Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today.Please reply to this email to arrange an interview.

Heritage Expert Fact-Checks Biden’s False Claims on Tax Cuts and Jobs Act <[link removed]> – The tax cuts DID create growth, higher take-home pay, and more investment. Unemployment reached a historic, 50-year low. Despite the misleading narrative, the tax cuts benefitted most Americans. With the share of taxes paid by high income earners increasing, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made the tax code more progressive. The Heritage Foundation predicted that the tax cuts would reduce the total level of revenues and this is a good thing. Higher taxes are ultimately more harmful for the economy. Instead of the massive ‘eight-year’ spending packages ostensibly ‘paid for’ using permanent tax increases, the President should focus on reducing the already unsustainable government spending and prevent tax hikes. Heritage expert: Joel
Griffith <[link removed]>

Conservatives Should Not Help Biden Destroy Border Security <[link removed]> – If Biden and the far left decide to go down the path of making good on their
threats, then the drastic, lasting damage they would do to the country will be forever linked to their actions. The reaction and consequences will exceed any immediate political gains they hope to gain. That will be their cross to bear, but conservatives on the Hill shouldn’t give into these threats to compromise and give them anything that will help them achieve their objectives. We don’t send conservatives
to Capitol Hill to make liberal policy happen slightly more slowly. Heritage experts: Hans von Spakovksy <[link removed]> and Mike Howell <[link removed]>

Chinese Communist Party Targets Families of Uighur Activists <[link removed]> – Thankfully, the CCP’s attempts to silence those who criticize the regime’s abuses have not succeeded. Indeed, in many cases the persecution has had the opposite effect, emboldening the intended victims to speak out even further—even if it risks imperiling family members back home in China. They know that the consequences of silence are far graver. The CCP’s abuse of basic human rights has forced many to seek safety beyond their borders. The US should do what it can to extend safe haven to particularly vulnerable groups. This would include extending Priority-2 refugee status to Uighurs and Hong Kongers who face unprecedented persecution. Once the refugees arrive here, the US should do what it can to ensure that the CCP does not extra-territorially infringe on their rights and freedoms. Beyond this, the US should continue to press for the release of all political prisoners in China, including the 1.8 million to 3 million Uighurs currently held in political reeducation camps. Heritage expert: Olivia Enos <[link removed]>
Biden Must Boost 2022 Budget To Counter China <[link removed]> – To align strategy to budget, the Biden Administration must acknowledge they have placed
the defense department in an untenable position and be willing to work with Congress to establish a higher defense topline. For their parts, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, must simultaneously articulate the need for sufficient resourcing while solving self-defeating rivalries before they become public. Only with a team effort will America be prepared to respond to the threats that directly challenge our security. Heritage expert: Tom Spoehr <[link removed]>
How Surrogacy Harms Women and Children <[link removed]> – Beyond the debates in state houses and international bodies, it’s time to reframe the conversation. Infertility and other health conditions that render a person unable to have a child of his and her own can be a painful and isolating experience, and our society should have compassion for people who walk the road of infertility and loss. But we should approach the matter of surrogacy from an understanding that the desires of adults to raise a child do not supersede the rights and needs of children. Listening to the women and children who have suffered deeply because of surrogacy is critically important. Clarifying legalities and increasing
regulations does not address fully the ethical problems with surrogacy and its harms to women and children. Opposition to surrogacy is not a simple left versus right issue, and people across the political spectrum can agree that American laws and society need to prioritize the dignity and health of women, the needs of children, and the fundamental human rights of all individuals when addressing the matter of surrogacy. Heritage experts: Melanie Israel <[link removed]> and Grace Melton <[link removed]>
<[link removed]>

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