Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today.Please reply to this email to arrange an interview.
Biden's subpar national security team is a real threat to America <[link removed]> – President Biden's Euro-tour this past week played like many a horror movie, where things go from ‘eerily off’ to full-blown crisis in a matter of seconds. His trip was meant to reassure Europeans that when it comes to beating back Russian President Vladimir Putin <[link removed]>, America is in
it to win it. What happened was something else entirely. On the surface, the folksy ‘Uncle Joe’ routine plays well in Europe. Biden’s statements <[link removed]> of solidarity, along with his
reassurances of U.S. commitment for Ukraine and the defense of NATO, get good press. Most importantly for most European leaders, he never asks them for anything more than they are already willing to do. He is the inoffensive bystander-in-chief. Heritage Experts: James Carafano <[link removed]> and Nile Gardiner <[link removed]>
Outgunned Ukrainians lure Russian aircraft into defense traps, need planes to defend airspace <[link removed]> – The U.S. can best support Ukraine <[link removed]> by providing it with weapons, planes and parts to defend its
airspace <[link removed]> rather than establish a no-fly zone. [The Ukrainians] are fighting with basically two very large feathers in their cap: one is the munitions we’re providing them and the other is the morale that they can sustain on their own. By giving them the right weapons, we boost their morale, we give them wins, we allow them to bloody Russia’s nose and make this a very costly endeavor. Heritage Expert: John Venable <[link removed]>
Biden Owes Border Patrol Belated Apology Over Phony Charges of “Whipping” Illegal
Aliens <[link removed]> – The administration still hasn’t released the completed investigation report. After clearly making up career-ending, false accusations about the agents to change the narrative away from shocking daily videos of 15,000 illegal aliens <[link removed]> amassing under the International Bridge in Del Rio, the administration now seems perfectly content to let the agents twist in the wind. Crying “racism” has become a tired line of attack, over-used by the left to avoid facts and silence opponents <[link removed]>. We cannot allow this to be forgotten or swept under the Biden rug. Heritage Experts: Lora Ries <[link removed]> and Thomas Homan <[link removed]>
Efforts to bar members of Congress from
running for reelection because of Jan. 6 are unconstitutional <[link removed]> – No matter what one may think about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, efforts now underway to block certain members of Congress from running for reelection are without merit. Article I of the Constitution lists the three qualifications required to be a representative and senator (age, citizenship and residency). In 1995, in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, the U.S. Supreme Court said that no state can impose any additional qualifications on any candidate running for Congress. That would certainly include candidates being forced to prove their innocence regarding any claims that they were somehow involved in the events of Jan. 6. All of these efforts and threats are a desperate attempt to gain political advantage through unconstitutional actions. Heritage Expert: Hans von Spakovsky <[link removed]>
Lessons From COVID-19: How Policymakers Should Reform the Regulation of Clinical
Testing <[link removed]> – The onset of COVID-19 proved to be a real-time stress test of America’s clinical testing system. The experience exposed several flaws in the system that policymakers should address, specifically, statutory ambiguities regarding laboratory-developed tests, regulatory rigidities that handicapped clinical laboratories’ response capabilities, and the absence of mechanisms for leveraging the resources and capabilities of non-clinical laboratories. These problems were further compounded by over-centralization of initial test development, production, and distribution efforts. Learning from the experience with COVID-19, policymakers should reform the laws and regulations governing clinical tests and testing to ensure greater flexibility, provide more streamlined oversight, and encourage innovation and collaboration, particularly when responding to the emergence of new pathogens. Heritage Expert: Edmund Haislmaier <[link removed]>
Beijing’s promble with the truth <[link removed]> –
The CCP’s tenuous relationship with the truth matters, not just for its impact on global public health — which should now be obvious to everyone — but across the board. Take its politics and military. These things matter to international peace and security, because China’s military looms so large over the Western Pacific region. Transparency builds confidence. If China’s intentions are benign, there is no need to hide its capabilities. In the absence of transparency, it is only prudent for the rest of the world to prepare for the worst. On COVID-19 and other matters on which the world’s well-being depends, transparency in China is not improving. And the international community is much worse off for it. Heritage Expert: Walter Lohman <[link removed]>
Biden throttled U.S. energy production just when we needed it most <[link removed]> – A capable presidential administration plans, anticipates and implements strategies. An ineffective administration bounces haphazardly from crisis to crisis. It’s the difference between playing chess and playing pinball. Joe Biden’s mismanagement of skyrocketing gas prices gives us a hint as to what game he’s playing. Gas prices, already high and rising due to supply-chain problems and inflation, skyrocketed when Biden announced a ban on U.S. imports of Russian oil. Before making that announcement, a capable administration would have started getting government out of the way of domestic energy producers and opening access to vast U.S. oil and gas resources on public lands. Heritage Expert: GianCarlo Canaparo <[link removed]>
Georgia Moves to Protect Conservatives, and Others, From Big Tech
Censorship <[link removed]> – Georgia will be a fascinating test case in the fight against overwhelming suppression of information by Big Tech <[link removed]>. The “laboratories of democracy” theory of federal and state power applies strongly here. Americans rightly concerned with the censorious nature of tech giants will watch with bated breath how the Georgia legislation, if signed into law, serves at protecting speech online. If it works, other states can use it as a model for their own battles against Big Tech. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will continue to try to silence conservative voices. But thankfully, Georgia’s bill and others like it will give consumers and users the tools to fight back. Heritage Expert: Douglas Blair <[link removed]>
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