Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
The fight to save Charlie Gard, the British infant at the center of a worldwide debate about parental rights and medical treatment, is coming to a close. On Monday, Charlie’s parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, announced they are ending their lengthy court battle over treatment for their son. One month after his birth last…
In a recent test at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, the Transportation Security Administration failed to detect 94 percent of illicit items that actors smuggled through security screening that included fake explosives, weapons, and drugs. This egregious performance comes at the same time that the Department of Homeland Security is requiring international airports around the world…
The way Americans perceive climate change is too often determined by their hearing just one side of the story. The American people should be made aware of both the negative and positive impacts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Without the whole story, how can we expect an objective evaluation of the issues involving climate…
The demand for abortion in Oregon is going down, so why do pro-abortion lawmakers there seem so determined to increase it? From 2011 to 2014, Oregon saw a 15 percent decline in the number of abortions. It also saw a 7 percent decline in the number of abortion providers. But, apparently that isn’t a trend…
Editor's note: It's hard to think of a topic that drives more comments from The Daily Signal's audience than the fate of Obamacare. With a Senate vote possible this week on some sort of health care reform, here's a roundup of your views. Write us at [email protected] about our news and commentary.—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily…
On Tuesday, the Trump Administration released its list of objectives for renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In the section on government procurement, the 20-page document included priorities such as “increasing opportunities for U.S. firms to sell U.S. products and services in to the NAFTA countries,” “keep in place domestic preferential purchasing programs,”…
Earlier this week, craftsmen and entrepreneurs from all 50 states met on the White House lawn to celebrate American-made products, as a part of the newly proclaimed “Made in America Week.” While the administration may see this week as a time to highlight the companies that have a sticker on their product that says “Made…
This week, the Department of Justice unveiled a new directive ramping up federal civil forfeiture. The new policy restarts so-called “adoptive” forfeitures as part of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ focus on addressing and reducing violent and drug-related crime. This renewed attention on combatting violent crime and supporting law enforcement officers cannot come at a better…
Education savings accounts are a new, groundbreaking effort to provide more educational opportunities to students throughout the country. These are private savings accounts that parents can control and use to pay for their children’s educational expenses. How it works: The state deposits a portion of the money it would have otherwise spent on the child’s…
In his book “32 Yolks,” Eric Ripert, head chef and owner of Michelin three-starred Le Bernardin in New York City, tells the story of his parents’ divorce when he was 5 years old: I went from being a happy kid to a kind of pint-sized depressive. From the time I was 5 until I went…
Hungary’s foreign minister came to Washington seeking something from the Trump administration that his government is being denied by the European Union—sympathy for its sovereign right to make its own internal decisions and laws. He deserves a hearing. Such a return to basic relations among nation-states—let alone treaty allies and friends—is also a radical departure…
On Thursday, Genevieve Wood interviewed J.D. Vance, author of “Hillbilly Elegy.” Vance, who also wrote the introductory essay to The Heritage Foundation’s 2017 Index of Culture and Opportunity, shared his thoughts on what can be done to help struggling Americans. Here is a transcript of Wood and Vance’s conversation: Genevieve Wood: Let’s talk about culture…
On Thursday, Republicans in both the House and Senate took a major step toward nullifying the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s harmful arbitration rule. In the House, Financial Services Committee member Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-Pa., sponsored a resolution of disapproval that will allow Congress to invalidate the rule through the Congressional Review Act. At almost the…
Carefree, Arizona—population 3,363—is 2,400 miles from Wall Street. But that’s still not far enough away to escape the harm caused by Democrats’ supposed “Wall Street reform” known as the Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into law seven years ago this month. According to a local news report, a proposed housing project in Carefree was terminated…
In recent days, college students have shouted down, pepper-sprayed, punched, and otherwise shut down the campus guests whose ideas they considered offensive. The most prominent recent cases have included Milo Yiannopoulos (University of California, Berkeley), Charles Murray (Middlebury College), and Heather Mac Donald (Claremont McKenna College), but a number of institutions have disinvited scheduled speakers…
The Trump administration’s announcement of objectives in updating the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, provide a good opportunity to reflect on President Ronald Reagan’s vision for North America. Congress passed legislation authorizing implementation of NAFTA in 1993, and President Bill Clinton signed it. But 14 years earlier, in 1979, candidate Reagan proposed his…
The Senate health care bill (the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017) would fundamentally reform federal Medicaid payment. As Washington Post columnist George Will has written, the bill’s Medicaid provisions, as crafted by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., “makes it this century’s most significant domestic policy reform.” Will is correct. Medicaid financing needs reform. Jointly financed…
As the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity convenes its first meeting on Wednesday, the issue of voter fraud in American elections has become even more contentious and hyperbolic. One of the left’s main arguments against reform is that voter fraud simply does not occur. How liberals arrive at this conclusion, we cannot say. Time…
Note: The following is based on remarks made at the White House by Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky. I want to thank President Donald Trump for the honor of having appointed me to the Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. I come at this issue of election integrity from very personal history. My…