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.
-
opinion
‘Socialism of the 21st Century’ Collapses in Brazil. Here’s Why It Failed.
With the Senate impeachment vote to remove from office former President Dilma Rousseff, Brazilians joined a lengthening line of Latin Americans who have soured on the populist, corrupting, and impoverishing policies of “21st Century Socialism.” Faced with its disastrous consequences, people in some neighboring countries had already turned the page and moved on. Argentina wised… -
opinion
Extreme Position of Pro-Choice Politicians Contradicts American Consensus
Lurking behind the annual split among Americans over the labels “pro-life” and “pro-choice” is a new reality. The fact is that today, whatever label they choose, Americans overwhelmingly support abortion restrictions. Pro-choice politicians who typically support unrestricted, or almost unrestricted, abortion share the extreme view of a tiny minority of the American people. Consider this…. -
opinion
Why Politicians and Taxes Can’t Save Taxis From Extinction
Ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft again made headlines this week. In Pittsburgh, Uber announced plans to begin the world’s first self-driving vehicle pilot program. Meanwhile, in the incorrigible liberal bastion of Massachusetts, taxi-friendly lawmakers passed a first-of-its-kind rideshare tax that will transfer profits from successful ride-hailing companies to the foundering taxis they are putting… -
opinion
Government by Special Interests Is the Problem, Not the Solution
“Bring back the special interests!” A version of this plea is heard more and more these days from those worried about the current state of our politics. It is the implicit theme of a recent Atlantic cover story, provocatively titled “How American Politics Went Insane.” The author, Brookings Institution scholar Jonathan Rauch, asserts that the… -
news
Security Officials Consider National Hacking of Voting Machines Extremely Unlikely. Here’s Why.
Successful computer hacks at major federal agencies, large corporations, and the Democratic National Committee have sparked concern that clever infiltrators from outside the country might attempt to tinker with the 2016 election results. The Department of Homeland Security asserts there is no credible cyberthreat to the 2016 election results, and state election officials and other… -
opinion
The Heritage Foundation Stands for Freedom, Not Special Interests
This week, The New York Times ran a two-part, two-day piece on its front page titled, “How Think Tanks Amplify Corporate America’s Influence.” It tried to indict multiple think tanks as pawns of corporate America and other special interests. That The Heritage Foundation was not included in this indictment is no surprise to me, nor the hundreds of men and women here whose… -
opinion
What Can Racial Discrimination Explain?
A guiding principle for physicians is primum non nocere, the Latin expression for “first, do no harm.” In order not to do harm, whether it’s with medicine or with public policy, the first order of business is accurate diagnostics. Racial discrimination is seen as the cause of many problems of black Americans. No one argues… -
opinion
Finally, a Proposal to Help Disability Beneficiaries Return to Work
A plan to ensure disability insurance isn’t abused has been introduced in Congress. The program could save taxpayers a substantial amount of money and maintain the proper level of funding for the truly needy. The Social Security Disability Insurance program is intended to provide financial assistance for Americans with a work history that have experienced… -
opinion
The Popular Narrative About Financial Deregulation Is Wrong
Americans are being fed a false narrative. As the story goes, in 1999, Congress repealed the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act. The financial sector was free from the watchful eye of federal regulators. Then in 2000, Congress deregulated derivatives, and all of this deregulation resulted in the financial mess known as the Great Recession of 2008. That’s… -
news
I Asked Bernie Sanders Supporters If They Identified as Socialists. Here’s What They Said.
PHILADELPHIA—Turns out, Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters refer to communism more than a Fox News guest or conservative confab speaker. Or at least they do when you ask them if they identify as socialists. On Monday night and Tuesday, I chatted with around 10 Sanders supporters, both at the Wells Fargo Center, where all the prime-time speeches… -
opinion
Why the Save Our Social Security Act Would Hurt the Economy and Drive Down Other Tax Revenues
Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wis., recently introduced the Save Our Social Security (S.O.S.) Act, which includes some practicable and commonsense solutions such as raising the retirement age and using a more accurate inflation measure. Unfortunately, the S.O.S. Act’s faults significantly outweigh its merits. The bill’s most harmful provision is a significant increase in Social Security’s payroll… -
news
Despite Efforts From LGBT Group, GOP Platform Retains Social Conservative Tenets
CLEVELAND—A dramatic effort to change the GOP’s stance on LGBT issues ended with a whimper Monday as the Republican National Convention kicked off officially. The document, adopted Monday on the floor of Quicken Loans Arena, codifies the traditional definition of marriage and denounces the administration’s school bathroom directive. “It’s the most conservative platform we’ve ever… -
news
Widow Pursues Husband’s Dream of a Special Dog to Help Their Daughter
Glenn Foden had a dream for his daughter, Hannah. He saw Hannah having a canine companion to help her maneuver through her struggles with autism. Foden, an editorial cartoonist for The Daily Signal and other news organizations, began to save for a service dog. But when the conservative cartoonist died unexpectedly in March at age… -
news
France Is at War, Officials Say After Terrorist Attack in Nice Kills at Least 84
KYIV, Ukraine—At 3:45 a.m. Friday, just hours after a man drove a large truck through a crowd in the French seaside town of Nice, killing at least 84, French President François Hollande made a televised address to the nation. He began by making it clear the attack at the close of Bastille Day, France's Independence Day,… -
news
How the GOP Senate Is Boosting Obama’s Judicial Legacy
Republican senators consistently accuse President Barack Obama of refusing to follow the law and exceeding his constitutional powers. Yet they’ve been unwilling to draw the line when it comes to giving Obama’s judicial nominees lifetime appointments to the federal bench. So far in 2016, the Republican-led Senate has confirmed nine Obama judges. And that number… -
news
Social Conservatives Declare Victory on Bathrooms, Marriage in GOP Platform
CLEVELAND—After fending off attempts to change the Republican Party’s official position on LGBT issues and traditional marriage, a coalition of social conservatives cautiously celebrated an early victory Monday afternoon. Before the Grand Old Party picks its presidential nominee formally, a select set of delegates on the platform committee will spend the week staking out Republican… -
opinion
NATO Designates Cyber as Official Domain for Warfare
While the claim that hackers linked to the Russian government hacked the Democratic National Committee to steal research on GOP candidates certainly grabbed headlines, a more important story on cyberspace was unfolding in Brussels. In a press conference on June 14, NATO Allied ministers formally agreed to include cyber operations in its war domain along… -
opinion
Social Security Programs Face Depletion in Near Future
Social Security’s programs are in deep trouble. According to the just-released 2016 report of the Board of Trustees for the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, both programs’ trust funds will be depleted in the near future—old-age and survivors insurance in 2035 and disability insurance in 2023. Trust Fund Depletion Should Congress… -
opinion
Politicians Are Wrong About NAFTA
In 2012, 51 leading economic experts were asked what they thought about the following statement: On average, citizens of the U.S. have been better off with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) than they would have been if the trade rules for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico prior to NAFTA had remained in place. One… -
opinion
CIA Director Affirms Obama’s ISIS Strategy Is Not Working
No, President Barack Obama—we aren’t winning the war against the Islamic State. The head of the CIA, John Brennan, testified on Thursday that, “Despite all our progress against [the Islamic State] on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group’s terrorism capacity and global reach.” In fact, the Islamic State, also…