LIGONIER, Pennsylvania—All that remained of Ruthie’s Diner on Jan. 21 was charred, ice-encased rubble—the aftermath of firefighters’ desperate efforts to extinguish the blaze that ultimately consumed the modest eatery, which for more than 70 years had served locals and the travelers, anglers, and hunters heading east along the Lincoln Highway. Several locals pulled into the parking lot and simply stared, at a loss for words as they watched a community mainstay reduced to charred ruins, thin smoke still rising from the ashes. Ruthie’s was the kind of place where everyone felt familiar, whether you’d been in last week, last month, or only when hunting and fishing season came around. It was where my parents took me, and where I later took my children and grandchildren. For anyone who walked through those doors, it felt like home: comforting, unpretentious, and powerful in its simplicity. It was the kind of place that served chicken-fried steak smothered in gravy, their version of peas and carrots succotash, and a pile of french fries unlike any other. Outside of the mile-high pies, it was the french fries that everyone loved. LIGONIER, Pennsylvania — All that remained of Ruthie’s Diner on Wednesday morning was charred, ice-encased rubble — the aftermath of firefighters’ desperate efforts to extinguish the blaze that ultimately consumed the modest eatery, which for more than 70 years had served locals… pic.twitter.com/2ndFYHLjCR— ZitoSalena (@ZitoSalena) January 22, 2026 Originally known as Burnsy’s Diner in the 1950s and ’60s, it was so rooted in the community that it even sponsored its own bowling team in the Ligonier Valley league and was famous for staying open 24 hours a day. Every time I went, I met not just locals but hunters and anglers on their way to cabins, Pittsburgh families headed for the Flight 93 National Memorial or Idlewild, and neighbors gathering after Sunday services at one of the many churches that dot this Westmoreland County village. Now Ruthie’s joins that painful category of “used to be” places that linger in the memory long after they’re gone. And this wasn’t the familiar story of neglect or empty tables slowly choking the life out of a business, which does not make the loss hurt any less. In bigger, more transient places, a loss like this barely registers. But here, the loss of Ruthie’s lands like a gut punch, largely because the people who filled its booths weren’t passing through; they were planted. Most Americans, for example, still live close to where they grew up. A U.S. Census Bureau study found that by age 26, nearly 60% live within 10 miles of their childhood home, and 80% within 100 miles. That kind of rootedness rarely shows up in the way news is framed, which too often reflects the worldview of the rootless, the people who dominate the power structures of legacy media. They tend to live in the “super ZIP codes” of Washington, D.C., and New York, the centers of wealth and power, and their assumptions end up shaping the national story the rest of us are handed. Why does that matter when it comes to Ruthie’s? Because people who live unrooted lives, not always, but often, are less able to grasp what’s really lost when a place like this disappears. This wasn’t just the closing of a diner. It was the loss of a room that held whole chapters of life, dinners with grandparents who are gone now, late-night meals with high school friends, the familiar booth you could still return to instead of relegating all of it to memory. Those attachments aren’t sentimental clutter. They’re part of emotional well-being. There’s real power in being able to revisit the places that shaped you—and in being able to bring your children and grandchildren into them, so the story becomes something shared, not just remembered. Ruthie’s wasn’t just stitched into the social fabric of this area; it was part of American roadside culture. It opened long before the Pennsylvania Turnpike existed, back when the Lincoln Highway carried travelers from one end of the state to the other, and sometimes from one end of the country to the other. And it endured. It survived the turnpike siphoning away business as cars sped past the exit. It resisted the pull of homogenized chain-restaurant menus, and the even worse temptation of food fads, holding fast instead to the same personal touch through every shift in America’s driving and dining habits. The social cohesion that Ruthie’s gave everyone who passed through her doors has left a void, one that tells the story of all of us, and serves as a reminder to hold on to, frequent and cherish the Ruthie’s in your city or town. COPYRIGHT 2026 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.   