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Frum: This election, vote GOP
Commentator David Frum.
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TEXT OF COMMENTARY
Kai Ryssdal: A dynamic political system takes all kinds. It takes the press people on the inside of the campaigns -- the communicators -- whose jobs it is to get the candidate's message out. It takes pollsters to count noses and tell us who's up and who's down. And it takes pundits to tell us what to think.
As we continue our series on the people behind the machinery of politics, one of our regular pundits: commentator David Frum. He's weighed in on just about everything this election cycle. And so today, why he has decided to vote the way he will.
David Frum: I know, I know, I know! There's Christine O'Donnell, Rand Paul and Sharron Angle. Never mind Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Fox News. There's the crazy guy in Texas who says that revolution is "on the table." And anyway, what kind of fiscally conservative party campaigns on a pledge to protect Medicare exactly as it is?
Yet I will, nevertheless, be voting the straight Republican ticket on Nov. 2, and here's why: The Obama Administration has launched more big bold initiatives than any administration since Lyndon Johnson's, from health care reform through Afghanistan.
Now ask yourself this: Which of these measures has produced the results promised? Of them all, in fact, there's only one that has done the job -- and that was a continuation of a Bush-era policy, the Troubled Asset Relief Program. TARP averted a second Great Depression. But the Obama stimulus did not ignite job creation. Health care reform will increase the number of insured Americans somewhat, at enormous cost, but it will not slow cost inflation. It will mean higher subsidies and more taxes. The auto bailout is just plain bad economic policy. More disappointments.
The financial regulation fix ignored as "too hard" -- the status of the government mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "Green jobs" is an excuse for government boondoggles. Meanwhile, the crucial goal of energy security is no closer today than two years ago.
We need a change of course. And ironically, the biggest winner from such a change might be the president himself. Again and again, this president has excessively deferred to Democrats in Congress. He let them write his stimulus and his health care bill.
Obama won't defer to Republicans, which means a big Republican win will not only redirect the country, it will also remind this president that it's his job to lead, not just preside.
Ryssdal: David Frum is editor of FrumForum. In earlier days, he was a speechwriter for President George W. Bush. Next week in this slot, our regular commentator Robert Reich. Your opinions are always welcome, no matter when.
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Okay this is why I don't like American Public Media. This is the media outlet that furnishes news to NPR yet one of their commentators is saying he'll vote a "straight Republican ticket"? This is why we don't donate to NPR anymore as they've been taken over by the right, been allowed to be used by the right but expect funding from the left. What's funny is the right wants to eliminate all their funding. Can someone please explain this ironic scenario?
"The Obama Administration has launched more big bold initiatives than any administration since Lyndon Johnson's..."
This is probably the only thing that both rank and file Democrats and Republicans actually agree on: Republicans to make President Obama a boogey-man, and Democrats to make President Obama a savior or visionary. And, laughably, he has been anything but bold. John Stewart called Pres. Obama out correctly by calling the series of legislation passed during his presidency "tepid." John Stewart 2012!!
