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Biden's risk-averse foreign policy is risky business for Americans <[link removed]> – President Joe Biden's foreign policy is a toxic mix of ideas from both extremes of the political spectrum. On the one hand, Biden and company have embraced the Obama era policy of maximum restraint. The idea is that the less the U.S. engages in foreign affairs, the fewer problems it will have to deal with. The problem with maximum restraint is that it can let a manageable foreign problem fester and grow into a tremendous problem. It’s like when a homeowner keeps putting off fixing a leaky roof; one day the ceiling will collapse. Maximum restraint can also lead to precipitous withdrawal from foreign engagements. <[link removed]> This too can be disastrous. For example, Obama precipitously withdrew from Iraq, and ISIS promptly filled the vacuum. Biden did the same in Afghanistan, and we now know that Al Qaeda has already reestablished a foothold there. Heritage Expert: James
Carafano <[link removed]>
‘Pay more’ under Inflation Reduction Act <[link removed]> - Here’s the best possible spin on the staggering $369 billion in energy and climate handouts included in the Inflation “Reduction” Act: It’s not as bad as last year’s draft. There’s nothing to reduce gasoline and electricity bills. Nothing to increase American energy production. Nothing to spur innovation. Instead, it will increase taxes on average Americans, exacerbate inflation, hike prescription drug prices and swell federal debts. The Inflation “Reduction” Act makes the disturbing assumption that the only way to reduce energy prices, increase energy production and spur innovation is for Washington to do it. This displays blind overconfidence in politicians and bureaucrats — and a profound lack of confidence in the American people. Heritage Expert: Katie Tubb <[link removed]>
Who’s to blame for the priciest housing in history? <[link removed]>
- With so much attention fixed on soaring prices for gasoline and groceries, let's not overlook the housing crisis so acutely being felt by homeowners and renters. This is only beginning to become visible in the official inflation data. Since February 2020, home prices soared 43.5%. In just the past year, home prices are up nearly 20%, while residential property prices in the United States, adjusted for inflation, are now 6.7% above the prior all-time record levels of the 2006 bubble. Average apartment rental costs, meanwhile, have jumped more than 25% this past year. Foolish fiscal policies driven by this administration and congressional Democrats have made housing increasingly unaffordable. The Federal Reserve printing presses that financed explosive government spending and the housing bubble continue to wreak havoc on Americans just trying to put a roof over their heads. Heritage Expert: Joel Griffith <[link removed]>
IRS and Allies Downplay 87,000-Person Hiring Binge <[link removed]>
– Unfortunately for the nation’s tax-collecting agency <[link removed]>, the idea of adding 87,000 new IRS agents doesn’t appeal <[link removed]> to most Americans. The Senate passage of the Inflation Reduction Act has led many Americans to recount horror stories of IRS harassment. Others remember the political weaponization of the IRS by presidential administrations from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama <[link removed]>, not to mention the agency’s
still unexplained leak of a massive trove <[link removed]> of taxpayer data just a
year ago. That data leak was exploited for political purposes. Now, the IRS and its allies are downplaying the size of the reinforcements they’re receiving, portraying the boost in IRS staffing as a moderate increase that will be largely offset by attrition and other factors. Heritage Expert: Preston Brashers <[link removed]>
As DC Plans to Ban 40% of Black Teens From School, Mayor Rejects DC COVID-19 Vaccine Numbers <[link removed]> – While Bowser claimed the number provided by The Daily Signal is incorrect, the statistic came from the District of Columbia’s own vaccination data website <[link removed]>. The data shows that around 60% of black kids aged 12-17 have received a complete COVID-19 vaccine regimen, meaning 40% are unvaccinated or have not received a second shot if necessary. The numbers flip for blacks aged 18-24, as the D.C. data shows 60% of adults in that age bracket are unvaccinated or have not received their second shot if necessary. The vaccine requirement makes D.C. an outlier in the nation, as many of the larger school districts recommend but do not require a COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend school in person. Heritage Expert: Douglas Blair <[link removed]>
Family Breakdown and the Ohio Abortion Story <[link removed]> - There are real, concrete decisions that a nation and family can make to safeguard its children. In each instance, it starts in the home with the family. If we continue to pretend that cohabitation is equal to marriage, abortion will be seen as the “solution” to the prior abuse and unwanted pregnancies. Abortion is not the “solution” here. It simply adds to the act of violence against an innocent victim a second act of even greater violence against another innocent victim. Of course, a society of chaste single parents and married husbands and wives would not be free of all forms of abuse. What we do know, however, is that a society that prioritizes real marriage and fatherhood is much more likely to be a society where children flourish. Heritage Expert: Emma Waters <[link removed]>
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