Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
While Congress takes its five-week vacation, the hard work of union organizing continues at the National Treasury Employees Union. And it’s subsidized by taxpayers. The Washington Times reported this week the Internal Revenue Service provides government salaries, office space and equipment to NTEU operatives, whose union says it represents 92,000 IRS employees. The IRS’ deputy commissioner calculates…
When the Ingalls Shipyard closed in Gulfport, Miss., last month, the nation’s shipbuilding capacity reached a critical point. At Ingalls, the problem was ship design as well as money. First, the Coast Guard passed on composite deckhouses for its new class of fast-response cutters, going to a different design. When the Navy decided to transition…
A Kent State University history professor is standing by his call for “jihad” and statement that Israel is “a regime that is the spiritual heir to Nazism.” In an “open letter” to “academic friends of Israel,” professor Julio Pino accused the pro-Israel academic community of being “directly responsible for the murder of more than 1,400…
A small-town cafe ignited a firestorm of controversy that has engulfed Minnesota. On Aug. 1, the state bumped the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8 an hour. A few days later, Stillwater Oasis quietly added a corresponding 35-cent “minimum wage fee” to customer receipts. The company’s Facebook page became ground zero of the debate as…
An atheist group wants to censor what priests, pastors, rabbis and other clergy say in their sermons by threatening an IRS challenge of their tax-exempt status. Generally, the leaders of houses of worship in America have the constitutional right to preach and promote anything short of an outright endorsement of a political candidate. But now,…
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper brokered a fracking cease-fire this week, shutting down competing referendums for November’s ballot. Now, Colorado business and Democratic politicians are enjoying an economic and political peace dividend. The Democratic governor brought environmentalists and industrialists together to drop their respective ballot measures. In exchange, an independent panel will now make recommendations to…
Virginia is open for business to rideshare companies Uber and Lyft—at least, for now, and with lots of strings attached. Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark Herring announced this week a temporary agreement with the two companies that allows them to operate, so long as Uber and Lyft comply completely with a slew of “safety-related” precautions….
In January, Mirza Ismail married his wife, Nofa Kamal, in Sinjar, Iraq, near the mountainous region where today thousands of Yezidi Iraqis are stranded. After three months in Sinjar, Ismail, the chairman of the Yezidi Human Rights Organization, left for his home in Brampton, Canada, before Islamic militants escalated their campaign to wipe out non-Muslims….
President Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton used the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit to push for the Export-Import Bank’s reauthorization. During the summit’s headline event, which brought nearly 50 African heads-of-state to Washington, Obama pitched a $3 billion pledge to support U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa through the Ex-Im Bank. “I would be remiss if…
It is beginning to look as if yet another case dealing with racial preferences in college admissions will make it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Abigail Fisher, a white woman from Texas who was denied admission into the University of Texas’ 2008 class, asserts the university unlawfully excluded her to achieve race-based admissions goals. Instead…
More Americans are enrolled in individual health insurance plans. In part, though, that’s because under Obamacare fewer are enrolled in group plans. And one health care analyst says this may be the beginning of a trend. WellPoint Inc., the Indianapolis-based health insurance giant, reported in its latest quarterly earnings that its small-group business fell more than…
More than half of the federal government’s inspectors general have joined to lodge a formal complaint that the Obama administration places “serious limitations” on their ability to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse. A total of 47 of the 73 government watchdogs sent the unprecedented letter to leaders of two congressional committees, Fox News reported. In…
SANTA FE, N.M.—Earlier this year, the board that runs New Mexico’s high-risk insurance pool agreed to pay up to $600,000 to an Albuquerque consulting group to handle day-to-day operations of the pool, which was designed to offer insurance to people who had trouble getting coverage. But wasn’t the Affordable Care Act supposed to make high-risk…
Coal country is striking back at the federal government in the latest “war on coal” battle. Twelve states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency to deter impending restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. The states filed the lawsuit in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, accusing the EPA of “overstepping…
Despite the proliferation of red-light cameras, crashes at intersections are increasing. The National Motorists Association says it’s no coincidence. Public service announcements touting National Stop on Red Week, Aug. 3-9, assert traffic cameras help make roads safer. To drive home that claim, one video spot replays deadly intersection crashes. “Those accidents are recorded by the…
Sports announcer Jay Glazier said Michael Strahan was the best defensive end in the game because “he was nastier, he was tougher and he was more resilient than anybody else.” On Sunday, though, Strahan left his nasty side in the past. The football player-turned-TV host was all smiles when enshrined in the National Football Hall…
James Lansberry didn’t blink an eye when the Supreme Court handed down its Hobby Lobby decision last month. The vice president of Samaritan Ministries, which provides health coverage for more than 37,000 families nationwide, said even though his organization applauds the decision, “it doesn’t have any effect on us.” Samaritan Ministries, and other health sharing…
When lawmakers return from their August recess, they'll be facing pressure to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, a government agency whose charter is set to expire on Sept. 30. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is among the bank's biggest critics. Writing for The Daily Signal last month, Texas Republican outlined five facts that his…
When school starts in September, Virginia taxpayers will find themselves footing the bill for some of the thousands of undocumented school-age children who have come here in recent months. The Virginia Department of Education is echoing the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education in saying that schools “may not deny a free…
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Florida law enforcement came down hard on a single mother last week for the crime of letting her 7-year-old son play at a neighborhood park by himself. Police arrested Nicole Gainey, 34, of Port St. Lucie and charged her with child abuse. If convicted, she could go to prison for up to five years,…