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

    What Will Jan. 6 Committee Democrats Do When It’s Time to Certify Trump’s Win?

    House Democrats on the select committee that accused President-elect Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, are not saying whether they will vote to certify Trump’s victory next Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.  A week after two prominent Democratic lawyers penned an op-ed urging House Democrats to overturn the 2024 presidential election, Democrats…
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  • opinion

    What ‘America First Abroad’ Should Look Like

    What is an America First foreign policy? Though President Donald Trump’s first term provided noteworthy clues, no one on his team ever articulated clear, overarching themes. The question continues to reverberate even among his supporters, pitting neo-isolationists against those who argue that a fundamental reassertion of America’s national interests requires rethinking and reworking—but not necessarily…
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  • opinion

    Pardoning Fauci Would Be Disservice to Him and Americans

    It seems President Joe Biden won’t stop at letting his convicted son Hunter off the hook. The White House staff is reportedly pondering an unprecedented, preemptive set of presidential pardons for numerous officials who haven’t been formally charged or convicted of federal crimes but may be liable for indictment or conviction under the incoming Trump administration. Prominent on that list is…
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  • news

    FBI Identifies Texas Man as Bourbon Street Attacker

    THE CENTER SQUARE—The FBI has identified the driver of a truck that plowed into a crowd of people celebrating New Year's on Bourbon Street early Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring 35.  Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen and U.S. Army veteran from Houston, rented the F-150 Lightning truck, the FBI said. Alethea…
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  • opinion

    Three Classic Children’s Books Series to Revisit in 2025

    The new year is a time for new things, but it can also be a time to rediscover hits from the past. For parents who want their kids reading great fiction with good values, here are three classic book series to revisit. The Adventures of Tintin Georges Remi (Hergé) Egmont Ages: 7+ I can’t recall what…
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  • opinion

    The National Nightmare Is Ending

    Après Biden, “L’audace, l’audace, encore l’audace, toujours l’audace!” To paraphrase mixed French 18th-century memorable quotations: After Biden, follows not the deluge, but now daring, and still more daring, and always more daring. Why? A combination of two self-evident truths. Joe Biden’s inept administration proved an ungodly disaster, not just for America but for the West…
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  • opinion

    33 Books You Should Read in 2025

    As you set your 2025 goals and New Year’s resolutions, The Daily Signal encourages you to make reading books a priority (or listening to them, if that’s your preference). We asked our own staff, plus others from The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America, to offer their book recommendations. They are listed below. Do…
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  • opinion

    Will Mike Johnson Keep the Speaker’s Gavel?

    The 118th Congress is all but over. For the House, it ended in much the same way it began: With various factions within the Republican Party jostling for their priorities and for power. Is the 119th Congress in for a repeat of those dynamics as House Speaker Mike Johnson’s gavel could be in jeopardy and…
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  • opinion

    Student Loan Regulations in Reverse and Seasonal Signs of American Democracy

    Are you aware that in our democracy the people least able to pay their debts are the ones who acquired expensive degrees to improve their earning potential? If you weren’t before, your ignorance has surely been remedied after no less than five rounds of Department of Education rulemaking aimed at relieving the distress of student-loan borrowers…
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  • opinion

    THAT’S A WRAP: The Political Winners and Losers of 2024

    For those of us in the news business, 2024 provided a steady stream of stories to cover—and rarely a dull moment. From the Republican primaries early in the year to the assassination attempts and political conventions this summer, our Daily Signal team stayed busy through Election Day and in the days that followed. During his…
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  • opinion

    Is Climate Change Making Hurricanes Worse?

    Climate alarmists like President Joe Biden assure us that all we need do to avert the destruction of hurricanes—or at least to lessen it—is to sacrifice offerings to the climate gods by giving up our gas-guzzling internal combustion engines and paying indulgences to Al Gore or something. You see, humans as a species have sinned,…
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  • opinion

    NYC Subway Incident, Neely’s Death Didn’t Have to Happen. But Family, Laws Failed Him.

    Jordan Neely could have been my brother. Both were diagnosed with severe schizophrenia, both with violent criminal histories, and both forcibly, temporarily hospitalized at Bellevue Hospital—New York City’s flagship hospital for the mentally ill.   The stark difference: My mother and I proactively fought the legal battle for guardianship of my brother to keep him off…
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  • opinion

    Defenders of Trans Athletes’ Invasion of Women’s Sports Need to See This New Documentary

    What do Charlie Baker, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins have in common? They’re both in deep denial about the inherent unfairness of transgender faux females competing in collegiate (and, by extension, high school) athletics against real girls and women. Apparently, like Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown…
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  • opinion

    Be Not Afraid of the Climate

    President Joe Biden reiterated before Christmas that climate change is an existential threat even as climate alarmism reaches new levels of urgency. But the premise that the world is becoming less livable because of climate change is simply incorrect. Government data show that the world is getting better for human life in nearly every measurable…
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  • opinion

    Tonight, We’re Gonna Party Like It’s 2019!

    Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the new Department of Government Efficiency should help President reelect Donald J. Trump implement a straightforward reform: Return federal spending to 2019 levels. Americans lived large just before COVID-19. On New Year’s Eve 2019—nearly five years ago—the U.S. economy boomed.  Real annual gross domestic product grew by 2.5%. Unemployment was just 3.5% and at or near record depths for blacks, Hispanics,…
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  • opinion

    Defunding Planned Parenthood Is a Matter of Life and Death for Black America

    The prospect that American taxpayers, who morally object to abortion, may no longer be forced to fund Planned Parenthood when President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, feels promising this time around. And according to Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, the newly slated Department of Government Efficiency advisory committee just might lead the charge to…
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  • opinion

    A Light in the Darkness

    The week before Christmas in 2006, on the same day I lost my job, doctors gave my wife six months to live. I had to be the one to break the news to her. I sat in her recovery room following a lung biopsy surgery, waited for her to be awake and aware, and told…
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  • news

    Pornhub to Block Access in 13 States as Age-Verification Laws Spread

    THE CENTER SQUARE—The pornography website Pornhub soon will be inaccessible in 13 states after lawmakers passed a flurry of restrictions for social media and other internet sites.  The bills require certain age-verification measures for websites hosting adult content.  A total of 16 states—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina,…
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  • opinion

    The Vindication of Daniel Penny

    It didn’t take long for Daniel Penny, the subway savior who was persecuted by the New York City justice system for having the temerity to help fellow passengers, to be completely vindicated. By trying—and, fortunately, failing—to convict Penny in the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless drug addict with a long rap sheet who yelled…
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  • news

    Rand Paul’s Report Details $1 Trillion in Gov’t Waste. Here Are the Worst Offenders.

    Sen. Rand Paul released a report on Monday outlining more than $1 trillion in government waste from the past year. The 2024 “Festivus” report highlighted various instances of wasteful government spending from the federal government, including a pickleball complex in Las Vegas and a cabaret show on ice. This year marks Paul’s 10th annual report. “This year,…
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