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
Once Again, DC Metro Proves It Doesn’t Deserve More Taxpayer Funding
“Metro sucks.” That was the message, via chants and boos, of Washington Nationals fans last week when the D.C. Metro system stopped running D.C.-bound trains around 11:40 pm, a full hour before the game ended. (To add insult to injury for fans, despite a stellar regular-season finish eight games atop their division, the Nats succumbed… -
opinion
Time for Conservative Intellectuals to Get Comfortable With the Right to Bear Arms
The right to keep and bear arms is a vital element of the liberal order that our Founding Fathers handed down to us. Armed citizens take responsibility for their own security, cultivating the self-reliance and vigorous spirit that are indispensable for genuine self-government. As I argue in a new essay for The Heritage Foundation, the… -
opinion
Street Performer’s Wrongful Arrest Highlights NYPD Waste
A New York City guitarist is finally getting some payback in the face of injustice. In 2014, Andrew Kalleen was wrongfully arrested for loitering while playing his guitar in a subway station. The New York City Police Department officer arrested Kalleen despite his protestations and those of other subway patrons who claimed to enjoy the… -
opinion
Rising Concerns as the Battle Begins to Defeat ISIS in Mosul
The long-awaited Iraqi offensive is underway to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, from the Islamic State. On Monday, Iraqi security forces began the attack from positions 40 miles south of the city while Kurdish militias advanced from the north. It isn’t known how many ISIS militants will fight to the death in Mosul, but Kurdish… -
opinion
3 Ways to Expose the Truth About Planned Parenthood
Usually the century mark for a person, place, or thing is a momentous and joyous occasion. Not so this time. On Sunday, Planned Parenthood turned 100. Both pro-lifers and pro-choicers are marking the organization’s birthday in hashtags: #100YearsOfAbuse and #100YearsStrong, respectively. But the statistics that have emerged from that 100-year reign are staggering. The award… -
news
Cuban Dictatorship Governed More Severely During 2 Years of US Engagement
In the waning months of his presidency, President Barack Obama issued a directive he called “irreversible,” expanding transactions related to Cuban pharmaceuticals, increasing transportation, and greater commercial opportunities between the United States and the communist dictatorship. Part of the expanded cooperation will include doing business with state-owned enterprises on property confiscated from Americans during the… -
news
How Did Sports Become So Politicized?
Colin Kaepernick makes his first start of the season at quarterback Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers take on the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, New York. This early-season QB change wouldn’t normally make so much news—but Kaepernick is no ordinary football player. During the NFL preseason, Kaepernick ignited a controversy when he refused to… -
news
What One Woman Is Doing to Take Down Planned Parenthood
While Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, is celebrating its 100th anniversary Sunday, one organization is working tirelessly to put Planned Parenthood out of business. CEO Brandi Swindell founded Stanton Healthcare in 2006. According to the Stanton Project’s website, it has branched out from a room in a doctor’s office to an international affiliate… -
opinion
State, Local Governments Have Funded Only 35 Cents of Every Dollar Committed to Pensions
$5.6 trillion. That’s how much a recent report from the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, estimates state and local governments across the U.S. have promised to their employees, but can’t afford to pay. Normally, if an employer promises its workers more than it can pay, its workers lose out, but that’s unlikely to be… -
opinion
Margaret Sanger Would Be Proud of What Planned Parenthood Has Become
Planned Parenthood is about to celebrate its 100th birthday. It’s an odd, and frankly grotesque, commemoration for an organization that is responsible itself for ensuring over 7 million babies will never have the opportunity to celebrate even one birthday. Planned Parenthood was founded on Oct. 16, 1916, by population control advocate Margaret Sanger. Though the… -
news
No Mass Exodus Out of RSC for Freedom Caucus Members
The number of Freedom Caucus members considering an exodus from the Republican Study Committee has dwindled to just a handful of lawmakers, according to a comprehensive Daily Signal survey. That healthy prognosis comes little more than a month after Freedom Caucus members began talking openly of a breakup between the two influential conservative groups, and… -
opinion
The All-Out Assault on the First Amendment
The Constitution has long been subject to attacks from individuals hostile to its guarantees of freedom, economic opportunity, and limited government, but in recent days no other provision has been as widely and intensely attacked as the First Amendment. From the IRS targeting conservative groups to those trying to limit the ability of Americans to… -
news
Washington Couple Fights Government After Police Seize Car Son Was Borrowing
Terry and Maria Platt haven’t been to Arizona in more than 30 years, and they weren’t driving the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta that belongs to them when police in the Grand Canyon State seized it in May. In fact, Terry Platt, 77, and Maria Platt, 74, who goes by Ria, were five states away in Prosser,… -
opinion
Tesla Invades Auto Giants’ Turf With Lawsuit to End Protectionism
Tesla Motors Inc. is suing the state of Michigan in federal court over protectionist laws that forbid the popular electric carmaker from selling its vehicles in the state. It’s an all-out fight in the home state of Motor City, and it could reshape how consumers buy cars in Michigan and beyond. Believe it or not,… -
opinion
New Study Confirms Marijuana Use Up Drastically in Workforce
This November, there are a record number of ballot initiatives in at least nine states regarding so-called medical marijuana or outright legalization of the Schedule I drug. The pot pushers, both small businesses and large, want more people smoking, eating, and consuming more pot because it is good for their bottom line. Before voting yes,… -
opinion
EU Report Targets British Media for Telling the Truth About Radical Islamic Terrorism
As Britain starts extricating itself from the European Union, bureaucrats in Brussels continue to hand ammunition to Brexit supporters. Last week, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) saw fit to advocate British journalists undergo some type of sensitivity training because—get this—they write too much about radical Islamist terrorism. The 83-page “ECRI Report on the… -
news
Conservatives Not Impressed by What Paul Ryan Achieved in First Year as Speaker
“For insisting the GOP is still a party of ideas,” Paul Ryan made Politico magazine’s annual list of the 50 most influential lawmakers, intellectuals, and leaders in politics. A year into his job as House speaker, though, the self-described policy wonk has helped generate lots of white papers but few legislative wins. And while some… -
opinion
3 Ways to Use the Presidential Debate to Talk Taxes
With the leak of Donald Trump’s tax records by The New York Times, and following round two of the presidential debates in which both candidates spoke about their tax plans, taxes are in the news to stay. But like its code, taxes are complicated. There’s the corporate tax rate, the sales tax, personal income tax,… -
opinion
Improper Recycling Could Land You in Jail: How Overcriminalization Threatens Everyone
Criminal laws and regulations in the United States have increased to absurd proportions in the past few decades, posing a growing threat to our constitutional liberties. There are nearly 5,000 criminal laws and an estimated 300,000 or more criminal regulations at the federal level alone. In fact, there are so many possible criminal offenses that… -
news
First US Offshore Wind Plant Costs $17,600 Per Home Powered
America’s first offshore wind power plant will cost about $17,600 dollars to build per home it will power. Three miles off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island, the wind farm is supposed to generate enough energy to power 17,000 homes, but will cost $300 million to build five turbines. This cost is just to…