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
Castro’s Cuba Is Trying to Recruit U.S. Academics, Students
Castro’s Cuba, America’s sworn enemy in our hemisphere, is exploiting the breach between academia and the nation. An unclassified FBI advisory published Sept. 2 was clear on the subject: “The Cuban intelligence services (CuIS) are known to actively target the US academic world for the purposes of recruiting agents, in order to both obtain useful… -
news
Poll Shows Growing Support for Right-to-Work Laws … Even Among Democrats
Vice President Biden delivered a fiery speech in support of unions at a Labor Day appearance in Detroit last week. But a recent Gallup poll painted a sobering picture for union backers. When asked if they would vote for right-to-work laws, 71 percent of Americans—and 65 percent of Democrats—said they would. That’s 9 percentage points higher than… -
news
County That Voted Against Common Core and Standardized Tests Reverses Decision
One of the largest school districts in the nation voted last week to reverse a decision opting out of all state-required tests, including the federally funded Common Core standards and assessments. "Assessments," says @lindseymburke, "should be developed at the most local level possible." More than 85,000 students attend school in Florida's Lee County, which includes… -
opinion
The Slow Decline of American Entrepreneurship
Start-up companies are the reason America’s economy is more innovative, prosperous and dynamic than the economies of other industrialized countries around the world. New companies create roughly 3 million jobs every year, while existing companies tend to shed 1 million jobs. It is no secret why a healthy entrepreneurial culture is important. Think of it this… -
opinion
The 5 Most Egregious Myths About Conservatism
When it has nothing else to do, the liberal establishment will dip into its bulging bag of clichés and declare that this time, absolutely, positively, without any doubt, the conservative movement is done. And once again it becomes the duty of right-thinking analysts to stand up and firmly say, “Poppycock!” Here are five of the… -
news
Government’s ‘Secret’ Land-Use Restriction Threatens Florida Couple’s Seafood Restaurant
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—For Robert and Anita Breinig, the Flash Beach Grille is more than a building. To them, the seafood restaurant and catering business in Hobe Sound, Fla., is the culmination of years of hard work and represents their slice of the American dream. “We started as a mobile caterer. We used garages as kitchens for… -
news
Greta Van Susteren: White House Pressured Me to Get Fox News to Back Down on Benghazi
Last night, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren said the White House pressured her to get a colleague to back down on a Benghazi story. “I thought the call from the Obama administration was dirty,” Van Susteren said. Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft shared the TV clip and has the complete transcript. -
news
Report: Virginia Taxpayers Will Pay $20,000 Per Undocumented Student
RICHMOND, Va.— Virginia classrooms this school year will include as many as 2,800 new undocumented children, who will cost state taxpayers $54 million. The cost for school-eligible children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and have been released in Virginia—often to extended family members—is among the highest per-capita in the nation, according to the Federation for… -
opinion
The EPA Must Be Transparent About These Water Maps – And How They’re Being Used
The Environmental Protection Agency has developed detailed maps of waters located throughout the country. These waters include, according to the maps, ephemeral streams that flow only in response to precipitation events and intermittent streams that contain water for only part of the year. In light of the EPA’s proposed “waters of the U.S.” rule that… -
opinion
EPA Fakes Regulatory Cost-Benefit Calculations
When pressed about the staggering increases in regulatory burden under his administration, President Obama says not to worry because the benefits exceed the costs. But a new and revealing set of charts from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce highlights the shameless deception used to calculate the bulk of these purported benefits. In Charting Federal Costs… -
news
‘Horrific, Hellish and Awful’: Ohio Man Treats Ebola in Africa, Helps Save U.S. Aid Workers
Dr. Kent Brantly, the American doctor infected with Ebola while working in West Africa, only saw Tim Mosher’s eyes. As part of his mission in Liberia with the nonprofit aid group Samaritan’s Purse, Mosher treated Brantly, a colleague whom he had never formally met but whose life he was now helping save. With six or… -
news
Not Lovin’ It: Fast Food Workers #FightFor15 Dollars an Hour
In their campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, thousands of fast-food workers walked off their jobs yesterday. The nationwide protest took place in more than 150 cities, organized and supported by local community coalitions, Fight for 15, and labor unions, including the SEIU. Photos and videos of protests flooded social media,… -
opinion
All Bits Are Not Created Equal: Internet Pioneer Slams Pro-Net Neutrality Myth
The concept of “net neutrality” sounds nice on paper: All data on the Internet should be treated and delivered equally. “A bit is a bit,” we are told. But is it really? Internet pioneer Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT’s Media Lab and the One Laptop Per Child project, calls the idea “crazy.” He explained why… -
opinion
Genetic Engineering Could Provide the Solution to Florida’s Citrus Problem
Biotechnology once again could play an important role in helping to address a major problem affecting agriculture. The $9 billion Florida citrus industry is being threatened by a disease believed to have originated in China known as huanglongbing, commonly referred to as citrus greening. The bacteria that causes the disease is carried by an Asian… -
news
Flashback: President George W. Bush Warned of What Would Happen If the U.S. Withdrew From Iraq Too Early
Facing criticism from opponents of the Iraq War after ordering a troop surge in 2007, President George W. Bush issued a warning of what would happen in the future should the United States withdraw armed forces from Iraq. Now, seven years later, the president’s admonition mimics what’s happening in Iraq today. >>> Q&A: How the… -
opinion
What Today’s Job Numbers Mean
Today’s employment report dashed some cold water on hopes the economy has finally begun a robust recovery. For six straight months the payroll survey reported employers creating over 200,000 net jobs. In August net job creation dropped to just 142,000 – well below expectations and only slightly more than necessary to keep pace with population… -
opinion
She Announced Her Pregnancy Way Before 12 Weeks. Why More Women Should Consider Doing the Same.
Fans of the hit TLC show “19 Kids and Counting” were excited to watch daughter Jill Duggar get married in June–but they weren’t expecting to hear she was pregnant just two months later. Duggar and her husband had pledged to remain sexually abstinent until marriage. So, had they violated the pledge? Or was she just… -
opinion
Current Marijuana Laws Are Fair
One-tenth of 1 percent of state prisoners are in jail for marijuana. -
opinion
Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s War on Women
Outrageous. That is the first word that comes to mind in describing the comments made by Florida congresswoman and Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz about Gov. Scott Walker, R. Wis., this week. Speaking to a group of women at the Milwaukee Athletic Club on Wednesday, Wasserman Schultz said: “Scott Walker has given women… -
opinion
Cartoon: The Left’s Latest ‘Jobs’ Strategy
How that fast food worker strike could backfire …