Overview for barack-obama

With Friends Like Obama...

As Chris Sands writes at Huffington Post Canada about the Obama administration's hostile action on the Keystone pipeline, with friends like President Obama, who needs enemies? [Canadian Prime Minister Stephen] Harper has been a great friend to Obama: supportive of the U.S. global warming …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 14, 2011

Rubio's False Bio: Why It Matters

The more I think about the Rubio scandal , the more I am troubled by it. It's not just that having lived in the Soviet Union for a quarter century, I find it offensive when people falsely claim themselves or their families to have been victims of Communist oppression. I am really concerned about …

Written by Andrew Pavelyev on Monday October 24, 2011

A Budget Plan for the Political Center

The President has raised the curtain on his deficit reduction plan. Now the issue between the two parties is squarely joined. On one side, the GOP, pledged to the Ryan plan, the most radical redefinition of government from the right since 1964. On the other side, the President, offering the …

Written by David Frum on Monday September 19, 2011

The Two Party System

Comparing and contrasting the jobs speeches of Mitt Romney and President Obama, Americans face an unhappy choice. One political party has decided that the only thing that matters - or anyway, that can be achieved - is to enhance America's long-term growth path by reducing regulations, rationaliz…

Written by David Frum on Friday September 9, 2011

Obama's Cunning Speech

First reactions to the president's big jobs speech: 1) Qua speech, it was excellent - clear, focused, unrhetorical. The core concept - stressing past Republican approval of the major elements of the proposal - ingeniously put Republicans into an awkward spot. And in fact, the maneuver has had …

Written by David Frum on Friday September 9, 2011

DC Fiddles While the Country Burns

Do you remember the howls that reverberated across the nation when Sarah Palin’s famous bullseye map appeared? Or the tut-tutting and headshaking that accompanied Michele Bachmann's calls for Americans “to take our country back”? Look in the Washington Post local edition, the New York …

Written by Steve Bell on Wednesday September 7, 2011

What if it's Perry?

On Election Night 2012, I expect that Republican Presidential nominee Rick Perry will turn into President-Elect Rick Perry. My inbox will fill up with emails from both enemies and frenemies declaring: " Frum Forum Lost! Your cause is doomed and you have failed!" Why do I expect this? First, …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Tuesday September 6, 2011

How Ron Paul Could Save Obama

John Podhoretz writes about the possibility of a third party bid by Jon Huntsman and whether he could harm Obama in the process. As heartening as I found it, I wish to take issue with part of the argument. I do not think the key to a third party candidate damaging one or the other main candidates …

Written by John Vecchione on Friday August 26, 2011

Unironic Advice for a Struggling President

Like most readers of this site, I read and study the political polls every day. No matter how one feels about the president, the polls for Obama are not good, and recent decisions on key issues may soothe certain political interest groups, while simultaneously poking a finger in the eye of others. …

Written by Hank Adler on Monday August 22, 2011

The Next Bailout?

It's possible that President Obama will soon face the toughest economic question since his original stimulus decision: join a global bailout of the European periphery countries or not? In 2008, President Bush moved to rescue US banks deemed too big to fail. The really scary possibility in a …

Written by David Frum on Friday August 19, 2011

Blame for Debt Talks is Divided

There is little evidence to suggest that either President Obama or House Speaker John Boehner gained much political leverage as a result of Friday night’s dueling press conferences or Monday night’s back-to-back speeches. If anecdotal evidence and public opinion polls are to be believed, the only …

Written by Les Francis on Wednesday July 27, 2011

Obama Picked The Wrong War

There's a management saying: the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Bestowing stable government upon Afghanistan is not the main thing. Eradicating al-Qaeda is the main thing. Watching President Obama speak this week about the US drawdown from Afghanistan, I thought of the old …

Written by David Frum on Saturday June 25, 2011

Gingrich: Good Punditry, Bad Politics

Conservatives cannot recognize that non-conservatives do not share their disdain for President Obama. They are not impressed by the right's overblown criticisms. You know what? That sounds like an interesting speech that Newt Gingrich gave the Maryland Republican party last night. "No …

Written by David Frum on Friday June 24, 2011

Red Tape May Be Hamstringing Growth

Corporate regulation has been mounting under the Obama administration and could be more responsible for the stalled recovery than taxes or the deficit. Matt Yglesias ridicules economic Nobelist Gary Becker for suggesting that President Obama's policies might be to blame for the slowness of …

Written by David Frum on Monday June 20, 2011

Huntsman Jumps In!

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman is the only Republican presidential candidate who makes Obama’s 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe feel “a wee bit queasy.” Jon Huntsman’s presidential candidacy will likely generate increased scrutiny due to both his imminent formal campaign announcement and his …

Written by Clifton Yin on Monday June 20, 2011

Obama Gets Snubbed by Wall Street

Business leaders are being very thin-skinned about the president since he doesn't seem like them. They have better reasons not to support him. In the Clinton and Bush years, it often seemed that Wall Street and the super-rich were aligning themselves with the Democratic Party. Not any more . …

Written by David Frum on Friday June 17, 2011

Debate Highlighted GOP's Far Right Turn

The Republican nominee is likely to position him or herself as the most conservative candidate to seek the Presidency in my lifetime -- more conservative than Goldwater in 1964 Watching the Republican presidential debate from Manchester, New Hampshire on Monday night was, for me, akin to a …

Written by Les Francis on Thursday June 16, 2011

FF Exclusive: Did Weiner Lie to President Obama?

Rep. Weiner may have lied to Obama directly about his Twitter scandal--denying outright to the president that he tweeted a lewd photo of himself to a college student. Rep. Anthony Weiner may have lied to President Obama directly about his Twitter scandal--denying outright to Obama that he tweeted …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Thursday June 9, 2011

GOP's 2012 Choice: Romney... Or Obama

Normally, Barack Obama and Sarah Palin are polar opposites. Today though the two figures have something in common: a new poll shows both on political life support. On the political spectrum, Barack Obama and Sarah Palin are polar opposites. Normally, that is. Today, the two figures have …

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Tuesday June 7, 2011

Obama Woos Angela Merkel

President Obama has by honoring Angela Merkel’s path and achievement tried to remind Germany to punch according to its heavyweight class. It is hard to judge whether Barack Obama is an avid Spider-Man fan or not, but with his latest humble reception of Angela Merkel, Obama indirectly underlined …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Tuesday June 7, 2011