David Frum Is Not A Serious Person

Excellent commentary by Ben Domenech in today's issue of The Transom.

Not that I expect David Frum, think tank of one, to actually read things before commenting on them. But for the past few days it's been amusing to watch his sudden transformation into an energy policy expert (even to the point of clashing on CNN with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who knows a thing or two about Gulf energy, by claiming "You know what Governor Perry proved today is he knows nothing about the energy industry."). http://goo.gl/MYYDJ I have to assume he hasn't read Perry's energy plan and is just taking the talkers Romney's handing without even scanning them, because he continues to harp on the idea that the plan is based solely on the calculations of one Woods Mackenzie study (actually, Romney's is, Perry's isn't) – a claim belied by the actual studies cited within said plan, in a handy thing called footnotes.

Yesterday Frum claimed for the second or third time that problem at the core of Perry's plan is an assumption that his "calculation is premised on some assumptions, of which the most important is $180 / barrel (after inflation) for oil by 2030 and $12 per thousand cubic feet for natural gas." Not only is this an absurd claim on its face (or does David Frum control the laws of supply and demand at whim?), it is easily rebutted by reading the actual studies cited. http://goo.gl/wNCaM

Domenech continues

In late 2009, I had coffee with Frum for the first and last time outside AEI. He made two claims which stick with me – one was that Dodd-Frank wouldn't really hurt business growth, and the other that small businesses would adore Obamacare. I disagreed on both counts, and strongly on the second. He rejected that idea thoroughly. Walking back to the office, his last comment to me was “Just you wait: two years from now, everyone will agree with me.”

Almost two years to the day, the NFIB filed the first petition in the Supreme Court case against Obamacare.

Read the whole thing - it's an ass-whoopin'.

Domenech mentioned that he's thinking of doing a Transom poll for the most overrated journos/writers in NY/DC. We'll be taking nominations in the comments.

Also, if you're not a Transom subscriber yet, you can sign up here, and there's also now a Transom page on Facebook.

posted by Andy at 11:39 AM

| Access Comments