The post The End of the Road for the Little Diner That Could appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Capitalism versus socialism has become a topic of intense debate in senior political and business circles. The recent election of socialist-leaning candidates in major U.S. cities highlights the contemporary relevance of this topic. A recent Gallup poll finds that Americans view capitalism more positively than socialism; the 54% viewing capitalism favorably is down from 60% in 2021. Americans view socialism more negatively (57%) than positively (39%), with little movement in these attitudes over time. How have the people of a country fared that have adopted socialism? Not so well—the evidence below indicates. How have the people of a socialist country that have adopted capitalism fared? Very well—again, the evidence below indicates. The primary differences between the capitalist and socialist economic systems are the ownership of the means of production, right to private property, and the incentives to work and innovate. In a capitalist system, private individuals and for-profit corporations are the major owners of the means of production. In a socialist system, the state is the major owner of the means of production. The right to private property is a cornerstone of capitalism; this right is protected and encouraged by the state. Individuals have very limited private property rights in a socialist economy. The capitalist system provides individuals with powerful economic incentives to work and innovate; this contributes to and stimulates their economy. One of the major flaws of the socialist system is its complete disregard for human incentives—resulting in an ongoing and significant negative impact on their economy, and more importantly, on the lives of their citizens. We highlight the differences in the economic well-being of citizens of socialist and capitalist economies. We consider the change in economic well-being of four countries that transitioned from socialism to a more capitalist economy, to wit, Poland, Bulgaria, India, and China. Also, we consider the change in economic well-being of Cuba and Venezuela that transitioned from capitalism to socialism. In Exhibits 1 through 4 below, the red vertical line represents the approximate time when the country started its transition from a socialist economy to a more capitalist economy. The gross domestic product per capita for the respective countries (and for the years noted) are obtained from the Maddison Project Database 2020 at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). We standardize this measure by considering the percentile rank of the respective country among all the countries in the world for the particular year. The percentile rank of 100 would be associated with the country with the highest GDP per capita in the world (in that particular year). Exhibit 1                                                                     Exhibit 2 Exhibit 1 highlights the sharp decline in Poland’s percentile GDP per capita prior to 1990. As Poland moved to a more capitalist economy, starting in 1990 and after the collapse of the Soviet regime, its economy improved dramatically. Exhibit 2 highlights the stagnation in Romania’s percentile GDP per capita prior to 1990. Similar to Poland, as Romania moved to a more capitalist economy, after the collapse of the Soviet regime, its economy improved significantly. The remarkable increase in Poland’s and Romania’s percentile GDP per capita after 1990 should be interpreted as a significant improvement in the economic well-being of tens of millions of citizens of these Eastern European countries once they instituted capitalist economy-friendly reforms. In the early 1990s, India liberalized its international trade and deregulated its industries and businesses. In the early 1980s, the Chinese Communist Party instituted extensive adoption of free market policies. Exhibits 3 and 4 document a significant improvement in India’s and China’s percentile GDP per capita after their transition to a more capitalist economy. A more relevant way of interpreting the data in Exhibits 3 and 4: After transitioning to a more capitalist economy, several hundred million Indians went from abject poverty to a quasi-middle-class standard of living, and almost a billion Chinese people went from subsistence living to a quasi-middle-class standard of living. Such a remarkable improvement in the lives of so many people in such a short period is unprecedented in the entire human history going back to the past three millennia. Exhibit 3                                                                     Exhibit 4 Prior to 2000, Venezuela was a very prosperous country (Exhibit 5). Subsequently, their leaders instituted socialist reforms—Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro nationalized major industries, and significantly increased government spending. As market forces and private incentives were pushed aside in favor of bureaucratic control over the economy, Venezuelans experienced a significant drop in their economic well-being. Indeed, Venezuela’s embrace of socialism shattered the lives of tens of millions of Venezuelans and their families. After a violent revolution, Cuba instituted socialist reforms circa 1960. Similar to the experience of Venezuelans, Cuba’s embrace of socialism shattered the lives