Political Commentary & Opinion
Analysis, commentary, and opinion essays on politics and policy from The Daily Signal’s contributors and experts.
-
news
Watch Robots Replace Waiters at This Restaurant
Next time you go out to eat, a new kind of waiter might serve you. One restaurant owner in China has replaced his traditional wait staff with robots. According to Fox News, the robots are able to take customer orders and communicate with them using “a 40 phrase Mandarin Chinese vocabulary.” Fox reports that “each… -
news
St. Louis Man Says God Inspired Him to Clean Up Ferguson After Riots
Post by Dana. Terrence Williams, the 23-year-old St. Louis native who shared his inspiring story with The Daily Signal earlier this week, will appear on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show today at 10 p.m. ET. Yesterday, he spoke to The Blaze’s Dana Loesch (watch clip above) about the role God played in his decision to… -
opinion
Time to Leave Behind ‘Leading from Behind’: A Way Forward on Foreign Policy
For the American left and its allies in the major media, Barack Obama’s resounding victory in the 2008 presidential race was supposed to mark a new chapter in U.S. foreign policy. At last, the left hoped, we’ll see the emergence of a post-modern approach to foreign affairs that will earn both love and respect for… -
news
Watch How This Marine Reacts When His Wife Surprises Him Upon His Return from Afghanistan
Sara Taylor wanted to give her husband a huge surprise. Her husband, Sgt. Fort Taylor, was returning to the United States after serving for a year in Afghanistan with the Marines. “Because he is stationed in California and our kids and I live in Maryland, he didn’t think that anyone would be there when he… -
news
See the Top 39 Photos From the News This Week
More coverage of the fallout in Ferguson, Mo., space travel, a lame-duck Congress and bunch of nuns at The Vatican. They were among the week's top news stories. Here's a look at some of the best photos. Wednesday night, protesters angry about the verdict in the Eric Garner case tried to shut down the Rockefeller… -
news
Ferguson Pastor Explains Why His City Doesn’t Have a Race Problem
FERGUSON, Mo.—Pastor Stoney Shaw knows a thing or two about civil disobedience and protests. He marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s as a seminary student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Today, Shaw serves as senior pastor for First Baptist Church in Ferguson, Mo., where he arrived nine years… -
news
Pa. Workforce Agency Contests Audit Stating Agency Misspent Nearly $250K on Goldfish, Food
PITTSBURGH — A job training agency in northwest Pennsylvania is asking the state for a repayment plan after a finding that nearly $250,000 was misspent. A 51-page audit questioned everything from lunch meetings to goldfish. The state’s Office of the Budget did a performance audit of the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence, covering July 1, 2009,… -
opinion
One More Year of Tax Extenders: Paving the Way for Reform in 2015
Yesterday, the House passed a one-year extension for the “tax extenders”—a package of approximately 50 tax-reducing policies that expired at the end of 2013. The one-year extension would retroactively reinstate the policies for 2014, but no further. The Senate will vote on the extension next. Last week, President Obama torpedoed—with a veto threat—a potential deal… -
news
Satanic Temple Display Approved for the Florida Capitol’s Holiday Decorations
Visitors to the Florida Capitol building this holiday season will be treated to a festive display of… a Satanic Temple. The Florida Department of Management Services recently approved an application for a holiday display from the Satanic Temple despite rejecting the same group’s “grossly offensive” display last year, according to the Florida Times-Union. The temple’s… -
opinion
Women Are Having Fewer Babies Than Ever in the US
Since 2007, the birth rate in the United States has been declining. Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on the 2013 birth rate, announcing that "the U.S. general fertility rate was at an all-time low in 2013." Here we reprint Jonathan Last's essay from the 2014 Index of Culture and Opportunity…. -
news
Urging Voters to Commit Fraud for Mary Landrieu Was ‘Humor,’ Mayor Says
Days before the much-awaited runoff election between Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and her Republican challenger, Rep. Bill Cassidy, a video emerged showing a Democratic mayor encouraging Landrieu supporters to commit voter fraud. The Black Conservative Fund, a political action committee, released the video shot at a private event where Opelousas, La., Mayor Donald Cravins Sr…. -
opinion
Not All Kids Born in the US Should Be Made Citizens
Incentives matter. Human experience and common sense tells us you get more of the behavior you reward – and there has been no better case study of that on a policy level than the issue of illegal immigration. That is why any serious immigration reform considered in the next Congress should revisit the concept of… -
opinion
Confucius Institutes Under Congressional Scrutiny
Today, a House Committee will hold a hearing on the subject, “Is Academic Freedom Threatened by China’s Influence on U.S. Universities?” China’s aggressive promotion of its primary public diplomacy program in North America has recently captured headlines as U.S. and Canadian academics have begun to push back against what is felt to be undue influence… -
news
‘Gosnell’ Movie Selected by Indiegogo for Fundraising Pilot Program
"Gosnell," a movie about Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, will be featured on Indiegogo's “Forever Funding” pilot program, the producers of the film announced Wednesday. “A historic, extraordinary number of people turned up for our first campaign,” said the film's co-producer, Ann McElhinney, in an interview with The Daily Signal. “We’ve been selected along with a… -
news
Federal Agency Faces Fallout From Controversial Study That Put Babies at Risk
A federal agency has taken controversial new steps to marginalize its own ethics body, according to new information revealed by the watchdog group Public Citizen. That after the federal ethics body criticized a government study that resulted in the deaths of some premature babies. The government-backed study in question was called “SUPPORT.” It was conducted from… -
opinion
EPA Employees Paid More Than $1 Million to Not Work
How would you like to get paid a full-time salary plus benefits for not working, and without taking any sick days? Sounds like a dream, right? According to both the Government Accountability Office and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Inspector General, eight EPA employees were paid more than $1 million while on paid administrative leave. These… -
news
Why, Mr. President? This Sheriff Reaches Different Conclusions About Ferguson
In a gripping interview on Fox News’ “The Kelly File,” a Wisconsin sheriff last night blamed the looting and arson in Ferguson, Mo., on something other than the police force. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke cited anger and frustration growing out of a weak job market, failing schools and a welfare state that gets “individuals in… -
opinion
Why Is the Federal Government Doling Out Billions to the Wind Industry?
A generous taxpayer-funded handout for the wind industry expired at the end of 2013—but it’s not going to the grave quietly. Congress could give the handout new life. Currently, Congress is tossing around the idea of a one-year or multi-year extension of the wind production tax credit. That’s a mistake. Policymakers should not breathe any… -
opinion
The Dangerous Allure of Advanced Technology
“Offset strategies” is a topic currently being discussed in defense circles, the premise being that the U.S. has adopted various approaches to offset an advantage held by an opponent. According to this argument, the U.S. has pursued two previous offset strategies since World War II. The first emerged in the 1950s centered on nuclear weapons… -
news
Democrats Take ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ From Ferguson to House Floor
Four Democrats took to the House floor to display the “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture that has come to be symbolic of the Ferguson protests. Expressing solidarity Monday night with Michael Brown, the young man shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., were Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Yvette Clarke, Al Green and Sheila…