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
Exclusive: Taxpayers Fund Legal Group With Role in Rap Video About Killing Police Officers
The Obama administration’s Justice Department funneled at least $1.5 million in grants to a New York legal-aid group featured in a new rap video that depicts two young black men aiming handguns at a white police officer. Some may find the lyrics eerily similar to the social media postings of the man accused of shooting… -
news
A Secret Santa With White House Connections Brings Christmas Cheer to Sick Children
Some sick children in Texas just got the surprise of their young lives: Santa Claus dropped by the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas to hand out toys. But this surprise visitor wasn’t just one of Santa’s legion of merry helpers. This was former President George W. Bush, looking like a jolly old elf indeed in… -
news
How New York Football Greats Salute Fallen NYPD Officers
Less than 24 hours after two New York City police officers were shot and killed in broad daylight Saturday, New York Jets player Nick Mangold and New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin publicly honored the slain officers. Mangold, a center for the Jets, sported a black NYPD baseball cap yesterday while walking into Metlife… -
news
Why Dish Network Isn’t Carrying Fox News Right Now
What did you watch this weekend? If you have Dish, it wasn’t Fox News. After contract negotiations came to a halt between 21st Century Fox and Dish Network, the Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network went dark for Dish customers on Saturday and remain dark still. 21st Century Fox is the parent company… -
news
By the Numbers: Rare Surgery Saves the Smallest Lives
This month, The Daily Signal told the remarkable story of Elijah Leffingwell, a 2-year-old miracle child whose life was saved before he was even out of the womb. Thanks to fetal surgery, a rare procedure available at only a few hospitals around the world, doctors were able to remove a tumor the size of an orange… -
opinion
How to Reform No Child Left Behind
Lawmakers already are talking about reauthorizing No Child Left Behind — the George W. Bush-era education initiative. “I’d like to have the president’s signature on it before summer,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who will assume chairmanship of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee when Congress convenes in January. But lawmakers… -
news
Timeout! Minnesota City Passes Moratorium on Solar Power
MONTICELLO, Minn. — Supporters of solar power say the future is bright in Minnesota, thanks to a slew of subsidies toward requiring big utilities to generate 1.5 percent of their power from solar by 2020. Despite a rush by some cities to get on the bandwagon, Monticello was the first municipality in the state to impose at… -
news
Mississippi Looking to Expand Use of Police Body Cameras
Smile Mississippi, police may have you on camera. Police body cameras could work as an accountability tool for patrol officers and help protect them from false abuse complaints. Studies have backed up the advantages of using the devices, but with technology and data storage come privacy concerns. Columbus and Cleveland police already use body cameras… -
opinion
Why Did John Kerry Just Apologize for America?
Before hopping on a plane to Lima last Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a key speech on Latin America in which he again engaged in the ritualistic self-flagellation for which this administration has lamentably come to be known. Kerry’s apologia included everything that’s been in the news for the past month, and then… -
opinion
This Man Lost His Job Because He Wouldn’t Pay Union Dues
Michael Romanchock recently got let go. But he was not “downsized.” His employer had no issues with his performance. Romanchock got fired for not paying dues to the Teamsters. His experience demonstrates how right-to-work would help Wisconsin’s workers and unemployed. Romanchock started his job in June last year. This March, the Teamsters sent him a… -
opinion
We Shouldn’t Legitimize the Castros and Establish Diplomatic Relations with Cuba
Whoa! Sure, we should be thrilled the Cubans have released American Alan Gross, but Team Obama’s plan to normalize diplomatic relations with the Castro regime as a result is a bad idea. At best. First, it’s not as if this were some sort of humanitarian gesture on the part of the Cubans. They got three… -
news
14 States Cut Taxes in 2014. Is Yours One of Them?
With Wisconsin leading the way, 14 states enacted “significant, broad-based tax cuts” in 2014, according to a report released this week. Surprisingly, several states controlled by Democrats made the American Legislative Exchange Council list. Then again, 2014 was an election year. The blue states that made the cut were: Minnesota: The Democratic stronghold “bowed to… -
opinion
Why Even Common Core Supporters Are Changing Their Minds
It’s one thing to experience “buyer’s remorse” when the product is something you can return easily, from new clothes to a set of high-end speakers. It’s another when you’re talking about your state’s educational standards. Yet more and more states are finding that there’s simply no living with Common Core. Parents, teachers, students and lawmakers… -
news
After Outcry, City Won’t Seize Man’s Home Over $40 Drug Bust
Philadelphia’s city government has dropped its attempt to seize two homes using civil asset forfeiture laws. The city’s seizure of the homes made national headlines and became the basis for a lawsuit that challenges Philadelphia law enforcement agencies’ use of civil asset forfeiture in drug cases. That lawsuit will continue even though the city has… -
news
Harvard Activists Call Israeli-Made Soda Machines a ‘Microaggression’
Harvard University’s dining services backtracked on a plan to boycott Israeli-based SodaStream following a rebuke from the university president. Palestinian students had complained that the mere logo offended them. Before the controversy sparked worldwide attention, the university’s dining services division decided to remove SodaStream labels while it awaited new machines from American companies EverPure and… -
opinion
Tea Party Is a Movement Now, Not Just a Mood
Is the tea party a movement or just a mood? That was the question posed by Weekly Standard columnist and Fox News contributor Steven Hayes as he kicked off a panel at the Heritage Foundation celebrating the 5th anniversary of the tea party. Hayes and his co-panelists, Heritage Action for America CEO Michael Needham and… -
news
Florida Congresswoman: Other Nations’ Engagement Hasn’t Resulted in Free Cuba
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., was interviewed on Wednesday by Greta van Susteren about President Obama’s decision to normalize relations with Cuba. Ros-Lehtinen said that the president “has broken the law.” When asked if our previous policy towards Cuba had been working, Ros-Lehtinen said: Has our foreign policy been working? Well, the policy of 190 other… -
news
Jimmy Fallon Talks ‘The Interview’
On Thursday’s episode of “The Tonight Show,” host Jimmy Fallon discussed Sony Pictures’ decision to cancel the release of “The Interview.” “Which means the hackers have accomplished their goal of making everyone in the world want to see ‘The Interview,’” said Fallon. “I mean, I wasn’t planning [to], now I can’t wait to see it.” -
news
What Mark Levin Thinks About the Bush Dynasty
Mark Levin was less than thrilled to hear that Jeb Bush is running for president. On his radio show, Levin called “the ambition of a single family” a “serious matter.” “Attempting to hold that office with three different members [of the same family] is worthy of discussion,” said Levin. He added that this ambition “should… -
opinion
Surrender
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in response to a request from a number of Members of Congress, has concluded that the American taxpayers could save $55 billion over the next 10 years by delaying purchase of a new dual-capable conventional and nuclear strategic bomber and simultaneously retiring early—and not replacing—four nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs)….