Political Commentary & Opinion
Analysis, commentary, and opinion essays on politics and policy from The Daily Signal’s contributors and experts.
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- Opinion
Markets and Miracles
In this season of giving, I’ll donate to The Doe Fund, a charity that helps drug abusers and ex-cons find purpose in life through work. Doe’s approach doesn’t include many handouts. It’s mostly about encouraging people to work.“Work works!” they say. It does. Most Doe Fund workers don’t go back to jail. I’ll also donate…John Stossel -
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Honduran Nationals Reportedly Run Fentanyl Trafficking Rings in Major Cities
Honduran nationals are running fentanyl trafficking rings in cities across the western U.S., an alternative newspaper in Oregon reports. Law enforcement agencies have been investigating a cartel using “Honduran nationals to distribute bulk amounts of fentanyl … in the western United States,” according to Willamette Week, citing a criminal complaint filed Dec. 12 in U.S. District…Jennie Taer -
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US Consumers Face Higher Prices for Goods as Houthis Continue Attacks on Commercial Vessels
The Houthi attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea are threatening to disrupt U.S. and global markets with delayed shipping times and increased goods prices, The Washington Post reported. The Yemen-based Houthis have launched several attacks since Oct. 7 against vessels in the Red Sea as part of retaliation efforts against Israel and its allies. In…Jake Smith -
- Opinion
Rogue Agencies Flout Constitution and Undermine Our Republic’s Institutions
Students learn in civics class—or at least they used to—that under the U.S. Constitution, Congress passes the laws, and the president and the rest of the executive branch have the duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” It seems that many federal officials missed that lesson in school, however, since government agencies…Preston Brashers -
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AOC’s Anti-Historical Palestinian Christmas
Many on the Left have long attempted to reframe the Christmas story to push their political agenda. They urge lax enforcement of immigration law by insisting that Jesus was a refugee. Now, they claim Jesus would be Palestinian today to undermine support for Israel’s response to Hamas’ massacre of innocents on Oct. 7. On Christmas…Tyler O’Neil -
- Opinion
The Lessons of 2023
2023 was a rather bad year. Not as bad as 2024 is likely to be, or as 2020 was. But bad. Nonetheless, we ought to learn from the bad as well as the good. So, in a spirit of reflection, I offer a few lessons we ought to remember from this crummy year. Lesson No….Ben Shapiro -
- Opinion
Associated Press Gets It Wrong: Wind Farm Contractors Acknowledge Turbines Harm Dolphins, Whales
When wind turbine companies seek permission to harm sea life, reporters for The Associated Press blame The Heritage Foundation (where I work) and The Heartland Institute, instead of reporting the facts. It was a Chico Marx moment: “Who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes? The misleading AP article—carried by WBTS-TV in Boston; The Daily…Diana Furchtgott-Roth -
- Opinion
4 Ways Struggling Americans Would Bear Brutal Impact of $17 Minimum Wage
With 60% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, most U.S. households could use a raise. But an arbitrary, one-size-fits-all increase in the minimum wage imposed by lawmakers in Washington would only exacerbate the struggles of these households. According to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, proposed legislation to increase the federal minimum wage…Rachel Greszler -
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Here’s the Right Way to Deweaponize the FBI
FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin revealed in February the existence of a memorandum within the FBI’s field office in Richmond, Virginia, that labeled Catholics as potential domestic terrorists. Last Monday, almost a full year after Seraphin’s disclosure, the House Judiciary Committee released a report on it. The House committee’s report, titled “The FBI’s Breach of Religious…Mike Howell -
- Opinion
Shakespeare’s Christmas
This Christmas is a troubled time—a season of war rather than peace, from the Black Sea to Bethlehem. America is full of political foreboding, and Christmas itself has become a source of controversy. Some find the holiday adrift from its true meaning, a Christian holy day transformed into a celebration of consumerism, when fir trees…Daniel McCarthy -
- Opinion
Remembering National Empowerment Television
When TV producer Norman Lear died, The New York Times‘ obituary said there were “critics” who insisted the date “All in the Family” premiered on CBS in January 1971 represented a “day of infamy” in American broadcasting. By contrast, for conservative television, 30 years ago this month, Dec. 6, 1993, was a welcomed day and…Steve Lilienthal -
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Biden’s Ministry of Diversity Comes for the Internet
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted “woke” new rules to control internet services that will increase consumer costs, slow investment in new technologies, and raise the prospect of yet more government intrusion and censorship. Commissioner Brendan Carr—one of two Republicans on the five-member FCC—called the plan “an unlawful power grab that gives the government a…Peter St. Onge -
- Opinion
When Marriage Becomes a Countercultural Phenomenon
I write this week as a very different man than I was when writing my last column. Then, I was merely engaged; now, after the single greatest week of my life culminated in the single greatest day and night of my life, I am married. I am filled with immense, overwhelming gratitude. My wife and…Josh Hammer -
- Opinion
The Daily Signal: A Conservative Challenge to Corporate Media’s Biased Narrative
Every year, Americans have fewer and fewer places to turn for the stories that impact our lives—stories that the corporate media often blatantly distort or outright ignore. But there is one outlet millions of readers turn to each month that features truthful journalism from reporters who don’t detest America. An outlet that regularly exposes the…Brian Gottstein -
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EXCLUSIVE: Cruz Demands Answers From Mayorkas Over Closure of Since-Reopened Railroad Crossings
Following a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from Sen. Ted Cruz, Customs and Border Protection announced Friday that two railroad crossings in Texas border communities are reopening after temporarily being closed to allow personnel to help process illegal aliens. “Beginning December 22, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, CBP’s Office of Field Operations will…Virginia Allen -
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A Failing Grade for Harvard’s Claudine Gay
Anyone who listened to the college presidents defending calls for the genocide of Jews with condescending smirks in their Dec. 5 congressional testimony could see they were insufferably smug. But then we got evidence that Ivy League universities may not have selected the best and brightest to lead them. Consider Harvard President Claudine Gay, who evinced no ability…Max Eden -
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Dissecting the Left’s Latest Smear of Clarence Thomas
Most Clarence Thomas hit pieces can’t stand up to perfunctory scrutiny. But the newest doesn’t even make any sense. In a new article with five names in the byline, anti-Supreme Court outfit ProPublica takes a decades-old offhand complaint that Thomas made about his salary and spins it into a nefarious conspiracy. In 2000, Thomas apparently…David Harsanyi -
- Opinion
Biblical Illustrations Woven Into Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’
In many homes across the country, it’s not Christmas without sitting down to watch an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” But according to Hillsdale College professor of English Dwight Lindley, many of the film versions fail to relay the full, rich message Dickens sought to portray in the 1843 novel. “A Christmas Carol”…Virginia Allen -
- News
Michigan Law to Register Prisoners So They Can Vote Upon Release
A new law in Michigan means that inmates leaving prison will be registered automatically to vote, among other election-related measures signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. Michigan is one of 23 states that already allow those with felony convictions to reclaim their voting rights, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. However, under…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
How Legacy Media Frame Debate as ‘Nonpartisans’ vs. the ‘Ultra-Right’
No one should trust our “mainstream media” in defining where the “center” of politics is from their perch on the left-wing fringes. No one should trust them to define who is “nonpartisan” and who is “independent.” The way they classify political actors is subtle, and yet blatantly unfair and unbalanced. Reporters describe the groups they…Tim Graham