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

American Families Plan will do more harm than good <[link removed]> – There are many more parts to the American Families Plan — from community college to health care — and they would all grow
the federal government’s control of some of the most personal aspects of family life while failing to respond to the actual needs people have. The plan would also impose significant financial burdens, increasing costs and taxes when we are desperately trying to recover from the economic devastation of a worldwide pandemic. If we really want to help families, the administration should abandon this plan and look to policies that actually support families. Eliminating marriage and work penalties in the welfare system, encouraging private sector flexibility in family leave and child care, and offering access to better private health plans are some good places to start. Heritage expert: Rachel Greszler <[link removed]>

Though Disbanded by Biden, 1776 Commission to Reconvene, Oppose Teaching of Critical Race Theory <[link removed]> – Members of the 1776 Commission, which
President Joe Biden disbanded on his first day in office, will reconvene next week in Washington after expressing opposition to a Biden administration regulation to promote critical race theory in schools. While it’s no longer a presidential advisory commission or associated with the federal government as it was in the waning weeks of the Trump
administration, 1776 Commission members will gather May 24 in Washington. “It will continue in some form,” Matthew Spalding, vice president of Washington operations for Hillsdale College and executive director of the commission, told The Daily Signal. Heritage expert: Fred Lucas <[link removed]>

Steven Crowder Sues YouTube for Silencing Conservatives <[link removed]> – Americans are waking up to the fact that they—as citizens and through their
representatives—can help restore the balance of power between these companies and their users. Steven Crowder's legal notice against YouTube is a crisis of YouTube’s own making. To stem a tide of similar legal action, companies should apply their standards consistently and provide clear avenues for recourse for all Americans on their platforms. It’s past time for solutions that address the opacity of Big Tech companies' content moderation decisions, their lack of transparency and genuine recourse when a violation has been
committed, and general diminution of user control. Proposals, like those working their way through state legislatures across the country, must empower citizens to hold these companies to account. In tandem, Congress should address sweeping Section 230 protections through focused reform. Heritage experts: Kara Frederick <[link removed]> and Dustin Carmack <[link removed]>
Roe v. Wade in Crosshairs as Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Major Abortion Case <[link removed]> – Perhaps the court will take this opportunity to reconsider Roe v. Wade and to see it for what it was—an unwarranted and unwise power grab in which the court crafted a “constitutional” right to abortion out of thin air. Overturning Roe would return abortion policy to the states where it belongs—and to the democratic process in which Americans debate the morality of abortion and their elected
state representatives decide what citizens of their state can and cannot do. Heritage expert: Sarah Perry <[link removed]>
Biden Administration Appeals to Woke, Shuts Down Garden of American Heroes Project <[link removed]> – Is there any
wonder trust in American institutions is crumbling?  The elimination of the Garden of American Heroes is perhaps, in the grand scheme of things, a small, petty thing. However, it is indicative of a deeper problem in America and the Western world in general. An aggressive, culturally militant left-wing creed has carved its way into mainstream politics and is making it impossible for Americans to maintain even a most basic shared identity. The Biden administration is apparently
willing help that process along. Heritage expert: Jarrett Stepman <[link removed]>
Biden Unwisely Rescinds One of Trump’s Criminal Justice Reforms <[link removed]> – Although he ultimately pled down to a misdemeanor to avoid jail time, he now has a criminal record. That’s not justice. By rescinding Trump’s order, Biden paves the way for more morally innocent, unsuspecting Americans to be caught up in the criminal justice system. One assumes—or at least hopes—that this was not Biden’s intent, but if it wasn’t, then he ought to have given a little more thought before he wiped away this particular executive order. In the meantime, Congress can and should fix this problem by passing permanent reforms that will rein in the government’s tendency to
criminalize everything. You won’t find justice in a law that criminalizes an accident. It’s time we get rid of those. Heritage experts: GianCarlo Canaparo <[link removed]> and John Malcolm <[link removed]>
Biden Abandons Religious Freedom as First Among Rights <[link removed]> – So far, the Biden administration has committed to advancing ideology that endangers religious freedom. And now it has demoted religious freedom to just one “co-equal” right among many, in contrast to the primacy it enjoys under the First Amendment and the International Religious Freedom Act. This does not bode well for the future of religious freedom and the peace and prosperity that religious pluralism fosters. It’s time for Biden to live up to his own support for the International Religious Freedom Act, the U.S. commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and our own understanding of the “first freedom” in the U.S. Constitution. America has been at the forefront of protecting international religious freedom over successive Republican and Democratic administrations. As conflicts between religious freedom and progressive policy preferences increase around the world, the Biden administration should continue America’s global leadership in defense of religious liberty for everyone. Heritage expert: Grace
Melton <[link removed]>
Red China Reaches Red Planet as Beijing Joins Mars Club <[link removed]> – This choice of Martian landing area underscores the reality that China has a serious space program, one that is arguably the closest
competitor to NASA’s. The Tianwen-1 mission also highlights that China’s space technology is increasingly competitive with that of the United States. China is building its own space station, and fields a range of satellite constellations that provide earth observation, navigation and timing signals, and weather reporting. Beijing has long made clear that its space program generates a variety of non-space-related benefits. It reinforces the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party, justifying its rule. It brings political as well as technological prestige, reminding other nations of what China can achieve. It has military implications, as space technology is very much a dual-use set of technologies. Heritage expert: Dean Cheng <[link removed]>

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