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
Why Massachusetts Gave Up on Common Core
The state Board of Education in Massachusetts has decided to retreat from common core and develop its own state tests—to the dismay of Common Core advocates. It comes as no surprise that a “top-down, one-size-fits-all” approach to education is not working for the people of Massachusetts. Interestingly, this policy reversal comes at the recommendation of… -
opinion
Yes, Land Use Regulations Are a Problem, but They Need Real Solutions
A new book by Dartmouth College professor William A. Fischel highlights problems with land use restrictions and zoning laws. Unfortunately, Fischel’s proposed policy recommendations would cause more problems than they would solve. The reach of zoning and land use restrictions expanded during the 1970s, when the growth control movement gained traction in much of the… -
opinion
How Market Principles Will Help Make Food Banks More Efficient This Thanksgiving
With Thanksgiving around the corner, charitable food banks across America are gearing up for their busiest donation season. Individuals and local firms supply a lot of the food, but donations also come by the truckload from major manufacturers and suppliers like Kraft, Con-Agra, and Walmart. Before 2005, America’s largest network of food banks, Feeding America,… -
opinion
Why Police in Many States Can Seize Your Property Without Proving You’re Guilty of a Crime
Civil asset forfeiture is a growing problem throughout the nation, driven by a profit incentive that encourages property seizures by law enforcement authorities even under dubious circumstances. That is the inescapable conclusion of the second iteration of Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture, the Institute for Justice’s comprehensive report on civil forfeiture…. -
opinion
How Friendly Is Your State To Businesses? See the Rankings
Last week, the Tax Foundation released its State Business Tax Climate Index for 2016. This annual report ranks all fifty states (plus D.C.) on how hospitable their tax systems are to businesses. Many factors affect a business’s ability to succeed, including prudent tax policy. While improvements to other important business factors, such as the workforce… -
news
Why House Conservatives Didn’t Object When Ryan Blocked Amendments to Refugee Bill
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s honeymoon with many conservatives continues despite his decision to block amendments to legislation tightening screening standards for Syrian refugees. Instead, members told The Daily Signal, they credit Ryan for keeping the process relatively open when time was short—and for setting the stage for future reforms to address concerns that terrorists could slip through… -
opinion
Terrorists Strike Again, but This Time, It’s Probably al-Qaeda, Not ISIS
Hard on the heels of attacks in Beirut and Paris, terrorists have struck again. This time, an unconfirmed number of gunmen stormed the upscale Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, capital of the West African country of Mali. Details are murky and likely to change in the hours and days ahead, but what is clear is… -
news
This Rehab Center Lifts Men and Women From Hopelessness of Poverty to Homeownership
Recovering addict Leann Lecik says her problems all began when she had surgery in the mid-2000s. The former pharmaceutical representative and national sales consultant was prescribed a pain medication during her recovery, and an ugly addiction soon kicked in. Lecik says she began abusing the pills, then drinking heavily. The Michigan native eventually was charged… -
opinion
Tunisia Is Now a Hot Spot for ISIS Recruitment. How the US Could Help Change That.
In Tunisia, the one nation progressing in the struggle to build a democracy from the Arab Spring revolutions, the governing party of President Beji Caid Essebsi has fractured. On Sunday, more than a third of the legislators from the Nidaa Tounes party resigned their membership, in a leadership dispute that the dissidents say is largely about nepotism… -
opinion
Why Isn’t ISIS Afraid Attacking West Will Lead to Invasion of Its Middle East Regions?
ISIS, Russia, Iran, and China all share a common concern: the United States. In short, it’s a problem. As conventional states, three of them have a view of how the world ought to be organized, but America stands in their way. They all also have the same idea—to win without fighting. Of the four, ISIS… -
opinion
It’s Time to Stop Laughing at the Idea of Returning to Gold Standard
During the last debate Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee and Senator Rand Paul all waded into monetary policy, a hot topic since the 2008 crisis. Predictably, the last few days have seen a flurry of news articles attackingtheir views. Some of these stories, such as Greg Ip’s, are quite thoughtful. But on balance… -
opinion
Could We Soon Be 3D Printing, Not Cooking, Thanksgiving Dinner?
Just this month, 3D Systems in Los Angeles, Calif., opened “their new culinary innovation center, the 3DS Culinary Lab … a first-of-its-kind workshop kitchen where avant-garde culinary experts and artists can experiment with the latest in 3D printed food innovations.” That’s one step (for man) closer to cranking out a turkey feast with all the trimmings. 3D printing… -
opinion
Are Unions Losing Their Grip in West Virginia?
West Virginia may well become the next right-to-work state. Bill Cole—the state-Senate president and probable GOP gubernatorial nominee—has made passing right-to-work legislation a top priority. However, Cole didn’t bring it up for hearings or a vote in this year’s legislative session. At the time, liberal groups celebrated the fact that right-to-work was bumped from the… -
opinion
How the NYPD Works to Counter Terror Threats
As we saw in Paris and Mali, local law enforcement officers are on the front line of defense against terror. Now that ISIS is threatening similar attacks here at home, police should have a keen understanding of what happened there to inform their efforts here. A unique program devised by the New York City Police… -
opinion
Democrat Legislator, a Self-Proclaimed ‘Spy,’ Wants to Destroy ALEC
MADISON, Wis.—It’s pretty clear that state Rep. Chris Taylor doesn’t much care for the American Legislative Exchange Council and its limited-government, free-market principles. But now the Madison Democrat and self-described anti-ALEC spy wants to put regulatory chains on the organization for doing what Taylor’s left-leaning allies freely do every day. Taylor is the author of… -
opinion
The Islamic State Will Thrive Only as Long as the US Lets It
For almost two generations, since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, self-proclaimed jihadis have been fighting to re-establish Islamic supremacy and domination in the world. Leaders of the nations they have been targeting have regarded them as a problem—but mostly not as dangerous enemies who must be decisively defeated. And so their numbers have grown and their… -
opinion
Cartoon: The Real J.V. Team
Jim DeMint wrote earlier this week on President Obama's leadership: On Nov. 12, President Barack Obama said of ISIS: “What is true is that from the start, our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them.” On Nov. 13, ISIS-connected terrorists left 129 people dead and 352 wounded in Paris. ISIS naturally… -
news
‘These Are Tyrannical Students’: What a Former Harvard Professor Thinks of College Protests
Watching student protests spread like wildfire across college campuses nationwide, a former Harvard Law School professor of 50 years is speaking out, warning that students are “moving to the absurd,” and faculty and administrators are doing nothing to stop it. “It’s gotten to the point where it is so abused and so hypocritical, and yet… -
opinion
Congress Is Finally Considering Real Criminal Justice Reform
I was recently bemoaning the fact that mens rea reform was not part of the various proposals that were being considered in the House and the Senate under the rubric of criminal justice reform, and that what was really being discussed was criminal sentencing reform. Well, I need lament no longer. This week, significant mens… -
opinion
The Connection Between Public Virtue and Our Politics
Washington almost always approaches political problems incorrectly. Instead of thinking about human beings as unique individuals, many experts and lawmakers focus only on them as numbers to be used in mathematical solutions. What they forget is that the endless studies, books, and blogs that are produced, often miss what matters most about human life. For…