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
New York City’s Soda Ban Struck Down
New York City’s “soda ban,” which prohibited merchants from selling most sugary drinks that were more than sixteen ounces, has met its end. The state’s highest court ruled the ban was illegal today, overturning an attempt to reinstate the law. Former mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to restore the controversial ban after lower courts struck it… -
news
Tennessee ‘Pork Report’ Finds Government Waste at All-Time High
NASHVILLE—Tennessee officials wasted $609 million in taxpayer money last year, according to the 2014 “Pork Report,” which a free-market think tank released Wednesday. Beacon Center of Tennessee President Justin Owen said this year’s report reveals the highest amount of taxpayer waste in the publication’s nine-year history, which places blame on a large variety of state… -
opinion
Why Americans (Rightly) Hate Soccer
The World Cup is underway, and other than the Olympics, it will surely be the most closely followed sporting event with estimates of more than one billion TV viewers worldwide. Oh, and I won’t be one of them. Why? Soccer is B-O-R-I-N-G. I’ve often argued that in the entire world, the only thing worse than… -
news
Pennsylvania Plan Measures Teachers on Performance, Not Seniority
Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow school administrators to base layoff decisions in part on teachers’ performance, as measured by the state’s new evaluation system. “My goal is to protect our high-quality educators, regardless of seniority,” said state Rep. Ryan Aument, the bill’s co-sponsor. “Seniority should not be the primary way decisions are… -
news
Another State Attempts to Block Ride-Sharing Companies Uber, Lyft
SANTA FE, N.M. — It’s called ride-sharing, a way to catch a ride using 21st century technology, embraced by millenials and free-market advocates as efficient and entrepreneurial. Regulators in New Mexico aren’t jumping on board. On Wednesday, the state Public Regulation Commission voted 3-2 to deny a request from a company connected to one of the largest… -
news
Nearly 7 Million Americans Registered to Vote in More Than One State
Some 6.9 million Americans are registered to vote in two or more states, according to a report from an election-watch group. “Our nation’s voter rolls are a mess,” says Catherine Engelbrecht, True The Vote president. “Sensible approaches to roll maintenance are fought tooth and nail by radical special interests who can use the duplicity in… -
news
He Grew Up the Son of a Bartender and Housemaid. Now Marco Rubio Wants You to Live the American Dream, Too.
Sen. Marco Rubio served up a dose of optimism during his remarks at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center yesterday. A potential candidate for president in 2016, the Florida Republican outlined an economic vision he billed as “a new policy agenda designed specifically for the 21st century.” Poor leadership and failed policies have led to the “erosion… -
opinion
Has the Debt Disappeared?
Eight out of 10 voters say the national debt should be a top priority for the President and Congress, according to a new poll from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Yet, voters would be hard pressed to find much mention of the growing debt problem in the news these days. One reason for this is… -
news
Most Americans, Including Democrats, Believe IRS ‘Deliberately Destroyed’ Emails
Americans are running out of faith in the Internal Revenue Service. Seventy-six percent believe that the “lost” Lois Lerner emails were deliberately destroyed, according to a Fox News poll. Only 12 percent believe the destruction resulted as an accident. This skepticism crossed party lines. A whopping 90 percent of Republicans doubt the IRS’s most recent… -
opinion
Court Rules Marriage Must Be Redefined Under 14th Amendment. Why That’s Wrong.
Today the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an important ruling on Utah’s marriage amendment. This is the first time a circuit court has ruled on marriage since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) this time last year. In a 2-1 split decision, the 10th circuit ruled that… -
news
IRS Violated Law With Missing Emails, Top Archivist Says
IRS officials broke federal law by failing to report the loss of two years’ worth of emails sent and received by Lois Lerner, the former official accused of being behind the agency’s targeting of conservative groups, the government’s top archivist testified yesterday. The Internal Revenue Service violated the Federal Records Act by not telling the U.S. National Archives and Records… -
opinion
Banned Books: City Shuts Down 9-Year-Old Boy’s Little Library
Check the regulations: You may be in violation of a city ordinance if you decide to share your books with friends and neighbors. For 9 year-old Spencer Collins of Leawood, Kansas, it meant receiving a government citation for doing just that in his front yard. It all started with Spencer’s plan to create a little… -
opinion
Not Even in Vermont Does Money Grow on Trees
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., may have taken his state tourism commissioner’s statement to NPR that “money falls from trees [in the fall],” a bit too literally. During a House-Senate conference meeting to resolve differences in competing veterans reform legislation this week, Sanders suggested that “emergency funding” would act as a “pay for” for potentially $50… -
opinion
Police Must Have a Warrant to Search Your Cellphone
Today the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment requires police to obtain a warrant before searching the digital contents of cell phones taken from people who have been arrested. The Fourth Amendment protects the right of the people against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Constitution generally requires police to obtain a warrant from a neutral… -
news
D.C. Votes to Tax Gym Memberships
If you live in D.C., your fitness plan just got more expensive. The D.C. Council passed a 5.75 percent sales tax on gym memberships and fitness classes Tuesday, despite protest from fitness devotees who dubbed it the “yoga tax.” The tax is supposed to partially offset the cost of D.C.’s income tax cuts. Some are… -
news
Taxpayers Buck Proposal to Pay for New NBA Arena
Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry, the new owners of the Milwaukee Bucks, have a combined net worth of $2.9 billion. The two New York investment firm executives so far have committed $100 million of it to build an arena for their team. Former Sen. Herb Kohl, who sold the team after almost 30 years to… -
opinion
ISIS Tries to Tweet Its Enemies Into Submission
Social media sites are the latest battleground in the war on terror. On June 20, the Sunni terrorist group ISIS, which is on a rampage in northern Syria and Iraq, launched a Twitterstorm under the hashtag #AllEyesOnIsis. It was aimed to appeal to impressionable Muslim youth, scare ISIS’s enemies on the ground., and intimidate the… -
news
Price to Avoid Another Benghazi? House Leaders Question $461 Million Training Center
With the deadly Benghazi attacks providing impetus and momentum, the State Department announced this spring that it will build a $461 million training center for diplomatic security personnel in rural Virginia. The move, however, comes after congressmen with oversight responsibility asked unanswered questions about the project and suggested the Obama administration could accomplish the goals… -
opinion
We’re All Pro-Growth and Pro-Family
The tax reform debate about the child tax credit (CTC) continues. Hopefully the discussion sheds light on whether the CTC expansion is the best policy. My purpose in writing has been 1) to point out that there is a trade-off: the bigger the CTC expansion, the less we can cut the more economically harmful taxes… -
news
London Convention Discusses International Body to Control Internet
Thousands of political representatives, business lobbyists, and technical experts from around the world have congregated in London to discuss the future of the internet. At issue is international regulation of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and the internet access it channels. In conjunction with the U.S. government, ICANN has long-served as the non-profit…