U.S. Intelligence Agency News
The Daily Signal provides coverage of intelligence operations, surveillance controversies, and the role of U.S. agencies in national security and civil liberties.
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- Opinion
Socialism Is a Rigid Ideology That Always Ends in Tyranny
Q: What did socialists use before candles? A: Electricity. It’s an old joke, sure. But it’s no laughing matter. Just ask the people of Venezuela. The socialist regime there nationalized the electricity sector a dozen years ago. Today, blackouts in the once-prosperous Latin American nation have become routine. Electricity isn’t all that’s in short supply. Gasoline is scarce in the…Lee Edwards -
- News
Illegal Border Crossings Hit 10-Year High as Officials Warn of ‘Breaking Point’
The U.S. border with Mexico is at a “breaking point,” Trump administration officials say, with arrests of illegal immigrants surging to record levels. In February, border agents arrested more than 66,400 people for entering the country illegally, the highest number recorded since 2008. “This situation is not sustainable,” Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan…Kelsey Bolar -
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‘People Are Starting to Realize Just How Dangerous the Socialist Agenda Really Is,’ Says Former NY Lawmaker
Former Rep. Claudia Tenney, who represented New York’s 22nd Congressional District in the 115th Congress, spoke to The Daily Signal at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week. Tenney narrowly lost re-election to Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-N.Y., last November. An edited transcript of the interview is below. Rob Bluey: Looking back on your time in…Rob Bluey -
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‘Put Socialism on Trial,’ Larry Kudlow Urges
Larry Kudlow, director of the president’s National Economic Council, called Thursday for putting socialism “on trial”—and convicting it. “I want you, and everybody in this room and your friends and your neighbors, I want you to put socialism on trial, that’s what I’m asking,” Kudlow said, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference just outside…Fred Lucas -
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Mark Meadows Hails American Dream Over Socialism of Green New Deal
Americans have to look no further than Venezuela to see the harms of socialism, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus told conservative activists gathered Thursday morning at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “I think it was a young Bernie Sanders who was talking about it’s good to be in line to wait for…Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
Venezuela and the Myth of Kinder, Gentler Socialism
Venezuela is a socialist country. Venezuela is also a dictatorship. Currently, Venezuela has fallen into open violence and complete chaos, with the strongman Nicolas Maduro ordering troops to open fire on those attempting to bring humanitarian aid into the country. Yet, strangely, Maduro still has his defenders. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the leading declared Democratic…Ben Shapiro -
- Opinion
Medicare’s Financial Condition Is Getting Worse. Here’s What Trump and Congress Can Do.
The financial condition of Medicare—the huge program that covers over 58 million beneficiaries—is deteriorating. The president and Congress are legally required to address the problem this year. For the taxpayers, it’s essential that they slow the growth in Medicare spending. For the beneficiaries, they can improve the program’s overall performance, benefit structure, and financial condition…Robert Moffit -
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Trump Says Venezuela Crisis Marks ‘Twilight Hour of Socialism’
The movement for freedom in Venezuela reveals that the “twilight hour of socialism has arrived in our hemisphere,” President Donald Trump said Monday night in a speech in Miami. “The Venezuelan people have spoken, and the world has heard their beautiful voice,” Trump said in his remarks at Florida International University to an audience that…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Socialism Has Already Hurt America
President Donald Trump was principled and politically astute to address, in his State of the Union, the horrors taking place now in Venezuela, and then to declare: “Tonight we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.” Venezuela is indeed a poster child for what happens when a nation’s economic machinery falls…Star Parker -
- Opinion
California’s High-Speed Rail Failure Shows the Insanity of Green New Deal
Even California can’t apparently support high-speed rail. Just a few hundred miles of high-speed rail in California was well on its way to exceeding $100 billion in costs by the time of completion. As a result, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that the state will be massively shrinking the project. “Let’s be real,” Newsom, a…David Ditch -
- Opinion
The Constitution Rejects the Premise of Judicial Supremacy. So Should All Americans.
Americans today are inclined to accept, without thinking much about it, the idea of judicial supremacy. We think that the federal courts—and especially the Supreme Court—have an extensive discretion to decide for us the big questions of public policy that come before the nation. After all, the Supreme Court has taken upon itself the authority…Carson Holloway -
- Opinion
Podcast: Social Justice Challenges America’s Founding Ideals
Social justice—you’ve probably heard the term. It’s a buzzword, but it’s also an ideology. When you peel back the layers, it becomes quite clear that this new social justice ideology stands directly against America’s founding principles—things like blind justice and equality before the law. Noah Rothman writes about all this in his new book “Unjust:…Katrina Trinko -
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8 Takeaways From Acting AG Whitaker’s House Judiciary Committee Hearing
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker doesn’t expect to remain in the job for more than another week, as the Senate is expected to confirm nominee William Barr for the position. Whitaker has been in the office long enough, however, to be sharply grilled by Democrats—and a pair of Republicans—at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Friday….Fred Lucas -
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Sen. Mike Lee Slams Senate Judiciary Democrats for ‘Wildly Inappropriate’ Questions on Religion
Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee condemned the Senate Judiciary Democrats on Thursday for questioning judicial nominees’ religious beliefs before the committee. Democratic Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono denied ever instituting a religious test and scolded Lee for what she believed was censuring her. “You can’t openly, publicly question a nominee about that nominee’s religious beliefs, about…Molly Prince -
- Opinion
4 Key Issues in Neomi Rao’s Judicial Confirmation Hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday held its first judicial confirmation hearing of the year for Neomi Rao, who is President Donald Trump’s nominee for the vacancy left by new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Rao fielded questions from senators about her college writings, whether…Elizabeth Slattery -
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Meet Trump’s State of the Union Special Guests
President Donald Trump will put personal faces on the many policy issues his administration has been tackling this year with the guests he’s invited to his second State of the Union address Tuesday. Below is a list of the guests and their stories, drawing upon the information the White House provided. Debra Bissell, Heather Armstrong,…Courtney Joyner -
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Democrat Senator Asks Judicial Nominee to Answer Whether Gay Marriage Is ‘Sinful’
Sen. Cory Booker asked judicial nominee Neomi Rao during a hearing Tuesday if she believed same-sex relationships were “immoral.” “Are gay relationships, in your opinion, immoral?” Booker, D-N.J., asked Rao, who is nominated to be on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. If confirmed, Rao would replace Brett Kavanaugh,…Ginny Montalbano -
- Opinion
Maxine Waters Promises More Big Government in Her Financial Services Agenda
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., recently outlined her agenda as the new chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee. Unfortunately, a continued misdiagnosis of the most recent financial crisis stoked her calls for perpetuating heavy government involvement in the housing market and further intrusion into other financial sectors. The hints of bipartisanship outreach on several matters,…Joel Griffith -
- Opinion
Today’s Venezuela: Where Socialism Meets Authoritarianism
Many on the left have for years cheered Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, as heroes of “21st-century socialism.” Ironically, however, the undeniable downward spiral of Venezuela’s economic freedom and the far-reaching suffering of its people have put the true meaning to those “hero” claims: Socialism and corruption have destroyed Venezuela. In…Anthony B. Kim -