Recently, Tablet magazine ran a profile of me by Michelle Goldberg that remarked, "These days the former Bush speechwriter sounds more and more like a Democrat."
Michelle had in mind items like this blogpost, in which I enumerate the ways the GOP is wrong about the present economic crisis.
That latter post prompted a rejoinder from Scott Galupo at US News. Galupo's comment is especially noteworthy since he's a former staffer to Speaker John Boehner and a writer for the Washington Times. Galupo says of my "GOP is wrong" list:
"This is, to put it mildly, an exhaustive and damning litany. But the actual point of Frum's blog post was that former Gov. Mitt Romney kinda-maybe-sorta doesn't agree with this consensus, and therefore offers the best hope (but only a "slender" hope!) that the Republican candidate will be on the right side of the 'most urgent economic issue of the day...'
"I have to ask: Dude, why are you over there? You just more or less said you're going to vote for the guy who might agree with you and not for the guy who definitely does.
"As someone who's working through these issues myself, I'm being sincere here; I'm not playing 'gotcha.' This seems like an awfully risky bet.
"David: What's the dealbreaker for you?"
Galupo's question is one I hear a lot, both from puzzled Democrats and from annoyed Republicans.
My answer begins on this basis:
Yes I am dismayed that my party is wrong on the most urgent issue of the day. But in addition to what is most urgent, I am guided by concerns that if less immediate remain very important -- and on which I trust the GOP more than I trust the party of Barack Obama.
- The Republicans are the party of American nationalism. We live in a world in which powerful economic, demographic and cultural forces are breaking down the concept of the nation altogether. But if nations don't matter, why should rich Americans care about the distress of poorer Americans -- who, after all, remain inconceivably wealthy by the standards of poor Africans? The flag-and-country themes of the GOP can be kitschy. They also are the indispensable basis of any idea of social cohesion across the vast continent.
- Republican policies of lower taxes, less regulation, and restrained social spending may be poor medicine for the immediate crisis. But they remain the best formula to support the longer-term growth of the economy -- way better than the Democratic preference for high taxes and opportunistic economic interventions. The difference between the U.S. growing at an average of two per cent vs. three per cent over the next decades will determine not only the life-chances of the next generation of Americans, but the power balance of the planet between the U.S. and China.
- Like the late Herb Stein, my preferred approach to federal budgeting starts with national defence. Defence and national security are the supreme priority of the state. Only after fully funding defence can you then worry about the appropriate level of spending for everything else, and the appropriate level and form of taxation to pay for that spending.
- I intensely oppose any aid or subsidy to particular companies or firms except in cases of the most extreme national necessity, e.g. TARP. Solyndra is only the latest example of the zeal of Democratic administrations dating back to Jimmy Carter's to solve America's energy problems by inserting government into the business of "picking winners." Now as in 1977, I say no, no, no.
- The omnipresent system of racial preferences built since the late 1960s in hope of compensating for the effects of slavery and segregation is not only a moral inequity, but also a practical disaster. The gap in wealth between white and black families -- 10 times greater than the gap in income -- has widened under affirmative action. As the Pew Foundation's research shockingly demonstrates, the children of the black middle-class experience frightening downward mobility, discrediting the most basic assumption on which the racial preference system has been built. And this system is one of the most basic political commitments of the modern Democratic party.
- I remember that from Teddy Roosevelt and the national parks to George HW Bush and acid rain, real progress on the environment almost always comes under Republican presidents.
- Public sector unions rank as one of the most important obstacles to the improvement of public services from education to transit. And the Democrats are the party of the public-sector unions.
- Democrats were wrong on crime from the 1970s through the 1990s, and I'm still mad about it.
- I believe that the elected prime minister of Israel is a better judge of Israel's national security than the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs. Democratic administrations typically seem guided by the opposite theory.
- I admire business people, and the GOP is the party more sympathetic to business concerns and challenges.
- Modern democracies generate a choice between one party offering more public services and higher taxes and another offering fewer services and lower taxes. Under the pressure of the current crisis -- intoxicated by anti-Obama feelings and incited by talk radio and Fox -- Republicans have staked out an extreme position on the role of government. They are expressing opinions they have never acted on in office and won't act on if returned to office. They're talking to relieve their feelings, always a big mistake. I remain convinced that the Tea Party moment is a passing infatuation, a rhetorical over-indulgence, that will fade as soon as Republicans re-encounter the responsibilities of governing -- just as the Democrats' over-heated MoveOn.org type rhetoric about the war on terror was quietly retired by President Obama in favor of continuing most of the anti-terrorism policies of the Bush years. In a more normal kind of contest between the party of less (not zero) government and the party of more and bigger government, I'm with the party of less government. Especially because I feel confident that as the passions of the current crisis fade, Republicans will return to the kinds of ideas we've been advocating at my website, FrumForum.
For three years, my political party has veered in a direction I cannot follow. And if the GOP insists on framing the 2012 election as a ballot question on fiscal and monetary austerity, or if they nominate somebody manifestly incompetent to do the job of president, they're going to lose me -- and a lot more people beside me.
But I don't believe they will do either of those things. I believe that as the election draws closer, the GOP will recover its bearings and its good sense.
Those of us who publish at FrumForum have taken a stance -- not against the Republican party, but in favor of what we regard as the party's true nature, best traditions, and highest ideals. We remain confident that the party will rediscover those ideals, and as it does so, we'll be here, waiting.
