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 Should U.S. Diplomacy Strategy Be in a Time of Terrorism?
Without question, the Obama administration has been slow in coming up with a strategy to counter the threat from ISIS terrorism. This week, Rick Stengel, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, made the case for soft power. He told a packed audience at the American Security Project his office faces challenges as momentous, but far… -
opinion
Here We Go Again: Students Prohibited From Passing Out Constitutions on Constitution Day
Once again, university officials have shown how progressive and tolerant they are by forcing Young Americans for Freedom at Pennsylvania State University to remove its table from a so-called “free speech zone.” The YAF activists’ crime? Handing out copies of the Constitution on Constitution Day, Sept. 17. Sound familiar? It should. Last year, Robert Van… -
news
To Mark POW/MIA Recognition Day, Watch John McCain Begin His Trip Home
In March 1973, a limping Navy pilot stepped off a bus in Hanoi, North Vietnam, after being shot down, beaten, tortured and held more than five years as a prisoner of war. In 2008, amid the heat of Sen. John McCain’s campaign for president, a former reporter for the Swedish broadcasting network SVT came across previously unseen footage of his initial release before… -
news
Why Is Limbaugh’s Best-Selling Book Not on New York Times List?
“Jesus on Trial,” the new book by conservative author and lawyer David Limbaugh, just took the #1 spot on Amazon, but is nowhere to be found on the New York Times best-seller list. The Washington Examiner reported Thursday that Limbaugh’s book was omitted from the print hardcover best-seller list “despite having sold more copies than… -
opinion
Why Can’t We See This in the Cinema?
Of late, Hollywood has given us all kinds of movies about the military. The worst of them—such as “Green Zone,” a dreadful 2010 film that rightfully bombed at the box office—demonize and diminish our men and women in uniform to feed Tinseltown’s impulse to please the Code Pink crowd. But sometimes, a maverick movie breaks… -
opinion
Combating Climate Change with Sunshine and Fuzzy Math
The White House yesterday released a list of executive actions to “combat climate change” with “solar deployment and energy efficiency” regulations that promise to cut 300 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030 and allegedly billions from electricity bills. For the most part, the list doesn’t consist of anything new or grand but… -
news
10 Percent of Americans Have Come to Work High on Marijuana
Almost 10 percent of Americans have come to work high on marijuana. In a Mashable study, 9.7 percent of respondents said that they had smoked marijuana before coming into the office. Of those who answered affirmatively, 81 percent reported that they purchased the marijuana illegally. According to CNBC, marijuana is legal to purchase for recreational… -
opinion
Scotland’s Decision to Vote Against Independence Could Help Us Defeat ISIS
In an appearance on Fox News on Thursday night, before the results were finalized, The Heritage Foundation’s Nile Gardiner warned about the ill effects Scottish independence could have. >>> Photo Essay: Streets of Scotland During the Big Vote -
opinion
How Many Cheeseburgers Could You Buy With Your Share of the National Debt?
It’s Sept. 2014 and the country is $17.6 trillion in debt. In Jan. 2009, when President Obama was inaugurated, the nation’s debt was $10.6 trillion. Yes, the United States has added $7.06 trillion of debt under Obama. That breaks down to $61,000 per American household — and roughly 38,365 $1.59 cheeseburgers from McDonald’s. Ouch. Read… -
news
What the Streets of Scotland Looked Like Before the Big Vote
Would Scotland's future be as part of the United Kingdom or an independent country? >>> Update: It turns out the answer is "No" to independence. By a decisive 55 percent to 45 percent. And with a huge turnout. Thursday, the streets of Scotland filled with Scots heading to the polls to cast their "Yes" or "No" vote. They'd… -
opinion
ISIS, NFL Are Case Studies of What Happens When Leaders Don’t Lead
Both the White House and the National Football League needed videos to get them to do the right thing. That was the analysis made by talk radio host Dennis Miller on Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor last night, saying that neither President Obama or NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell were willing to go the mat until videos… -
news
Labor Leader Earns Big Bucks
As head of MEA-MFT, Montana’s teachers’ union, Eric Feaver’s job is to stand up for the little guy. But on payday, he is not at all one of the little guys. Feaver, a formidable political force, pulled down nearly $126,000 in 2013, according to the union’s federal filing. That puts him among the top 10… -
news
Jimmy Carter: ‘I Think We Need to Attack ISIS’
Former President Jimmy Carter, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, says President Obama is justified in taking military action against the terrorist group that calls itself the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. During a Carter Center event Tuesday night in Atlanta, Carter didn’t mince words. “I think we need to attack ISIS,” he… -
news
Americans’ Trust in Media at All-Time Low
Most Americans don’t trust the media, according to a recent Gallup poll. When asked how much confidence they had in the mass media to “report the news fully, accurately, and fairly," only 40 percent of Americans responded “a great deal” or “a fair amount.” Americans’ trust in mass media has only ever been this low… -
opinion
Al-Qaeda Attack on Pakistani Ship Demonstrates Need to Support Islamabad in Terrorist Fight
The recently launched al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) attempted to hijack a Pakistani Navy frigate on September 6 in order to use it to target American naval assets in the Indian Ocean, according to an article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. Pakistani officials downplayed the attack, but the boldness of the plan and the… -
opinion
D.C. May Require Police to Wear Body Cameras. Why That Could Be a Good Thing.
In an effort to increase transparency and reduce complaints, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., will issue body-mounted cameras to a test group of officers to record their interactions with the public. The six-month program will begin Oct. 1. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier introduced the idea in January and since has discussed the… -
opinion
Do Women Really Earn 22 Percent Less Than Men?
The Census Bureau released updated data this week showing that the so-called “gender pay gap” between men and women reached a record low, with women earning 78 cents for every dollar a man earns. But does this mean that a woman who performs the exact same job as a man gets paid 22 cents less… -
news
How Bobby Jindal’s 7-Year-Old Son Outsmarted Common Core
Under the Common Core education standards, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s 7-year-old son was required to explain why 18 + 4 = 22. Speaking yesterday at The Heritage Foundation on his new energy plan, Jindal shared his son’s witty response. >>> Jindal: Obama Is ‘Incompetent,’ ‘Ideologically Extreme’ >>> Gov. Bobby Jindal Says Americans Want a ‘Hostile Takeover’ of… -
opinion
The Problems With the Census Bureau’s New Estimates on How Many Americans Have Health Insurance
If you are looking for information on how Americans are engaging with the Affordable Care Act, the Census Bureau’s recently released latest annual estimates of health insurance coverage is probably not the place to look—at least for now. The Census Bureau, which derives its information on healthcare from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement—the same… -
opinion
What’s Behind the Assault on the First Amendment
Today, the Constitution turns 227 years old. To “celebrate” the occasion, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, tried to gut the First Amendment. Last week, he and other Senate Democrats proposed an amendment, related to electoral fundraising and spending, that would have considerably restricted the free speech rights of Americans. Thankfully, the proposed amendment did…