Political Commentary & Opinion
Analysis, commentary, and opinion essays on politics and policy from The Daily Signal’s contributors and experts.
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news
Harvard President Claudine Gay to Resign. Here’s the Hearing That Led to Her Downfall.
Editor’s update: The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper, reported Tuesday that Claudine Gay would be stepping down as president of Harvard University, “bringing an end to the shortest presidency in the University’s history, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.” The Crimson additionally reported, “Gay’s resignation — just six months and two days… -
opinion
3 Cases Where US Is on Razor’s Edge
As the new year begins, we are on the razor’s edge of many things that soon may blow up. Americans are far beyond President Joe Biden’s serial untruths of some eight years that he never discussed son Hunter Biden’s various get-rich-quick schemes. All were predicated on the perception of foreign interests purchasing from the Biden… -
opinion
New House Freedom Caucus Chief Reveals Group’s Priorities for 2024
The House will be back in session on Jan. 9, and the new leader of the House Freedom Caucus says border security will be a top priority when they return. “Of the many crises that this president and these Democrats have created that the country is suffering under now,” says Rep. Bob Good, the newly… -
opinion
Heritage Foundation Experts Share Reading Recommendations for the New Year
Here at The Daily Signal, we have the tremendous fortune of working alongside the world-renowned experts of The Heritage Foundation, our parent organization. I always find it interesting to hear what my brilliant colleagues read and are influenced by. This year, I polled Heritage staff as to what books, old and new, they would recommend… -
opinion
Rules of the Road: Governing Big Tech
“Why expect our children to wear seat belts when we can ask everyone to drive responsibly?” Americans are smart enough to recognize that as crazy talk, so much so that we’ve implemented law enforcement nationwide to protect our families from dangerous behavior on the road. On the digital highway, however, commonsense precautions are nowhere to… -
news
Gov. Mike DeWine Vetoes Bill Protecting Kids From ‘Gender-Affirming Care’
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a bill to protect minors from experimental transgender medical interventions that are euphemistically referred to as “gender-affirming care.” DeWine, a Republican, framed his veto of House Bill 68 on Friday as an effort to bring consensus on a divisive issue and to avoid having the government decide what medical decisions… -
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… -
news
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… -
news
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… -
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… -
opinion
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… -
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…. -
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… -
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… -
opinion
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… -
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… -
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… -
opinion
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… -
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… -
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…