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Frum Forced Out at Conservative Institute

Gina

Gina

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Apparently there are consequences for speaking against Republicans, Frum out.

After coming out with a highly critical op/ed piece last weekend, David Frum has lost his job at AEI.


David Frum Out At Conservative Think Tank - The Two-Way - Breaking News, Analysis Blog : NPR

As of Thursday, Mr. Frum had become a former fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Mr. Frum said he was taken out to lunch by the president of the organization, Arthur C. Brooks. He said Mr. Brooks told him the institute valued a diversity of opinion, and welcomed that one of its scholars had become such a high-profile critic of Republican legislative leaders. Mr. Frum, who has been with the institute since 2003, said that he was asked if he would considering being associated with the institute on a nonsalaried basis.

Mr. Frum declined.

"Does it have anything to do with what would be the most obvious explanation of what happened?" he said in an interview after his lunch. "I don't know. That's not what they say."

Asked if he believed that explanation, Mr. Frum responded, "I'm not going to say that they're not telling the truth."

Update: Mr. Brooks later issued a written statement confirming Mr. Frum's departure, but declining to say what had happened. "While A.E.I. makes it a practice not to discuss personnel matters, I can say that David Frum is an original thinker and a friend to many at A.E.I.," his statement said.​
 
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Re: Apparently there are consequences for speaking against Republicans, Frum out.

Poor Frum

He becomes an American citizen and gets kicked out of the AEI
 
Frum Forced Out at Conservative Institute

Updated: Over the past week, David Frum, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research organization, has emerged as one of the leading critics of the way Republicans dealt with President Obama’s health care bill.

David Frum during a live taping of “Meet the Press” in March in Washington.
The party, Mr. Frum said, put politics over policy in trying to damage Mr. Obama’s agenda, and lost both the political battle and the ability to influence a key piece of legislation. In a column Mr. Frum posted at the FrumForum, he wrote that the House passage of the health care bill had become the Republicans’ “Waterloo,” rather than Mr. Obama’s, as a leading G.O.P. senator had once warned.
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It's sad that the reasoned voices are so few in the GOP. The once Grand Ol Party...

Here's some quotes from Frum's Forum:

A huge part of the blame for today’s disaster attaches to conservatives and Republicans ourselves.

At the beginning of this process we made a strategic decision: unlike, say, Democrats in 2001 when President Bush proposed his first tax cut, we would make no deal with the administration. No negotiations, no compromise, nothing. We were going for all the marbles. This would be Obama’s Waterloo – just as healthcare was Clinton’s in 1994.

Only, the hardliners overlooked a few key facts: Obama was elected with 53% of the vote, not Clinton’s 42%. The liberal block within the Democratic congressional caucus is bigger and stronger than it was in 1993-94. And of course the Democrats also remember their history, and also remember the consequences of their 1994 failure.

This time, when we went for all the marbles, we ended with none.

Could a deal have been reached? Who knows? But we do know that the gap between this plan and traditional Republican ideas is not very big. The Obama plan has a broad family resemblance to Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts plan. It builds on ideas developed at the Heritage Foundation in the early 1990s that formed the basis for Republican counter-proposals to Clintoncare in 1993-1994.
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Just like Clinton, Obama is stealing the Republican's best ideas and it pisses them off so much they vote "no" something originated with the Heritage Foundation... Strange Bedfellows indeed.
 
Bassman said:
So basically to you, a "good" Conservative kowtows to the Left?? Sorry, but this pig don't fly.
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No...if you bothered to read the article you would see that the point is that Republicans are arguing against the very things that they helped establish...
 
Re: Apparently there are consequences for speaking against Republicans, Frum out.

If a fellow at the Urban Institute or an employee at Moveon wrote several articles criticizing Obama as a socialist and attacking the Democratic stance on health care, do you think he would be employed for very long?
 
Re: Apparently there are consequences for speaking against Republicans, Frum out.

If a fellow at the Urban Institute or an employee at Moveon wrote several articles criticizing Obama as a socialist and attacking the Democratic stance on health care, do you think he would be employed for very long?
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That isn't comparable to what Frum did. He stated that the Republican strategy of refusing to deal when it comes to health care brought a worse outcome in end. His blame fell upon the shoulders of the media organizations who stirred up the heated rhetoric. He firmly stood against the passing of the health care bill, he simply disagreed with the tactics used to fight it. He remains loyal to conservative ideals, and is being persecuted because he thinks the current strategy isn't helping promote those ideals.
 
Re: Apparently there are consequences for speaking against Republicans, Frum out.

rathi said:
That isn't comparable to what Frum did. He stated that the Republican strategy of refusing to deal when it comes to health care brought a worse outcome in end. His blame fell upon the shoulders of the media organizations who stirred up the heated rhetoric. He firmly stood against the passing of the health care bill, he simply disagreed with the tactics used to fight it. He remains loyal to conservative ideals, and is being persecuted because he thinks the current strategy isn't helping promote those ideals.
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I think the distinction about disagreement on strategy vs disagreement on policy is an important one that RightinNYC missed. The Republican insistence on monolithic thought will probably not serve them well. It reminds me of the arrogance of the Bay Area liberals on the Democratic side: Fast becoming a group of educated but entirely unsophisticated thinkers on the left.

