Sep 13, 2021

Greetings from Washington, D.C., where President Joe Biden just announced his plan to mandate COVID vaccines for millions of Americans. We respond. Also, we look at whether, 20 years after 9/11, we are at greater risk of terrorist attacks in the wake of the loss of Afghanistan to the Taliban. Closer to home, we examine the Marxist roots of the Black Lives Matter organization, and the financial crisis now fast approaching Social Security. You’ll also find podcasts, webinars, and more featured in this week’s Agenda.

Biden’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates Are Unacceptable, Must Be Rejected
President Joe Biden last week announced far-reaching COVID vaccine mandates on millions of Americans, a move that Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James called “unacceptable.” She said Heritage, which would likely be impacted by Biden’s private employer mandate, would “challenge this government power grab and protect the rights and freedoms of our employees.” James added, “Freedom means trusting the American people and equipping them with information to assess risks and make the best decisions for themselves and their families.  Instead of presenting a coherent strategy, including metrics that define the end of the pandemic, President Biden introduced counterproductive and divisive rhetoric and policies based on fear and control.” Read her full statement.  

Marxism Underpins Black Lives Matter Agenda
You may not have heard as much about the Black Lives Matter organization as you did in 2020, but rest assured that its legacy is flourishing. You can see it in the fights over critical race theory and in the crime waves that blight our cities. And it’s no surprise, given that BLM was founded and is fueled by Marxist philosophy, as Mike Gonzalez, Heritage senior fellow and Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum fellow, explains in his new book, “BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution.” “Ripping out the foundations of American society is exactly what those indoctrinating schoolchildren and putting American workers through reeducation sessions in their workplaces desire,” Gonzalez writes. Read the full commentary to learn more about Black Lives Matter and Gonzalez’s new book.

What Does Biden’s ‘Over-the-Horizon’ Talk Even Mean?
President Biden keeps saying that a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is no threat to the United States because we have an “over-the-horizon” (OTH) capability to identify threats and “act quickly and decisively if needed.” But what does that mean? Heritage senior research fellow John Venable lays it out in his latest report. “With the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, U.S. OTH capabilities are very limited,” Venable writes. Read the full report to learn more. Meanwhile, Heritage scholars look at the dangers we face 20 years after 9/11. Read that here. And Vice President James Carafano, our E.W. Richardson fellow, explains how Biden, by letting the Taliban retake Afghanistan, is potentially enabling the next 9/11. Read Carafano’s commentary to find out why that is.

7 Hard Truths About Social Security in 2021—and 5 Ways to Strengthen It
This year’s Social Security trustees report may provide the most compelling case for Social Security reform yet because it shows that every American except the most elderly is at risk from Social Security’s shortfalls. “Social Security reform is inevitable, but the impact of those reforms on individual workers, families, and the economy will depend on the direction of those reforms,” writes Heritage research fellow Rachel Greszler. Read Greszler’s full report to find out the seven things you need to know about Social Security’s future and the five things that Heritage experts say we can do to solve its problems.

DID YOU KNOW?

Heritage has a Twitter account that features our award-winning charts and infographics. Follow it @HeritageDataViz.

Heritage Expert Offers Analyses on 9/11 in a Special Episode of ‘Drive Thru History.’ A new episode of TBN’s “Drive Thru History” provides a moving, in-depth retelling of the harrowing terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as well as the heroism so many Americans exhibited on one of the United States’ darkest days. The episode features retired Lt. Col. James Carafano, Heritage’s vice president of the Davis Institute and E.W. Richardson fellow. Watch the episode.

Heritage Expert: Withdrawal of ATF Nominee a Win for the Second Amendment. “The withdrawal of David Chipman’s nomination to serve as ATF director is good news for Americans concerned about the protection of their fundamental Second Amendment rights,” said Heritage’s Amy Swearer, legal fellow in the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Learn more.

Hong Kong: Debating the National Security Law’s Impact on Business. Tuesday, 9 a.m. Featured speakers include Dennis Kwok, senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center and former legislative councilor of Hong Kong SAR, and professor Y.C. Richard Wong, professor in political economy at the University of Hong Kong. Register for this event.

Religious Liberty and Education: A Case Study of Yeshivas vs. New York. Tuesday, 12:30 p.m. Featured speakers include Jason Bedrick, director of policy at EdChoice; Jay Ferguson, head of school at Grace Community School; Rita Koganzon, associate director of the Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy and assistant professor of politics at the University of Virginia; and Howard Slugh, co-founder and general counsel at the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty. Register for this event.

Does President Reagan Matter to Generation Z? Tuesday, 1 p.m. Featured speakers include Matthew Continetti, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Henry R. Nau, professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at George Washington University; and Craig Shirley, president at Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs. Register for this event.

The Best Defense Strategy for America?  Elbridge Colby on the Strategy of Denial. Friday, 1 p.m. The featured speaker is Elbridge A. Colby, co-founder and principal at Marathon Initiative, former deputy assistant secretary of defense, and lead official for the 2018 National Defense Strategy. Register for this event.

This week on “Heritage Explains,” Sarah Perry, a legal fellow in Heritage’s Meese Center, explains the newly enacted Texas Heartbeat Act. Listen to the episode.

Missing Ballots in 3 States Exceed Biden's Victory Margins
Hans von Spakovsky, manager of Heritage’s Election Law Reform Initiative and senior legal fellow, joined Newsmax to discuss election integrity and many ballots that went missing in the 2020 election. Watch the interview.

Follow The Heritage Foundation and The Daily Signal on Instagram.

Email us your thoughts and questions at [email protected].