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
Congress Examines Welfare Reform: ‘The Most Effective Anti-Poverty Program Is a Job’
For the first time in a decade, the House Ways and Means Committee held a full committee hearing on welfare reform, addressing how to get low-income Americans out of poverty. “Today’s hearing is about people, and right now there are more than 46 million people in our nation who are living in poverty,” Committee Chairman… -
opinion
Why New Mexico Resorted to Suing EPA for Gold King Mine Spill
A back-hoe operator accidentally struck an oil pipeline in Alaska in 1994, and 1,000 to 5,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Skagway River. The Environmental Protection Agency had his supervisor—who was at home and off-duty at the time of the accident—criminally prosecuted for negligent discharge under the Clean Water Act. A district court sentenced… -
opinion
Congress’s Puerto Rico Bill Is Not a ‘Conservative Win’
Congress’s latest attempt to address the Puerto Rico debt crisis is winning applause in some conservative quarters. The Wall Street Journal editorialized favorably, claiming that PROMESA, the acronym for H.R. 5278, “applies market reform principles to an urgent problem.” Writing in Forbes, the Conservative Reform Network’s Ryan Ellis called the bill “a conservative win,” one… -
opinion
My Dad Was Transgender. Why I Still Think Gender Can’t Be Changed.
Maybe parallel universes really do exist. Maybe, as my husband and I hiked through the deep, dark forest a few years ago, we somehow crossed through a portal, a stargate into another dimension—a universe that, superficially at least, looks quite similar to the one I’d known most of my life. I almost hope that’s true…. -
opinion
Gitmo Detainees Coming to US? Not So Fast
It’s almost summer, so that means that the United States Senate and House of Representatives will take up—again—more legislation related to the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo), Cuba. Gitmo legislation has been a favorite political football for both parties, regardless of which party is in the majority. And this year is no different…. -
news
How Helping Puerto Rico Through Debt Crisis Became Personal for One Conservative
Puerto Rico made Rep. Raul Labrador, but the fact he was born there, and called it home until he was 13 years old did not inspire him to help the island with its debt crisis. In his five years as a lawmaker, Labrador’s political capital has been so invested in his conservative constituents in Idaho,… -
opinion
We Know What’s Solving Poverty Around the World
For nations all around the world, as well as right here at home, lawmakers struggle with how to achieve economic and social progress. Data collected annually in the Index of Economic Freedom demonstrate that the principles of economic freedom have a strong positive impact on the global economy and poverty. As economic freedom has increased… -
news
Puerto Ricans Need to ‘Clean Their Own House,’ Conservative Leaders Say
Congress should not pass legislation to have taxpayers bail out Puerto Rico’s economic crisis, or allow the United States territory to file for bankruptcy, reads a memo from conservative leaders. “Both steps are bad policy and both should be avoided,” the memo reads. The memo, released Monday by over 35 leaders who are part of the… -
opinion
Is ‘Game of Thrones’ Secretly About Global Warming?
(Moderate spoilers involved.) Is winter actually never coming again? A new Vox video portrays a theory that the hit fantasy drama “Game of Thrones” is actually all about catastrophic manmade global warming. However, a more accurate connection is that both are simply science fiction. In “Game of Thrones,” White Walkers—terrifying humanoid/zombie ice men so fearsome that… -
news
Congress Takes Next Step to Impeach IRS Chief
House Republicans will soon take the next steps necessary in their bid to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee plans to hear testimony and examine charges that Koskinen obstructed a congressional investigation into the agency’s treatment of conservative groups. While Koskinen is willing to appear at a second hearing in… -
news
Virgin Islands AG Withdraws Climate Change Subpoena Against Think Tank
The U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general has revoked his subpoena of the free market think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute as part of an investigation into ExxonMobil Corp. and the energy company’s research about climate change. Claude E. Walker, the the Virgin Islands attorney general, is one of a 17-member network of state attorneys general who… -
opinion
Killing of Taliban Leader in Pakistan Demonstrates Shift in US Strategy
U.S. officials say they are confident that a drone strike carried out in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province on Saturday killed top Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour. The strike is a bold move by the U.S. that represents a long overdue shift in strategy toward the Taliban. The strike is a bold move by the U.S…. -
opinion
Government Report Shows Potential Trans Pacific Partnership Impact
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which is the government agency whose mission includes providing the president and Congress with independent analysis of international trade issues, recently released a 787-page report on the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement between the United States and a dozen other countries. The results were not surprising. According to the… -
news
Meet the Moms Fighting the Government Over Their Children’s Bathroom Privacy
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A group of North Carolina parents are joining forces to fight the Obama administration over its policy that forces public schools to allow transgender students into restrooms, showers, and locker rooms that are opposite from their biological sex. “It’s not safe for my daughter,” Tammy Covil, a mother from Wilmington, N.C. told… -
opinion
What McConnell’s Surrender on Women’s Draft Shows About GOP Leadership
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has apparently given up on another battle front: Stopping America’s young women from being forced into military combat. That isn’t exactly what he said this week when asked his views on whether women should be made to register for the draft, but it’s the logical outcome of his… -
opinion
House Proposes Landmark Forfeiture Reform Bill
Thanks to the work of a bipartisan team of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, federal civil asset forfeiture reform is a significant step closer to reality. On Thursday, Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., John Conyers, D-Mich., Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., and Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, introduced the DUE PROCESS Act, a bill that would dramatically… -
opinion
Iran Is Demanding Reparations From US for 63 Years of ‘Spiritual and Material Damage’
Iran is demanding the U.S. pay for 63 years of “spiritual and material damage.” The Iranian parliament cited examples of U.S. “hostile action” towards Tehran such as alleged U.S. support for a 1953 military coup in Iran. Iran is one of the leading state sponsors of terrorism and has a long history of inciting violence in… -
news
One Muslim Police Officer’s Unique Role in Keeping His Community Safe
As a Muslim with a dream to be a police officer, Sharif Hidayat stood out in the Jesuit high school he attended in Maryland’s Montgomery County. “I was the only Muslim,” says Hidayat, 42, who is the community services officer for Montgomery County Police Department’s 4th district. “I was the only one in my family… -
opinion
Our Constitutional Right to Privacy Is Missing From Bathroom Debate
It should be common sense that every person is entitled to privacy when using the restroom, changing, or showering, but unfortunately, some have eliminated common sense from the discussion. What else can explain the decision by dozens of school districts across the country, retailing giant Target, and even the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice… -
news
‘The Sound of God’: In Iraq, US Airpower Bolsters the Peshmerga’s Fight Against ISIS
MOSUL FRONT, Iraq—The old peshmerga general smiled at the sound of the U.S. fighter jets. “That’s the sound of God,” he said. Gen. Omar Hama Ali Farag held a pair of binoculars to his eyes, scanning Islamic State positions about a mile away, across the Great Zab River in the direction of Mosul. “There’s two…