The difference between the Rs and Ds right now is that with the Rs, it seems to be a huge movement in the party as a whole. Insistence on purity of thought on strategy seems symptomatic of that, to me.
 
I only have one thing to say. Frum was right.
 
Bassman said:
So basically to you, a "good" Conservative kowtows to the Left?? Sorry, but this pig don't fly.
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No, a conservative not drinking the far-right cool-aide kowtowing to partisan retards at Fox News is in the minority... of the GOP.
 
Interesting reading …

Excerpted from “Donors Pushed David Frum Out” By Bruce Bartlett, Capital Gains and Games blog, March 26, 2010
[SIZE="+2"]E[/SIZE]XCLUSIVE: David Frum told us last night that he believes his axing from his $100,000-a-year “resident scholar” gig at the conservative American Enterprise Institute was related to DONOR PRESSURE following his viral blog post arguing Republicans had suffered a devastating, generational “Waterloo” in their loss to President Obama on health reform. “There's a lot about the story I don't really understand,” Frum said from his iPhone. “But the core of the story is the kind of economic pressure that intellectual conservatives are under. AEI represents the best of the conservative world. [AEI President] Arthur Brooks is a brilliant man, and his books are fantastic. But the elite isn’t leading anymore. It’s trapped. Partly because of the desperate economic situation in the country, what were once the leading institutions of conservatism are constrained. I think Arthur took no pleasure in this. I think he was embarrassed. I think he would have avoided it if he possibly could, but he couldn't.” …
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Excerpted from “The Republicans Who Made Health Care Reform Possible” By Bruce Bartlett, Capital Gains and Games blog, March 26, 2010
[SIZE="+2"]H[/SIZE]ouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) owes Newt Gingrich a debt of gratitude. …

… n 1995 when Republicans took control of the House and Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) became Speaker. One of their first actions was to thoroughly gut the committee system …

In practice, the only committee that mattered anymore was the House Rules Committee, which is completely controlled by the Speaker. Historically, its only job was to set the terms of debate in the House--the length of debate on bills, what amendments would be in order, etc. But under Gingrich the Rules Committee became the committee of primary jurisdiction in many cases, often writing bills from scratch in the dead of night. …

Democrats also owe a debt of gratitude to Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.). When he was elected in a special election on Jan. 19, it appeared that HCR was dead. …

What happened instead is that the Democrats' supermajority loss in the Senate forced the House to either accept the more moderate Senate bill or nothing. It also forced House Democrats to get moving and pass a bill. …
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Excerpted from “David Frum and the Closing of the Conservative Mind” By Bruce Bartlett, Capital Gains and Games blog, March 25, 2010
[SIZE="+2"]S[/SIZE]ince, he is no longer affiliated with AEI, I feel free to say publicly something he told me in private a few months ago. He asked if I had noticed any comments by AEI "scholars" on the subject of health care reform. I said no and he said that was because they had been ordered not to speak to the media because they agreed with too much of what Obama was trying to do.
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Re: Apparently there are consequences for speaking against Republicans, Frum out.

RightinNYC said:
If a fellow at the Urban Institute or an employee at Moveon wrote several articles criticizing Obama as a socialist and attacking the Democratic stance on health care, do you think he would be employed for very long?
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Evidently the AEI folks were told not to talk to the press about health reform without prior permission from AEI because many of them according to Bruce Bartlett actually agreed with much of what Obama was trying to do with health reform. A few years ago, The Heritage Foundation was arguing for many of the same reforms the bill has in it.

Also, the Urban Institute is non-partisan. One of the Urban Institute's senior fellows, Alan J. Auerbach, has not exactly been a fan of the Obama Administrations fiscal policies. Yet he still has his job.
 
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I wonder what Frum will do for health insurance now. :2razz:
 
Re: Apparently there are consequences for speaking against Republicans, Frum out.

SouthernDemocrat said:
Evidently the AEI folks were told not to talk to the press about health reform without prior permission from AEI because many of them according to Bruce Bartlett actually agreed with much of what Obama was trying to do with health reform. A few years ago, The Heritage Foundation was arguing for many of the same reforms the bill has in it.
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Shhhhh!

All the far-righties on DP don't want to hear about all that... It will completely flush their 'socialism/communism' talking points down the toilet... They'll have no where to vent their impotent rage...


Just like Clinton, Obama is stealing the GOPs best ideas and repackaging them. That's what this was all about. The GOP can't stand to see a Dem take credit for their ideas!
 
Bassman said:
So basically to you, a "good" Conservative kowtows to the Left?? Sorry, but this pig don't fly.
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He disagreed with the tactics used to try to block health care reform. As true to the GOP lately, that makes him a RINO. The worst part is, he's being let go for being right. The GOP gambled big and lost on this one.
 
hazlnut said:
Just like Clinton, Obama is stealing the Republican's best ideas and it pisses them off so much they vote "no" something originated with the Heritage Foundation... Strange Bedfellows indeed.
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Reminiscent of the Repubs bringing lawsuits against the HCR law for its mandate that everybody be covered yet, it was the Repubs who first came up with this idea back in '93.

