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
For One Night on the Baseball Diamond, Washington Gets It Right
Since 1909, through two world wars, the Great Depression, and every period of political turmoil our country has faced in modern times, Congress has played baseball. That is not an accident. There is something about the game that has always outlasted the moment, that pulls people back to the field no matter what else is… -
opinion
Parents Must Remain Vigilant Against the Ideological Colonization of Libraries
America’s culture war is still being fought, and New York is the latest flare-up. The state’s lawmakers recently introduced legislation that replaces the terms “father” and “mother” from state child custody laws, using gender-neutral language like “gestating parent” instead. The lesson for American parents? Remain vigilant. This isn’t a left-versus-right issue; it is the commonsense crowd—a strong… -
opinion
How Reconciliation Can Help Reduce SNAP Fraud and Waste
Waste, fraud, and abuse in the welfare system have been on full display for the last several months, giving Congress a clear opportunity for reform. As lawmakers consider another budget reconciliation, they should prioritize improving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, one of the federal government’s largest welfare programs. First, Congress could eliminate a major loophole… -
opinion
Senators Push to Increase Use of SAVE Program to Identify Noncitizens on Voter Rolls
Last week, two senators, Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget, introduced the Election Security Partnership Act. If passed, it would provide federal grants to encourage states to submit their voter registration lists through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program at the United States Citizenship… -
opinion
The Christian Pro Sports Revival You Can’t Ignore
This is an adapted excerpt from Steve Eubanks’ new book “Godball: How Athletes are Saving Christianity,” out June 9 from Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc., and used with permission. The 2020s have seen the birth of a movement, a Christian revival bordering on a revolution. Pastors and Christian leaders see it,… -
opinion
Budget Reconciliation Can Advance an American Opportunity Agenda
Congress must use budget reconciliation to begin adopting an American Opportunity Agenda by the fourth of July. Americans cannot wait for action by their elected officials to address affordability, accountability, and opportunity for the American people. Enactment of a follow-up to the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” (Public Law 119-21, OBBB) on its one-year anniversary would… -
opinion
Jonathan Mayhew and the Biblical Source of the American Revolution
John Adams once said the American Revolution began not on a battlefield but “in the minds and hearts of the people.” Among those who lit the fuse was the influential Boston preacher, Rev. Jonathan Mayhew. His 1750 sermon on the limits of obedience to government became, in Adams’ view, one of the founding texts of… -
opinion
California: The Land of Regulation
California’s punishing cost of living isn’t inevitable—it’s policy-driven. Burdensome regulations have sent housing and energy prices soaring, crushing incomes and deepening poverty. Smarter deregulation could bring back the Golden State’s long-lost affordability and historic role as a “land of opportunity.” In 2024, California had a poverty rate of 17.7%, meaning about 7 million people were… -
opinion
Bureaucrats in the Way of Business
Is your business “needed”? Bizarrely, in many states, if you want to start a business, you first must convince bureaucrats that your business is “needed.” Four years ago, Louisiana blocked social worker Ursula Newell-Davis from helping kids with special needs. Bureaucrats said she hadn’t proved her business was needed. “Why does the state of Louisiana… -
opinion
How Do Federal Government Employees Get Away With Not Paying Their Taxes?
We have known for some time that our federal employees have cushy lives compared to the people for whom they work (us). What is particularly infuriating is that so many of them either don’t pay their taxes or are seriously delinquent on what they owe their employer—the federal government. Recently, the Treasury Inspector General for… -
opinion
Stop the Scam: Minneapolis Students Need Education Choice
One classical school in Minneapolis offers a lesson on how to create opportunities in tough areas. Policymakers and special interest groups should pay attention. In May, at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, Rep. Bob Onder, R-Mo., described a reality that has been obvious to parents in… -
opinion
No Great Expectations for New Jersey’s Businesses
It was the based of times, it was the woke of times, it was the age of candor, it was the age of cant, it was the epoch of sense, it was the epoch of pretense. And it was the season when firms started moving from high-tax, high-cost blue states to freedom-loving red states. ExxonMobil’s… -
opinion
Protecting Religion: The Battlefield of the Future
On June 6, 1876, as the United States approached its centennial anniversary, President Ulysses S. Grant addressedthe youth of America. “My advice … no matter their denomination,” is to hold fast to faith, to not merely know one’s religious precepts, but to live them. By Grant’s counsel, in this would be the flourishing of the… -
opinion
African Parliamentarians Gather to Defend Family and National Sovereignty
The fourth African Regional Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty is convening in Accra, Ghana, this week. There, parliamentarians and civil society leaders from across Africa will seek to respond to the many contemporary challenges affecting African families, cultural identity, and national sovereignty. Topping the agenda at the conference will be a discussion of… -
opinion
Louisiana Schools Wave Goodbye to Bureaucratic Red Tape
Who would have thought education dollars were best used when actually directed toward the education of students? Attempting to follow every letter of federal regulation in education is a monumental task. School personnel spend tens of millions of hours (and dollars) each year on federal compliance. What they get in return for this investment is… -
opinion
Restoring Affordability Starts With Modernizing America’s Freight Network
Americans are still reeling from years of inflation and supply chain disruption. Families are paying more than ever before for groceries, appliances, vehicles, and countless everyday goods. Washington talks constantly about affordability, but one of the most practical ways to lower costs rarely gets enough attention: making it cheaper and faster to move products across… -
opinion
Peter Xu: The Billy Graham of China
This is an adapted excerpt from “China’s War on Faith” by Sam Brownback with Michael Arkush, released May 12 from Republic Book Publishers. Peter Xu never lost faith in his Lord and Savior. Not even when death was near. In 1997, Peter hung from the metal bars of a sliding prison door for nearly four hours…. -
opinion
Time Is Almost Up on California’s Ticking Medicaid Time Bomb
Today is primary day in California—with high-profile races for governor and Los Angeles mayor—so voters should prioritize candidates with strong records of fiscal discipline. The Golden State has a history of fiscal irresponsibility that has strained budgets, and Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, is the clearest example. The program has expanded drastically over time,… -
opinion
Wall Street’s Dirty Secret: It’s Still Running on a Climate Scenario the UN Just Retired
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance collapsed in October 2025. The Net-Zero Insurance Alliance fell apart even earlier. By the end of last year, every major U.S. bank had withdrawn from the climate cartel that had spent four years pressuring them to choke off financing to American energy producers. It should have been the end of the story. It… -
opinion
Reps. Clyde and Boebert: No Warrants, No FISA
When there’s a real chance of protecting Americans’ privacy, the deep state always runs the same playbook. Slow walk votes on reforms. Allow the clock to run out. Highlight a potential national security scare. And reiterate the status quo while calling it reform. That’s why we must deliver real reforms before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…