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
How the Midwest Is Scaling Back Big Labor’s Special Privileges
Labor unions have traditionally been the 800-pound gorilla of special interest groups. They have secured handouts and subsidies that other organizations’ lobbyists could only dream about. But that may be changing. This year a raft of Midwestern states have scaled back some of organized labor’s special privileges. States are starting to treat unions no differently… -
opinion
Why Is China Building Artificial Islands?
Check this: In a brazen move, the People’s Republic of China is now building “islands” in the South China Sea to bolster its position against several other East Asian countries—and the United States. Yes, I said “building.” China is actually dredging sand and piling it up on existing reefs to create new islands that, according… -
opinion
Physician-Assisted Suicide Sends Message Some People Are Better Off Dead. That’s a Lie.
Last night, Dr. Ryan T. Anderson, the William E. Simon fellow at The Heritage Foundation, was on “EWTN News Nightly” to discuss his new report, “Always Care, Never Kill: How Physician-Assisted Suicide Endangers the Weak, Corrupts Medicine, Compromises the Family, and Violates Human Dignity and Equality.” During the interview, Anderson explained the many policy problems… -
news
Republicans to Government Official: Why Has No One Been Fired Over Choke Point?
The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) told members of Congress Tuesday that part of the agency’s involvement in Operation Choke Point was a “mistake.” “Clearly there was misunderstanding with regards to the list, which was a mistake on our part,” Martin Gruenberg, chairman of the FDIC, said of the agency’s decision to… -
opinion
It’s Not Compassionate: Four Policy Problems With Physician-Assisted Suicide
In recent months, heartbreaking stories of Americans such as Brittany Maynard struggling with devastating diagnoses have captured our empathy—and launched a national conversation about physician-assisted suicide. In response, activists are using these stories to advance legislation that has otherwise been rejected by the people. At least 18 states across the country are considering whether to… -
opinion
Obama Administration Wants New Regulations for Your Financial Adviser
Last week the Obama administration announced it would move ahead with a new Department of Labor rule designed to provide uniform fiduciary rules for anyone providing retirement investment advice. In general, a fiduciary standard requires financial advisers to put their individual client’s interests above their own. Sounds simple enough. But the new rule could impose… -
news
High-Ranking Federal Officials’ History of Using Personal Email for Government Business
High-level federal executives routinely use personal email for business, in likely violation of the Federal Records Act. That’s according to a recent survey of federal employees. The survey was conducted by the research group Government Business Council just prior to revelations that Hillary Clinton allegedly exclusively used personal email and a private server at her… -
opinion
Government’s Role in the Financial Crisis
After seven years of hindsight, the conventional explanation for the world’s second greatest financial crisis remains the same: The private banking sector was insufficiently regulated, allowing Wall Street to engage in excessive risk-taking behavior and questionable trading practices, thus triggering the sudden burst of the housing bubble and collapse of housing prices. This narrative is… -
opinion
How to Reform Social Security Disability So Program Focuses on Needs of Disabled Americans
What happens when Social Security Disability Insurance, an integral program that provides benefits to the disabled who are unable to work, runs out of money in 2016? All disability insurance beneficiaries currently face a nearly 20 percent benefit cut. Lawmakers are understandably scrambling to find a solution that prevents this indiscriminate and sudden benefit cut,… -
opinion
Tips for Politicians: How to Not Have an ‘Uh-Oh’ Moment at CPAC
It’s that time of year again – the week when conservative activists and politicians convene in the Washington, D.C. area for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Anyone who has attended CPAC knows it’s a feat of endurance. Only the tried and true politico sits through hours upon hours of speeches. And since the repetitive… -
opinion
Patricia Arquette’s ‘Make Believe’ on Women and Equal Pay
The political diatribe from actress Patricia Arquette about “equal pay” during the Oscars showed Hollywood’s talents for “story-telling” and “make believe” are alive and well. Sadly, instead of a passionate speech filled with facts, Arquette followed the same old left-wing script that just doesn’t measure up to the truth. Audiences deserve better. Interested in more… -
opinion
What Patricia Arquette Got Wrong About the Founders and Women
In a harried Oscar acceptance speech which culminated in a hackneyed call for wage equality, actress Patricia Arquette blamed the Founders for the so-called gender pay gap. “It’s inexcusable that we go around the world and we talk about equal rights for women in other countries when we don’t have equal rights for women in America,”… -
opinion
Abigail Fisher Asks Supreme Court to Review Racial Preferences … Again
This week, Abigail Fisher asked the Supreme Court to review her case against the University of Texas at Austin for race-based discrimination for a second time. Students who graduate in the top 10 percent of Texas high schools are automatically admitted to all state-funded schools, and remaining applicants, such as Fisher, receive a “holistic review”… -
news
How This Phony CIA Agent Pulled Off a ‘Scam’ to Impose Environmental Regulations on Americans
Remember the EPA bureaucrat who got caught receiving $900,000 in pay without working because he claimed he also was employed by the CIA? According to a report from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the man, former climate policy expert John Beale, “retired” when questions arose about his spotty attendance and expense records. Only he… -
opinion
Gowdy Accuses State Department, CIA of Not Cooperating With Benghazi Investigation
More acrimony emerged between Democrats and Republicans during yesterday’s third public hearing of the House Select Committee on Benghazi than had been seen at any point since the committee was established last summer. Earlier hearings had been on topics suggested by Democrats on the committee—embassy security and other improvements—that were relatively uncontroversial. But the focus… -
news
Poll: Health Care Costs Top List of Americans’ Biggest Financial Concerns
In a new Gallup poll, Americans called “health care costs” and “lack of money/low wages” the “most important financial problems” facing their families. Fourteen percent of Americans said that health care costs or low wages were their biggest concern. Gallup notes that this is the first time that health care costs have “returned to the… -
news
How You Can Be Legally Guilty of Racial Discrimination When You Didn’t Intend to Discriminate
Can you be liable for racial discrimination even if you lacked the intent to discriminate? The Obama administration would say “yes,” under its favorite dubious legal theory, known as “disparate impact.” Today, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., a challenge to… -
opinion
Should a Judicial Candidate Be Able to Request Campaign Contributions?
On Tuesday, Jan. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in its first campaign finance case since it threw out the aggregate limit on campaign contributions to federal candidates last year in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. But this latest case involves the rules pertaining to state elections in Florida, not federal elections,… -
opinion
How the Supreme Court Reacted to This Town Allowing Politicians Bigger Signs Than Churches
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, a challenge by a church to a town ordinance regulating signs. Like most other towns in America, Gilbert, Ariz., regulates when, where and how many signs may be displayed. Temporary noncommercial signs are classified by their content, and each category has… -
opinion
The Biggest Problem Politicians Are Tempted to Ignore
With so many high-profile, headline-grabbing issues facing the incoming Congress, lawmakers might be tempted to ignore one of the most persistent problems in Washington: overspending. How bad is it? In 2014, federal spending reached $3.5 trillion, and the one-year deficit was $486 billion. These huge numbers represent “a small and temporary improvement in the nation’s…