Oi vey!

Subtitle F: Universal Coverage - Requires each citizen or lawful permanent resident to be covered under a qualified health plan or equivalent health care program by January 1, 2005. Provides an exception for any individual who is opposed for religious reasons to health plan coverage, including those who rely on healing using spiritual means through prayer alone.
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They even mandated non-citizens be required to buy health insurance. Hmmm....

Here is a summary of the 1993 bill:

Title I: Basic Reforms to Expand Access to Health Insurance Coverage and to Ensure Universal Coverage - Subtitle A: Universal Access - Provides access to health insurance coverage under a qualified health plan for every citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States.

(Sec. 1003) Establishes a program under which persons with low incomes (and who are not eligible for Medicaid) will receive vouchers to buy insurance through purchasing groups.

(Sec. 1004) Requires each employer to make available, either directly, through a purchasing group, or otherwise, enrollment in a qualified health plan to each eligible employee.
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Summary Of A 1993 Republican Health Reform Plan - Kaiser Health News

Check out how many more Repub ideas that were in this Health Care Reform law were originally in the Repubs' bill. And yet, the Party of No still insisted on following McConnell and Co. off the cliff instead of helping the American people by voting for their own ideas. :doh

Their hypocrisy and selfishness has been exposed and they will pay big time this November. Wouldn't it be a kick in the pants if the Dems actually picked UP seats? :mrgreen:
 
Bassman said:
So basically to you, a "good" Conservative kowtows to the Left?? Sorry, but this pig don't fly.
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He wasn't kowtowing to the left, as has been demonstrated by several posts here.

This is an issue I've had with Republicans since the 2008 election cycle. Where are the conservative intellectuals? Where are their thinkers when it comes to presenting the cold hard logical thinking behind their ideals? Instead what the electorate got was "Paling around with terrorists" and Obama is a socialist who will destroy America, but nothing as to why voters should vote for Republicans.

There were arguments to be made against Obama and Democrats, but those were overlooked or discarded out right by McCain and his advisors. Obama=bad. That was it. Whoa be to those conservatives who spoke up about what a poor choice he made in Palin.

To tie this back into Frum, he expressed his frustration at the mistake the GOP leadership made in not taking in some very key facts as to their strategy and this is portion is very significant:

Could a deal have been reached? Who knows? But we do know that the gap between this plan and traditional Republican ideas is not very big. The Obama plan has a broad family resemblance to Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts plan. It builds on ideas developed at the Heritage Foundation in the early 1990s that formed the basis for Republican counter-proposals to Clintoncare in 1993-1994.​
(Thanks Hazelnut for posting that)


They merely went on with SOP, Obama=bad. How is it kowtowing to point out there were ideas in the bill espoused by The Heritage Foundation???

RightinNYC said:
If a fellow at the Urban Institute or an employee at Moveon wrote several articles criticizing Obama as a socialist and attacking the Democratic stance on health care, do you think he would be employed for very long?
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Now this is where conservatives are ill served when they don't pay attention to the more left of the Democratic party. Daily Kos, Maddow, Olbermann, Arianna Huffington (and those who write for her), Bill Maher, Maureen Dowd have, in their turn, excoriated Obama and Democrats for their strategies and policies. They are all employed the last I noticed.

Dezaad said:
I think the distinction about disagreement on strategy vs disagreement on policy is an important one that RightinNYC missed. The Republican insistence on monolithic thought will probably not serve them well. It reminds me of the arrogance of the Bay Area liberals on the Democratic side: Fast becoming a group of educated but entirely unsophisticated thinkers on the left.

The difference between the Rs and Ds right now is that with the Rs, it seems to be a huge movement in the party as a whole. Insistence on purity of thought on strategy seems symptomatic of that, to me.
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Well said. I read a post yesterday mocking Obama because there were Democrats who voted against health care. I gather the poster believes Democrats should march in lock-step and be of one mind.

And indeed, the insistence on purity of thought is why many Republicans held their nose and voted for McCain. Is the reason why McCain is facing a contentious primary and why Bob Bennett is having trouble in Utah. Among others of the GOP have faced criticism, like Scott Brown for voting with Democrats to move legislation forward.
 
hazlnut said:
Just like Clinton, Obama is stealing the Republican's best ideas and it pisses them off so much they vote "no" something originated with the Heritage Foundation... Strange Bedfellows indeed.
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Nothing breeds success, like success. That is how Clinton saved his presidency after the 1994 debacle. It was smart to look at what the parties have in common rather than further exacerbating our differences, which still seems to be the GOP plan.
 
Re: Apparently there are consequences for speaking against Republicans, Frum out.

RightinNYC said:
If a fellow at the Urban Institute or an employee at Moveon wrote several articles criticizing Obama as a socialist and attacking the Democratic stance on health care, do you think he would be employed for very long?
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I can't imagine those being firing offenses at any progressive organization. Progressives respect intelligent discussion whatever its outcome. That kind of think is intolerable to regressives.
 
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