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
What People Are Saying About the EPA’s Regulations
On Friday before leaving his position as a senior counselor to President Barack Obama on climate policy, John Podesta warned: Those in Congress who question the need and efficacy of the President’s actions on climate change will find themselves on the wrong side of science, on the wrong side of history—and on the wrong side… -
opinion
It Was Unconstitutional Before It Wasn’t: Democrats in Their Own Words
Hypocrisy is a given in Washington. So much so that Senate Democrats must believe no one notices just how much of it they are guilty of in their attempts to prevent Congress from funding the Department of Homeland Security. First, Democrats say they want to fund Homeland Security–yet they have filibustered any and all attempts… -
opinion
The State of Freedom of Press Across the World
It’s not a good time for freedom of the press. The non-profit organization Reporters Without Borders, devoted to supporting journalists worldwide, published its annual index this month. In six continents, the conditions for free media in 2014 became not just worse, but “dramatically worse,” according to the group’s “2015 World Press Freedom Index.” International journalism… -
opinion
What’s Next for Libya, Now an ISIS Stronghold?
Egypt retaliated for the decapitation of 21 Egyptian Christian workers held hostage in Libya by supporters of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) by bombing bases and training camps controlled by that revolutionary terrorist movement. Some of the targets were located near the cities of Derna and Sirte. Eastern Libya long has… -
opinion
How Billionaires Run Solar Plant Scams
At the recent inauguration of the Desert Sunlight solar farm, Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell stated, “This is the beginnings of a renewable energy future.” Let’s hope she is wrong, because the Desert Sunlight project is cronyism at its worst. This project involves $1.5 billion of subsidized loans. It also mandated purchases of overpriced power,… -
opinion
How We Can Honor Edward Brooke, a Great Trailblazer
Who makes history? When people think of history makers, they may first think of those whose accomplishments rest upon specific moments in their life. However, there are individuals whose actions over a lifetime create ripple effects for many years to come. A man of this exact nature, the late Sen. Edward Brooke, R-Mass., served as… -
news
Police Have the Power to Seize Your Property. See Why the Issue Is Uniting Democrats and Republicans.
A decades-old practice granting law enforcement agencies the power to seize property and money without a search warrant has Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill taking notice. Through civil forfeiture, law enforcement agencies have made 55,000 seizures of cash and property worth $3 billion since 2008. Civil asset forfeiture is a procedure that gives law… -
opinion
How High Costs Killed This Clean Coal Power Plant Project
FutureGen is dead. Again. The Department of Energy pulled the plug on this $1.1 billion project in Illinois: a “clean coal” power plant that would capture carbon dioxide and store it underground. President George W. Bush proposed the carbon-free power plant in 2003 but shelved the project five years later because of cost overruns. President… -
opinion
This African Country Was Once the World’s Third Poorest. Here’s How It Turned Things Around.
GABORONE, Botswana—Western governments, well-intentioned NGOs and good-old-fashioned profit-seeking capitalists have been trying for decades to help bring development and prosperity to Africa, often unsuccessfully. Botswana embraced democracy, free markets and the rule of law. In other words, economic freedom. But buried in the heart of Southern Africa lies a success story that could be a model… -
opinion
Why Washington Shouldn’t Control Transportation Decisions
Predictably, President Barack Obama’s 2016 budget request calls for higher taxes to partially finance a $4-trillion spending tsunami. One of the more senseless tax hikes would fall on multinational businesses and is sought to pay for a transportation budget more lavish than necessary. It’s baffling why Obama would propose this tax on businesses’ foreign income,… -
news
The 10 Best (and Worst) States to Find a Job
Is your state a good place to find a job? A recent Gallup poll asked Americans if their employer is hiring or firing, and used the results to rank the job creation in each state. Residents of North Dakota are most likely to report positive hiring conditions where they work, followed by Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin… -
opinion
It’s Time to Rediscover George Washington’s Greatness
What’s so great about George Washington? I don’t mean this as a rhetorical question, implying that Washington really was not great—as such a question might be intended by many modern scholarly debunkers of great men. I intend it, rather, as a real question from which we can gain some valuable insight: what exactly made George… -
opinion
The Fed Isn’t Currently Independent of Congress
The club of U.S. central bankers appears jittery, but it’s not because of interest rates, unemployment, or mortgage-backed securities. It’s because of Congress. The Fed appears particularly nervous that Congress will pass Rand Paul’s audit bill and some version of the Federal Reserve Accountability and Transparency Act (the FRAT Act). Alan Blinder, a former vice… -
opinion
Why Aren’t We Supporting One of Our Only Middle Eastern Friends?
King Abdullah II of Jordan is angry. In a meeting with members of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, he quoted Clint Eastwood in promising retribution against the Islamist radicals who burned a Jordanian pilot to death. He wants our support. He should get it. Here’s my cardinal rule of foreign policy: Back… -
opinion
Cambodia Deports Persecuted Christians
Blatantly disregarding international commitments, Cambodian authorities deported a family of five Montagnards, a persecuted predominantly Christian Vietnamese minority group, back to Vietnam. The recently deported family was part of a group of 27 Montagnards currently seeking assistance from the United Nations and human rights groups in Cambodia. At least four other Montagnards have successfully reached… -
opinion
5 Facts About Cohabitation You May Not Know
More young adults are opting to cohabit rather than marry or to delay marriage for financial reasons, such as debt, according to a recent study published in Demography. However, National Marriage Week presents a good opportunity to review how rigorous, long-term studies have measured the substantial impact of marriage on financial stability, as well as… -
news
Marco Rubio Is Attempting to End Operation Choke Point Once and for All
Sen. Marco Rubio is attempting to end Operation Choke Point—for good. The Florida Republican and potential 2016 presidential candidate introduced legislation yesterday that would completely defund the Justice Department program while protecting gun sellers and manufacturers from future attempts to eradicate the industry. “It has become clear that the FDIC and the Department of Justice… -
opinion
Should Workers Need a Union’s Permission to Get a Raise?
What happens to pay when companies unionize? A new study by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained economist comes to a surprising conclusion: Wages fall. Dr. Brigham Frandsen compared companies whose workers narrowly voted to unionize with those whose employees voted narrowly to stay non-union. He found that average wages at the narrowly unionized companies fell… -
opinion
Protecting the Refugee: Twisting the Definition Undermines Humanitarian Efforts
Earlier this week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced an in-country refugee and parole system to process qualified minors from the three countries in the “Northern Triangle.” Up to 5 million unlawful immigrants, those who may benefit from President Obama’s executive amnesty, will be able to apply for legal reunification of their family members, mostly… -
opinion
Alleged Benefits from Proposed Ozone Standard Have Little to Do with Ozone: Statement to the EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently held hearings on its new proposed ozone standards. The existing standard of 75 parts per billion (ppb) for ground-level ozone, a primary component of smog, was set in 2008. Every five years, the EPA is required by law to review and, if appropriate, revise these standards. The EPA is…