Political Commentary & Opinion
Analysis, commentary, and opinion essays on politics and policy from The Daily Signal’s contributors and experts.
-
opinion
Why Congress Must Take Back Authority to Address Burdensome Environmental Regulations
Congress has a chance to reassert itself against regulatory overreach. The Senate has passed three Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolutions that would repeal the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineer’s water rule, and two EPA greenhouse gas rules targeting electric power plants. The ball is now in the House’s court. Under… -
opinion
5 Gimmicks in Highway Trust Fund Bailout
On Thursday the Senate sent yet another short term extension of the Highway Trust Fund to the president’s desk (the fourth this year). This latest short term extension means that members of the highway bill conference have until Dec. 4th to pass a bailout through hammering out the small differences between what has passed in… -
opinion
Not Much for Conservatives to Love in No Child Left Behind Rewrite
There isn’t much for conservatives to love in the policies put forward in the proposed rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization currently moving through Congress. Proponents of the No Child Left Behind rewrite have argued that the proposal would prohibit the education secretary from encouraging states to adopt Common Core and would… -
news
House Hearing Witness: On the Clean Power Plan, ‘EPA’s Cost Estimate Is an Underestimate’
Some witnesses questioned the president’s climate initiative, the Clean Power Plan, during a House Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing on Wednesday. Anne Smith, the senior vice president and environmental practice co-chair at NERA Economic Consulting, cautioned that on the CPP, the “EPA’s cost estimate is an underestimate.” Smith said the CPP’s “net costs… -
news
Maine Doubles Down on Welfare Reform Despite Media Backlash
Mary Mayhew, commissioner of Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, knows her politics aren’t always popular. “I can’t stress enough what an attack campaign it has been from the media for four and a half years,” Mayhew said Thursday at an anti-poverty forum in Washington, D.C., hosted by The Heritage Foundation. Then there are the… -
news
Planned Parenthood Overbilled Taxpayers 1 in 7 Times, Report Finds
After discovering “alarming” instances of billing inconsistencies, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin ordered health care officials to block all state funding for the two Planned Parenthood clinics located in Oklahoma. “More than one in every seven bills submitted for payment [by Planned Parenthood] … are inaccurately coded or insufficiently documented,” Fallin wrote Wednesday in a letter… -
opinion
Has Cuba Manufactured a Refugee Crisis?
A humanitarian crisis is developing in Central America along the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Earlier this week, the Nicaraguan military began refusing to allow the passage of around 2,000 Cuban refugees fleeing the Castro dictatorship. Nicaragua’s socialist Sandinista government (and close ally of the Castro regime) has even resorted to using teargas and… -
opinion
This City Claims It Needs to Seize People’s Cars Because of Drunk Driving. Why That’s Wrong.
Earlier this year, New Mexico abolished civil forfeiture, the tool that allows law enforcement agencies to seize property that they think has been used in, or is the result of, criminal activity. Most thought the new law permanently ended the practice in New Mexico. Five months after New Mexico’s sweeping reforms went into effect, the… -
opinion
Settling for ‘Same Old’ on Yucca Mountain Funding?
Before a bill to fund the federal government even makes it to the floor, some in the House are already ceding ground on funding for the completion of a license review of Yucca Mountain. Despite the Obama administration’s refusal to implement the program, Yucca Mountain was selected by Congress as a potential permanent repository to… -
opinion
The Most Underrated Sign of Lincoln’s Genius
There are many reasons to praise President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, delivered 152 years ago today. Its eloquent expressions. Its healing tone. Its inspiring message. As an editor, however, I must tip my hat to something else: its brevity. A presidential speech that’s only 272 words long brings new meaning to the word “concise.” Indeed,… -
opinion
A Conservative Student’s Take On the Recent College Protests
Can liberalism defend itself from its progeny? This question is rarely considered by liberals themselves. But after seeing the disturbances on America’s campuses over the last couple of weeks, they would be well-advised to start. Universities are supposed to be bastions of liberalism. Liberal administrators have insisted for decades that they know how to craft… -
opinion
Why John Kerry Should Apologize to France
On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry visited French President Francois Hollande to show American support to the French government. Unfortunately Kerry then proceeded to undermine his message with comments to the media that showed monumental diplomatic incompetence. Talking about the January terrorist attack in Paris on the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo, Kerry suggested… -
news
California College May Be Next Mizzou: ‘Our No. 1 Goal Is to Get President Veitch Out of His Office’
Students at Occidental College in Los Angeles have staked out tents and sleeping bags as they stage a week-long protest to support diversity on campus, and call for the removal of the college president. Over 400 students, encouraged to wear all black, occupied the Arthur G. Coons Administrative Center at the Eagle Rock campus on… -
news
World War II Veteran Born in 1905 Celebrates Milestone Birthday
16.1 million Americans served in the Second World War. Amazingly, some of those veterans are still alive today. Frank Levingston, who is said to be the oldest living World War II veteran, just celebrated a milestone birthday. Levingston, who can still recall his Army days, turned 110 years old on Friday, Nov. 13, and says… -
opinion
Paris Terrorist Attacks Underscore the Expanding Threat Posed by ISIS
The terrorist attacks launched in Paris on Friday that killed at least 129 people have been claimed by and traced back to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. It is one more sign that the Islamic State (which has seized territory the size of Maryland inside Syria and Iraq) poses a growing terrorist threat… -
opinion
French President Hollande: Saint-Denis Raid Proves We Are at War With ISIS
This morning 100 French police officers raided two apartment blocks in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, just days after the Paris terror attacks resulted in at least 129 deaths. After a dramatic seven hour gunfight in a residential building, two terror suspects have been killed and seven others wounded and captured. One man, yet to… -
opinion
Here’s What Will Not Be Discussed at the Upcoming U.N. Climate Conference in Paris
As the Obama administration prepares to leave for the U.N. climate treaty negotiations in Paris on Nov. 30, Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Kathleen Hartnett White outlines important climate questions: Q: What are some ideas missing in the global warming policy conversation? A: The official science driving global warming alarmism is based on models built to… -
opinion
Paris Attacks Suggest ISIS Adopting New Tactics
The Islamic State is likely taking a dangerous new tack in its war on all those who disagree with it. While there is much we still do not know about the terrorist attacks in Paris, the information trickling out indicates that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which has claimed responsibility, is in… -
opinion
How the Byrd Rule Could Affect Attempts to Defund Planned Parenthood Through Reconciliation
Those following the debate over Planned Parenthood funding and recent efforts to repeal Obamacare may have heard or read about something lately called the “Byrd Rule.” As if the budget and lawmaking process in Washington weren’t already hard enough to follow, add this to the list of terms and legislative rules one must understand. Thankfully,… -
news
Here’s How the US Refugee Program Works
Since Friday’s brutal terrorist attacks in Paris, policymakers are calling for the process refugees go through to resettle in the United States to be halted, at least temporarily. But what is the process those refugees must go through to gain entrance into the country? Since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has resettled 748,000 refugees,…