spook the Markets?

Rep. Paul Ryan's comments Tuesday on CNBC downplaying the odds of a debt deal were careless. Fortunately, this time the markets didn't take him seriously. In an appearance on CNBC Tuesday, Rep. Paul Ryan claimed that holders of US government debt would accept missing payments "for a day or two …

Written by Andrew Pavelyev on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Thomas: SCOTUS Critics 'Lazy'

Politico reports : They’re more than just wrong: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday that critics of the court’s decisions suffer from “a disease of illiteracy or laziness” that could weaken the law. Speaking in Augusta, Ga., near his hometown of Pin Point, the …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

GOP's Huey Close to CA-36 Runoff

Politico reports : Republican Craig Huey had a surprise second place finish for a vacant Southern California congressional seat, according to preliminary results for Tuesday’s special election. But with only a 200-vote margin between them and nearly 10, 000 absentee and provisional …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

12 Dead at Afghan Anti-NATO Protest

BBC reports : At least 12 people have been killed in northern Afghanistan during a protest against an overnight raid by Nato and Afghan forces, hospital sources have told the BBC. About 80 demonstrators were injured in the clashes in the city of Taloqan. Security officials said some …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Geithner Calls on Strauss-Kahn to Resign IMF Post

Wall Street Journal reports : The Obama administration strongly signaled it was time for the International Monetary Fund to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn as its chief, indicating that he can no longer be effective in his job. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, responding to a …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Podhoretz: Newt's Narcissism

John Podhoretz writes at Commentary : Newt Gingrich apologized to Rep. Paul Ryan today, and that apology itself revealed why Gingrich is not a positive but rather a destructive force in the GOP presidential primary. There is nothing wrong in itself with Gingrich saying he opposes aspects of …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Dubya's Fraternity Suspended

The New York Times reports A Yale fraternity whose alumni include both President Bushes has been banned from conducting any activities on campus for five years, including recruiting, as punishment for an episode last October in which members led pledges in chants offensive to women, …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Will Strauss-Kahn Fight for IMF Job?

The Washington Post reports Confined to a jail cell, his reputation in tatters and facing serious criminal charges, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is almost certainly on his way out as head of the International Monetary Fund. The main question is whether he’ll go willingly. Complex legal …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Libya's Oil Head Has 'Defected'

The Wall Street Journal reports DOHA (Zawya Dow Jones)--The head of Libya's National Oil Co., Shokri Ghanem, has 'defected' from the regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the Libyan rebel oil and finance minister Ali Tarhouni said Tuesday. "As far as I know he has defected," Tarhouni said in …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Obama to Reboot Mideast Policy

The Huffington Post reports President Barack Obama is expected to lay out a new vision for American relations with the Middle East later this week in his first extended remarks on the region since the Arab Spring uprisings and the killing of Osama bin Laden, White House spokesman Jay Carney …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Gingrich Glitters with Confetti

The Associated Press reports MINNEAPOLIS -- GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista were hit with glittery confetti by a protester Tuesday during the couple's appearance at a book-signing. The man approached the Gingriches during the signing at a downtown …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Giffords to Undergo Brain Surgery

The Houston Chronicle reports Houston neurosurgeons Wednesday will restore a missing piece of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' skull that left nearly half of her brain exposed during four months of rehabilitation from a gunshot wound, sources told the Houston Chronicle Tuesday. Dr. Dong Kim …

Written by FrumForum News on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Don't Pick on Big Oil For Having Big Profits

Congress' decision to attack oil companies is a weak diversion from their own inability to control prices at the pump. Repeal the so-called subsidies to oil and gas? Ostensibly this is a punitive measure that targets oil companies for the rise in the price of gasoline at the pump, even though …

Written by Brad Schaeffer on Wednesday May 18, 2011