Dec 20, 2021

On the Agenda: Despite the left’s attempts to deny it, election fraud is real, and Heritage is doing something about it with the breakthrough Election Integrity Scorecard. We also look at the Russia hoax and wonder about the Pulitzer Prize given to newspapers that peddled it. And amid skyrocketing murder rates among blacks around the country, we wonder why these lives don’t matter to BLM. There’s more to discover in this week’s Agenda.

How Secure Are Your State’s Elections?

The scores are in: Heritage unveiled the all-new Election Integrity Scorecard—an interactive online index that analyzes the election laws of all 50 states and the District of Columbia and grades each state on how well they protect the security and integrity of the vote.

The first of its kind: The scorecard gives states a clear picture of where their laws and regulations meet the best practices, where vulnerabilities exist, and how to fix them.

Protecting a sacred right: It also offers model legislation to further guard against election fraud. With midterm elections on the horizon, state lawmakers would be wise to use this tool to help protect the right to vote in free and fair elections.

Learn more: See how your state stacks up on the scorecard here.

Heritage Asks Supreme Court to Halt Biden’s COVID Vaccine Mandate

High court showdown: The Heritage Foundation filed an application Saturday with the U.S. Supreme Court to delay implementation of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on private employers.

Conflicting decisions: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued a ruling Friday dissolving a stay previously issued by the 5th Circuit and allowing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to reinstate the mandate. It is scheduled to go into effect in January.

What’s at stake: “If upheld, the vaccine mandate will fundamentally change the relationship between employer and employee by forcing employers to compel and regulate the personal medical decisions of their employees,” Heritage states in its court filing.

Learn more: Read more about the case at The Daily Signal, Heritage’s news outlet.

Will NYT, Washington Post Return Pulitzer for False Russia Collusion Stories?

Hoodwinked: Journalists from the New York Times and Washington Post won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for a series of stories alleging that Russia colluded with the Trump campaign in 2016. Now, everyone admits that the whole narrative was a hoax.

Déjà vu: Heritage senior legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky explains this same scenario played out in 1931, when Times reporter Walter Duranty won a Pulitzer for a series of intentionally misleading articles he wrote praising dictator Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union.

State of denial: The Times never returned that award, and the Pulitzer board has refused to withdraw Duranty’s prize. So, it’s unlikely anything will happen this time, either.

Trump weighs in: “Those responsible for the designation of the now contaminated, discredited, and disgraced Pulitzer Prize, have still not, amazingly, withdrawn their prizes,” former President Donald Trump said in response to von Spakovsky’s article. “The longer they wait, the worse it will get!”

Learn more: Read more about the sordid history of awards for journalistic falsehoods here.

Study: As Homicide Rates Break Records, BLM Turns a Blind Eye

Nothing to see here: Have you heard about the tragedy of 2021’s skyrocketing homicide rates in cities across America, and that most of the victims are black people? At least 23 U.S. cities have had record-breaking rates of homicide over 2021.

A contradiction in terms: You’d think an organization that calls itself Black Lives Matter would decry this. Sadly, they’re doing just the opposite.

Duo of lawlessness: Instead, BLM keeps calling for the abolition of police, and rogue George Soros-backed prosecutors like Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner deny that crime is skyrocketing. It’s a dynamic duo of lawlessness.

Learn more: Read about the left’s push for lawless violence here.

There Is Too Much at Stake to Sit on the Sidelines

If the radical left gets its way, we can expect greater poverty, increased violence, and even more destruction. But you can stop them during this critical time. Make your tax-deductible gift before midnight on Dec. 31 to defend your principles today—and protect freedom for future generations! Make your gift now.

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know Heritage hosts multiple podcasts? From policy, to news, to history, Heritage has it all. Learn more and subscribe.

Heritage Scholar’s Testimony Goes Viral: Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., held a committee hearing on Dec. 13, to discuss gun trafficking and rising violence in Chicago. But when the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat didn’t like the message of one witness, he cut her off midsentence. That witness was Amy Swearer, a legal fellow in Heritage’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Find out what happened next and how her testimony went viral.

Stand With Mark Meadows: As the U.S. House debated holding former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress, Heritage President Kevin Roberts spoke out in defense of President Trump’s top aide. “The House of Representatives’ Jan. 6 committee is abusing its congressional authority,” Roberts said. The committee is on “a partisan fishing expedition intent on destroying the reputations of public servants in the Trump administration.” Keep reading and sign the petition to stand with Meadows.

New Additions to Heritage: Last week, The Heritage Foundation announced four conservatives who are joining our team as we gear up for the big policy fights of 2022.

• Andrew Puzder, the former chief executive of CKE Restaurants and an economic expert, is now a visiting fellow in business and economic freedom. Learn more.
• Emilie Kao and Roger Severino will rejoin Heritage as visiting fellows in the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society. Learn more.
• Richard M. Reinsch II, a leading conservative scholar on American constitutionalism and free markets, is joining Heritage as a senior fellow and columnist for The Daily Signal. Learn more.

This week on “Heritage Explains,” Jay Greene, a senior research fellow in Heritage’s Center for Education Policy, discusses new research that found an overwhelming amount of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” officers at American colleges are anti-Israel. Listen to the episode.

Easier to Vote, Harder to Cheat
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and senior legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky, joined Newsmax’s “Spicer & Co.” to talk about election integrity and Heritage's new Election Integrity Scorecard. Watch the interview.

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