Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today.Please reply to this email to arrange an interview.
‘This Is a Presidency In Crisis’: Heritage President Responds to Biden’s State of the Union Address <[link removed]> – On the critical issues facing our country, Biden was either unsurprisingly silent or knowingly dishonest. He beat his chest on his administration’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but failed to mention his utter failure to prevent this crisis—a crisis that will cost tens of thousands of lives, destabilize Europe, and have massive consequences for the American economy and working Americans. Arming Ukraine, implementing harsh sanctions on Putin’s regime, and empowering domestic U.S. energy production should have been Biden’s policy from day one. Instead, he waited until Russian tanks were outside Kyiv to respond to the evil perpetrated by Moscow. From Kabul to Kyiv, our enemies have taken notice of America’s weakness on the world stage. Heritage Experts: Alexis Mracheck <[link removed]>, Dakota Wood <[link removed]>, and Thomas Spoehr <[link removed]>
Biden’s remarks on the economy don’t match up with working Americans’ lived experiences. Inflation is at a 40-year high. We are paying historic prices at the pump and at the grocery store. Wages are not keeping pace with inflation. The American workforce is shrinking because excessive unemployment benefits now pay people more not to work. His administration continues to pressure businesses to implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates, threatening the livelihoods of millions. Our supply chains are in shambles. Joe Biden has done incalculable damage not just to the American economy, but to the financial health of millions of Americans. No amount of applause lines will change that. Heritage Expert: Joel Griffith <[link removed]>
Finally, Biden’s efforts to take credit for the response to COVID-19 would be laughable if his policy failures weren’t so deadly serious. His COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers cost tens of thousands of Americans their jobs, and his mandate for front line health care workers remain in place. He has pitted Americans against one another, as ‘vaccinated vs. unvaccinated,’ and he has politicized public health, deploying the CDC as a political institution rather than a source of scientific expertise. His COVID-19 response has been defined by politics, not public health—by poll numbers, not facts. Heritage Expert: Doug Badger <[link removed]>
In a Dangerous Move, Putin Orders Nuclear Forces to High Alert <[link removed]> – In the upcoming Nuclear Posture Review <[link removed]>, it is critical that the Biden administration commit to seeing the U.S. nuclear modernization program through, to ensure we credibly can deter nuclear threats for decades to come. The administration also must reject pressure from the left <[link removed]> to cut any U.S. nuclear capabilities. Putin’s order to place Russia’s nuclear weapons on higher alert should make it clear that now is not the time to risk weakening American nuclear deterrence. As demonstrated in this conflict, and conflict through the centuries, weakness in the face of aggression never prevails. As we learned over the weekend, nuclear threats are real and nuclear war is a 21st-century concern. Moving forward, the Biden administration must ensure a U.S. nuclear posture that accounts for the increasing relevance of nuclear deterrence in the face of this dangerous reality. Heritage Expert: Patty-Jane Geller <[link removed]>
Are Courts Properly Interpreting Supreme Court Precedent and Respecting Religious Employers’ Employment Decisions? <[link removed]> – Court <[link removed]> watchers can also learn a lot based on which cases the justices reject—especially when some of the justices take the relatively rare step of issuing a statement “respecting the denial of certiorari,” which is their refusal to take a case. That’s what happened on Monday when Justice Samuel Alito <[link removed]>, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas <[link removed]>, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett <[link removed]>, issued such a statement <[link removed]> in an important religious liberty case where the parties are arguing over the contours of the court’s “ministerial exception” in employment cases. The ministerial exception ensures that religious institutions can faithfully fulfill their religious missions as they see fit, largely free from government interference. Heritage Expert: Zack Smith <[link removed]>
Socialism and Family <[link removed]> – Black Lives Matter’s financial controversies has the organization back in the news, and has renewed interest in Marxism in general, particularly its
attacks on the family. And with good reason. Not only are the BLM Global Network Foundation—the mothership of BLM—and Marx at war with the most essential institution in society, so are most Marxists in between. Karl Marx said as much In the Communist Manifesto of 1848, in which he called for the abolition of the family. They quickly realized that the way to completely change society was to destroy the most important civil society institution, the family. It should hardly surprise us that among the 13 Guiding Principles of BLM we see a call for the “disruption” of the nuclear family. These ideas are now being taught to our children throughout the United States through the BLM curriculum that goes out to school districts. Heritage Expert: Mike Gonzalez <[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
-
