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
Al-Qaeda Was Involved: 17 Findings From the Explosive New Benghazi Report
A new report on Benghazi does little to resolve the ongoing controversy about what happened. The U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issued its investigative report last week on the terrorist attacks on the U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya. Those attacks, which occurred on Sept. 11-12, 2012, resulted in the deaths of… -
news
Ferguson Cake Maker: Looters, Rioters Took My Livelihood
Rioters who erupted over a grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson left looted businesses, shattered storefronts and devastated merchants in their wake last night as they made their way through the St. Louis suburb. As daylight broke this morning, the cleanup process began and Ferguson business owners such as… -
news
Award-Winning TV Journalist Jamie Jackson Joins The Daily Signal
Jamie Jackson, a former Capitol Hill aide and TV journalist, joined The Daily Signal this week to oversee the news organization’s multimedia and video content. Jackson, who most recently worked as a communications director in Congress, began his career in journalism as a teenager at The Pittsburgh Courier. He's worked as a reporter, producer and… -
opinion
White House Turns to Twitter for Climate Scare Tactics
A picture says a thousand words but the recent picture tweeted out by the White House needs just two: fear mongering. In promotion of its website http://toolkit.climate.gov/, the Obama Administration tweeted a picture of a fire about to destroy a community. You can see it here. The fact of the matter is the Administration is… -
news
Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson Breaks His Silence
Shortly after a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, a letter written by Wilson was read on television Monday night. >>> Here’s How America Responded the Morning After #FergusonDecision, in 35 Tweets Here’s the transcript: To all of the… -
news
Here’s How America Responded the Morning After #FergusonDecision, in 35 Tweets
From outrage and insensitivity to prayers and peaceful mourning, Americans woke up to a flood of reactions to the announcement that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson would not be charged in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. After a long night of protests, some of them turning violent, here is what came of last night’s decision…. -
opinion
This Man Had $75K Legally Stolen From Him By a Sheriff’s Deputy
Ming Ton Liu’s story highlights the problems with civil asset forfeiture. Liu, a Chinese-born American citizen, had $75,195 seized from him by a sheriff’s deputy at a traffic stop last year—and he was never charged with any crime. Using civil asset forfeiture, law enforcement officials can seize cash or other property they believe is related… -
opinion
D.C. Streetcar: Follow Arlington’s Lead
The Arlington County Board just gave taxpayers another reason to give thanks on Thursday: It canceled a planned streetcar program. The Board’s 4–1 decision reflected concerns over the project’s cost, effectiveness, and ability to spur development in blighted neighborhoods. Officials overseeing Washington, D.C.’s streetcar project should follow Arlington’s lead and wind down its streetcar program… -
news
The Spread of the Grand Jury’s Ferguson Decision on Twitter, in One Map
News nearly immediately spread on Twitter last night that Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson wouldn’t be indicted for shooting and killing 18-year-old Michael Brown, with the tweeted word moving across the nation and abroad. St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch began addressing reporters in the courthouse in Clayton, Mo., just after 9 p.m. EST…. -
news
33 Photos of the Chaotic Streets of Ferguson
Burned cars, looted businesses, restaurants on fire —this was the scene of Ferguson, Mo., last night after a grand jury in St. Louis County announced police officer Darren Wilson would not be charged in the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown. The images take you inside the unrest. number of people who died for this… -
news
White House, Congress Raided Hundreds of Millions from Anti-Bioterrorism Fund
Congress and the Obama White House looked for billions of dollars a few years ago to offset the costs of a legal settlement with black farmers and American Indians, to increase education aid to the states and to develop a vaccine for swine flu. To get those billions, they looked to the same coffer: Project… -
news
After Debate, Massachusetts Town Won’t Ban All Sales of Tobacco
Smokers and nonsmokers alike in Westminster, Mass., came together to push back against a move by the town’s board of health to ban the sale of all tobacco and nicotine products within the city limits. This community of about 7,700 residents in north-central Massachusetts took on the Nanny State and won. “This really wasn’t just… -
news
Governor-elect’s Proposal for Sick Days Upsets Some Businesses
Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Wolf won’t take office for another two months, but one part of his Fresh Start policy plan already has business types feeling queasy. Wolf wants to implement a new sick leave policy mirrored after a two-year-old law in Connecticut, saying employees shouldn’t have to choose work over staying at home to care… -
news
Raw Footage of Violence in Ferguson After No Indictment
As a startled nation watched on television, protesters turned violent in Ferguson, Mo., after a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. >>> Obama Urges Calm as Grand Jury Decides Not to Charge Ferguson Police Officer in Fatal Shooting Throughout the night, the Associated Press posted… -
opinion
Should Your Tour Guide Have to Pass a Government Exam?
Should guides have to pass a multiple-choice history test, background check and drug screen to be eligible to provide tours in cities? The Supreme Court could be taking up that question soon. The Institute for Justice has asked the Court to consider an important First Amendment case from New Orleans, which requires its tour guides… -
opinion
The Ethanol Mandate Proves the Government Is a Poor Central Planner
The federal government’s mandate to require Americans to use expensive, inefficient biofuels is so broken and dysfunctional it can’t even decide the ideal target amount of production. On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency again announced that it would not determine the amount of ethanol and biofuels required to be mixed into every American’s fuel tank for… -
news
Second State Pulls Plug on Contract with Jonathan Gruber Over ‘Stupid’ Remarks
Another one bites the dust. After videos surfaced of Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber calling the American people stupid, North Carolina became the second state in two weeks to pull its contract with the economist. State Auditor Beth Wood, a Democrat, decided to terminate Gruber’s $200,000 contract late last week, according to a timeline of work… -
opinion
Chuck Hagel Learned to Love the Bomb. Will His Successor?
When Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel entered the Obama administration, he was a proponent of U.S. unilateral nuclear weapons reductions. He believed that nuclear weapons are irrelevant and that the U.S. would be better off getting rid of them. Now, he’s resigned—and his change of opinion on nuclear weapons might surprise you. Hagel leaves after having proposed… -
opinion
Media, Democrats Called Out Bush, Reagan on Abuse of Executive Power. Where Are Their Voices Now?
Republicans are rightly and predictably infuriated by Barack Obama’s immigration executive action power play. What has been remarkable has been the silence from the left to President Obama granting legal status to some 5 million illegal immigrants. Such Nixonian abuses of White House power once elicited howls of protest from Democrats and their lap dogs… -
news
How Travis Crockett Leaned on God and Helping Hands to Lift Himself From Poverty and Mean Streets
When he was 5 years old, Travis Crockett saw his mother’s close friend shot dead on the street. “Why are you crying?” his mom asked, as he wiped away tears. “You don’t even know this person.” “He killed him over 10 dollars,” Travis told her. Violence, gangs and drugs were unavoidable. Travis’s father was largely…