of millions of Cubans and their families (Exhibit 6). Exhibit 5                                                                     Exhibit 6 *** During the latter part of the last century, senior global policy makers raised the issue that the focus should be on human development and human wellbeing, rather than on just economic development. Partly in response to this—since 1990 the United Nations has annually published the Human Development Report. The most salient feature of this report is the annual Human Development Index for the 180-plus countries in the world. The Human Development Index of a country provides a composite measure of human health, education, and standard of living in that country. Health is assessed by life expectancy at birth, education by years of schooling for adults (and expected years of schooling for children), and standard of living is measured by gross national income per capita.   The average HDI of all the countries has seen a secular increase during 1990-2023. During 2010-2023, the average annual HDI growth for the 180-plus countries in the world was 0.52%. In this same period, the Eastern European countries (that had a socialist economic system prior to 1990) had average annual HDI growth of 0.21% (Romania), and 0.47% (Poland); see Exhibit 7. During this same 2010-2023 period, the average annual HDI growth in China was 0.89%, and in India it was 1.16%. This is evidence that after a country reforms its economic system and moves from a socialist economy to a more-capitalist system, the well-being of its citizens improves at a regular pace; well-being in terms of health, education, and income. The two avowedly socialist countries today, namely, Venezuela and Cuba, had negative annual HDI growth in 2010-2023 (Venezuela had -0.57%, Cuba had -0.21% HDI growth). This is strong evidence that citizens of socialist economies are consistently (on a year-by-year basis) made worse off in terms of their health, education, and income. Earlier this year, Venezuela has had a change in its political leadership; it is likely this leadership change may lead the country to a more capitalist system and greater economic prosperity for its citizens. Exhibit 7 The above evidence is consistent with the argument that capitalism improves human lives, and socialism does the opposite. Socialism has been a failure everywhere it has been tried; it has been a failure for the human lives it has governed. Socialism’s legacy is the misery, tears, and suffering it has brought upon the hundreds of millions of human beings across the planet in the past century. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.  The post Capitalism Improves Human Lives, Socialism Does the Opposite appeared first on The Daily Signal.

My father started building homes nearly 40 years ago, and I’ve spent my life watching families achieve the American dream through homeownership. As a 36-year-old, I belong to the generation less likely to buy a home than our parents were at the same age. For the security of America’s future, that must change. The National Association of Realtors’ 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reports that the median age of first-time homebuyers has reached a historic high of 40 years old, up significantly from around 30 in earlier decades (and as low as 28 in 1992 in some historical comparisons). This delay isn’t just an interesting statistic. It’s a devastating barrier to wealth-building. It is a financial long-term blow to the American economy. Homeownership has long been the primary way Americans accumulate equity and financial security. When families wait an extra decade to buy, they miss out on substantial gains. Consider the lost equity from delaying purchase by 10 years. Historical home price appreciation averages about 3%-5% annually nationwide. For a typical starter home purchased at $250,000 (a rough benchmark for past decades), 10 years of 4% average appreciation could increase its value to around $370,000 or more. That means roughly $120,000 to $150,000 in potential equity growth vanishes for those locked out of the market longer. Older homeowners build wealth while younger families rent indefinitely, often paying more without ownership benefits. I don’t have enough fingers to count the friends who assumed they’d be homeowners by now. Anecdotal as it may seem, the data backs it up—85% of Americans believe it’s harder for young people to buy homes today than for previous generations. As the nation debates housing affordability and scarcity, it is clear that scarcity didn’t happen by accident. It stems from bad policy, and it can be fixed with better policy.  