It is a 'no brainer' that the plight of minorities would be far worse without affirmative action. That would be fine for selfish, and non-compassionate types who don't care about minorities and the poor, but it is not fine for society, and exceedingly costly. For example it costs more for the California prison system to keep one in prison per year than to send the same to Harvard or Yale, let alone the tax revenue and other social benefits lost if that person were a productive citizen. California is undergoing a fiscal crisis in part because it cannot afford its prison system. We need to do more to improve the plight of minroties and the poor, and move away from the hypocritical rhetoric which is antithetical to the interests of society.
"The Republicans are the party of American nationalism."
A groundless assertion with no basis in fact. Just because you mouth mindless platitutdes about American exceptionalism does not make you more patriotic. The coporate backers of the GOP who outsource jobs to India don't give a damn about American Nationalism.
"Republican policies of lower taxes, less regulation..."
We've had 30 "long -term" years of regressive Republican "policies." Most Americans are worse off.
"Fully funding defence..."
Does not explain why your guy cut taxes during two wars then funded them using budgetary skulduggery and middle of the night votes .
Affirmative action programs might have worked, but for the fact that they have been sabatoged by regressives since their creation. The basis for the wealth gap between whites and blacks can be traced back to systemic discrimination in federal loan policy, pre-dating affirmative action.
"real progress on the environment..."
George W. Bush is no Teddy Roosevelt.
"Public sector unions..."
I got nothing on this one.
"Democrats were wrong on crime..."
Groundless assertion, unsupported by evidence.
"Israeli national security..."
Should not be the primary concern of any administration, American interest in the region should be. Republican administrations are in the habit of placing Israel's interest above America's. What happened to the "American Nationalism?"
" GOP is the party more sympathetic to business concerns and challenges."
To the exclusion of ordinary American's concerns and challenges.
The real danger is that in recent years the GOP has become so extreme that some on the right (and the left) want to paint Frum as a reasonable man who has been left out in the cold. He's not. Frum is just as extreme as Reagan Republicans always were. Just because the GOP has embraced everything from birtherism to creationism doesn't make Frum the reasonable center. He's not. He a conservative extremist and don't ever forget it. If his bullet points in this piece don't convince you of that, nothing will.
Although there are a number of smaller conflicts going on, from a historical perspective the world is quite peaceful these days.
Of course the Iraq war is suppose to be over by year end when all troops finally come home. But the Afghanistan war began after 9/11 and is still going strong. So his point is very valid!
yeh....well George W was wrong to trust Wall Street free from regulation. And because he was wrong...how many billions of dollars was wiped away, how many middle class workers savings and pensions gone in the blink of an eye.
that's what I'm still mad about ....
Unfortunately for you and other Republican who think like you, the current GOP / Tea Party will probably not change until AFTER they lose the 2012 election. When they won most of the 2010 elections, they had a mistaken belief that they had a mandate to NOT compromise on any issue that might give President Obama 'A Win'.
It doesn't seem to matter that the country is hurt in the short or more importantly the long term. It's MORE important to them to make Obama a 'One Term President'; no matter what. Being a Democrat, that’s good for me. But as a American, it’s bad for the country as a sane Republican party is better overall than what we have now with this extreme political polarization.
Where affirmative action might actually have done a great deal more good in the 60's and 70's is in the area of education. Why did we allow minority children to drop out of school? Why were tutoring programs not blanketing the minority community? Why didn't successful minority business people heavily mentor at-risk kids?
The only time affirmative action should come into play is if you have two completely equally qualified majority and minority candidates for a job or opportunity and minorities are not represented in at least the same percentages as they are in the local community as a whole.
If affirmative action had taken white people and made them slaves to black people for 400 years then, then emancipated them and subjected them to another 100 years of legal discrimination, oppression, and terror, then and only then, the moral high ground would be equalized.
As it is, a less qualified black employee getting a promotion over a more qualified white employee doesn't even come close.
The Republicans want to see the American middle class wiped out so that a renaissance in US manufacturing can begin with a low-paid workforce that can compete with China and others. That will complete the transference of wealth, power and rights to the "upper classes" and allow them to take credit for the rebirth of the nation. But Americans won't be buying anything they manufacture. They won't be able to afford it.
Like many, David Frum is frustrated because he can't change things. Nobody can change what's happening. It's Darwinism at its most obvious and cruel! As a 60-year old, I will never again see a strong middle class in the USA! My children may, but I doubt it.
You are very wrong on all you say and this is just a left talking point regurgitated ad nauseum.
Finally, the left does not have "Talking Points" that's a regressive right feature. In fact, the conservative author of this article is a pioneer in the art of crafting, distributing, and mainstreaming right wing talking points.
When you say there are “demographic and cultural forces breaking down the concept of the nation altogether” Do you mean more blacks and hispanics than whites? Do you mean more Muslims and non-Christian believers? Do you mean more women in the workforce? Do you mean more women in traditionally male high-paying management jobs?
When you state “policies of lower taxes, less regulation, and restrained social spending may be poor medicine for the immediate crisis” How can you continue to support policies that have PROVEN to INCREASE debt and DECREASE investment and job growth, when even the Republican God Reagan realized he had to return tax levels on the wealthy back up to reduce his debt?
What does “fully fund defense” mean? WHO are we defending ourselves against? We need multi-billion dollar defense budgets to kill off a few rogue terrorists? Really?
Racial preference system. Maybe the problem is the harder democrats and people of color fight to close that gap, CONSERVATIVES like yourself fight even harder to maintain the STATUS QUO. Isnt that what conservatism is...maintaining the status quo? Keeping with tradition? If it is the TRADITION of our country (in some areas) to oppress minorities, wouldn’t this be the tenet you would follow?