Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today.Please reply to this email to arrange an interview.
Kyle Rittenhouse’s Prosecutors Brought Forward a Weak Case for Political Purposes <[link removed]> – Unfortunately, it looks like the prosecutors were determined to bring this case forward no matter the cost, no matter the consequences, no matter what the evidence actually showed. In other words, it appears they brought it for political purposes <[link removed]>. Maybe to appease the mob.  Maybe to further their own careers (that backfired). Maybe to make a statement about the scope of citizens’ Second Amendment rights. We may never know the precise reason. But what we do know is that a prosecutor’s job is to seek justice in each case he touches. Based on the evidence the prosecutors presented at Rittenhouse’s trial, it seems hard to square that requirement with this case. Heritage Expert: Zack Smith <[link removed]> 
 
What’s Wrong with President Biden’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate <[link removed]> – President Biden is imposing a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate on all private businesses with 100 or more employees, affecting an estimated 80 million Americans. It will come with fines and civil penalties starting at $14,000 per violation. Such a federal mandate is unprecedented and raises many profound issues, including the expansion of federal power and the preservation of personal liberty, the relationship between public officials and medical science and medical practice, and the impact of such a mandate on business and labor and the national economy. In this discussion, a distinguished panel of experts discuss these key issues regarding the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Heritage Expert: Doug Badger <[link removed]>
 
Commentary: 'Experts' make dubious claim that big spending bill will help tame
inflation <[link removed]> – Proponents claim that this bill (unlike most spending bills) would curb inflation, because it is “paid for.” However, it is “paid for” only in the same sense that a car is paid for if you have a lease payment plan. It would take three years just to pay for the first year of spending in the bill. This is the game in Congress: Put entitlements in place now, and force a future Congress to figure out how to pay for it. Biden and congressional Democrats don’t intend to stop funding the new entitlements. Not after one year, one decade, or one century. If the spending was truly meant to be temporary, why is the White House promoting it by creating cartoons depicting cradle-to-grave government handouts spanning multiple generations? Heritage Expert: Preston Brashers <[link removed]>
 
Vaccine mandate already causing problems for defense contractors — they will get worse <[link removed]> – Employees are staging <[link removed]> protests <[link removed]> and walkouts <[link removed]> in response <[link removed]> to the federal mandate, which requires all government contractors to be fully
vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 <[link removed]>. Unlike private employers <[link removed]> covered by the Biden mandate, federal contractors haven’t been
given the option to test workers weekly for COVID-19, and the recent OSHA enforcement suspension <[link removed]> does not apply to them. As the deadline approaches, major defense companies expect to see employees quit rather than be vaccinated. Losing this human capital will, in turn, cause delays in time-sensitive defense programs at a time when the country can least afford them. On-time delivery of items such as F-35 fighter jets and the Columbia-class submarine is crucial in the U.S.’s competition with China. Heritage Expert: Maiya Clark <[link removed]>
 
Joe Biden’s Immigration Policies Are A National Security Threat <[link removed]> – Two of Joe Biden’s immigration policy <[link removed]> reversals have even created national security risks. His decision to lessen the protection of our Southern border has allowed a massive influx of illegal aliens, drug dealers, human traffickers and, quite possibly, terrorists. And by abandoning Trump’s merit-based immigration reform initiative, Biden has hobbled the U.S. in its technology race with China <[link removed]>—something that carries undesirable economic and military consequences.
Heritage Experts: Jim Carafano <[link removed]> and Robert
Wilkie <[link removed]>
 
With Inflation Raging, Congress Must End Spending Spree <[link removed]> – Economy-wide prices <[link removed]> have increased much
faster <[link removed]> than wage or economic growth, eating into household budgets. In an environment where American families must be careful with their finances, it would make sense for legislators in Washington to do the same for the nation’s finances. Yet we have seen just the opposite. Congress has passed four major spending bills since the start of the pandemic and added a staggering $5.5 trillion to the national debt in the process. That’s about $43,000 in new debt for every household in the country. Much of that spending has been wasteful or opportunistic, such as bailouts for politically connected industries and unnecessary handouts to state governments. Heritage Expert: David Ditch <[link removed]>
 
Enes Kanter: Move the Olympics for Peng Shuai’s Sake <[link removed]> – A diplomatic boycott would not punish American athletes while still ensuring that the U.S. takes a clear stand against Beijing’s myriad threats to international security and human rights.  It shouldn’t take Beijing victimizing a famous citizen for the free world to wake up to the threat the CCP poses to its values. It shouldn’t take Beijing committing ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity <[link removed]> for the IOC to realize that it made a terrible mistake in selecting China to host the most
prestigious sporting event in the world. It’s time for the Biden administration to act – for the sake of Peng, for the sake of American athletes, and for the sake of the world. Heritage Expert: Olivia Enos <[link removed]>
 
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