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
How Much Do the Top 1 Percent Pay of All Taxes?
Ever since President Obama started running for president in 2007, there has been a debate about how much tax rich Americans pay and whether they should pay more. In that ongoing debate, Paul Krugman and Matt Yglesias criticized the chart below because, according to them, it does not give a complete picture of the tax… -
news
Conservatives Rally Against DC ‘Anti-Discrimination’ Bills
A group of conservative lawmakers in Congress are attempting to stop what they call “ill-conceived” legislation from taking effect in the nation’s capital. One bill, called the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act, could force pro-life employers in Washington D.C. to hire individuals whose reproductive health decisions stand in opposition to the organization’s viewpoint. “This coercive measure… -
news
Maryland Might Ban Fracking for 2 Years
Legislation that would prohibit hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in Maryland for two years was recently sent to the governor’s desk. The Senate approved the bill in a 45-2 vote earlier this month. If signed into law, it would institute a moratorium on fracking in the state through October 2017. The Maryland House of Delegates passed… -
opinion
Is There a Real Wage Gap Between Men and Women?
The National Committee on Pay Equity designated Tuesday, April 14 as Equal Pay Day to raise awareness for the gender wage gap. The committee and other groups, including the Obama administration, assert that the statistical gender wage gap is a result of discrimination and requires a federal government solution. This leaves us with three questions… -
opinion
Equal Pay Day Is a Better Measure of Women’s Choices Than Their Pay
Today is apparently “equal pay day”—the alleged day of a new year through which a woman must work in order to earn the same pay as a man earned in the previous calendar year. Forget the impossibility of an annual equal pay day. If a woman had to work until April in 2014, she is… -
opinion
Congress Gears Up for Action on Iran Nuclear Negotiations
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will mark up legislation Tuesday that would allow Congress to review any nuclear deal agreed upon with Iran. The bill, introduced in February by the committee chairman, Sen. Bob Corker, and then-ranking minority member, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., would prevent President Obama from lifting economic sanctions on Iran for… -
news
How Does This Country, Neighbor of Iran and Friend of Israel, View the Iran Deal?
Most of the world has a stake in a potential U.S.-led nuclear deal with Iran. But some places are uniquely positioned to evaluate it. Take Azerbaijan, a small country that borders Iran and Russia and is friends with Israel—the primary opponent of a deal with Tehran that would ease sanctions over the country in return… -
news
‘Yesterday Is Over,’ Marco Rubio Declares in Entering White House Race
Announcing his candidacy for president in his hometown of Miami, Sen. Marco Rubio this evening underlined a generational divide between himself and Democratic favorite Hillary Rodham Clinton and depicted the coming campaign as one to reach a better future and not rehash the past. “Yesterday is over and we are never going back.”—@marcorubio “Now, the… -
opinion
Pakistan Frees Terrorist Leader Responsible for Mumbai Attacks
In a disturbing development on Friday, Pakistan released Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi on bail. Lakhvi, who had been in Pakistani custody for the past six years, was the ringleader of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The U.S. had repeatedly urged the Pakistanis to move forward with the prosecution of Lakhvi, who allegedly directed… -
news
Should Transgender Students Be Able to Use the Bathroom of Their Choice? Nevada Debates.
Should transgender students attending public schools be allowed to use the bathroom aligned to their asserted gender? That’s the question Nevada lawmakers are debating this week, as they consider a bill that would ban transgender students from using a bathroom, locker room or shower different from their biological sex. The legislation, Assembly Bill 375, is popularly known… -
news
Bank Rolled: How Foreign Airlines Win Big With Government Subsidies and US Taxpayer-Backed Loans
A trio of domestic airlines have joined forces to criticize competitors in the Persian Gulf that allegedly received billions in government subsidies. And that’s not the only government benefit given to these foreign airlines. The foreign airlines also benefited from billions in loans and loan guarantees from the Export-Import Bank over the years. Three U.S…. -
opinion
Why Do We Need Louisiana’s Marriage and Conscience Act? Ask Indiana Pizza Owners.
Recent nationwide polling shows that 81 percent of Americans agree that the government should leave people free to live and work in accordance with their belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. Nevertheless, such people are increasingly being ostracized, fired and facing death threats simply because of such beliefs. All of this… -
opinion
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Redistributing Wealth
Many Americans are aware of Congress’s long history of using Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), to increase homeownership among low-income and minority Americans at taxpayers’ expense. Hidden Taxes, Hidden Subsidies Yet a recent study published by the University of Chicago provides new evidence of how government control of the home mortgage… -
opinion
How Publishers (and Readers) Learned to Love Conservative Books
These days The New York Times best-seller list is filled with conservative books by authors such as Bill O’Reilly, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. Nearly every mainstream publisher (Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette) has its own conservative imprint. In the last decade, Regnery Publishing, the venerable conservative publisher, has seen 30 of its titles… -
opinion
Big Law Thinks Gay Marriage Opponents Are Like Racist Bigots. That’s a Problem.
Sunday’s New York Times stated plainly what many of us have known for a while: Our nation’s elites are intolerant of ordinary Americans. The reporter for the Times revealed a startling reality: “In dozens of interviews, lawyers and law professors said the imbalance in legal firepower in the same-sex marriage cases resulted from a conviction… -
opinion
Columbia Shut Down Student Group Known to Be Beijing Front Group. What Does That Mean?
We celebrated Monday that Columbia University had shut down a Chinese student society reputed to front for Beijing, seeing in it a ray of hope that colleges may at last start fighting back against illiberalism. Turns out our celebration may have been premature and the group is now back on a probationary basis. Columbia is… -
opinion
Why Presidential Announcements Matter
There is little written about presidential announcements before the invention of TV. I envision a small audience, concise verbiage, and men in tights. Or perhaps I’m just remembering a scene from the HBO “John Adams” series. While I’m not a presidential historian, it’s clear that a lot has evolved over the years. The crowds are… -
opinion
My Father Was Gay. Why I Oppose Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage.
It took me decades to come to my views on same-sex “marriage” in light of my personal experiences. From infancy, I was unwittingly identified under the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual (GLBT) umbrella. During the first 30 years of my life, I garnered many personal, social and professional experiences with my father, whom I always… -
news
Marco Rubio Runs for President on America’s Place in the World
Marco Rubio, little more than four years into his first term in the Senate, is back home in Miami today. The Republican is scheduled to announce for higher office again, this time the presidency of the United States, with the city’s storied Freedom Tower as the backdrop. It is a place that became synonymous with Cuban… -
news
9 (Surprising) Words That Describe Marco Rubio
1. History Maker Rubio became speaker of the Florida House Sept. 13, 2005—making him the first Cuban-American House speaker in Florida history. 2. Sword Owner After Rubio officially became speaker, then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush presented him with a golden sword called "Chang"—"the sword of a great conservative warrior." Bush elaborated on what the sword meant:…