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A New Ranking for Education Freedom - With impeccable timing, the Heritage Foundation is launching a new ranking of educational freedom among the states. Heritage’s inaugural report card, due out on Friday, finds that Florida, Arizona, Idaho and Indiana are America’s most parent-friendly jurisdictions across a number of measurements. Taxpayers may also find these states appealing. The Heritage report, edited by Lindsey Burke, Jay Greene, Jonathan Butcher and Jason Bedrick, plainly states the problems with U.S. K-12 education: “Parents are rightly upset when schools indoctrinate their kids with woke racial and gender ideologies that do not reflect their values and contradict the ideals that make our republic great. School lockdowns contributed to greater mental health problems among students and forced masking disrupted learning. Parents are fed up with these oppressive and divisive policies coupled with lower achievement... The pandemic made it abundantly clear that families need more education options than our rigid district school systems offer or education elitists allow.” Heritage Experts: Lindsey Burke, Jonathan Butcher, Jay Greene, and Jason Bedrick
Sanctuary cities, border crisis costs, and a rude awakening for the Left – It has never been clearer: The border crisis is not just a border town issue. We face an unprecedented, all-encompassing national security, fentanyl, crime and economic crisis that is seeping into every single state and community across the nation. The crisis is not only unsustainable, it’s dangerous. The urgent first step is to cut off the flow of illegal aliens at the border, so we can get our heads above water before it’s too late. The Biden administration and the left must reverse its open-border agenda. For the good of their cities, Bowser and Adams should lead the charge. Heritage Expert: Erin Dwinell
Bike Lanes Don’t Make Cycling Safe – Cities are spending millions of dollars on bike lanes. That money could be better used for other purposes, such as app-based intelligent transportation systems that would connect drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, and alert them to potential crashes. Bike lanes give cyclists and drivers a false sense of security, leading to increased accidents. Cyclists should be aware that the term Protected Bike Lane is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. It’s time to change. Heritage Expert: Diana Furchtgott-Roth
In 5 Charts, How Heritage’s Budget Blueprint Would Clean Up Washington’s Mess - It’s no secret that the federal government’s finances are a wreck. Washington has spent too much and added far too much to the national debt for the sake of political convenience and payoffs to well-connected special interests. We’re now paying a heavy price for years of irresponsible governing, with inflation hitting 40-year highs. Waves of deficit spending are one of the major contributing factors to these economic woes. And as bad as things are now, the government is only making them worse for our children, who will have to pick up the tab—in the form of vastly higher taxes, a devalued dollar, and shaky national credit—for today’s spending sprees. Now, more than ever, serious problems require serious solutions. The Heritage Budget Blueprint provides a strong contrast to President Joe Biden’s big government vision, which imagines that the federal government can run things better than families, state and local governments, and civil society. We’re seeing firsthand what happens when too much power, money, and control are concentrated in Washington. Heritage Expert: David Ditch
Religious University Forced To Recognize LGBT Student Club Takes The Fight To SCOTUS – Must religious institutions abandon certain core tenets to operate in the public square? That question is at the heart of yet another lawsuit arising from the tensions between religious liberty and anti-discrimination laws. This week, New York’s Yeshiva University — an Orthodox Jewish university — filed an emergency application to the U.S. Supreme Court after a state supreme court judge ordered the school to recognize an LGBT student group in violation of its religious beliefs regarding sexual morality. Yeshiva has asked for a stay of the lower court decision’s ruling pending their appeal. In the alternative, it has asked for a petition for writ of certiorari so the high court can order briefing and arguments and consider the full case on its merits. Yeshiva’s emergency application was filed with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who handles emergency matters in the Second Circuit. She can rule on the application or refer it to the full court. Defenders of the free exercise of religion in public life should pay close attention to what the court does next. Heritage Experts: Sarah Parshall Perry and Jason Bedrick
The latest jobs numbers seem impressive—until you look closer – The economy already contracted in the first half of the year and the headwinds are building. For example, the housing market is in freefall, with the typical monthly mortgage payment up 54 percent to over $1,900 in the last year, while home builder sentiment has collapsed, falling every month this year and down 42% since December. But the trend is broader than the housing market. The Conference Board’s leading economic indicators have trended down for the last six months and, disturbingly, show new orders slowing. Other data from Federal Reserve Banks in Dallas, Philadelphia, Richmond, New York, and Chicago also show new orders declining. This is troubling because current levels of business activity are only being sustained by a near-record backlog of unfilled orders, which are not being replaced by new orders. Once businesses work through those unfilled orders, there won’t be enough new orders to replace them. That translates into reduced future output and layoffs, which means unemployment. So, the monthly headline job numbers seen in the news are not only weaker than they appear, but even this illusion will be disappearing soon. These figures are the swan song of an anemic economy weighed down by President Joe Biden’s inflation, regulation, and taxation. Heritage Expert: EJ Antoni