Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
President Obama’s nominee for secretary of defense will need to penetrate the White House’s tight inner circle of national security and foreign policy advisers to influence the president’s decision-making, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said yesterday. In an interview with The Daily Signal within hours of Ashton Carter’s nomination, McCain said he isn’t convinced the veteran…
For two years, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has concealed his plans for financing single-payer health care. His lead consultant, Jonathan Gruber, has admitted to deceptive policymaking and called lack of transparency “a huge political advantage.” But at least one man knows what Vermonters can expect to pay for Green Mountain Care and isn’t afraid to…
MINNETRISTA, Minn. — Just when the backlash over First Lady Michelle Obama’s school lunch menu leveled off, students in a handful of Twin Cities schools got a taste of what could be another controversial food fad. The main course? Non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) meals. “Having the GMO awareness day for our district was to really…
Employees at Ivy League schools donated more than $2 million in the 2014 election cycle, largely favoring liberal candidates, committees and causes. It’s no secret most college professors tend to be left-of-center — and studies show that’s increasingly the case — but recent OpenSecrets.org data says the university faculty and staff training the next generation…
In a ruling that could short-circuit one of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, a federal court has allowed U.S. tech workers to challenge extensions of foreign laborers’ status here. The case of Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has “major implications” for the president’s ability to expand the number…
With technology outpacing privacy laws, Virginia lawmakers are trying to plan for the unexpected. Democratic state Sen. Chap Petersen of Fairfax and Republican state Del. Richard Anderson of Woodbridge are looking to prohibit state agencies and law enforcement from using any technology — think automatic license plate readers, call databases and drones — to passively…
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., not only supports blocking President Obama’s executive actions on immigration but thinks Republicans could take him all the way to the Supreme Court, he said today in an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal. McCain, interviewed at The Heritage Foundation after speaking about the Jones Act, suggested a “rifle shot” approach…
Next time you go out to eat, a new kind of waiter might serve you. One restaurant owner in China has replaced his traditional wait staff with robots. According to Fox News, the robots are able to take customer orders and communicate with them using “a 40 phrase Mandarin Chinese vocabulary.” Fox reports that “each…
Post by Dana. Terrence Williams, the 23-year-old St. Louis native who shared his inspiring story with The Daily Signal earlier this week, will appear on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show today at 10 p.m. ET. Yesterday, he spoke to The Blaze’s Dana Loesch (watch clip above) about the role God played in his decision to…
Sara Taylor wanted to give her husband a huge surprise. Her husband, Sgt. Fort Taylor, was returning to the United States after serving for a year in Afghanistan with the Marines. “Because he is stationed in California and our kids and I live in Maryland, he didn’t think that anyone would be there when he…
More coverage of the fallout in Ferguson, Mo., space travel, a lame-duck Congress and bunch of nuns at The Vatican. They were among the week's top news stories. Here's a look at some of the best photos. Wednesday night, protesters angry about the verdict in the Eric Garner case tried to shut down the Rockefeller…
FERGUSON, Mo.—Pastor Stoney Shaw knows a thing or two about civil disobedience and protests. He marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s as a seminary student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Today, Shaw serves as senior pastor for First Baptist Church in Ferguson, Mo., where he arrived nine years…
PITTSBURGH — A job training agency in northwest Pennsylvania is asking the state for a repayment plan after a finding that nearly $250,000 was misspent. A 51-page audit questioned everything from lunch meetings to goldfish. The state’s Office of the Budget did a performance audit of the Regional Center for Workforce Excellence, covering July 1, 2009,…
NASHVILLE — Kimball, Tenn., Mayor Rex Pesnell said broadband Internet in his town of about 1,400 will help economic development, but so far he’s short on specifics. Officials in this small Marion County town recently passed a resolution asking state legislators to reconsider a law forbidding government-owned Internet providers from expanding beyond original municipal lines….
The House of Representatives took its first action protesting President Obama’s executive action on immigration. The bill, which was called “purely symbolic” by critics, is unlikely to be considered by the Democrat-controlled Senate. The Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act, drafted by Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., passed in the House this afternoon on a mostly…
Visitors to the Florida Capitol building this holiday season will be treated to a festive display of… a Satanic Temple. The Florida Department of Management Services recently approved an application for a holiday display from the Satanic Temple despite rejecting the same group’s “grossly offensive” display last year, according to the Florida Times-Union. The temple’s…
A third of the states have taken federal immigration enforcement agencies to court, challenging President Obama’s executive actions granting legal status to millions of illegal immigrants. Led by Texas Attorney General and Gov.-elect Greg Abbott, a coalition of 17 states filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration yesterday in U.S. District Court in Texas. Abbott,…
Days before the much-awaited runoff election between Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and her Republican challenger, Rep. Bill Cassidy, a video emerged showing a Democratic mayor encouraging Landrieu supporters to commit voter fraud. The Black Conservative Fund, a political action committee, released the video shot at a private event where Opelousas, La., Mayor Donald Cravins Sr….
Law enforcement officers already use breathalyzers as a preliminary test for blood-alcohol content. Soon, they might have a similar test to detect marijuana usage. Researchers at Washington State University are developing a breathalyzer for pot. According to FOX 8, the device “would be used by police in states that have already legalized the drug.” Even…
Parkland and wilderness provisions added to a defense policy measure have outraged friends of the military, who call the move both a “land grab” and a slap at men and women serving in the armed forces. Considered must-pass legislation, the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act details Republicans’ and Democrats’ military policy priorities. It ranks high on…