Entries

Mary Ann Glendons Failed Hail Mary

I am a longtime admirer of Mary Ann Glendon, a former Ambassador to the Holy See as well as a scholar and innovative thinker on women’s issues. However, I was gobsmacked by her recent decision to refuse a prestigious award from Notre Dame because, as she discovered, she would have to share a …

Written by Danielle Crittenden on Wednesday April 29, 2009

Get Ready: The Coming Corporate Tax Battle

Marquee policy initiatives – health care reform, cap-and-trade policy – dominate the headlines. But a less-prominent battle may end up being among the fiercest and most important – the desire of Barack Obama to extract $210 billion from American business to pay for his spendthri…

Written by Douglas Holtz-Eakin on Wednesday April 29, 2009

The Bush Legacy Continued: Hey Boss, Can You Spare A Dime?

Over the last few months, the Wall Street Journal has printed two stories that suggest that many Bush administration staffers are having trouble finding employment now that President Bush’s two terms are over. According to the WSJ, up to 75% of former Bush political appointees have been …

Written by Tim Mak on Tuesday April 28, 2009

Podhoretz On Specter

This is very well said I think: The defection of Arlen Specter from the GOP, following the effort by the Club of Growth to target him for defeat in the Republican primary, is an example of how confused conservative ideologues can get about the nature of the Republican party. Specter is, …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday April 28, 2009

Barone On Specter

Michael Barone : I think this shows the folly, from the point of view of expanding Republican numbers in Congress, of Pat Toomey’s candidacy. His chances of winning a general election, in my judgment, were far lower than they were in 2004, when he ran against Specter and lost the …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday April 28, 2009

Specter Aftershocks

I'm told Sean Hannity is on the air announcing that Specter's defection "makes no difference." Really? Jon Chait identifies one difference the defection surely will make. Two words: card check. Specter says he’ll still oppose EFCA [the formal name of the card check bill], but I have …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday April 28, 2009

Canada Vindicated At Durban Ii

We Canadians are often too polite to say, “I told you so.” But 16 months after we told the world that the Durban “anti-racism” conference was anything but, we have been vindicated. Canada was the first nation to pull out of the Durban II conference and to cut off funds …

Written by Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday April 28, 2009

9/11 Was Far From Robert Gibbs Memory Yesterday

Believe it or not, I do not spend my days playing “Gotcha!” with President Obama. I do not care about what he said on Leno about the Special Olympics, nor do I catalog every teleprompter gaff. Like all Presidents, the man does a lot of speaking and mistakes, misstatements, and …

Written by Brad Schaeffer on Tuesday April 28, 2009

Another Triumph For The Club For Growth

With Arlen Specter’s defection, all that stands between the Democrats and a 60-seat Senate majority are Norman Coleman’s lawyers. I wish them every success – but they have not exactly been on a winning streak to date. Which means that Democrats won’t need to resort to …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday April 28, 2009

Does Mark Levin Know?

Frequent FF contributor Jamie Kirchick has an important oped in today's Los Angeles Times about President Obama's global apology tour. Obama apologized some more in Turkey. "I know that the trust that binds us has been strained, and I know that strain is shared in many places where the …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday April 28, 2009

Even More Money For Coal!

A friend with a close understanding of the utility industry adds a postscript to this post of mine about the giveaway to coal that may be embedded in the Democrats' final cap-and-trade scheme. Not only would the coal industry get free permits for emissions, but [T]he permits would be capitalize…

Written by David Frum on Tuesday April 28, 2009

White Man's Burden

I’m reading over the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin , a man who loved learning more than anything. I wonder what he and the founders would think of a school where it was okay for kids to read at pre-primer levels at the ages of 17-18, fight, roam the halls and cuss at adults with …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Monday April 27, 2009

We Jail When Families Fail

If you represent a client who is found guilty and goes to jail, the first thing that happens is that you return to your office. You have a few moments together. Then the chasers come with cuffs in hand and take your client so that he can begin serving his time. For anyone who has observed …

Written by Michael Toth on Monday April 27, 2009

Dem Plan: Free Money For The Coal Industry!

Democrats and liberals often divide the world between industries they like (Hollywood, Wall Street, Silicon Valley) and industries they don't like (coal, oil, pharmaceuticals). Industries they don't like get the word "Big" prefixed to their name: Big Coal, Big Oil, Big Pharma. Big Coal you might …

Written by David Frum on Monday April 27, 2009

Failure To Communicate

Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin in Politico today : Rank-and-file Republicans remain, by all indications, staunchly conservative, and they appear to have no desire to moderate their views. GOP activists and operatives say they hear intense anger at the White House and at the party’s own …

Written by David Frum on Monday April 27, 2009

After Ny-20, No Excuses For The Gop

The dust in NY-20 has finally, officially settled and state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco has lost the first election of his 26-year career. By virtually all accounts, this special Congressional race had all the ingredients for a decisive GOP victory. The district had more Republicans than …

Written by Tom Qualtere on Monday April 27, 2009

Will Hillary's Friends Get The Embassies?

Bit of a strange piece in Al Kamen’s column in the Washington Post this morning (emphasis added at the end): EMBASSY GATEKEEPERS It's getting to be that time of year when ambassadorial wannabes are waiting for the final handshake. For fat-cat contributors looking for vanity …

Written by FF Washington Insider on Monday April 27, 2009

The Tax Thats Good For You

Educational campaigns. Bans on trans-fats. Modest taxes on junk foods. Fast food free zones. Calorie listings at restaurants. Here in the United States , local and state governments are experimenting with these measures. They aren’t alone: with rising obesity rates – and the heavy …

Written by David Gratzer on Monday April 27, 2009

Why Drill, Baby, Drill Wont Work

U.S. domestic oil production peaked in 1970 and even with the new Alaskan North Slope oil, technological improvements, and a host of other finds, it has marched downwards ever since . This decline did not reverse itself during the huge price run-up in recent years that had everyone with a …

Written by Jeremy Carl on Sunday April 26, 2009

How To Undress For Your College Roommate 101

Here’s the conversation I wish I’d had with my daughter: “Honey, remember how you hated it when your father was a student and you had to share a room with your brother? How you worried that he was watching you dress? Hang on to that feeling – it’s called common …

Written by Karin Morin on Sunday April 26, 2009