Political Commentary & Opinion
Analysis, commentary, and opinion essays on politics and policy from The Daily Signal’s contributors and experts.
-
opinion
Competition, Not Government Control, Can Make Health Care Cheaper
In a new Gallup poll, 35 percent say government is the worst problem facing the U.S. In the 55 years that Gallup has asked the question—”What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?”—this is the highest percentage of people who have identified the government as the nation’s worst problem. Given… -
news
Navy Vet Sues to Allow ISIS Bride to Return to US
A former Navy commander filed a complaint on behalf of the father of so-called ISIS bride Hoda Muthana Thursday requesting that the Trump administration let Muthana and her 18-month-old son return to the U.S. Muthana, 24, was born in the U.S. but ran away from her life as a student at the University of Alabama… -
news
Gillespie Addresses Northam Blackface Controversy: ‘Doesn’t Reflect the Virginia I Know’
Ed Gillespie, the Republican candidate who lost the 2017 Virginia governor’s race to Ralph Northam, said Virginia has much healing to do. “For Virginians, this is a very painful time to see these images splashed up on television screens and newspapers, and it doesn’t reflect the Virginia that I know and fellow Virginians know,” Gillespie… -
news
West Virginia Teachers Strike Ends With No Compromise on School Choice
West Virginia teachers are tasting victory after a two-day strike, putting to rest state legislation that would have allowed the opening of charter schools and 1,000 education savings accounts for special-needs or bullied students to use toward a private education option. The teachers strike ended Wednesday with the adjournment of state lawmakers who failed to… -
opinion
Podcast: Jussie Smollett’s Hate Crime Hoax Unravels
Jussie Smollett, the now-disgraced actor from “Empire,” has turned himself in. Chicago police say he fabricated a hate crime against himself in order to get attention because he was dissatisfied with his salary. In this episode, we recount what happened, the media’s careless response, and what Smollett’s actions mean for the real victims of hate… -
opinion
GOP Pounces by Allowing Democrats to Vote on Their Own Idea
“The Green New Deal is the only way to save the earth from utter extinction. If you keep standing in the way, troglodytes, we are doomed.” “OK, Democrats, let’s vote on your nonbinding resolution.” “Why are you sabotaging our legislation?!” If you think this is an exaggeration of the illogical position of Democrats and their… -
news
California Parents Object to New Sex Ed Program in Public Schools
Fed-up California parents participated in a “Sexxx Ed Sit Out” Tuesday morning to protest the state’s sex education curriculum, calling it “pornographic,” “age-inappropriate,” “highly biased and medically inaccurate instruction.” In an open letter to principals, lawmakers, and state Department of Education officials, the grassroots effort organized by Informed Parents of California rebuked what’s being taught… -
news
3 Recent Libel Suit Outcomes
Kentucky teenager Nick Sandmann’s lawsuit against The Washington Post over its depiction of him and Covington Catholic High School is still fresh, but recent libel cases might offer guidance as to how this case might end. Litigants have done quite well in recent high-profile libel cases, notwithstanding the high legal bar set in place by… -
news
Business Coalition Cites 4 Reasons to Repeal Death Tax
A bill to repeal the estate tax, often called the death tax, has the support of about 150 national business and trade associations that signed on to an open letter to the sponsors of the legislation. “We appreciate your work to lead the country towards a commonsense tax code that does not impose a destructive… -
opinion
Changing Reality With Words
The reinvention of vocabulary can often be more effective than any social protest movement. Malarial swamps can become healthy “wetlands.” Fetid “dumps” are often rebranded as green “landfills.” Global warming was once a worry about too much heat. It implied that man-made carbon emissions had so warmed the planet that life as we knew it… -
opinion
Podcast: ‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Phil Robertson on His Christian Faith
Why did the patriarch of the hit TV show “Duck Dynasty” become a Christian after an early life of sexual hedonism? What’s his advice to parents trying to raise kids who stay Christian? And what does it mean to be a Christian in our current secular culture? Phil Robertson, author of “The Theft of America’s… -
news
Covington Teen’s Libel Suit Follows Justice Thomas’ Questioning of Libel Precedent
A day after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas signaled it might be time to review a landmark ruling on libel law, President Donald Trump cheered the libel lawsuit of a Covington, Kentucky, high school student against The Washington Post. Although Trump has repeatedly insisted that Congress change existing libel laws to make it easier to… -
opinion
Smollett Case Highlights Reasons for Skepticism About Hate Crime Statistics
Update: The Chicago Police Department took “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett into custody early Thursday on a charge of making a false report to police. “Bogus police reports cause real harm,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a press conference announcing Smollett’s arrest. Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good narrative…. -
opinion
Hope for an Overregulated Nation
By some estimates, the cost of government regulation in the U.S. exceeds $2 trillion. An amazing number. And while we’re paying a fortune for existing regulations, major new ones are coming out at the rate of 3,000 per year—so fast that the White House can only do a cost-benefit analysis on less than one half… -
news
Mueller’s ‘Foreign Agent’ Prosecutions May Lead to Probes of Green Groups
By invoking a law regulating foreign agents to pursue prosecution of former Trump campaign officials, special counsel Robert Mueller opened the door to more intense scrutiny of some U.S. environmental groups, according to legal analysts who say China and Russia use such groups to influence America’s energy policy. But these legal analysts said they also… -
opinion
The Sick Phenomenon of Fake Racist Crimes
Is it any wonder that American news consumers are at the end of their ropes of patience with the “mainstream media”? Three weeks ago, when I first documented troubling questions, contradictions, and doubts about Trump-hating, attention-craving actor Jussie Smollett’s absurd hate crime claims, few in the “professional” journalism herd paid heed. Now, with a grand… -
news
Texas Boy Says Adults Called Him ‘Little Hitler’ When He Started Raising Money for the Wall
A young Texas boy faced both praise and ridicule from adults after he opened a hot chocolate stand to raise money for President Donald Trumps’ border wall. Benton Stevens—a 7-year-old from Austin, Texas—wanted to help raise funds for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border after watching Trump deliver the State of the Union address earlier… -
opinion
Judges’ Ruling Finds City’s Ban on Topless Women Discriminatory
It’s the sort of court case that belongs on The Onion. But Free the Nipple-Fort Collins v. City of Fort Collins is a real lawsuit all right—with real implications. (Legalized toplessness, if you’re wondering.) For years, conservatives have talked about the slippery slope of the gender debate. Keep your shirt on, liberals said. Well, Coloradans—you first. Call… -
news
Covington Student Sues Washington Post
Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann is suing The Washington Post over its coverage of a January incident involving himself and Native American protester Nathan Phillips. Attorneys for Sandmann filed the lawsuit Tuesday, accusing the Washington newspaper of engaging in a “modern-day form of McCarthyism.” The lawsuit also blames CNN and NBC, “among others,” for taking… -
opinion
3 Lessons From the Jussie Smollett Hoax
So, Jussie Smollett was lying. The “Empire” actor claimed that when he was walking home at 2 a.m. in Chicago, in the midst of the polar vortex, he was accosted by two assailants, both of whom shouted anti-gay and anti-black slurs at him. They then attempted to throw a noose around his neck and pour…