Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
House Speaker John Boehner yesterday reassured Americans that Syrian rebels — who could be the recipients of $500 million in U.S. aid — have been “well-vetted” by intelligence officials. Among skeptics, however, is a former top Pentagon official who urged that congressional leaders keep "eyes wide open" and not rush toward unintended results. During his weekly press…
After Sen. Ted Cruz was booed off the stage at a gathering of Middle Eastern Christians for making pro-Israel comments, a New York bishop stood before the frantic audience to lead a prayer for him. In an interview with The Daily Signal today, Bishop Gregory Mansour of the Maronite Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn said he…
In Defense of Christians, an organization that raises awareness of the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East, held its first-ever summit this week at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington, D.C. Today, the last day of the event, The Daily Signal spoke with religious leaders from Syria, Turkey and Brooklyn,…
The conversations in our living rooms?
President Obama, laying out his strategy last night to defeat the Islamist jihadists known as ISIS, stressed that “it will take time to eradicate a cancer” such as the terrorist group represents in the Middle East. One hurdle in the way of Obama’s intention to work with allies to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS (also…
Hours after the Texas Republican walked off the stage to boos at a conference of Middle Eastern Christians, Sen. Ted Cruz’s office says organizers of the event never told him to avoid talking about Israel or the Jewish people. “They were made no longer welcome,” says In Defense of Christians president after @SenTedCruz heckling. "It is…
Heroes of all stripes emerged during and after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Now, 13 years later, one is the last known of its kind. Bretagne (pronounced Brittany), a search and rescue dog, deployed to New York City following the attacks and is said to be the last living search dog who worked…
Last night, Obama addressed the nation vowing to “destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL.” The speech, focusing on a four-point counterterrorism plan for Iraq and Syria, was met with mixed reactions. >>> Commentary: What Obama Got Right—and Wrong—in Obama’s ISIS Speech Commenters took to social media to voice their opinions on the president’s remarks,…
Teens who smoke marijuana daily are over 60 percent less likely to graduate from high school than their peers who never use, according to a study released this month. According to The Lancet Psychiatry, a British health research journal, teens who smoke marijuana daily are “also 60 percent less likely to graduate college and seven times more…
Officials in Yuma County, Ariz., a border region long a hot spot for illegal immigration, say the Department of Justice is scaling back an established program that uses prosecution and imprisonment to discourage illegal border crossings. Arizona’s two U.S. senators wrote U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder seeking confirmation that federal prosecutors based in the state…
On Wednesday, President Obama addressed the nation concerning an uptick of action against the Islamic State, otherwise known as ISIS or ISIL. It was a short address that also was short on surprises. Never tell your enemies what you will not do, Mr. President. Obama began with an apt description of ISIS and the threat…
Moments after President Obama spoke to the nation Wednesday night about the threat posed by the Islamic State, Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly that the administration’s strategy was insufficient. “The Obama-Clinton foreign policy has been characterized by photo-op foreign policy,” Cruz said. “What has been missing is a concrete military objective to…
President Obama addressed the nation Wednesday night in hopes to lay out a strategy to “destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL”—a much anticipated speech after his comments Aug. 28 confirming “we don’t have a strategy yet” to counter the brutal jihadists also called the Islamic State or ISIS. Watch the video above for a full…
In a prime-time address tonight, President Obama hoped to explain to Americans his strategy for defeating the Islamic State, the terrorist group whose rush of mass killings, rapes, videotaped beheadings and ethnic cleansing has outraged the world. The president was expected to announce an escalated military campaign against the brutal Islamist jihadists also known as…
A leading congressional advocate for pulling the plug on the Export-Import Bank today said he “regrets” that a nine-month reauthorization of the federal agency is part of a Republican-sponsored measure to keep the government running. “I do not believe that Ex-Im should be part of the CR [continuing resolution]. I regret that the Republican conference…
Soon, the city of brotherly love could be the largest American city to decriminalize marijuana. On Monday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter announced a potential agreement with the Philadelphia City Council to minimize penalties for possession of marijuana. In June, the Philadelphia City Council voted 13-3 to pass a bill which decriminalized the possession of marijuana…
Before the August recess, the House easily passed a bill to renew, without limit, a longstanding ban on taxing access to the Internet. Now some Senate leaders wants to add on a sales tax. Dubbed the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, the legislation would prohibit state and local governments from charging residents fees to browse…
Despite repeated U.S. airstrikes ordered by President Obama to blunt the advance of the Islamic State, the brutal terrorist group — also known as ISIS — continues to slaughter civilians in Iraq and Syria and to vow to inflict the same on the United States. Last week, the president ordered more than 350 troops to…
The Internal Revenue Service, already under investigation for illegally targeting conservative and tea party groups, recently audited the conservative Breitbart News Network in a move that the company says was politically motivated. .@SenTedCruz called the audit of Breitbart News Network 'a gross abuse of power.' The IRS sought the company’s financial records from 2012, Fox…
The Obama administration has decided to continue its legal battle against Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic charity that objects to Obamacare’s mandate that employee health plans cover contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs. The order of Catholic nuns argues that the rule fashioned by the Department of Health and Human Services requires them to violate…