Commonsense reforms must be rewarded. And obvious failures must be called out. Overregulation is an obvious failure. Nearly a quarter of a new home’s cost comes from government fees, regulations, and mandates, not superior materials or craftsmanship. On average, that is around $94,000. This figure is unacceptable. We should all be outraged that bureaucratic hurdles inflate prices, pricing out young families. Nearly $100,000 is budget dust to a keyboard-wielding bureaucrat, but it is a legacy of financial security for most American families. President Donald Trump, a builder himself, intuitively grasps this. Increasing housing stock is essential without eroding value for current homeowners who’ve invested years in their properties. It must be a win-win for everyone. Older owners must be able to sell and downsize fairly, while making starter homes accessible again.  I’m proud to partner with the America First Policy Institute’s Dr. Ben Carson and influencer Benny Johnson on these issues. We firmly believe the government should make it easier for families to build wealth, start households, and have babies—not more difficult through overregulation and scarcity. The American dream isn’t dead, but it’s delayed for too many. By cutting red tape, incentivizing construction, and prioritizing affordability, we can restore homeownership as a realistic milestone for the next generation. It’s time to make housing great again, and we do that through deregulation and policies that make it more affordable. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Making Housing Great for America’s Younger Generations by Eliminating Nonsense Bureaucratic Hurdles appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison will answer questions from a congressional panel investigating welfare fraud in the state.  The two will testify on March 4 to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  “Americans deserve answers about the rampant misuse of taxpayer dollars in Minnesota’s social services programs that occurred on Gov. Walz’s and Attorney General Ellison’s watch,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said Friday in a post on X.  ? BREAKING: Tim Walz and AG Ellison to testify in front of Congress on March 4.@RepJamesComer: "Americans deserve answers about the rampant misuse of taxpayer dollars in Minnesota's social services programs that occurred on Gov. Walz's & Attorney General Ellison's watch." pic.twitter.com/eae5umUGJm— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) January 30, 2026 Federal prosecutors have estimated that welfare fraud in the state could have topped $9 billion. Amid the nearly 100 fraud arrests, the Trump administration has withheld funds for certain social programs. Walz, the 2024 Democrat nominee for vice president, announced that he would not seek reelection to a third term as governor earlier this month amid intense criticism over the scandal. Earlier this month, members of the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee testified to the same congressional panel that Walz likely knew about the fraud as it occurred. State Republican lawmakers also testified about state intimidation of whistleblowers. The Daily Signal contacted both the governor’s office and the attorney general’s office for comment Friday morning. Neither immediately responded. The post Walz, Ellison to Testify at House Hearing on Fraud Scandal appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Cities Church, the St. Paul church invaded by agitators opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, responded Friday after federal agents arrested former CNN host Don Lemon Thursday night in Los Angeles. “We are grateful that the Department of Justice acted swiftly to protect Cities Church so that we can continue to faithfully live out the church’s mission to worship Jesus and make him known,” Jonathan Parnell, the church’s lead pastor, said in a statement first provided to The Daily Signal. Renee Carlson and Doug Wardlow, the attorneys for True North Legal who represent Cities Church, also celebrated the arrests. “The freedom to worship God without fear of violence and intimidation is a fundamental right that defines who we are as Americans,” the attorneys said. “True North Legal and Cities Church are grateful that the Department of Justice is committed to upholding that freedom and is holding the agitators who invaded the church accountable.” ?EXCLUSIVE@citieschurch Head Pastor @jonathanparnell responds to Don Lemon's arrest:“We are grateful that the Department of Justice acted swiftly to protect Cities Church so that we can continue to faithfully live out the church’s mission to worship Jesus and make him… pic.twitter.com/B2Zi8O8dag— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 30, 2026 Don Lemon’s Arrest “Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards,” Lemon’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, wrote in a statement posted to Lemon’s show on YouTube. “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell added. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.” Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the arrest, and also mentioned that federal agents arrested Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy. At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.More details soon.— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 30, 2026 The Justice Department initially sought charges for Lemon, among others, for violating the Ku Klux Klan Act and the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act earlier this month when he entered Cities Church in St. Paul amid an invasion of the service. The Klan Act criminalizes the deprivation of rights, and the Justice Department has claimed the church invaders deprived worshippers of their First Amendment right to religious exercise. The FACE Act protects access to houses of worship. A federal magistrate judge, however, refused to sign a warrant for Lemon’s arrest. The Justice Department appealed that decision, but the court noted that prosecutors could improve the filing before presenting it to the same judge, or present the case to a grand jury to seek an indictment. The Justice Department withdrew the appeal earlier this week, and it seems prosecutors found another way to bring the case. ?BREAKINGDon Lemon's attorney Abbe Lowell has confirmed that federal agents arrested the former CNN anchor last night.Lemon claims he was there as a journalist and should be protected by the First Amendment.@citieschurch attorney Renee Carlson noted, however, “There is no… pic.twitter.com/tP7KwmTpmN— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 30, 2026 First Amendment Defense? Lemon has claimed that he went to Cities Church merely to cover the agitation as a journalist, and did not intend to violate anyone’s rights. Lowell faulted the Justice Department for pursuing Lemon, rather than the federal agents who shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, amid the surge of federal law enforcement in Minneapolis. “Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case,” Lowell wrote. “This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.” Renee Carlson, who represents Cities Church as general counsel for True North Counsel, had highlighted a previous statement suggesting that, even if Lemon avoids all criminal liability, he may face civil liability. “The First Amendment does not allow premeditated plots or coordinated actions to violate the sanctity of a sanctuary, disrupt worship, and intimidate small children,” Carlson said in a previous statement she highlighted for The Daily Signal. “There is no ‘press pass’ to invade a sanctuary or to conspire to interrupt religious services.” ?HORRIFYING NEW DETAILSThe invasion of Cities Church was even worse than we thought. Agitators blocked stairs so "parents were unable to get to their children" at Sunday School.?One told a kid, "Do you know your parents are Nazis, they're going to burn in hell?"?1/7 pic.twitter.com/DUNPRdECGa— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 25, 2026 Georgia Fort, another journalist who claims she was there to document the invasion, released a video shortly before surrendering to federal agents. Independent journalist Georgia Fort was also arrested by federal agents earlier for reporting on the church protest in Minneapolis. She was live streaming when agents arrived to take her into custody. pic.twitter.com/tAibU7sBsi— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) January 30, 2026 The Church Invasion Between 30 and 40 anti-ICE agitators interrupted a Sunday service at Cities Church, a non-denominational Christian church, and shouted, “Justice for Renee Good!” as they surrounded members of the congregation.  Videos of the incident show the pastor and others repeatedly asking the agitators to leave, and the agitators chanting, “Who shut this down? We shut this down!” According to the charging document, a member of the congregation said worshippers were “terrorized, our children were weeping.” One woman broke her arm. Agitators blocked about 50 members of the congregation from exiting, making it “nearly impossible for parishioners to get out and leave.” The document also mentions that agitators prevented congregants from getting to their children, and one of the agitators reportedly told young children, “Do you know your parents are Nazis, they’re going to burn in hell?” Last week, law enforcement arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen, and William Kelly, the man who posted videos of the incident online on the handle “DaWoke Farmer.” The magistrate judge who declined to sign Lemon’s arrest warrant also rejected FACE Act charges against Armstrong, Allen, and Kelly, but approved their arrests for violation of the KKK Act. Nekima Armstrong, leader of the Racial Justice Network and a former president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, told Democracy Now that she does not regret helping to lead the protest. “We are unapologetic about going into the church,” Armstrong said. She called it a “conflict of interest” for a pastor to oversee “the brutal conduct of ICE agents.” After the church invasion, Lemon attacked the “type of Christianity” practiced by Cities Church, claiming that the church has an “entitlement” that “comes from white supremacy.” The post EXCLUSIVE: Cities Church Responds to Don Lemon Arrest appeared first on The Daily Signal.