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
Cartoon: Missing the Target
Heritage Foundation experts Hans von Spakovsky and Andrew Kloster wrote on the indictment of David Daleiden: In an astonishing bit of legerdemain, a local grand jury in Harris County, Texas, has refused to indict Planned Parenthood for violating a Texas statute that prohibits the attempted sale of human organs, despite the video evidence to the contrary… -
news
Remembering World War I: Here’s the Design for the First National Memorial
World War I is one of the most pivotal events in U.S. history, leaving hundreds of thousands of American soldiers dead in a bloody fight to preserve freedom and democracy. Today, tourists who descend on the nation’s capital—littered with statues and monuments of remembrance—find not a single national memorial dedicated to all of the Americans who served… -
opinion
New Government Rule Could Make It Harder for You to Buy Furniture
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), new regulations are necessary to protect helpless consumers from predatory lenders. The chief villain in the CFPB’s tale is the payday lender, but the new rules will impact much more than payday advances. Every year, a variety of companies provide billions in credit through all sorts of… -
opinion
Atheists Tried to Stop These Christians From Helping Ex-Convicts. What a Judge Then Ruled.
A judge has rejected the complaints of a New York-based atheist organization and ruled that two Christian organizations in Florida can continue helping newly released prisoners. Prisoners of Christ and Lamb of God Ministries are two faith-based organizations that assist former prisoners adjusting to life outside prison. The ministries provide food, housing, employment support, and… -
opinion
President Reagan’s Challenger Speech, 30 Years Later
Thirty years ago, NASA’s shuttle Challenger exploded on its journey to space, killing the seven-member crew on board. President Ronald Reagan was preparing to deliver his State of the Union address that evening but instead spoke to the nation from the Oval Office at 5 p.m. ET about the tragedy. The complete transcript is below…. -
opinion
How Oklahoma Is Looking to Reform Police Seizures
Last week, State Senator Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City, introduced the latest version of the Personal Asset Protection Act, a sweeping overhaul of Oklahoma’s civil asset forfeiture laws. Civil forfeiture is the legal tool that enables law enforcement authorities to seize cash and property, often on the mere suspicion that it was involved in, or the… -
news
Task Force Shows How US Can Cut Prison Population by 60,000, Save $5 Billion
A bipartisan task force created by Congress to develop ways to reduce the costly, overburdened federal prison population is recommending that lawmakers abandon a “one size fits all” approach to sentencing and to invest in programs that help ex-offenders adjust back into society. In a new report, the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections,… -
news
‘Downton Abbey’ Character Gives Speech Defending Smaller Government
A recent episode of “Downton Abbey” featured a spirited defense of limited government. In the episode, Dowager Countess Violet Crawley’s motives are questioned due to her adamant refusal to relinquish her family’s control of a hospital. The Crawley family matriarch soon makes it clear she is more concerned about the development of an all-encompassing government…. -
news
How Michigan and Ohio Made It Harder to Accidentally Break the Law
The Criminal Justice Committee was always an odd fit for Rep. Ed McBroom, a state lawmaker and dairy farmer representing a rural area of Michigan. During his last term on the committee, McBroom, a Republican, was schooled on a criminal justice topic he had never heard of before, but on this one, few could blame… -
opinion
Pay No Attention to What Planned Parenthood Is Doing Behind the Curtain
In an astonishing bit of legerdemain, a local grand jury in Harris County, Texas, has refused to indict Planned Parenthood for violating a Texas statute that prohibits the attempted sale of human organs, despite the video evidence to the contrary showing Planned Parenthood doctors and executives discussing organ sales. But the very same grand jury… -
news
Nonprofits Protest California’s Demands for Donor Names and Addresses
Conservative leaders and nonprofit organizations are protesting California Attorney General Kamala Harris’ demands that nonprofits provide the names and addresses of their donors to her office, which opponents say is a violation of the First Amendment and raises concerns of whether the information will be kept confidential. Under California law, nonprofits and charities are required… -
opinion
How Florida Created 1 Million Jobs in 5 Years
Gov. Rick Scott had a lot of good news to share with the Florida legislature at his State of the State address on Jan. 12. Considering what Florida’s economy looked like when Scott took office, this was surprising. In 2011, when Scott was sworn in, Florida’s economy was in terrible shape. With over 900,000 jobs… -
news
Coach Kennedy Shares the ‘Hardest Thing’ About Losing His Job
BREMERTON, Wash.—Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach in Bremerton, Wash., served in the Marines for 20 years, including in operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield in Iraq. But the “hardest thing” he’s ever been through, he said, was being suspended from coaching football and being forced to watch his players compete from the sidelines…. -
news
Satisfaction With Federal Government Services Reaches New Low
Consumers increasingly are dissatisfied with U.S. government services, according to a report released Tuesday by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Scoring 63.9 on a scale of 0 to 100, satisfaction with federal government services declined for the third year in a row, dropping 0.8 percent from last year’s score of 64.4, the report says. The… -
news
Utah Plan Would Reduce How Much Land the Federal Government Controls
Lawmakers from Utah are backing a public lands bill they say will scale back roughly 660 million acres owned by the federal government to balance conservation with economic development in their state. The Utah Public Lands Initiative encompasses 18 million acres of federal land in Utah and includes provisions to expand Arches National Park, designate acreage… -
news
‘Here to Celebrate Life’: Annual March Strikes a Pro-Woman Theme
James Smith, who runs a mentorship program in Rochester, N.Y., brought his students to the March for Life because he wanted them to know the importance of celebrating life. Smith and his students joined the throngs gathered Friday around the Washington Monument to rally and to mourn the 43rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s… -
opinion
Congress Deserves Credit for Trying to Rein in EPA, but More Is Needed
Congress deserves some credit. They passed legislation to try and block some of the Environmental Protection Agency’s overreach, even recognizing that President Barack Obama would veto its bills. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can use an expedited process to rescind agency rules and block an agency from issuing any rule that is substantially the… -
opinion
John Marshall’s Constitutional Legacy
What can we learn about our country and our Constitution from a frontier-bred lawyer and judge who died 180 years ago, having written all of his opinions with a quill pen? If that judge is John Marshall–fourth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court–we can learn a great deal about the rule of law, judicial… -
opinion
Why the US Should Look to the Leadership of Churchill and Thatcher
At a time when the United States faces multiple dangers from abroad, a lack of presidential leadership has many Americans deeply unnerved. However, it does not have to be this way. Throughout history, many extraordinary individuals have risen to meet overwhelming threats to their nations. These individuals have been able to use talent, a devotion… -
news
Sexual Assault Victims Speak Out Against Washington’s Transgender Bathroom Policies
OLYMPIA, Wash.—A group of women who say they are former victims of sexual assault are making an emotional plea to Washington state legislators to reverse a bathroom policy that they say leaves them and their young children vulnerable, exposed and unsafe. “It started when I was in diapers and went through until I was 10,”…