Entries

One Continent, Under France and Germany

Looks like the EU has found an alternative to German domination of everybody else. It's French-German domination of everybody else . The grand "deal" announced earlier this week has something for both France and Germany. For the Germans, France will temporarily stop talking about eurobonds and …

Written by Jeff Cimbalo on Wednesday December 7, 2011

An Environmental Nominee Conservatives Should Love

Rebecca Wodder, President Obama's nominee to serve as the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks will be a topic of discussion in the business meeting of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Thursday. And many Republicans on the committee are sure to raise …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Wednesday December 7, 2011

Randian Bankers Are Great Accountants

Noah asks in his post whether one could trust a Randian banker. By coincidence, I read Noah's post on John Allison while I was in the middle of reading Donald Luskin's through-the-looking-glass book on the characters that allegedly either contributed to or didn't contribute to the financial …

Written by Thomas J. Marier on Tuesday December 6, 2011

Why I Like (George) Romney

With the race for the Republican Presidential nomination now seemingly down to two candidates – Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney – suddenly Romney is in the uncharacteristic role of underdog. Astonishingly (to me), polls show Gingrich some 10 points ahead of Romney in the upcoming Iowa primary; …

Written by Peter Worthington on Tuesday December 6, 2011

Signs of Hope, Part 5

Make sure to read previous entries in the 'Signs of Hope' series: Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 . As Newt Gingrich surges in the polls in Iowa and other early primary states, several leading conservative columnists are explaining why Gingrich should be rejected by Republicans voters. …

Written by FrumForum Editors on Tuesday December 6, 2011

E.T. Won't Be Phoning Anytime Soon

News that astronomers using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope had discovered an Earth-like "Goldilocks" planet where liquid water can exist certainly deserves the attention it has received. In fact, evidence of life surviving--and even thriving--in very unlikely places on Earth tempts one to …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Tuesday December 6, 2011

Democracy's Enemies in Pakistan

A horrifying act of sectarian terrorism targets Shiite worshipers in Afghanistan: KABUL — Twin blasts at Afghan shrines on the Shiite holy day of Ashura left at least 58 people dead on Tuesday, with one massive suicide attack in Kabul ripping through a crowd of worshippers including children. …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 6, 2011

Democracy's Friends in Pakistan

Pakistan's national security establishment may be the most dangerous force threatening world peace. Yet not all the news is bad. Eli Lake has produced an astonishing report detailing the construction of a pro-American counter-establishment within the Pakistani services which is struggling at …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 6, 2011

Your Morning Newt Basket

John Podhoretz on Gingrich in the New York Post today . "[Republican primary voters] know him mainly from Fox News." From a funny story in Politico that I missed while traveling: "He’s going to blow up at some point, and I’m just hoping it comes before he gets the nomination,” said one …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 6, 2011

Government Gives Up on Basic Tasks

All you really need to know about the state of Washington, D.C. are three facts: A--a majority of Republicans in the Senate defeated a bill to extend the payroll tax holiday that was introduced by their own Senate Minority Leader last week; B--President Obama has decided that the only real …

Written by Steve Bell on Tuesday December 6, 2011

Newt, Your Ad With Pelosi Wasn't Dumb

Newt Gingrich recently described his 2008 appearance in a 30-second ad with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “ the dumbest single thing I’ve done. ” Many conservatives share a negative view of it. Ron Paul, for instance, cites the ad as an example of Newt’s “serial hypocrisy.” Curious, I took a …

Written by Kenneth Silber on Monday December 5, 2011

Only Yesterday

Newt Gingrich endorsed Harriet Miers . Conservatives should feel confident with the selection of Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court for a simple reason: George W. Bush selected her.

Written by David Frum on Monday December 5, 2011

The GOP Fumbles the Payroll Tax Cut

The Republicans have finally found a tax increase many of them can get behind. Unfortunately it's the first middle class tax increase in decades. Make no mistake, failure to renew the payroll tax cut would mean a significant tax increase. If nothing is done, then starting next month everybody …

Written by Andrew Pavelyev on Monday December 5, 2011

Would You Trust a Randian Banker?

Conservatives give a lot of deference to the opinions of business leaders and other 'job creators'. The operating assumption is that their criticisms of White House policies are accurate and well informed. What if this assumption is largely off-base? Consider this roundtable hosted on CNBC …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Monday December 5, 2011

Can One Man End Pakistani Democracy?

In my column for CNN, I discuss how Mansoor Ijaz is putting Pakistani democracy in danger: Big events do not always have big causes. The British once went to war over an injury to a sea captain's ear. And today's Pakistan may collapse into military rule because of one man's eagerness to read …

Written by David Frum on Monday December 5, 2011

President Romney Won't End Conservatism

In an interview with Laura Ingraham, George Will despairs of the choice between Gingrich and Romney as GOP frontrunners: Ask yourself this: Suppose Gingrich or Romney become president and gets re-elected – suppose you had eight years of this...What would the conservative movement be? How …

Written by Fred Bauer on Monday December 5, 2011

Give Santorum His Chance

Well the punditry has pretty much come down to determining that Republican choices are Gingrich or Romney. Here’s the big Kahuna of Conservative Commentary on that very subject. In my quest to avoid voting for Romney I have pretty much picked through the remainders of announced candidates …

Written by John Vecchione on Monday December 5, 2011

Why Kagan Has Skin in the Game

In my last post I argued that Justice Elana Kagan is obliged by 28 U.S.C. 455 (b)(3) of the federal recusal statute, which applies to Supreme Court justices, to recuse herself from the challenge to the Obama Health Care law. The provision requires a judge to recuse if he or she “has served in …

Written by Howard Foster on Monday December 5, 2011

The Man Who Invented the Euro

The Telegraph today posts an interview of Jacques Delors by Charles Moore. I ask the man who prides himself on being an architect of European Union whether he got it all wrong. Unhesitatingly, he denies it. It is a fault in the execution, not of the architects, which he claimed to have …

Written by David Frum on Saturday December 3, 2011

If Saudi Women Drive

The social consequences will be horrendous, warn Saudi Arabia's clerics: As part of his careful reform process, King Abdullah has allowed suggestions to surface that the ban might be reviewed. This has angered the conservative religious elite - a key power base for any Saudi ruler. Now, …

Written by David Frum on Saturday December 3, 2011