Entries

The Case for Romney

In my column for The Week , I make the affirmative case for Mitt Romney to be the Republican presidential nominee: For three years, Republican activists, strategists, and donors have tried to find a plausible alternative to Romney, and again and again they have failed. For about 15 minutes, …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday September 28, 2011

Conrad Black Recounts his "Destruction" by Murdoch

Over at Huffington Post Canada , Conrad Black provides an exclusive excerpt of his forthcoming book A Matter of Principle detailing his opinions of Rupert Murdoch, and the feud between the two: Personally, Murdoch is an enigma. My best guess is that culturally he is an Archie Bunker who …

Written by FrumForum Editors on Wednesday September 28, 2011

Gold's Value? It's What We Give it.

Eli Lehrer misrepresents my intentions in his most recent piece. To be clear, my article was not making a case for buying gold going forward per se. Trading in commodities is a volatile and highly leveraged activity, and I would not presume to advise the general public on it. As I said in my …

Written by Brad Schaeffer on Wednesday September 28, 2011

What's to Blame for Healthcare Costs? Doing Nothing.

The Associated Press reports that a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that health insurance premiums rose last year by 9%. Let’s try to affix blame by looking at some of the common arguments that try to explain this. Argument #1: Health Insurers are Greedy. It is true that …

Written by Stanley Goldfarb on Wednesday September 28, 2011

Daniels: Government Faces "Limits" When Helping the Unemployed

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels visited Georgetown University on Friday, September 23rd, for a refreshingly intimate conversation sponsored by the Georgetown College Republicans. Daniels is known for his candor and modesty, and both were on display when I asked him what could be done for the 14 …

Written by Fred Messner on Wednesday September 28, 2011

The GOP Can't Quit Ayn Rand

img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-104372" title="Ayn Rand" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-09/ayn-rand.jpg" alt="" width="532" height="340" />

Written by Gary Weiss on Wednesday September 28, 2011

Gold: Good For Nothing

Brad Schaeffer is right: Numbers don't lie. And the numbers on gold are pretty clear: it's a lousy investment over any long period of time. In times of economic uncertainty and malaise (whether it is now or the 1970s) gold prices have indeed gone up rapidly. (Just like dot.com stocks or real …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Tuesday September 27, 2011

Watch: Frum on Broken Government

David Frum recently appeared on American Morning to discuss his latest CNN column arguing that government institutions need fundamental reforms.

Written by FrumForum Editors on Tuesday September 27, 2011

Which GOP Candidates Flunk the Freshness Test?

According to columnist Jonathan Rauch, the problem with our last two Presidents isn’t that they’re red or blue. It’s that they were both too green. “The nominees in 2000 and 2008 were the least experienced out of all the candidates,” Rauch said. “Bush was Governor for only six years, and Obama, …

Written by Mytheos Holt on Tuesday September 27, 2011

The Gold Bug Bailout

As some may know, my late mother was a very well-known broadcaster on Canadian radio and TV. Early in her amazing career, she received a call from a company - I believe it was VISA - inviting her to sign up as a commercial spokeswoman. She refused. When she told the story to my father, he asked, …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday September 27, 2011

AJC Survey Confirms: Obama Losing Jewish Vote

A new poll from the American Jewish Committee shows further erosion of President Obama’s Jewish support. Only 45 percent of American Jews approve of “the way President Barack Obama has handled his job as President, ” and 48 percent disapprove. This is an even worse statistic than the 40 percent …

Written by Stephen Richer on Monday September 26, 2011

It WILL be Romney

Rick Perry's propensity for gaffes, poor straw poll performance, and lackluster debating skills are already forcing many people who thought he would surely be the Republican nominee to reconsider. They're right to have second thoughts, yet while Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, and even Jon Huntsman …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday September 26, 2011

Who Broke the Government?

In my column for CNN, I explain why government institutions are failing: Under the old rules, there were certain things that political parties did not do -- even though theoretically they could. If one party controlled the Senate and another party controlled the presidency, the Senate party …

Written by David Frum on Monday September 26, 2011

Government Shutdown: Again?

Einstein gets credit for many things, including his definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.” Next to that quote should be the official photos of the 112 th Congress. For the third time in 7 months, some form of federal …

Written by Steve Bell on Monday September 26, 2011

Romney's Dangerous Windfall

Rick Perry seems to be reeling after his debate performance in Florida last week. It’s early yet to see anything in public polling, but his subsequent flop in the Florida straw poll into which he had invested significant money and energy is causing serious concern for his campaign. However, …

Written by Chris Ladd on Monday September 26, 2011

How Left-Wing is Obama?

America is engaged in a dual-track conversation about the President's core beliefs. Conservatives by and large express conviction that he is a fervent radical, certainly a socialist, perhaps a Marxist - even (in the telling of the old Glenn Beck TV show) a Maoist! Self-described leftists, on the …

Written by David Frum on Sunday September 25, 2011

What's the Plan After Default?

David Frum writes : Tip O’Neill, the former speaker of the House, was asked at his retirement in 1987 how Washington had changed since he arrived in 1953. He answered, “The people are better. The results are worse.” What he meant: There are many fewer drunks in government than there used to …

Written by Andrew Gelman on Sunday September 25, 2011

Herman Cain's Advantage

My predictions about the Florida Straw poll were wrong: I wouldn't have expected Herman Cain to finish in the top three much less win overall. I saw a fair number of Cain buttons around CPAC but basically ignored him assuming that he had already peaked. Cain's ability to win the straw poll does …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Sunday September 25, 2011

The Future of the American City

I like walkable urban centers, so I want to take a hopeful view of this Washington Post report about the future of Tysons Corner. Unfortunately for my belief, the story ends with one of the most foolish quotes I've ever read about the future of the American city, from Joel Garreau, normally a …

Written by David Frum on Sunday September 25, 2011

Putin: Is He Bald Enough?

It seems that Russia's hairy pattern of power is set to continue. Only few pundits doubt that Medvedev's recommendation for Vladimir Putin to be Russia's new president leaves space for any viable political alternatives in Russia's 2012 presidential election. If Putin moves back into the Kremlin, …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Saturday September 24, 2011