As a Progressive I agree it is time to vote for republicans also.. Consider for a moment McCain got elected and it is almost the Mid Term and all of the following has occurred on his watch. 1. Corporations have been given virtually the same rights as citizens in the political arena and McCain introduces no legislation and mounts no serious effort to stop it. 2. Numerous civil rights abuses by McCain including extraordinary rendition. the direct targeting for death of American citizens without any due process in Pakistan, a neutral country, extensive wire taps on many American citizens without warrants. GPS tracking of citizens within the USA without due process, continuing indefinite incarceration without recourse in prisons like Guantanamo. 3 McCain deferring to the military to continue a discriminatory policy against gays in till they arbitrate how it should be addressed. Instead of fighting a clearly discriminatory policy, with the Order of a properly constituted judicial authority.(Kennedy would roll in his grave on this one) 4. Sanctioning US military action in Pakistan, and Yemen continually without using the war powers act. 5. Forcing 40 million more mainly impoverished citizens to buy health insurance or be fined. (with all their and the governments money going to private insurance) Then after all these civil liberty impingement's McCain to add injury to insult by. 6. Increasing the troops in Afghanistan and raising US casualties to the highest levels of the war. 7 Mounting multiple attacks into neutral Pakistan creating instability in a already unstable nuclear armed country. 8. Sanctioning over 1.5 trillion dollars in toxic asset purchases by the fed creating the most profitable year ever for banks. Without even engaging public debate. 9. Funding destabilization efforts in Iran, the probable powder keg of a major middle eastern conflict. 10. Passing emasculated bank control legislation vetted by the bank lobbies. this in light of his second largest campaign contributor being Goldman Sachs and his sixth largest being J.P Morgan. 11. Continuing military operations in Iraq with 50,000 troop still in country. If McCain did all these things several might be more aggressively fought against. A move toward the right with degradation of civil rights, would not look much different then an Obama presidency..... What does a rising corporate oligopoly with a large Army and expanded security apparatus looks like? What does a major country with the largest per capita prison population in the world look like? Yes we have a higher percentage then even such a stalwart liberal country like USSR! Expediency and our own polarization is killing us. We cannot continue to try to beat the republicans at the cost of the future of our country. It will be almost impossible to roll back the damage to the progressive movement by Obama, our only hope is to eelect republicans so we have something to fight against.
Like many other dedicated listeners of Marketplace, I was unnerved to hear Frum's obviously biased talking point commentary. Unlike some other listeners, I have enough respect for Kai and the Marketplace team, that I respect their right to replace a Democratic commentator with a Republican, perhaps to create some sense of balance. But please, Mr. Reich regularly cites evidence to back up his assertions, often giving third party sources to back them up.
I'm pleased to thank all of the listeners who have pointed out the gross mischaracterizations and shaky "facts" that Frum peddled in his piece. I agree that Marketplace should have know better and should have stuck to its normally high journalistic standards.
To those who bemoan the downfall of this show, or call for Kai R's resignation: Get a grip.
Marketplace is still the only American financial news worth listening to.
I believe in the constitution, free enterprise, limited government, the primacy of human freedom, and the United States, I really do. It’s hard to argue against any of these. But I’m still going to vote for Democrats in this election. Why? Because every good, interesting, important, tough issue I have ever thought about seems to have two sides, so I gave up and accepted the fact that all the good questions were going to have two answers. And the question of a government’s relation to its citizens is no exception. What the republicans do not get is that there really is such a thing as common interest. I’ll give two examples. Ask yourself, what do the financial collapse and the gulf oil spill have in common? They are both examples of something that a lot of people depended on (the financial system and the Gulf of Mexico) that were damaged or destroyed by the actions of a few (subprime mortgage lenders and BP/Halliburton). And there are many other examples, common defense, product safety, roads and bridges, clean air and water, the internet, etc. And I don’t trust republicans to take care of any of these because I don’t think they even understand (except for defense) that people need to work together to protect them, its not even part of the equation for them. And that’s why I’m going to vote for Democrats.
Plus, the republicans are really really mad. I know that they all aren’t, but enough are that it matters. Bad things happen when you follow people who are this angry.
Republicans have brought us to the brink of complete economic disaster. And they have deliberately tried to sabotage all efforts to dig us out of the mess that they left behind. They are more interested in power than in fixing this country’s problems. That’s why this Tuesday I will be voting for whoever has the best chance of defeating the republican candidates.
Well I've studied the economics, the politics, the moral issues, the social constructs, the healthcare debates with its loss of privacy, free choice, abortion, death panels and it hardly mentioned destruction of the principles of subsidiarity, as well as the white House's open attack upon the consitution, the requests for a civilian army, the purple shirt intimidations, the corruption of the Justice Dept, science (AGW), the arts, education, the military, marriage and the family, the mortgage industry, GM, the 1/5th unemployed, and underemployed horror, and Ive concluded that we got into this mess by too many people actually paying attention and believing these politicians and their benefactors -the professional pundits and parasite class that thrive upon the dysfunnction of our society.
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