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 Giving Your Kids Siblings Is the Best Thing You Can Do for Them (Even If They Resent It)
Giving your kid a sibling is the best thing you can do for them, and as often as not, they resent you for it. My wife’s OB-GYN told us a story—in the middle of labor—about how he had welcomed his newborn brother to the family by burying him in a basket of dirty clothes and… -
opinion
Favoritism for a Few Politically Connected Cronies: The Problem With Ex-Im Bank
There are two types of businesses: successful ones that don’t need financial assistance from the government, and unsuccessful ones that don’t deserve it. Those lucky enough to have foreign deals backed by the Export-Import Bank fall almost entirely in the first group. They don’t need the help, but they’ll take all the favors they can… -
news
How One Former American Idol Hopeful Is Drawing Millennials to Church
WASHINGTON, D.C.—It’s a bright, warm morning in late April, and Kurtis Parks is full of ideas. The 33-year-old is so positively positive that it’s neither surprising nor disarming when his voice springs from spoken word into song and back again. He exudes happy energy. Everything from his near-full sleeves of tattoos to his 5 o’clock… -
opinion
The Government’s New Power Grab
The feds have launched a new power grab, and it’s coming at the expense of property rights. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers have proposed a new rule to define “waters of the United States.” This definition is supposed to clarify what “waters” are covered under the Clean Water Act and… -
opinion
Money Didn’t Change This Man’s Life. But a Mentor Did.
When mere material assistance has failed, relationships can be transformational. That’s the message of a video series recently released by the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, which has garnered press attention as well as millions of online viewers. The series documents the work of grassroots leaders in low-income communities throughout the nation who are addressing the… -
opinion
On the Brink: Greece Empties Its Emergency IMF Account—to Repay the IMF!
“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” —Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises The Daily Telegraph reports that on May 12 “Greece avoided an unprecedented default to the International Monetary Fund [IMF] after raiding its emergency cash account at the Fund, in a major sign the… -
news
Israeli Ambassador on Iran Deal: ‘We Cannot Roll the Dice’ on Survival of Jewish State
Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, snapped his fingers to signify how quickly the Jewish state could go from being strong to vulnerable in the face of a nuclear Iran. The same fragility can describe the current U.S.-Israel alliance at a time when the countries' governments disagree over the best way to… -
news
Federal Government to Return $107,702 Seized From North Carolina Convenience Store Owner
After months of sleepless nights since having more than $107,700 seized by the Internal Revenue Service, L&M Convenience Mart owner Lyndon McLellan learned yesterday the government decided to dismiss the case that lost him his money. “It’s a relief to know that you’re getting something back that’s yours to start with,” McLellan told The Daily… -
opinion
Excessive Regulation Hurts America’s Entrepreneurs
America is becoming the land of overregulation, with its entrepreneurial vitality increasingly drained by the massive expansion of the administrative state. According to a new report by The Heritage Foundation’s Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity, The number and cost of government regulations continued to climb in 2014, intensifying Washington’s control over the economy and… -
opinion
Rush to Judgment Against Law Enforcement Undermines Public Safety
American law enforcement is under assault. While seemingly every action taken by law enforcement of late is under intense public and media scrutiny, presumptions have taken precedence over objective analysis and broad conclusions have replaced reasonable assumptions. These presumptions undermine the public’s faith in law enforcement and the ability of law enforcement to effectively maintain… -
opinion
Why We Should Be Skeptical About Raul Castro’s Talk of Conversion
Many Catholics were cheered this week upon hearing that the dictator of Cuba Raul Castro has told the pope he might return to the folds of the church. When the game is cheating the devil out of souls, deathbed conversions are considered the ultimate Hail Mary pass. So hopes were lifted when Castro, upon meeting… -
opinion
Rewriting the Rules
A left-wing confab wants to rewrite the rules for how Americans do business with each other, their government, and the world. The Roosevelt Institute is hosting a conference to highlight their new report, Rewriting the Rules. The premises of the effort are a wise observation and a foolish conclusion. Wisely, the authors realize that economic… -
news
The IRS Seized $107,000 From This North Carolina Man’s Bank Account
For most of his life, Lyndon McLellan has been in the business of country stores—the types of stores where the employees know customers’ names by heart and workers remain loyal for years and years. His parents owned a general store and grill, and McLellan began helping out there at the ripe old age of 9…. -
opinion
Forget Seymour Hersh. What’s Really Outrageous Is US Giving Billions to Terrorist-Supporting Pakistan.
Did the Obama administration lie about the details surrounding Osama bin Laden’s death? A recent article in the London Review of Books titled “The Killing of Osama bin Laden,” by Seymour M. Hersh argues that the Obama administration has lied about several of the details of the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in… -
opinion
FEMA’s Pledge of Allegiance to the IPCC
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will now require states to plan for climate change before they are eligible for grants. This de facto oath of fealty to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its failing climate models further politicizes FEMA—an agency that can only operate effectively through nonpartisan cooperation with the affected… -
news
How to Make Life Better in Baltimore
The feelings expressed during Baltimore’s recent protests—of being trapped in poverty and circumstance—have roots in a first-of-its-kind policy enacted more than 100 years ago. In 1910, the Baltimore City Council passed a residential segregation ordinance. It was the first citywide law in the United States that mandated the segregation of each residential block. “For me… -
opinion
How the Illiberal Left Uses Silencing Tactics
In March 2014, pioneering Internet company Mozilla announced the appointment of co-founder Brendan Eich as CEO. That same day, a Twitter mob exploded with criticism of Eich. Gay rights supporters were angry about a 6-year-old donation of $1,000 to the “Yes on 8” campaign, which sought to ban same-sex marriage in California in 2008. It’s… -
news
These Presidents Celebrate Their Mothers Too
The Wild West couldn’t be tamed without mothers. At least according to Ronald Reagan. In his radio address to the nation on Mother’s Day in 1983, he told Americans: “[The] Wild West could never have been tamed, the vast prairies never plowed, nor God and learning brought to the corners of our continent without the… -
opinion
Would Lincoln Have Supported Gay Marriage? Looking at How Liberals Use Him.
As America observes the 150th anniversary of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, we find that this great American’s legacy is as much a source of division as of unity. Lincoln is the first and greatest of America’s Republican presidents. Nevertheless, some voices on the contemporary left claim that the Republican Party no longer deserves to… -
opinion
Why This Year Is a Milestone for Cuban Americans
This year is shaping up as a milestone for an immigrant group that has often felt little-understood (or liked) by the news media. Cuban Americans are coming of age as two Cuban Americans run for president. Yet the candidacies of Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz coincide with one of the community’s most stinging political defeats…