Entries

It's A Price, Not A Tax

Fighting for lower taxes has always been a bread and butter issue for Republicans -- and a good thing given the Democrats’ propensity toward raising them and “spreading the wealth.” However, Republican tax rhetoric veered in a perilous new direction recently when party leaders …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Tuesday April 7, 2009

Never So Divided?

In a famous poll a few years ago, half the Americans surveyed said George W. Bush was a "uniter" while the other half called him a "divider." A recent Pew survey finds that the stark divide among partisans has continued and increased, with an amazing 60-point gap between Democrats' and Republicans…

Written by Andrew Gelman on Tuesday April 7, 2009

Update In Ny-20

Yesterday evening, PolitickerNY reported that Democrat Scott Murphy had once again pulled ahead of Republican Jim Tedisco by 83 votes in their race to become NY-20’s next congressman. This news came after official tallies showed Jim trailing by 13 , ahead by 12 , stuck in a weekend …

Written by Tom Qualtere on Tuesday April 7, 2009

Can Meg Whitman Govern California? And Why Does She Even Want To Try?

They must be gluttons for punishment. Amidst the bleakest fiscal crisis in California’s history, no fewer than eight prominent politicians—three of them Republicans, five Democrats—have announced their interest in becoming the Golden State’s governor in 2010. …

Written by Michael Rosen on Tuesday April 7, 2009

Misunderestimating North Korea

In 2007, an Israeli preemptive strike destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor modeled after the Yongbyon reactor based in North Korea. The dangers of the nexus between nuclear weapons, rogue regimes and terrorist-supporting states outlined by President George W. Bush in his famous 2002 State of the …

Written by Zac Morgan on Tuesday April 7, 2009

Asleep At The Switch

“Gov. Sebelius, if you were a kitchen appliance, which appliance would you be?” “What would others say about you, Governor?” “What is the last book you read?” Senate Republicans stopped just short of these fluffy interview-style questions, …

Written by David Gratzer on Monday April 6, 2009

CIA To Congress: We Are Not The Enemy

Retired high-level CIA agents angrily spoke out against a proposed Senate review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program, insisting that sometimes unsavory actions are needed to save American lives. “It’s not like some CIA officer wakes up and says we are going to …

Written by Elise Cooper on Monday April 6, 2009

Mark Kirk For Senate

The current issue of the Weekly Standard presents a deservedly highly favorable piece on Illinois' Mark Kirk. But there is something strangely apologetic about the piece's title: "In Praise of a GOP Moderate: Mark Kirk is the party's best hope in Illinois." Kirk has been a strong fiscal …

Written by David Frum on Monday April 6, 2009

You Know Your Economic Policy is Too Interventionist When...

... Saturday Night Live does a sketch based on the joke that President Obama is personally determining that companies be shut down because he dislikes the CEO's suits. You can watch here .

Written by David Frum on Monday April 6, 2009

Holocaust Denial's Mission Accomplished, Says Leading Holocaust Denier

"The new anti-semitism" is the name given to the more pathological forms of anti-Zionism often found in the Middle East, in Europe and alas on North American university campuses. Obsessive hatred of Israel serves the same purpose as the more explicit hatred of Jews that went out of style with the …

Written by David Frum on Monday April 6, 2009

Britain In Basra

Former British Secretary of State for Defense Michael Portillo writes about the British role in Iraq in the current Spectator . In the wake of the Iraqi army’s freeing of Basra, today the markets and cafés are crowded. At the funfair families enjoy the spring evening under the …

Written by David Frum on Monday April 6, 2009

Is My Track Captain A Drug Dealer?

“He’s not one of your captains, is he?” My athletic director asked me this quite disdainfully as my tracksters warmed up before our workout on a recent weekday. Kicking aside a shattered glass bottle and the cigarette butts littered on my track, I looked up at her and said, …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Monday April 6, 2009

My Administration Is All That Is Standing Between You And The Pitchforks

If the Politico report is to be believed, some of the bank CEOs who met with President Obama last week actually used some of their scarce time to defend -- yes, defend rather than apologize for -- the compensation practices of the banks since they all received TARP funds. After all this time, …

Written by FF Street Scene on Sunday April 5, 2009

The Young Conservative Coalition: Its Our Turn

No person passes through his or her youth without adults constantly reminding him or her that, along with the others in his or her age group, they are the “future of society” or “the leaders of tomorrow”. Initially inspiring, such clichés quickly become patronizing …

Written by Will Haun on Sunday April 5, 2009

Worthwhile Obama Initiative

I was on George Stephanopoulos' show this morning for a lively roundtable with George Will, Martha Raddatz, Richard Haass and Arianna Huffington. One thing became clear to me as we discussed the likelihood of bank nationalization - an auto bankruptcy -and the impending nuclearization of North …

Written by David Frum on Sunday April 5, 2009

Humility In Europe?

President Obama is collecting praise for the humility expressed in his Strasbourg speech. He confessed that the US had failed to show appropriate appreciation of Europe's role in the world and described the US as sometimes "arrogant" and "dismissive." Well it's always easy to express humility on …

Written by David Frum on Sunday April 5, 2009

The Man Who Brought Michelle To Prague

Barack Obama's Prague speech addressed the topic of nuclear proliferation. Headline: The president has nothing much new to say about the subject. Iran has yet to build a nuclear weapon. And my Administration will seek engagement with Iran based upon mutual interests and mutual respect, and …

Written by David Frum on Sunday April 5, 2009

Middle-aged Ski Bum

My new column in National Post : "When are you too old to become a ski bum?" opens "Life is difficult enough without throwing yourself off the side of a mountain." That was my uncle Gerry's opinion on skiing, and through most of my life the advice seemed sound. American friends expressed …

Written by David Frum on Sunday April 5, 2009

Europes Lesson: Overspending Is Not The Answer

At the G-20 summit, leaders agreed to a $1.1 trillion capital injection to be provided by the IMF and the World Bank so that they can provide emergency credit to countries in distress, particularly developing countries. Unlike what President Obama had wanted, however, no global “stimulus̶…

Written by Jurgen Reinhoudt on Sunday April 5, 2009

Obama's Dangerous Abdication

There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America…. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. - Senatorial candidate Barack Obama, July 27, 2004. That …

Written by David Frum on Sunday April 5, 2009