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
Disputed New York Times ‘1619 Project’ Already Shaping Schoolkids’ Minds on Race
From the moment Fatima Morrell read The New York Times’ 1619 Project last year, the educator embraced the 100-page magazine special issue on slavery and racism as a professional godsend. Morrell, an associate superintendent in the Buffalo, New York, school district, where 80% of the 31,200 students are non-white, was inspired by the project’s reframing of American history that put… -
news
Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Swedish lawmakers nominated activist Greta Thunberg for a Nobel Peace Prize on Monday, saying the teenager will help save the Paris climate agreement. Thunberg “worked hard to make politicians open their eyes to the climate crisis,” Jens Holm and Hakan Svenneling, both members of Sweden’s Left Party, told the Associated Press. They said they believe… -
opinion
Compelled Speech Is Hitting Close to Home
George Orwell wrote his dystopian novel “1984” more than 70 years ago. In it, he described a totalitarian state in which “Big Brother” created the language “Newspeak” to control the thoughts of its citizens. “1984” is becoming more and more prescient by the day. Earlier this month, The Denver Post fired one of its… -
opinion
The Path Forward for Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to play a critical role in training and advancing the next generation of leaders. Dr. Wayne Frederick, president of Howard University, joins The Daily Signal Podcast to discuss how HBCUs are advancing higher education. He also shares his personal story of a dual career in medicine and academia…. -
news
Ex-NFL Star Says He’s Grateful to Birth Moms of His 2 Adopted Kids
A former NFL star who shunned an invitation to the White House in 2013 to protest President Barack Obama’s embrace of Planned Parenthood says he’s pro-life in part because of the mothers of his two adopted children. In remarks to the National Pro-Life Summit Jan. 25 in Washington, Matt Birk, who played that year for… -
news
A General’s View of Why US Should Stay in Afghanistan
Despite overtures from the Taliban and declining interest among Americans, it is essential that the United States remain in Afghanistan, retired Army Gen. Jack Keane said this week at a Heritage Foundation event. Over the past 18 years, Keane said, the U.S. has made tremendous progress at preventing another attack on the U.S. from al-Qaeda… -
news
Coming Soon: Emoji Depicting Gender-Neutral Santa, Transgender Flag
A variety of transgender-inclusive emoji will be added to platforms such as Apple and Android this year, including an emoji of a gender-neutral Santa Claus, the Unicode Consortium has announced. The new emoji come as part of the Unicode Consortium’s addition of 117 new emoji for 2020, including a polar bear, bubble tea, a hug, a… -
opinion
Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan a Much-Needed Dose of Reality
It’s unlikely that President Donald Trump’s new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan will succeed. Yet, it’s the best of any recent offerings because it dispels poisonous fictions that have held back negotiations for decades. The reality is that there will never be a Palestinian “right of return” to Israel, since such a policy would destroy the Jewish… -
opinion
Why Capitalism Is a Blessing to Mankind
What is capitalism? To understand true capitalism you have to start with an understanding of capital. Capital is the secret sauce of capitalism. So, what is it? The New Oxford American Dictionary defines capital as: wealth in the form of money or other assets owned by a person or organization or available or contributed for… -
news
Our Coming Debt Crisis
Ten to 20 years from now, we will not be talking about impeachment, and believe it or not, we won’t still be talking about Donald Trump either. We will be talking about our debt crisis. For all the good that came from this era, the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations will all be remembered as… -
opinion
Why We Shouldn’t Tax Savings as the Left Proposes
The White House is seriously thinking about pushing for new tax cuts to bring added relief to middle class families. This strategy stands in stark contrast to the approach taken by Democratic presidential candidates, all of whom have, at one time or another, proposed hiking taxes on income, energy, and payrolls as well as adding… -
opinion
Maryland Legislators Move to Protect Kids’ Lemonade Stands
The Maryland House Environment and Transportation Committee on Tuesday heard testimony about a bill that would prevent local governments from outlawing children’s lemonade stands on private property. Yes, you read that right. It’s illegal in Maryland for children to run lemonade stands in their families’ yards unless they obtain all the licenses, permits, and inspections… -
opinion
The Cult of Western Shaming
An ancient habit of Western elites is a certain selectivity in condemnation. Sometimes Westerners apply critical standards to the West that they would never apply to other nations. My colleague at the Hoover Institution, historian Niall Ferguson, has pointed out that Swedish green-teen celebrity Greta Thunberg might be more effective in her advocacy for reducing… -
opinion
On ‘Waters of US’ Rule, EPA’s Science Advisory Board Conflates Policy Preferences for Science
The Environment Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board is supposed to provide scientific advice to the EPA administrator. The Science Advisory Board seems to have forgotten this simple requirement. Based on the board’s actions regarding the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to define “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act,… -
opinion
Why Pelosi’s Infrastructure Plan Is the Wrong Way Forward
House Democrats on Wednesday revealed their framework for infrastructure legislation this year, a package titled “Moving Forward.” The same day, the powerful House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on transportation-related revenues. This was not a coincidence. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced two weeks ago that there would be a flurry of infrastructure-related activity…. -
news
Patriots’ Ben Watson: ‘Men Have to Stand Beside Women We Impregnate’
New England Patriots tight end Ben Watson, joining pro-life activists at the March for Life, said that “men have to stand beside the women we impregnate.” Watson discussed his upcoming documentary “Divided Hearts of America” in an exclusive interview Friday with The Daily Caller News Foundation at the 47th annual pro-life rally and march in… -
opinion
2 Gay Students Are Suing a Seminary. Here’s Why It Matters.
A man and a woman, both in same-sex marriages, have sued Fuller Theological Seminary for discrimination after it expelled them over their same-sex marriages. Fuller, located in Pasadena, California, is the nation’s largest interdenominational seminary. The lawsuit represents a move that Christian organizations have anticipated in light of same-sex marriage. The lawsuit could become a… -
opinion
When ‘Never Again’ Means Nothing
This week, the world marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Allied forces during World War II. Politicians of all stripes dutifully tweeted, “#NeverAgain.” Meanwhile, many of those same politicians continued to forward the worst sort of anti-Semitism, blithely ignoring the fact that anti-Semitism isn’t a relic of the past but a… -
opinion
The Cost of Sacrificing Public, Private Health Insurance for ‘Medicare for All’
A majority of House Democrats are co-sponsoring legislation (HR 1384) to outlaw virtually all Americans’ public and private health insurance and replace their coverage with a new government plan. In the Senate, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” bill (S 1129) would accomplish the same objective. Americans must fully grasp the necessary trade-offs—the sacrifices—they would… -
opinion
Presidents Have the Authority—and Every Right—to Remove Ambassadors
Multiple news outlets last week reported on a 2018 video recording in which two men with Ukrainian connections, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, apparently inform President Donald Trump that the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, was undermining his policy and asserting that he soon would be impeached. In response, Trump reportedly ordered: “Get rid…