Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today.
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Why Biden’s Blaming Trump for Border Crisis Has Zero Credibility – No one believes the Biden White House’s feeble attempt to blame the Trump administration for the current border crisis. As the Biden administration unsuccessfully tries to deflect blame for the humanitarian disaster now occurring before America’s eyes, despite its directed media blackout, the administration is only succeeding at showing it knows it has a problem. The Trump administration had to end the crisis on its own. Choosing a heretofore-unused, but statutorily authorized “Remain in Mexico” program, it negotiated with Mexico to house migrants seeking U.S. asylum on the Mexico side of the border during their pending court proceedings. When would-be migrants learned claiming fear alone was no longer their ticket into the U.S., the caravans stopped coming. Heritage experts: Lora Ries and Mike Howell

Even Some of Biden’s Media Allies Find It Hard to Ignore Border Crisis – Biden—and those on the left in general—don’t want to confront the trade-off that comes with what they see as the “compassion” of reducing border enforcement. Just as it did with the border crisis that ended with “children in cages” under President Barack Obama in 2014, the signal that U.S. immigration law essentially will go unenforced has led to many bad outcomes. We’ve created a humanitarian crisis, further empowered criminal drug- and human-smuggling cartels, made our country less secure by letting in tens of thousands of people of unknown origin, and may be exacerbating a public health crisis to boot. The same administration that has aggressively pushed the idea that Americans need to take maximum precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 until it’s wiped out is now allowing potentially thousands of unknown new health risks into our population. Heritage expert: Jarrett Stepman

How public health officials can convince those reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine – What changed their minds had nothing to do with politics. Participants said that an appeal from former President Donald Trump wouldn’t persuade them to get a shot. Nor did messages they viewed from various congressional Republicans. A pro-vaccine public service announcement produced by Fox News fell flat. So did a PSA featuring former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Participants found the voice of government authority similarly unpersuasive. A pharmacist who formerly worked at Merck, a company helping to produce vaccines, said: “I know their vaccines are good products. I trust them. What I don’t trust is the government telling me what I need to do when they haven’t led us down the right road.” So what made these Trump supporters shift their views on vaccines? Science — offered straight-up and with a dash of humility. Heritage experts: Doug Badger and Ed Haislmaier

The Next Coronavirus Challenge: Balancing Safety and Quality of Life – Just as Americans must not ignore the lives lost to the virus and the struggles and sacrifices their health-care workers are making, so, too, must they not ignore the quality of American life. As America emerges from the dark shadow of the coronavirus, wise and courageous governors and other public officials need to take the necessary steps to restore Americans’ personal liberty and pave the way for their return to a normal social and economic life.   Heritage expert: Amy Anderson, DNP, RN

$3T Infrastructure Grab Bag Would Strangle Economy, Americans With Debt, Taxes – While the Biden administration has repeatedly claimed that it will only seek to raise taxes on the wealthy, a government of the size that it’s seeking would require amounts of money that can only be generated through steep across-the-board tax increases on middle-class Americans. Regardless of whether those taxes are levied tomorrow or in a few years, they would be an inevitable part of expanding the size and scope of the federal government. Rather than continuing down the path of centralized power and socialism, lawmakers should recognize the costs associated with endless federal spending and chart a course toward financial responsibility and prosperity. If they don’t, it will be the public’s duty to hold them accountable. Heritage expert: David Ditch

Freeing education from housing – Protectionist school districts should not be able to opt out of open-enrollment policies. This is a policy Florida has successfully implemented, and which allows children to attend any school in the state’s 67 school districts. These reforms, coupled with other options to expand private school choice (such as education savings accounts), would end the public school monopoly. Education dollars would follow students instead of institutions, enabling children to select into learning environments that are the right fit for them. It is time to decouple schooling from housing. Assigned, geographic attendance zones remain anachronistic barriers to opportunity and social capital. The education system of the future should allow students to attend the school of their choice, not prop up particular institutions at the expense of others. Heritage experts: Jude Schwalbach and Lindsey Burke

Rising gas prices: A look under the hood – The poor legacy of market-distorting policies should serve as a warning for President Biden. While it is inaccurate to blame the current administration for the recent rise in gas prices, actions made today will have long-lasting impacts. We may not see the price impacts of canceling the Keystone XL pipeline or banning new oil and gas lease sales on federal lands reflected in the price today. But decisions that restrict supply now will have a price impact later. Heritage expert: Nick Loris

Nuclear Modernization Is Our Top Defense Priority, and America Can Afford It – To both avoid long-term costs and further delay in schedule, Congress must discard the failed strategy of paring back nuclear modernization programs at the lowest levels of funding possible before their schedules become in jeopardy. Congress should instead seek to advance nuclear modernization programs as quickly as possible to avoid deferred long-term costs as well as delays. As Fischer pointed out, “[m]odernization already is just-in-time—if not late-to-need—and so we don’t have the luxury of pausing or delaying these important programs.” The Biden administration and Congress may need to make many difficult spending choices in this year’s budget-constrained environment. As the Defense Department’s first priority, nuclear modernization should not be one of them. Heritage expert: Patty-Jane Geller