Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
On this day in 1790, Congress passed an “Act to create the Revenue Cutter Service,” which authorized then-Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton to build a number of vessels to enforce customs laws. With this allocation, Hamilton commissioned the construction of ten “revenue cutters” intended to patrol key U.S. ports and ensure the safe and…
On Wednesday, President Obama will make a personal push to sell the flawed Iran deal to the American public and Congress. The president’s efforts to sell his bad deal are unsurprising, considering that the more Americans have learned about the deal, the less they like it. They have plenty of reasons for skepticism. The deal…
It used to be that, like entitlement spending, criminal justice reform was a third rail in politics—touch it, and you could be sure that your next opponent would run a commercial saying you were “soft on crime.” It was a one-way ticket to “Loserville.” That has changed, most notably in conservative states. Listen to what…
Supporters of Planned Parenthood claim that an end to federal funding of the organization will limit women’s access to family planning services and preventive care. In reality, Planned Parenthood itself has decreased cancer screenings and other preventive care since 2004, all the while increasing the number of abortions its affiliates perform annually by about 70,000….
Serious questions have been raised as to whether Planned Parenthood is selling tissue and body parts of unborn babies for profit. So serious that Congress is planning to hold investigations this fall. But apparently not serious enough to get 60 members of the U.S. Senate to be willing to vote Monday to take taxpayer dollars away…
The Obama administration unveiled its climate change regulations for new and existing power plants, calling the plan “the biggest, most important step we’ve ever taken to combat climate change.” It may be the most “important” from a top-down, regulatory mandate for high energy prices, but it won’t accomplish much, if anything, in terms of combating…
Later today, the Senate is scheduled to vote on a bill that would remove federal funding from Planned Parenthood. This is a good and necessary response to the shocking reports of Planned Parenthood harvesting and selling body parts from recently aborted unborn children. Ahead of the vote, supporters of Planned Parenthood are claiming the Senate…
The social cost of carbon (SCC) is a metric that the Obama administration uses to justify increased regulations across the energy sector of the economy. It is derived using various statistical models that try to measure the extent and impact of climate change. Any statistical model, however, is based on assumptions and must be critically…
Lost in the outrage over the death of Cecil the Lion is the plight of the people of Zimbabwe and the fact that big game hunting actually helps Africa. On July 1, a lion known as Cecil, who was popular with safari-goers in Zimbabwe, was killed by a hunter after being lured out of a national…
As The Daily Signal and 2nd Vote have revealed, corporate America is a major source of revenue for Planned Parenthood. While less than the half-billion in taxpayer dollars Planned Parenthood receives annually, corporate contributions made up a healthy piece of the $127 million in “excess revenue” the ostensible nonprofit received last year alone. But while…
Being conservative in a politically correct culture has never been easy. Whether you’re a politician trying to explain a controversial sound-bite or a voter attempting to defend your stance on a hot-button issue to co-workers, you either grow a thick skin—or learn to keep quiet. Sadly, you get used to having your motives impugned by…
The Vienna Agreement overseeing Iran’s nuclear program brought no joy to Tel Aviv. “Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran,” declared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “because Iran continues to seek our destruction.” He then added pointedly, “We will always defend ourselves.” Of course, Netanyahu is right. Israel, like all nations, has the inherent…
High school graduation remains a crucial rite of passage. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that in 2013, the median earning for workers with a high school diploma was 26 percent higher than for those without it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics consistently finds higher rates of employment for high school graduates than for…
Medicare is still in trouble. The Medicare Trustees just issued their 2015 report. Like last year’s report, it says that the Hospital Insurance trust fund will enjoy a few years of surpluses, followed by deficits, ending in insolvency in 2030. The trustees’ report is a bracing corrective to the complacency and demagoguery that often mar…
Federal and state governments spent $1.02 trillion on welfare in 2014—an increase of $274 billion, or 36 percent, since 2003 after adjusting for inflation. At the federal level, the welfare bureaucracy spans numerous agencies and includes more than 80 different means-tested aid programs that provide cash, food, housing, medical care and social services to poor…
A thriving society needs a strong economy. The reverse is just as true: A healthy economy is built on a vibrant culture that promotes individual and social well-being. It’s helpful to think of a society as an ecosystem—one in which cultural, political and economic spheres greatly overlap. As in any ecosystem, change in one sector…
The Pentagon announced that terrorist and leader of the al-Qaeda (AQ) based Khorasan Group, Muhsin al-Fadhli, was killed in a drone strike earlier this month. The Khorasan Group The Khorasan Group is a product of the al-Qaeda core that has emerged in Syria within the last couple of years. Many believe that of all the…
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei recently tweeted an image that represented President Obama with a gun to his own head with the caption, “If any war happens, the one who will emerge loser will be the aggressive and criminal U.S.” Such violent rhetoric coming from Iran is nothing new. The only difference now is that…
The University of New Hampshire’s “Bias-Free Language Guide” considers the words “mothering” and “fathering” to be problematic, biased language. According to Campus Reform, the guide suggests replacing “mothering” and “fathering” with words such as “parenting” in order to “avoid gendering a non-gendered activity.” Originally published in 2013, the guide gained attention recently following Campus Reform’s…
The Obama administration continues its persistent attack on the Little Sisters of the Poor following their challenge to the Obamacare abortion drug mandate. Earlier this summer, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Little Sisters in their challenge to the Affordable Care Act requirement that they provide employees with health care coverage that includes…