Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Should abortion facilities have to follow the same standards as other medical clinics? If you thought the answer to that, regardless of your views on abortion, should be “duh,” you’d be wrong. In fact, we had quite the spirited debate on PBS’s “To The Contrary” this week about that. A provision in a Texas law…
On Monday, exactly when President Obama was giving a major cyber security speech at the Federal Trade Commission, the Twitter and YouTube accounts of the U.S. Central Command were hacked. For about an hour, they were under the control of a group calling itself the Cyber Caliphate, supporters of ISIS. Almost immediately the social media…
The foreign policy community has this week lost one its finest members, William C. Martel, associate professor of International Security Studies at Tufts University. Martel was a distinguished historian, writer and adviser, whose expertise ranged from the Cold War to the present-day wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Martel taught several popular courses at Tufts, ranging…
The degeneration of Hong Kong’s political environment continues apace with the firebombing of the home and offices of the pro-democracy newspaper owner Jimmy Lai, well-known for refusing to kowtow to the communists who run the People’s Republic of China. No one should be under any illusion that such an attack could have taken place without…
Last week, the House released its bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security through the end of September as well as several amendments that seek to defund President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. There are several important questions that Congress and the American people should understand before Congress votes on this issue. What is…
Ohio recently enacted a new law to reform the way criminal statutes are written and interpreted in that state. That measure is a step in the right direction toward remedying the problem of overcriminalization. Senate Bill 361, sponsored by Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, passed with the overwhelming support of the Ohio General Assembly and was signed…
With the atrocious attacks in France, the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) has once again come under critique by U.S. politicians. Over the weekend, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D–CA) called the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) the “Achilles heel of America,” while Representative Michael McCaul (R–TX) has voiced his concern over the vulnerability of the program. The VWP,…
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, a challenge by a church to a town ordinance regulating signs. Like most other towns in America, Gilbert, Ariz., regulates when, where and how many signs may be displayed. Temporary noncommercial signs are classified by their content, and each category has…
There is widespread agreement that the tax code is inhibiting economic growth and harming American families as a result. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., ranking member of the House Budget Committee, acknowledges that fact with the release of a plan he argues would help the middle class. As with all proposals, the devil lies in…
Suddenly everyone in Washington wants a gas tax hike—apparently so consumers don’t save too much money at the pump. As prices keep falling, the politicians and the moochers in Washington want a piece of the action. Rather than raise the federal gas tax, a better policy would be to repeal the federal tax and let…
“[W]e almost ‘ran out of gas.’ We dodged a bullet this past winter.” So said Chairman and CEO of New England’s largest electricity provider. A year later, winter is again testing the reliability of the electric grid to provide Americans with electricity and heating. During last week’s cold snap, Duke Energy, which supplies power to…
It was just like Hollywood to create and flaunt a show around the premise of an affair—and then actually call the show “The Affair.” But, after winning the award for best TV drama at the Golden Globes last night, the show’s co-creator Sarah Treem had something refreshing to say about the institution of marriage. She…
Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged a revamp of the “tired” and “prescriptive” law currently known as No Child Left Behind today, calling for a law that replaces NCLB with one that includes “more money” than is currently authorized. Duncan urged Congress to increase spending, ensure educational “equity” and to include preschool as a component of…
Today the Supreme Court will be back in full swing, hearing oral arguments in a number of important cases. In addition to a case dealing with discrimination against Muslims and a few involving freedom of speech, here are other noteworthy cases coming up. 1. Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans: Do messages on…
Hollywood celebrities delivered a standing ovation in support of free speech this evening at the Golden Globe Awards. After show hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler began with a running theme that poked fun at Sony’s decision not to release “The Interview” in theaters because of threats from North Korea, things got a bit more…
Six of the 14 likeliest Republican presidential candidates chose to speak out on the Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, a review by The Daily Signal shows. The other eight of the GOP’s most prominent White House hopefuls didn’t post a single related statement or tweet within four days of the massacre at the…
For “Outrageous Government Scam of 2014,” it’s hard to compete with the news of the supersized public employee pensions in California. If you haven’t already heard: In 2013, an assistant fire chief in Southern California collected a $983,319 pension. A police captain in Los Angeles received nearly $753,861. Talk about a golden parachute. And the…
In the latest challenge to Texas’ so-called “pro-life law of the century” (passed as H.B. 2), last week a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case Whole Woman’s Health v. Lakey. Abortion providers, including Whole Woman’s Health Clinic in McAllen, Texas, sued the state to keep key provisions of…
These are troubling times for many Americans. The economic recovery since the Great Recession of 2008 has been the slowest in U.S. history, with millions of out-of-work Americans so discouraged they are no longer even trying to find a job. Forbes puts the real unemployment rate at 12.5 percent. Consumer confidence about the future, according…
Climate change regulations imposed by federal bureaucrats now give state governments a new opportunity to extract money from their citizens. In the interest of protecting American families and businesses from higher energy prices devoid of any meaningful climate benefit, states should just say no. A large component of the Obama administration’s climate-change agenda is to…