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
Newt Gingrich: ‘Absolutely’ Send Unaccompanied Children Home
The United States should “absolutely” send unaccompanied children back home, said Newt Gingrich in an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal. Accusing the Obama administration of encouraging illegal immigrants to enter the United States, the former House speaker endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s decision to activate the National Guard and said the children should stop being… -
news
ISIS Continues to Force Christians Out of Iraq
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ultimatum that Christians leave Mosul to avoid purge expired Friday at noon, driving a reported 2,000 Assyrian families out of the area. Many of these families sought refuge in Qaraqosh, a historic Christian city outside of Mosul—though according to Bloomberg Businessweek, even this “formidable” Kurdish-protected area is falling… -
news
Conservatives Derail Democrat’s Bill on Rare Earth Minerals
Conservatives in the U.S. House revolted yesterday against a taxpayer-funded program on rare earth minerals, defeating a bill that was expected to quickly pass without much debate. Because the measure came up under suspension of House rules, two-thirds of lawmakers needed to approve it. The bill failed when 142 Republicans and one Democrat voted against… -
opinion
Q&A: What’s Happening in Israel And Palestine? What Should the U.S. Do?
“[Israel] also realize that they’re in the middle of a war of ideas, a propaganda war, and that Hamas uses everything possible to try to turn public opinion against the Israelis.” -
news
Another Planned Parenthood Caught Promoting X-Rated Advice to Underage Girls
Another Planned Parenthood clinic was caught on camera providing X-rated advice to underage girls. >>> This report and video contains graphic language. This time, the incident took place in Portland, Oregon, where an employee at the Planned Parenthood Clackamas Center told a 15-year-old girl how to best “enjoy” sex and explore “different types of fetishes.”… -
news
Lowe’s Employees Jump to Assist Double-Amputee Veteran in Need
A thank you letter written by Michael Sulsona of Staten Island, New York–a double-amputee, who had stepped on a landmine during a tour in Vietnam and subsequently lost both his legs–has made waves across news outlets and social media. In the letter, Sulsona wrote expressing his gratitude to three Lowe’s Home Improvement employees for helping repair… -
opinion
Is America Still a Land of Opportunity?
Every one of us has an opportunity storyline. Maybe a fourth-grade teacher nurtured a knack for math. Maybe a friend of the family offered a first summer job. Maybe a booming economy opened up a great career at start-up. Or maybe our lives went differently. Perhaps an assigned public school didn’t foster a culture of… -
opinion
Ex-Im Supporters Were Wrong on Earmarks, Too
In the last several weeks, you might have heard for the first time of a little-known agency of the federal government called the Export-Import Bank. The Heritage Foundation and the Daily Signal have been reporting on it for a while, and I’ve written about it recently as well. Long story short, the “Ex-Im” Bank is… -
news
Q&A: Texas Commissioner Explains How the Lone Star State Became ‘Ground Zero’ for Border Crisis
More than three years ago, Todd Staples, Texas commissioner of agriculture, officially put his stamp on an issue seemingly unrelated to agriculture: illegal immigration. After rural landowners reached out to him over the years, sharing stories of how illegal immigrants — specifically, drug cartels and other criminals — trespass farms and ranches, Staples spearheaded the… -
news
From Miami to Minnesota, Protests Call Attention to Border Crisis
Along East 7th Street in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood of St. Paul, Minn., more signs are in Spanish than English, advertising everything from used cars to groceries. That backdrop certainly made Larry Dalin’s sign stand out. Holding a placard that read, “In Mexico, illegals are jailed,” Dalin was a lone sentry outside the Mexican Consulate… -
opinion
Q&A: What Kind of Missile Likely Shot Down Malaysian Plane?
Last Thursday, a Boeing 777 hurtled to the ground near the village of Hrabove in Eastern Ukraine resulting in the death of 298 civilians. The U.S. has confirmed that the airliner was shot down by a missile. On Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN it was “pretty clear” that Russia had played a… -
opinion
The U.S. Needs to Do More to Protect Americans From Another 9/11
Just one year after Sept. 11, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States commonly known as the 9/11 Commission, was formed to prepare an account of the circumstances surrounding the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil. In 2004, the complete report laid out 41 recommendations. Many have since been implemented. However,… -
opinion
Rare Earths Bill Should Open Markets, Not Create Government Programs
The House of Representatives is likely to vote on Congressman Eric Swalwell’s (D–CA) rare earths bill (H.R.1022) that would create a number of taxpayer-supported government programs to extract and recycle domestic rare earth minerals. But prices going up and down for rare earths don’t necessitate a government programs, even though that’s a popular solution in… -
opinion
BRICS Bank: More Problems Than Potential
After years of discontent with the World Bank, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have agreed to form their own development bank, with additional plans for a “mini-IMF,” or Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA). The BRICS bank would fund mostly infrastructure projects and be equally financed by the five founding countries for the… -
news
Q&A: The Attack on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and Why It Matters
Tragedy struck Malaysia Airlines for the second time in four months when a passenger plane flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot out of the sky last week. Interfax, a non-governmental Russian news agency, first reported the downed Boeing 777 on Thursday morning. The plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile and crashed in… -
news
EPA’s Restrictions on Alaska Mine Spark Charges of Executive Overreach
Even though the Environmental Protection Agency appears to be backing off its push to preemptively kill a proposed copper and gold mine in Alaska’s bush country, the agency is pitching an array of conditions that could stifle the project. A recently proposed list of restrictions, whose public comment period runs until Sept. 19, could severely… -
opinion
The Not So ‘Small’ Businesses Ex-Im Bank Boosts
A coalition backing government export subsidies will host several executives of purportedly “small” businesses at a briefing Tuesday to build support for the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im). Although the bank primarily benefits very large corporations, advocates are telling Congress and the public that the bank is crucial to the survival of small firms. If that was… -
opinion
The Deep Roots of the Border Crisis
The violence in Central America that leads to the crisis at our border is not an isolated example of policy gone awry but the tipping point of a failing policy on Latin America. Exhibit 1 is Venezuela. We don’t hear much about Venezuela anymore since the Obama administration let its dictatorial president regain the upper… -
opinion
EPA Proposes to Choke Alaskan Mine Development
Alaska’s open-pit Pebble Mine sits on 55 billion pounds of copper, 67 million ounces of gold, and 3.3 billion pounds of molybdenum—$500 billion in value. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to keep it there. The EPA is proposing significant limitations on extraction—before the Pebble Limited Partnership, the developers of the mine, have even filed… -
opinion
Texas Sending National Guard to Border Is Good First Step, But a Long-Term Solution Still Needed
Gov. Rick Perry, R-Tex., will send around 1,000 National Guard troops to the Texas border under his gubernatorial authorities to help the Texas Department of Public Safety deal with the illegal immigration crisis. Before anyone screams that this is unprecedented or the radical militarization of the border, be assured it is not. In 2006–2008, all four…