David Frum Asks, 'When Did The GOP Lose Touch?'

Republican David Frum, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, is seriously upset with the state of his party. He's written an article in the current New York magazine, titled "When Did the GOP Lose Touch with Reality?"

As he tells NPR's Steve Inskeep, among Frum's complaints is the idea that his fellow Republicans insist on having their own set of facts.

"One of the issues that's taken for granted, for example, at alot of these Republican debates, is that one of the reasons that the recovery has been so slow from the crisis of 2008 and 09, is because, of course, the economy is burdened by taxes and regulation," Frum says. "But taxes are not higher than they were in October of 2008; they're lower, as a matter of fact. And the total rate of tax collection from the economy is at 14 percent now — which is a rate last seen during the Truman administration."

But that doesn't mean Frum is a fan of President Obama, whom he voted against once and plans to vote against in 2012.

"In a crisis like this, you need a very strong and forceful president," Frum says. "And I don't see Barack Obama as having been that president."

Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.