Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
A government watchdog found that over the last decade, annual government spending on public relations and advertising activities averages $1.5 billion. The Government Accountability Office publicly released a report Wednesday examining how much the federal government spent on public relations and advertising contracts, as well as on salaries for federal public relations employees, from 2006…
KYIV, Ukraine—Last week, Ukraine commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Nazi massacre at the Babyn Yar ravine outside of Kyiv. From September 29, 1941, until September 1943, the Nazis murdered 100,000 people at Babyn Yar, also known as Babi Yar in Russian. Of the dead, more than 50,000 were Jews. The other victims comprised gypsies,…
More than a year after Rep. Paul Ryan picked up the House speaker’s gavel, Rep. Devin Nunes has launched an effort to blunt the parliamentary measure used by the House Freedom Caucus to oust his predecessor. The California Republican wants to end the privileged status of the “motion to vacate the chair.” And while the…
With prayer banned in public schools and religious freedom under attack, one organization is hosting an event where students can openly engage in religious discussion and bring their Bibles to school. Bring Your Bible to School Day, occurring Thursday and hosted by Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian organization, is a national event where…
Sen. James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, is known for his conservative values. So when he decided to take on the Obama administration over its mandate to schools on transgender bathrooms, it came as no surprise to those familiar with the reserved, red-headed senator. But instead of attacking the Obama administration on the policy itself,…
In an effort to give faith communities and nonprofits a voice in the political sphere, two U.S. congressmen have introduced a bill that would expand the ability of these institutions to comment on political matters. The Free Speech Fairness Act, co-sponsored by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., gives churches…
In an effort to foster widespread participation for the upcoming presidential debate Sunday, one organization has created a website where any interested individual can submit questions. PresidentialOpenQuestions.com, created by the Open Debate Coalition, is a website where anyone can submit a question for the presidential town hall debate hosted by CNN and ABC. Created during…
More than 1,000 noncitizens registered to vote in Virginia and cast nearly 200 ballots in elections before being purged from voter rolls, according to a government watchdog group. The Public Interest Legal Foundation released its findings Tuesday from only eight of Virginia’s 133 voting jurisdictions. So, the group suggested, the problem of noncitizen voting could…
The D.C. City Council will vote on a highly controversial bill on Wednesday that will determine whether residents in the nation’s capital should be allowed to take their own lives by assisted suicide. The bill, modeled after Oregon’s assisted suicide law, would allow terminally ill patients with less than six months to live to obtain…
Conservatives are wary of internet sales tax legislation in the works that would create an “unlevel playing field” for online businesses. Republican leadership in Congress may have promised Democrats to schedule a vote on legislation related to online sales tax, a memo from the Conservative Action Project, a group including organizations that represent major elements…
During two previous prison terms, Samantha Houston-Brown had experienced milestones, including the time 11 years ago when she gave birth to her youngest child while handcuffed to a hospital bed. After she was again charged for drug-related offenses last year, the latest missteps in a lifetime of gambling away her existence, Houston-Brown had finally run…
President Barack Obama, joined by actor Leonardo DiCaprio at the White House, warned Monday night that the world is running out of time to counter climate change and the U.S. government must make laggards “pay a penalty.” “It takes time to ramp up these new energy sources, and we are in a battle against time,”…
A new project has been launched to show the need of religious institutions, which are in danger of losing influence in society as they face challenges to their existence today. “We need our faith-based institutions,” Republican Study Committee Chairman Bill Flores, R-Texas, said at the launch of the America Without Faith project at the Hillsdale…
A rarely discussed aspect of Obamacare, one that appeared to give states an “exit strategy” to avoid provisions of the health care law, is likely to become more widely known next year. But while states led by Democrat governors are beginning to see “innovation waivers” as a way to change their health care systems—and move…
Amanda Collins had never planned on becoming a Second Amendment advocate. But on Oct. 22, 2007, when she was just 22 years old, her life would change forever. “I lived through the worst fear that I had had up until that point,” Collins, who’s now a mother of three, told The Daily Signal. “What happened…
Americans are closely divided on the question of being compelled to celebrate same-sex marriages, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. Those surveyed split evenly on whether wedding-related businesses should be required to provide services to same-sex couples, regardless of religious objections the business owners might have. A total of 49 percent…
The branch manager for the Houston office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services seemed clear about the reason and timing for asking staff to work overtime to push through more citizenship applications. “The field office due to the election year needs to process as many of their N-400 cases as possible between now and FY…
After less than two years in Congress, Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., thinks he’s figured out what’s needed to fix the cumbersome way lawmakers fund the federal government: teeth. More specifically, the freshman senator from Georgia wants members of both the Senate and the House and their staff to suffer “severe consequences” if Congress fails to…
KYIV, Ukraine—More than two years after a Russian surface-to-air missile shot down a civilian airliner over eastern Ukraine, the embattled region remains a de facto no-fly zone for both civilian and military aircraft. On Wednesday, an international investigative team concluded there was “no doubt” the Buk missile that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on…
President Barack Obama greatly increased financial assistance for college students since 2008, but the cost of higher education and student debt still climbs and graduation rates have remained flat. In the 2007-2008 academic year, the average combined tuition and fees for public four-year colleges and universities were $15,530, according to the College Board, a higher…