Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
One in every two transgender adolescents who are born female but identify as male has attempted suicide in the past year, according to a new study. The study, “Transgender Adolescent Suicide Behavior,” was published in Pediatrics, the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. It raises serious questions about how families, schools, doctors,…
Obamacare’s heavy requirements have hit businesses hard. They’ve also burdened the consciences of religious Americans who cannot in good faith pay for certain drugs and products. It’s no surprise, then, that thousands of Americans are turning to an alternative to mainstream insurance called Liberty HealthShare. We sit down with the founder and chairman of the…
It’s been a banner year for small businesses, and this week was no exception. Small business confidence has now reached its highest level on record. Economic growth in the most recent quarter exceeded 4 percent. Wages are rising at their fastest pace in a decade, giving Americans more disposable income to spend on Main Street….
There were plenty of good reasons to vote against California’s AB 2943. The measure would have declared it “consumer fraud” for any counselor—secular or religious—to accept money in exchange for helping people who experience unwanted same-sex attractions to overcome those feelings or resist acting on them. It was a threat to freedom of speech, freedom…
Congress should not rush to pass a farm bill. Lawmakers should seek to pass sound policy, not lock in bad policy for five years. This means passing a conservative farm bill—one that would include strong food stamp work requirements, significant reforms to the out-of-control farm handout system, and repealing the Obama administration’s Clean Water Rule….
When it comes to adoption, I’m incredibly biased. Although I was conceived in rape, my birthmom chose to be stronger than her circumstances. She rejected the further violence of abortion, and gave me life and the gift of adoption. I grew up in a family of 15; nine of my 12 other siblings were also adopted. We were all…
Small business optimism, as measured by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, hit an all-time high in August, shattering a 35-year-old record. The good news comes amid the Trump administration’s rollback of business-stifling regulations and the recent tax cuts for businesses. Both have greatly increased small business owners’ chances at success. It costs much more,…
The Balkans appeared on President Donald Trump’s foreign policy radar for the first time late last month, and that’s a good thing for southeastern Europe. John Bolton, the president’s principal national security adviser, during a visit to Ukraine, said Aug. 24 that “the United States would not oppose a territorial exchange between Kosovo and Serbia…
President Donald Trump announced his nomination of D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on July 9 at 9 p.m. Before the clock had struck midnight, Democratic senators were already announcing their opposition. Now, more than eight weeks later, they are just playing games. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., for example, said on July…
America experienced the latest wave of populism with the election of Donald Trump in November 2016. Since then, people across the country have been trying to define populism, how the Trump presidency embodies it, and what it means for our nation. Steve Hilton, host of Fox News Channel’s “The Next Revolution,” joins The Daily Signal…
The following is a lightly edited transcript from The Daily Signal’s Sept. 11 podcast episode. Katrina Trinko: Modern China has never been friendly to religion, but according to the Associated Press, things have been getting worse under President Xi Jinping. The AP reports: “Experts and activists say that as he consolidates his power, Xi is…
As they continue to press for full Senate approval, proponents of a new U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, which would be established by the BUILD Act of 2018, assert that the new corporation would help the world realize the United Nations’ grand-scale “sustainable development goals.” But seeking to gain support from conservatives for the International…
Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Maryland have all declared states of emergency in preparation for Hurricane Florence. According to the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center, a life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic flash-flooding, and significant river flooding are all likely over portions of the Carolinas and the Mid-Atlantic states from…
The federal government’s official poverty figures for 2017, the first year of the Trump administration, were released Wednesday, showing an improvement over those of its predecessor. But other data, released the day before, were even more heartening. The Census Bureau’s official statistics indicate that 12.3 percent of the population and 17.5 percent of children live…
In today’s hyper-politicized world of climate science, hardly a thunderstorm passes without somebody invoking the “scientists say” trope to blame it on carbon emissions. The logic seems to be: If it’s bad, it was caused by carbon emissions, and we are only going to see more and worse. More and worse floods, droughts, tornadoes, and…
The Trump administration is considering rescinding a “Dear Colleague” letter sent in 2014 to public school administrators nationwide, providing guidelines regarding school discipline policies consistent with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. According to Title VI, racial discrimination at institutions receiving federal funds is illegal. The letter was sent to public school officials by…
Remember. Forget. Repeat. For 17 years, America has engaged in a collective ritual every Sept. 11: hang flags, light candles, bow heads, and make vows to “Never forget.” Then, every Sept. 12, it’s back to business as usual: See something, do nothing. Did you remember that five of the 9/11 hijackers—Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Hani…
The next time you feel the urge to join a major protest to condemn the elite, powerful forces who are supposedly making your lives worse, don’t bother. The event is most likely organized by elite, powerful forces who are getting rich off your activism while you don’t make a dime or a dime’s worth of…
It’s been eight years since abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s House of Horrors shocked us. We sit down with Ann McElhinney, the producer of a new film recounting the Gosnell episode. Plus: A school in Georgia is bringing back the paddle—yes, the paddle for spanking students. We also cover these stories: House Republicans unveiled Tax Reform 2.0…
One of the best statements of how the Framers saw the role of the federal government is found in Federalist Paper 45, written by James Madison, who is known as the “Father of the Constitution”: The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain…