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
Sharyl Attkisson on Preemie Study: ‘The Federal Government, at the Very Least, Made a Mistake’
Did a government-funded experiment put the lives of 1,316 premature babies at serious risk? Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson explains the ethical debate surrounding a multiyear study of these fragile infants, in the third part of her “Full Disclosure”series for The Daily Signal. SUPPORT, a study that deliberately manipulated oxygen levels assigned to extremely premature babies, was sponsored by the National Institutes… -
news
Full Disclosure: Parents Fault Medical Research Study for Putting Preemies in Harm’s Way
In May 2007, Carrie and Shawn Pratt agreed to sign up their severely premature daughter, Dagen, for a government-funded study being conducted at Duke University Hospital. The Pratts say they were told that researchers simply were gathering information to help other children. “We never understood the study to be based on manipulating her oxygen level… -
opinion
What’s Left of Libya Is Crumbling
Libya remains in perpetual crisis. Internal strife is wreaking havoc on the nearly non-existent state. Fiefdoms under militia rule have been created around the major population centers in Libya. There are rumors that the newly elected prime minister, Ahmed Maiteg, rose to the position through the support of the Islamist-dominated parliament and an Islamist militia…. -
opinion
Join Jim DeMint for Daily Signal’s Live Hangout
What makes The Daily Signal different than other news organizations? For one thing, we’re in a building that is home to more than 100 research experts on everything from education, welfare, healthcare, and taxes to energy, immigration, regulations, and foreign policy. On Thursday, we’re launching The Daily Signal Google+ Hangout, a biweekly opportunity for you… -
opinion
Why Hollywood Hasn’t Made a Tiananmen Movie
A quarter-century ago today, thousands of people were massacred in and around Beijing’s main square, Tiananmen. If you’re a millennial born just before or after the massacre, you likely know little or nothing about this tragedy. I was a 27-year-old journalist in Hong Kong back then, having just arrived a few months earlier. Though as… -
opinion
Why People Don’t Trust That Speech Restrictions Will Be Applied Fairly to Both Sides
The largest hearing room the Senate has in the Hart Building was standing-room only on Tuesday when the Senate Judiciary Committee held its hearing on the resolution proposed by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) that would amend the First Amendment and give Congress unlimited, plenary power to restrict political speech and political activity. In a historic… -
opinion
A Community Champion’s Response to Poverty
On Memorial Day weekend, our nation lost a courageous community leader, Bertha Gilkey, who succumbed to cancer on May 25. For decades, Bertha had been a powerful force among a cadre of public housing residents who championed a trailblazing antipoverty strategy that promoted self-sufficiency, ownership, and upward mobility. As Bertha proclaimed, “Poor people don’t want… -
news
Full Disclosure: ‘Input’ Stalls Agency’s Ethics Probe in Baby Oxygen Trials
Pressure from government officials and eminent researchers appears to have pushed a federal agency to postpone enforcement action on violations it found in a government-financed experiment on extremely premature babies. The agency, which polices ethics in health studies, says the controversy over the study of preemies highlights a “fundamental difference between the obligations of clinicians… -
news
Sharyl Attkisson: How the Government Violated Its Own Ethics Rules, Then Covered It Up
In her debut story as a senior independent contributor for The Daily Signal, Sharyl Attkisson investigates a government-funded experiment that put the lives of premature babies at critical risk. The study of 1,316 infants deliberately manipulated preemies’ oxygen levels—an action that could result in death or permanent disabilities. Attkisson, in an exclusive interview with The… -
news
Ethics Complaint Targets Harry Reid for Abuse of Power
Tea Party Patriots filed an ethics complaint against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., alleging he has abused his power in a campaign to smear conservative donors. The complaint, filed Monday with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, alleges Reid has purposely tried to damage the names of Charles and David Koch, prominent conservative donors… -
opinion
The Job Killer You Probably Haven’t Heard About
The more we dig into the Export-Import Bank, the more unbelievable it seems that this agency still exists. American taxpayers’ money is at risk—backing loans to foreign governments and businesses to buy products from politically favored U.S. companies. This is killing jobs in several American industries. We recently exposed the Export-Import Bank’s false claim that… -
news
Medical Study: Don’t Trust All the Health Articles on Wikipedia
Half the nation’s doctors admit to using Wikipedia as a medical reference at least some of the time. But the scary part, according to another recently released study in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, is that Wikipedia may not be the most reliable source for such information. Researchers reviewed the Wikipedia articles on… -
news
Bowe Bergdahl May Face Desertion Charges. Here’s How the Process Works.
According to a report from the Associated Press, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey has said the Army still may pursue desertion charges against Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the just-released American solider held captive by the Taliban for more than five years. Whether the Army ultimately decides to refer desertion charges against Bergdahl remains an… -
opinion
Don’t Insult the Poles, Mr. President
President Barack Obama has an appalling track record when it comes to insulting Poland, a key U.S. ally in Eastern Europe. In 2009, his administration humiliated Warsaw when, in deference to Russian demands, it pulled out of an agreement over Third Site missile defense installations in Poland and the Czech Republic. In 2010, the president… -
opinion
Ignore the Pundits. 2014 Isn’t About Tea Party vs. the Establishment.
A majority of Americans, regardless of which pollster asks the question, say the country is on the wrong track. And as polls close in the eight states holding primaries today, there will be plenty of prognosticating as to what the latest election results tell us. The media likely will continue its obsession with tea party… -
opinion
A Trip to the DMZ and My Face-to-Face Encounter With Communism
The other day, I came face-to-face with communism and was unimpressed. At the heart of the longest continuing cease-fire in American history, the divisions between North and South Korea are stark. One building—used for the occasional negotiation—is situated so that the border actually bisects a conference table in the middle of the room. As I… -
news
How the New Benghazi Committee Can Drive the Investigation Forward
The new House special committee to investigate the Benghazi terrorist attacks wields broad legal authority to do its job. The panel can access classified documents not available to the press or public and to subpoena witnesses—with consequences for those who refuse to talk. Hans von Spakovsky, a Heritage Foundation legal expert who formerly worked for… -
news
Exclusive: Sharyl Attkisson on Journalism’s Very Dangerous Trend
Sharyl Attkisson, an award-winning investigative reporter who resigned from CBS News earlier this year, says the news media are heading down a dangerous path with attempts to “censor or block stories” that don’t align with their preferred agenda. “There’s a tendency in the news media, on the part of some managers, to censor or block… -
news
Full Disclosure: Did Government’s Experiment on Preemies Hide Risks?
Just 25 weeks into her pregnancy, Sharrissa Cook gave birth to a critically ill baby boy. Dreshan weighed in at a fragile 1 pound, 11 ounces. He lay motionless in the incubator, connected to tubes and monitors in the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. “He was so tiny,”… -
opinion
Climate Change Is a Fact. But These New Emissions Regulations Won’t Help the Environment.
Draft regulations released Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency could cut carbon dioxide from existing power plants by 30 percent. Such a drastic cut will amount to a massive energy tax devoid of any benefit. President Obama warned us it was coming, when he said in in 2008 that electricity prices would “necessarily skyrocket” under…