Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
HONOLULU — With its strategic location in the Pacific and substantial military assets, Hawaii has been a prime target of foreign governments seeking U.S. intelligence. The way to stop intelligence breaches, said FBI Director James Comey during a recent trip to the 50th state, is to “know your people” and “who has access to what.”…
The number of police officers killed by firearms spiked by 56 percent in 2014. In 2013, five officers were killed in ambush shootings compared to 15 in 2014. According to an annual report released by the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial fund, 50 officers were killed by firearms in 2014, up from 32 in…
According to this sheriff, black lives matter—even the ones in the womb. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has been a vocal critic of anti-police demonstrations in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. So when Clarke saw New York Times reporter Mitch Smith covering a “die-in” protest on Twitter, he responded. Clarke…
Just weeks ago, the world watched as Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old woman with terminal brain cancer, followed through on her vow to take her own life. After receiving a prognosis of six months to live, Maynard and her husband moved from San Francisco to Portland, Ore., where it was legal to obtain a prescription that…
A recent audit showing the Internal Revenue Service handed out $14.5 billion in improper earned income tax credits in 2012 came as little surprise to budget watchers such as Alan Cole. The fact that the erroneous payouts amounted to about 24 percent of the $63 billion Uncle Sam sent out in refundable earned income tax…
BLAND, Va. — Virginians who try to sell homemade food from their kitchens are feeling the heat from state and local inspectors. “I have to turn down my neighbors when they ask if they can buy pesto I make from my own basil plants,” says Bernadette Barber, a farmer in Lancaster, Va. And this isn’t…
This morning on Fox News, Daily Signal senior contributor Genevieve Wood debated Democratic pollster Doug Schoen about the big issues that will play out in Washington in the new year. Watch the clip to see why Wood warns Republican leaders to stick to their guns and honor the promises they made to voters.
A recent study suggests there is a significant culprit in the decline of marriage rates among young adults—pornography. According to the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), the rise of easily accessible and free pornographic content on the Internet and the declining marriage rate isn’t necessarily just a coincidence. The group concluded that porn “is negatively associated…
Do you believe in miracles? Ask Greg Hall, whose company supplied technology and know-how that helped rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for more than two months in 2010. Almost as miraculous, Hall’s American Manufacturing Co. just received a permanent federal exemption from provisions of the Affordable Care Act that contradict the Catholic deacon and businessman’s…
As if the University of Virginia didn’t have enough of a negative spotlight, a new audit finds Thomas Jefferson’s institution isn’t keeping tight reins on all of its money and property. The university, located in Charlottesville, improperly awarded no-bid contracts, eliminated competitive bids by separating purchases, nixed $72,0000 worth of forklifts from its asset records…
One reason advocates argue for the legalization of marijuana is that arrests for possession of the drug fall disproportionately on young black men, which has the potential of ruining their lives and creating new generations of criminals. Are they right? Kevin A. Sabet, a leading voice against legalizing pot, recently spoke with The Daily Signal to…
At the stroke of midnight today, 19 states increased their minimum wage. Residents of three more and the nation’s capital can expect hikes later on this year. A year ago, the White House and Democratic lawmakers embarked on a campaign to make the minimum wage a defining issue in the 2014 elections. And although that…
After former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s recent announcement that he is “actively exploring” the possibility of running for president, political pundits have been talking about the possibility of another Bush-Clinton election. But you might not be able to recycle your 1992 T-shirts after all. A new Rasmussen poll suggests that Americans are growing wary of…
In the whirlwind of the daily news cycle, stories come and go abruptly, moving faster than ever before. But in what may appear a clutter of events are those gripping stories that kept us talking, namely on Twitter. Echelon Insights, a Republican digital and advertising strategy firm, analyzed more than 184 million tweets across 80…
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned Americans that despite recent good news, the U.S. economy remains “sluggish.” Greenspan attributes the slow growth to the continued weakness in the capital goods market, saying this sector has been nearly cut in half since the 2008 financial crash. “The United States is doing better than anybody else,…
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, rapper Nicki Minaj openly discussed her decision to have an abortion, a choice that she says has “haunted me all my life.” While attending the prestigious LaGuardia Performing Arts High School in New York and dating an older man from Queens, Minaj discovered she was pregnant. “I was a…
From charts on Facebook usage to President Obama's budget, 2014 was a year for charts, graphs and more charts. Here's a look at 15 of the best charts from 2014. For a deeper dive into these figures, check out The Heritage Foundation's Federal Spending By the Numbers. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8….
Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., is using alleged police brutality victims to raise money for a re-election campaign he promised not to run. "The historical election of President Obama doesn’t mean the end of racism and injustice in America," says @cbrangel Rangel, the veteran Harlem congressman, barely eked out an electoral victory this year in part…
As 2014 draws to a close, The Daily Signal looks back at 14 of the biggest news stories across the globe—and the powerful images associated with each. Obamacare President Obama’s Affordable Care Act stumbled into 2014 after a rocky launch and continued to face pushback throughout the year. The law’s health insurance exchanges took effect…
A Kansas school blocked a seventh-grader from handing out fliers inviting students to join her in prayer at the school’s flagpole. Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano called the school’s ban “so obviously wrong and misguided,” noting that students “theoretically” have the same constitutional rights as anyone else. “Schools can restrain speech if the…