Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
One-person tents, men’s boxers and prepaid cell phones are not things you would normally find on a little girl’s wish list. But 9-year-old Hailey Fort is anything but ordinary. At the age of just 6 years old, Fort began a fruit and vegetable garden after asking her mother how she could help a homeless man she…
Madeline Stuart, an 18-year-old from Brisbane, Australia, is one step closer to achieving her dream of changing society’s perception of disability. The teen, who has Down syndrome, was just tapped by body-positive fitness brand Manifesta to be their newest model. Manifesta’s website declares that the “only valid judge of a woman is herself,” and is…
MARIUPOL, Ukraine—A thunderstorm loomed over Mariupol on the afternoon of July 6. To the north, the sky turned dark and a cool pre-storm breeze kicked up as the sounds of distant thunder began to roll in. A waitress at the Natalka coffee shop on Prospekt Lenina smiled and said, “It’s only a storm. Not artillery.”…
Sen. Rand Paul put Hollywood in the spotlight Monday revealing a $25,000 federal grant billing taxpayers for the building of an Oscars museum. The National Endowment for the Arts is sending the federal dollars to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science to help build what the academy claims as the “world’s premier museum”…
Eight years after the program technically expired, Congress is finally debating an update of the contentious No Child Left Behind Act, which poured an avalanche of federal programs and testing standards on public schools across the U.S. The House’s update of No Child Left Behind, called the Student Success Act, will be the topic of…
Last year, two Michigan self-described “soccer moms” were the victims of raids conducted by local law enforcement officials, who took telephones, televisions and cash from the women’s homes under civil asset forfeiture laws. The women, Ginnifer Hency and Annette Shattuck, have never been found guilty of a crime. Inspired by cases such as these, a…
Former President George W. Bush turned 69 years old today. Here are 11 quotes from the 43rd president in honor of his birthday. 1. “We have a place, all of us, in a long story—a story we continue, but whose end we will not see,” Bush said during his Inaugural Address on Jan. 20, 2001….
An illegal immigrant federal officials claim was convicted of seven felonies and deported five times shot a woman on the San Francisco waterfront last Wednesday. Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, who was arrested an hour after the attack, admitted he shot 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle, but claimed the incident was an “accident.” Lopez-Sanchez, also known simply as Francisco…
A hashtag has ignited a social media movement to promote the status of women and influence how many Indian families view having a daughter. Concerns over India’s growing population of almost 1.3 billion people has led to an imbalance of gender through the use of local sterilization quotas along with sex-selective abortion and infanticide. These…
After being fired for writing what’s been described as an “anti-gay” book, former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran says he “absolutely” wants his job back. “In the United States of America, Americans should not have to choose between keeping your job and living out your faith,” Cochran told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview….
When he was 19, Anthony Orefice hit a telephone pole on his motorcycle going 100 miles per hour. Doctors told his family he wouldn’t survive. He did, but the accident left him paralyzed from the chest down, unable to do what he loved—surf, snowboard or ride dirt bikes. “All you are thinking is the worst,…
American Enterprise Institute published a public opinion report evaluating Americans’ sense of patriotism. The report compiled information from various studies, including those done by Pew Research Center, The New York Times and National Opinion Research Center. Here are some key findings: 1. Most Americans consider themselves patriotic. According to a Pew Research study from February…
Many Americans have honored the nation’s birth in numerous ways and festivities. Here are some photos showing how Americans have celebrated over the years.
Trust in American institutions varies widely by political ideology, according to a new Gallup poll. Gallup found that American liberals and conservatives “report markedly different levels of confidence in nearly every key institution” that they measure, a shift they attribute to a significantly different “worldview” embraced by each group. Conservatives are more likely to trust…
When former Marine Corporal Cole Thomas Lyle returned from his 400-day deployment to Afghanistan in November of 2011, he had never given much thought to post-traumatic stress. Eager to return to normalcy, Lyle attended a Rangers baseball game with his closest friends, the tickets a gift from his relieved mother. Standing proud as the National…
Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian finalized a preliminary ruling today ordering Aaron and Melissa Klein, the bakers who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, to pay $135,000 in emotional damages to the couple they denied service. "This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage," Avakian wrote. "It is about…
FORT DODGE, Iowa—Bernie Sanders, the second-term independent senator from Vermont, spoke on “real issues” at Iowa Central Community College today, promising that his policies would “strengthen families” if he were elected president. Sanders, who is running as a Democrat in 2016, stated a top priority of his is combating the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling—allowing…
A polygamous Montana trio recently applied for a second marriage license, according to the Associated Press. They plan legal action if their application is rejected. Nathan Collier and his wife Victoria were legally married in 2000, and in 2007, he and Christine were married only in a religious ceremony to avoid bigamy charges. Same-sex marriage…
California implemented new hydraulic fracturing regulations Wednesday, making the state home to perhaps the strictest fracking rules in the nation. The regulations force increased transparency and accountability through expanded monitoring and reporting of air and water quality, public disclosure of chemicals used in fracking procedures, and estimates of the environmental impact fracking activities may cause….
Retired Army Maj. Scott Smiley defied all odds last Sunday when he became the first blind veteran to successfully complete an Ironman. The race in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, took place during record-breaking temperatures, causing 188 competitors to drop out of the contest. It takes much more than a hot day to deter Smiley. "Let's do this,…