Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Is it possible to devote 90 minutes of prime TV time to Ronald Reagan as an actor who changed the presidency through his use of the mass media and still miss why he was a great communicator? CNN did it with its all too predictable documentary, “The Reagan Show.” The producers presented all the liberal…
Late Wednesday night, the Senate released the text of legislation that would provide disaster relief funding and other federal aid for Hurricane Harvey and other 2017 disasters, suspend the debt limit, and extend the National Flood Insurance Program and government funding into December. The latest budget deal forged by President Donald Trump and key Senate…
Last week, Christian Adams and I reported on the latest mistaken decision by federal District Court Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, who threw out—for the fifth time—Texas’ amended voter ID law. Texas immediately appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and requested a stay of Ramos’ decision. On Tuesday, in a 2-1 vote, a…
“The [base realignment and closures] process offers us the opportunity to address readiness by providing our forces the best possible ranges and installations for them to be stationed at.” This is how Lucian Niemeyer, the new assistant secretary of defense for energy, installation, and environment, described the importance of Congress authorizing a new round of…
Last year, FBI agents and undercover operatives watched as Lionel Williams, 27, of Suffolk, Virginia, revealed plans to help Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, as well as plans for an attack against the U.S. homeland. Last month, Williams pleaded guilty in federal court to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State,…
“Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?” is an unusual and inappropriate question for a senator to ask a judicial nominee. In fact, the Constitution forbids it. But that didn’t stop Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., from probing Notre Dame Law professor Amy Coney Barrett about her faith. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. D-Calif., also chided Barrett for…
On July 26, Alex Wubbels was just trying to protect her patient by following a longstanding hospital policy—one she rightly understood to reflect the protections of the Fourth Amendment. She was rewarded with handcuffs and a seat in the back of a police cruiser. Wubbels, a former Olympic athlete and current head nurse of the…
The Iraq-Saudi Arabia relationship, while historically rocky, appears to be on the mend. Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 prompted Saudi Arabia to close its border with Iraq. Since then, only Iraqi religious pilgrims have been allowed to cross once a year during the hajj season. After 27 years, the two nations are now…
This week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the eight remaining annual appropriations bills. The House will combine the four-bill Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act (H.R. 3354), which was passed prior to August recess, with another “mini-bus” package. In total, the package would spend $1.132 trillion in fiscal year 2018, busting…
As Hurricane Irma bears down on Puerto Rico, home to 3.4 million U.S. citizens, President Donald Trump should prepare the way for a rapid relief and rebuilding effort by issuing an emergency waiver of the Jones Act. The Jones Act (formally the Merchant Marine Act of 1920) requires that all shipping between U.S. ports be…
Over and over again, from the mouths of politicians in both parties, identity politics purveyors and cheap labor lobbyists, we hear the same refrains about President Barack Obama’s 800,000 amnestied illegal alien youths: “They don’t deserve to be punished.” “They deserve protection.” “They deserve the American dream.” Deserve, deserve, deserve. Over and over again, in…
Mick Mulvaney, the current director of the Office of Management and Budget and my predecessor representing South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District, has been guided by the idea that every dollar spent by the federal government must be scrutinized. I took this principal to the heart as I examined the president’s budget request, which succinctly stated:…
For seven years, Republican candidates running for every office from president to dogcatcher campaigned on the need to repeal and replace Obamacare. The spectacular collapse of the repeal effort in the Senate revealed that these promises were, at least for some senators, hollow. As disappointing as the effort in the Senate was to witness, Congress…
Many blacks and their white liberal allies demand the removal of statues of Confederate generals and the Confederate battle flag, and they are working up steam to destroy the images of Gens. Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee and President Jefferson Davis from Stone Mountain in Georgia. Allow me to speculate as to the whys…
In the coming days, Congress will vote on major spending legislation that will include funding cuts for foreign policy and defense programs. Among the items on the chopping block is the United States Institute of Peace, a government-funded think tank devoted to furthering development and peace in the world. In a world where North Korea…
For those unfamiliar with the term, Marranos was the name given to Jews in medieval Spain and Portugal who secretly maintained their Judaism while living as Catholics in public, especially in the 15th century during the Spanish Inquisition. There is, of course, no Spanish Inquisition in America today—no one is being tortured into confessing what…
In the past two and a half months, the Navy has experienced the worst peacetime surface ship collisions in over 41 years. Two recent collisions—first the USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), then the USS John S. McCain (DDG 56)—took place with commercial vessels and claimed the lives of 17 U.S. sailors during routine “independent steaming” operations…
When the elevator door opened in the lobby, my colleagues and I saw a man sitting, bleeding, surrounded by police. We stared in silence as police yelled at us to get back upstairs. The elevator door quietly closed, and we returned to our fifth-floor office. Up there, we hadn’t heard Floyd Corkins’ gunshot that hit…
The New York Times is pushing fake news about book sales, according to a top conservative publisher. Citing bias and favoritism toward liberal writers and a lack of transparency, Regnery Publishing President and Publisher Marji Ross told The Daily Signal that the company will stop recognizing the Times’ best-sellers list, which has been used as…
President Donald Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the American people that if they gave Republicans the chance to govern, pro-growth tax reform would be their major legislative priority in 2017. Now that the voters have given Republicans control of the White House, House, and Senate, there is a real…