Entries

A Better Stimulus

A reader in a government job writes in response to the blogpost below , I am sure you have better things to do than to watch the Today Show, but here was the morning lede from last night's vote..."Republicans voted against the measure because there were not enough tax cuts." That's right. …

Written by David Frum on Thursday January 29, 2009

Base? What Base?

Gallup’s latest polling reveals the continuing collapse of the GOP base vote. The news is so very bad that there will be only one possible response from our party leadership and our radio talkers: Ignore it. Overall: 36% of Americans now identify as Democrats and only 28% as Republicans . …

Written by David Frum on Thursday January 29, 2009

Vroom

People often ask me what exactly "green conservatism" would mean in practice. Here's part of the answer: a Bentley powered by biofuels !

Written by David Frum on Thursday January 29, 2009

Words To Live By

Rahm Emanuel today: " The most important number here for this recovery plan is how many jobs it produces, not how many votes it gets." OK - Mr. Emanuel, you're on. How many jobs did you just buy for the $819 billion? Let's suppose that the money could produce a new job to replace every …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 28, 2009

Handing Our Enemies The Advantage In Space

The Obama Administration is pushing the idea of banning “space weapons.” This proposal sounds lovely, but like nuclear disarmament in the 1980s, would be a unilateral effort on the part of the United States and Europe. Countries which regard the West as their enemies or …

Written by J. Moses Browning on Wednesday January 28, 2009

Time To Walk The Walk GOP: Less Poverty Of Ideas, Take More Action Against Poverty

Many more young conservatives should join groups like Teach For America, AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps: While they will be nauseated by the liberal propaganda fed to them during the training sessions and all subsequent meetings, they will be deeply satisfied by the actual work. The work is hands …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Wednesday January 28, 2009

Meet America's New Car Czar

The person with the most power over the US auto industry is not an auto executive or union leader – not a member of Congress – not anyone in the Obama administration. Thanks to President Obama's decision to allow states to impose their own emissions standards, the most powerful person …

Written by Moira Bagley on Wednesday January 28, 2009

How Conservative Are Sports Fans Really?

In his recent post , Brad Miner writes: With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, I want to write about sports, which I consider a key to building a larger conservative coalition in America... If you did a survey of the political philosophies of 75,000 randomly selected Americans you'd …

Written by Andrew Gelman on Wednesday January 28, 2009

People Who Sue People are the Luckiest People... in Obama's Washington

Looks like the first major statute to emerge from the new Democratic Congress- and to be signed by President Barack Obama - will be the Lily Ledbetter law. This law effectively eliminates the statue of limitations in pay discrimination cases. It's being represented as a big victory for women. In …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday January 27, 2009

Rnc Chair Race: Hakuna Macaca?

RNC Chair candidate Saul Anuzis may not be thrilled with the recent endorsement by Dick Wadhams, Chair of the Colorado Republican Party. Certainly it's not the path to building a winning coalition. In the crucial race for RNC Chair to be decided on Friday, the speculation has now focused on four …

Written by FF Washington Insider on Tuesday January 27, 2009

All That Matters Is How Fast You Spend The Money

All of Washington is consumed with things stimulatory. But I’ve been puzzled by the policy debate (as opposed to the politics). The conventional logic of stimulus goes something like this. If you provide $1 of federal spending, you get $1 of stimulus. If you enact $1 of tax cuts, you …

Written by Douglas Holtz-Eakin on Tuesday January 27, 2009

Sderot, Israel Is Iraq Without The Body Armor

I am no stranger to the danger of rocket and mortar fire. As a Marine officer serving in Iraq in 2006, a 122mm rocket landed roughly 50 feet from where my Staff Sergeant and I were walking through our motor pool. Thankfully it was a dud and didn't explode, but the experience of hearing the …

Written by Gabe Ledeen on Tuesday January 27, 2009

Accepting The School Of Hard Knocks

Since I started teaching in August of 2007, I’ve had no fewer than six girls become pregnant and bear the babies. I also know of a few who’ve had abortions. When I was asked by the students during election season what the differences are between Republicans and Democrats, I used a …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Tuesday January 27, 2009

Sarah Palin Launches Her Own Pac

Sarah Palin missed a golden opportunity -- she could have called it Joe Six PAC. http://www.sarahpac.com/

Written by Alex Knepper on Tuesday January 27, 2009

Can Republicans Regain Gillibrand's Seat?

With Hudson Valley congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand selected to succeed Hillary Clinton as New York's junior senator, there is a rare opportunity for Republicans to gain back a formerly safe seat they first lost in 2006. The open question is who county-chairs will select to run in the special …

Written by John Avlon on Tuesday January 27, 2009

White House Pay Freeze - A Warmed Over Bush Gimmick

One reason President Obama had a good week last week was his order that White House staffers making above $100, 000 per year will have their pay frozen (or at least their cost of living increases frozen; check back in 2011 for an update). As the President said, “During this period of economic …

Written by FF Washington Insider on Tuesday January 27, 2009

"Real Education" Starts Early

What a gratifying post by Michael Toth . At the end, he raises an important point: Everyone should experience rigor in thinking about virtue and the Good, not just people who are acquiring a traditional liberal education at the college level. Absolutely right. But we shouldn’t wait for …

Written by Charles Murray on Tuesday January 27, 2009

The Dumbing Down Of Public Health

Last month, my daughter asked for a glass of milk. I noticed that we were actually on the “best before” date stated on the carton. Panic -- was the milk really safe? I stood in the kitchen paralyzed with fear and indecision. Many of my friends have described similar food-related …

Written by David Gratzer on Tuesday January 27, 2009

...not That Theres Anything Wrong With That

You have to hand it to the gay marriage proponents: they know how to frame a debate. They have forced their opponents into trying to explain why they don’t want “rights” for gays and lesbians--or essentially conceding that they are bigots. On the other hand, it is sadly …

Written by Cheves Ligon on Tuesday January 27, 2009

Obama Diplomacy Burns Clinton

In his al Arabiya interview , Barack Obama promised "the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there's no reason why we can't restore that." Apparently, therefore, there was no "partnership" with the Muslim world when Bill Clinton …

Written by FF Washington Insider on Tuesday January 27, 2009