Nov 15, 2021

Greetings from Washington, D.C.! We look at President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better welfare state expansion and fact-check his climate claims. We also provide an opportunity to raise your voice against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and show how Congress can stop huge taxpayer payments to illegal immigrants.

Build Back Better Is Largest Welfare Increase in US History

What Biden’s building: If the so-called Build Back Better Act would build anything, it would be the most bloated welfare system the United States has ever had.

Devil’s in the details: It doesn’t just sharply increase welfare payments, it strips work requirements, hikes marriage penalties, and includes payoffs to teachers’ unions and other special interests.

The real cost: Far from helping families out of poverty, this would trap them in costly and harmful government dependence.

Learn more: Heritage’s Robert Rector and Jamie Hall give a detailed breakdown of the act’s implications.

Fact-Checking Biden’s Climate Claims

In the news: President Joe Biden spoke on a variety of topics at the COP26 climate change summit in Scotland—from energy policy to the supposed costs imposed by climate change.

Go deeper: The Daily Signal sat down with Heritage’s Katie Tubb, senior policy analyst for energy and environmental issues, to examine whether Biden’s claims are true, and what they say about his overall agenda. Find the answers here.

Related: Biden’s climate change agenda would also harm our military. Research associate Maiya Clark explains why.

How to Stop Biden’s Cash-for-Illegals Scheme

The issue: The Biden administration is reportedly considering payments of $450,000 to illegal aliens who were detained during the 2018 zero-tolerance policy for illegal border crossers.

What’s at stake: Aside from costing American taxpayers at least $1 billion, handing out money to illegal aliens will only encourage more illegal immigration and greater costs down the line.

The solution: Congress can and should act immediately to prevent this assault on our legal system and American taxpayers. Heritage’s Lora Ries, Hans von Spakovsky, and Mike Howell have laid out five ways they can do just that. Learn what those five ways are here.

Fighting Biden’s Unlawful COVID Vaccine Mandate

What's new: The Biden administration has unveiled the details of its sweeping workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

There’s just one problem: The mandate is unlawful, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) doesn’t have the authority to enforce it. The Daily Signal details just how intrusive this rule will be.

A call to arms: You can fight back against this egregious overreach of federal power.

• First, submit a comment to OSHA, which is required to review feedback on its proposed rules. Flood this agency with complaints. Heritage Action has helped make it easy for you to submit a comment here.
• Second, if you’re one of the millions of Americans directly affected by this mandate, send us your story at [email protected] for a chance to be featured in The Daily Signal.

Spread the word: Help us spread the word about how to fight back by telling your friends and family.

DID YOU KNOW?

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Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin turned to Heritage for help on his transition. Youngkin announced that Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James will serve as co-chairman of his gubernatorial transition team along with state Sen. Steve Newman. Lindsey Burke, director of Heritage’s Center for Education Policy, is also part of the transition team. Read the news release.

John Coleman  was honored with Heritage’s  Distinguished Intern Alumni Award. Coleman interned at Heritage in 2003 and is now a managing partner at Sovereign’s Capital, a values-driven private equity and venture capital firm. Read more about the award winner here.

A Conversation With British Historian Andrew Roberts, Tuesday, 11 a.m. The featured speaker is Andrew Roberts, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution.

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How Government Intervention Is Hurting Competition in Hospital Markets, Increasing Patient Costs, and Limiting Choice, Wednesday, noon. The featured speaker is Robert E. Moffit, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

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Abortion Providers Took PPP Loans They Weren’t Eligible to Receive. Here’s What Happens Next. Wednesday, 4 p.m. The featured speaker is Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

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2021 Antipoverty Forum: Roadmap for a New Generation of Welfare Reform, Thursday, 10:30 a.m. In addition to Heritage scholars, featured speakers at three morning sessions include:

• Eric Cochling, chief program officer and general counsel at the Georgia Center for Opportunity
• Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute

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1620: The Mayflower Compact and America’s Founding, Thursday, 7 p.m., at the Museum of the Bible. Moderated by Joseph Loconte, Ph.D., director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation, and Eric Patterson, Ph.D., executive vice president of the Religious Freedom Institute. Featured panelists are:

• Wilfred McClay, Ph.D., professor of history at Hillsdale College and visiting scholar at the Simon Center
• William Allen, Ph.D., emeritus professor at Michigan State University
• Tim Hall, Ph.D., senior fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute

Register for this event.

This week on “Heritage Explains,” Katie Gorka, director of Heritage's Feulner Institute's Center for Civil Society, explains why parents are fighting back. Listen to the podcast.

This week on “SCOTUS 101,” the hosts review upcoming Supreme Court cases, interview Judge Allison Jones Rushing of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, and more. Listen to the podcast here. And check out other Heritage podcasts.

Government Policy Is Exacerbating Supply Chain Crisis
Peter St. Onge, a research fellow in economic policy at The Heritage Foundation, joined The First TV to discuss America’s supply chain crisis and the government policies and union chokeholds that are contributing to empty shelves and rising prices. Watch the interview.

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