Political Commentary & Opinion
Analysis, commentary, and opinion essays on politics and policy from The Daily Signal’s contributors and experts.
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opinion
‘We’re on Break!’ Senate’s Sloth Stalls SAVE America Act
President Donald J. Trump used Wednesday’s Senate GOP policy lunch to spank Republicans for stalling the SAVE America Act. What later transpired helps explain this failure. “Late Wednesday night, the Senate held another Iran War Powers vote,” Punchbowl News reported. “The Senate then left town until July 13.” GOP leaders John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of… -
opinion
Trump v. Slaughter: Supreme Court Says Constitution Allows the President to Be President
In a 6-3 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court said that the Constitution grants the president—any president—the power to remove individuals who exercise executive authority. In doing so, it overruled its long-discredited 91-year-old New Deal-era decision of Humphrey’s Executor v. United States. Here’s what happened: Democrat operative Rebecca Slaughter was appointed… -
opinion
Oregon Has Civil Rights Problems in Education. This Congresswoman Is Trying to Distract Voters.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon is downsizing an ineffective government bureaucracy, so, naturally, progressive lawmakers are howling. The latest theatrics come from Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., who introduced articles of impeachment against McMahon last week. Bonamici’s attempt is baseless—McMahon has continued to fulfill the law while downsizing the U.S. Department of Education—which raises the question of… -
opinion
What Saints Peter and Paul Have to Offer
Boldness and forgiveness are both critical for human flourishing. On June 29, the Catholic Church celebrates two men who embodied these characteristics: Saint Peter and Saint Paul. They were, arguably, the two most important figures in the early church after Jesus himself. They were responsible for leading the faithful and for bringing about the conversion… -
opinion
What America Can Learn From Alexis de Tocqueville
LUZERNE COUNTY, Pennsylvania—Over the Flag Day weekend in Pennsylvania, crowds gathered, and communities were formed in the most unlikely of places, under viaducts, along gravel-filled tracks, and at the base of some impressive Appalachian mountains, all just to watch as Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 rolled through northeastern Pennsylvania. The sheer presence of the… -
opinion
The Conservative Movement and ‘The Odyssey’
Just a few weeks after our nation’s 250th anniversary, Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of Homer’s 3,000-year-old epic “The Odyssey” will hit theaters. The conservative movement can learn something from Odysseus, the “man of twists and turns,” nearly three millennia after the poem was composed. As colossal as the poem’s story is—being stretched over 10 years… -
opinion
How to Grow Closer to Your Family This Summer
Summer is a time for relaxation. Most people have more time away from work and more time with their families to travel or simply relax. Since most children are off from school over the summer, many families take this time to go on vacation and plan warm weather events. While all this is fun, it… -
opinion
World Cup Tourists See What Too Many Americans Have Forgotten
Americans are routinely told that our nation is hopelessly divided, irredeemably flawed, and perhaps even in terminal decline. Public polling reflects this pervasive frustration, pessimism, and anomie. If someone halfway around the world only followed the polls, he might be forgiven for believing our republic is all but over. But something remarkable is happening during… -
opinion
When the Culture’s View of Family Invades the Church
This is an adapted excerpt from Timothy S. Goeglein’s recent book (with Craig Osten) “What Really Matters: Restoring a Legacy of Faith, Freedom, and Family,” released April 8 from Fidelis Publishing. The late James Q. Wilson, former professor of government at Harvard University, once said, “It is not money, but the family that is the foundation of… -
opinion
A Meritocracy, if You Can Keep It
The structure of a nation’s economy touches each citizen. It influences how citizens make life-altering decisions, from college commitments to career choices. In America, our economic order has long been undergirded by the assumption of meritocracy. Meritocracy is a simple concept: Those who work hard and excel will be rewarded, and the fruits of one’s… -
opinion
Fraud Cartels Monopolize Big Tech. New Legislation May Stop That.
Americans lost billions of dollars to online scams originating on social media last year—more than on any other platform, according to new data from the Federal Trade Commission. Many of these schemes begin with advertisements purchased by fraudsters, including international fraud cartels, who use social media platforms to lure victims into fake investment opportunities, romance scams, and… -
Generational Defense Investment Offers America an Opportunity
Often, headlines that resonate in the Washington, D.C., beltway leave everyday Americans scratching their heads or even frustrated. They feel politicians elevate the priorities of special interests over delivering wins for the American people. It caught many folks in the District of Columbia off guard when President Donald Trump requested Congress tie the SAVE America… -
opinion
Atlas Didn’t Shrug
In Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged,” the men and women who keep the world running finally get fed up and walk away. The factories go dark, the trains stop, and the people who spent their lives building things vanish into a hidden valley to let the looters discover what life looks like without them. It’s a… -
opinion
I Ran Arizona’s ESA Program. Here’s What the Critics Won’t Tell You.
I ran Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account Program as its executive director, and I am here to tell you that the public conversation about this program is missing something critical: the truth about how it actually works. You have heard the claims of school choice opponents: fraud, waste, lack of accountability. What you have not heard… -
opinion
Ireland Is Being Repressed—by the Irish
When a man in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was stabbed and nearly beheaded by a Sudanese migrant two weeks ago, the governmental response was unnervingly familiar: Remain calm, suppress the truth, and scold the native people for their strong reaction against a select foreign class. Welcome back to 1726. The Irish people’s long struggles with British… -
opinion
5 Reasons Why Obergefell Remains Constitutionally Vulnerable
The Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges stands as one of the most egregious examples of judicial activism in modern history. In a single stroke, five unelected lawyers redefined the timeless institution of marriage for the entire nation, bypassing the Constitution, the democratic process, and millennia of human experience rooted in biblical truth and human… -
opinion
Supreme Court Sets Hawaii Straight on Second Amendment
This morning, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Wolford v. Lopez, an important opinion clarifying the scope of the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms outside of the home. The issue before the court this time was whether the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals erred in holding that Hawaii may presumptively prohibit the… -
opinion
Why Are Taxpayers Forced to Subsidize Chronic Disease?
Americans should be free to buy soda, but taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize this unhealthy habit. Now, a district judge is blocking state efforts to keep taxpayer dollars from funding soda purchases. The ruling challenges the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s authority to approve state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program waivers, more commonly known as… -
opinion
Senators Tried to Unravel Historic Student Loan Reform
Last summer, Congress passed the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which was a massive budget reconciliation package that combined permanent tax relief with much-needed changes to the federal student loan program. The higher education reforms passed in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act represent one of the most significant overhauls of federal student lending. These… -
opinion
Military Service Ends, but Purpose Does Not: Why Patriot Pipeline Matters
For most Americans, changing jobs means updating a resume and learning a new office culture. For a veteran, leaving the military often means leaving behind a mission, a community, and an identity that shaped every aspect of daily life. The challenge of transition is often less about finding a paycheck than it is about finding…