Please reply to this email to arrange an interview.
Last-Minute Spending Bills Advancing Biden’s Inflation Agenda and Radical Policy Priorities Must Be Rejected – Federal spending is a moral issue. Just as responsible fiscal policy can empower American families to flourish without politicians and bureaucrats controlling our lives, reckless policy can devastate the economy and ruin Americans’ lives. Spending bills set the policy agenda for the coming year, and the American people’s preferences, as demonstrated by their votes in November, should guide that agenda. It would be wildly unfair for a lame-duck Congress to ram through a massive spending bill that locks in the Biden-Pelosi agenda until next fall, especially because any power shift will be in part, because of Democrats’ reckless pursuit of Biden’s inflation agenda. Heritage Experts: EJ Antoni, Richard Stern and Matthew Dickerson
FBI Agents Raid Home, Arrest Pro-Life Advocate in Front of Wife and Children – Mark Houck, a pro-life advocate and father of seven, woke up Friday morning to a team of FBI agents raiding his home in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. Houck’s wife, Ryan-Marie, told Life Site News that 25-30 FBI agents entered their home around 7 a.m. “The kids were all just screaming. It was all just very scary and traumatic,” Ryan-Marie Houck told Life Site News about her husband’s arrest, which she and her children witnessed. She says her husband pleaded with the FBI agents to be calm, referencing the couple’s seven children. “They had big, huge rifles pointed at Mark and pointed at me and kind of pointed throughout the house,” Ryan-Marie Houck told the pro-life news outlet. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts tweeted Saturday: “As I’ve said, the Mar-a-Lago raid isn’t just about President Trump—it’s about all of us.” “Saying that doesn’t make someone an insurrectionist—if anything, it’s the DOJ that’s ‘threatening democracy,’” he added. Heritage Experts: Hans von Spakovsky and Cully Stimson
Here Are the Factors That Affect Gas Prices – Many people work hard to find, produce, refine, and distribute some 800 million gallons of petroleum products every day. In its journey from deep in the earth to the cars of Americans, these molecules can travel thousands of miles and encounter obstacles from man and nature alike. Policymakers should appreciate all of this and remove the barriers that limit supply. Increasing supply by allowing more leasing on government lands, allowing investment (instead of talking down the oil industry or even making it more difficult to invest in the industry), improving efficiency by increasing pipeline capacity, and reducing regulations like the RFS will help to mitigate high gas prices for the American people. Heritage Experts: Derrick Morgan and Katie Tubb
Crime trumps abortion in voter concerns - Americans are concerned about recent increases in violent crime. Unfortunately, many leaders on the left have bought into the tragic idea that they can defund and demoralize police officers with no consequences. On top of that, the top prosecutors in many of our nation's biggest cities are refusing to do their jobs by seeking justice for victims and protecting their communities. The policies of these rogue prosecutors are dangerous and often lead to the victimization of the most vulnerable members of their communities. Even citizens of far-left cities such as San Francisco have recognized the dangerous conditions that arise when a rogue DA refuses to do his job. Because of that, they recalled (removed from office) their rogue DA, Chesa Boudin. Safe communities should be a bipartisan issue. Heritage Experts: Zack Smith and Cully Stimson
Who Gets Hurt From High Gas and Diesel Prices? There’s More Harm Than You Think. - From the gas used for cars to the diesel used to operate farm equipment and transport goods across the country, the lives of Americans benefit tremendously through these fuels. And when prices surge to especially high levels, this inevitably causes significant harm, especially to the poorest Americans. For policymakers, any response to high prices should be to remove the many government barriers that drive up fuel prices. At least then, prices would be a reflection of market forces and not government meddling that is causing unnecessary harm. Heritage Expert: Daren Bakst
9 Key Cases Supreme Court Will Hear in 2022-23 Session – It will be tough—if not impossible—for the Supreme Court to top the 2021-22 term when it comes to both drama and results that pleased the conservative legal community (not to mention conservatives in general). There will be plenty of excitement during the term that begins on Oct. 3. On Sept. 27, my Heritage Foundation colleague Zack Smith will host our Supreme Court preview of the 2022-23 term with former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement and former acting U.S. Solicitor General Jeff Wall. You can register for the event here. Although the Supreme Court will no doubt agree to hear more cases following its “long conference” when it considers the certiorari petitions that were filed during the summer, there are already several big cases on its docket for what promises to be another blockbuster term. Here’s a brief description of a few of them. Heritage Experts: Zack Smith and John Malcolm
Planned Parenthood’s Overdue Annual Report Is Finally Out. Here’s What You Should Know. - Planned Parenthood’s 2020-2021 annual report is so late that some observers wondered whether it would release one at all. But after roughly nine months, the wait is over. For pro-life Americans, the numbers aren’t pretty. The medical and financial data reveal the abortion giant’s priorities. Spoiler alert: The number of abortions performed in one year is at an all-time high. Meanwhile, annual taxpayer funding (mainly through Medicaid reimbursements) continues to rise. It’s now north of $633 million. We don’t yet know what will happen with abortion numbers in a post-Roe America. But we do know that if Planned Parenthood has its way, abortions and taxpayer funding will keep rising, even as its other key health services keep declining. After all, we can’t expect an insatiable leopard to change its spots. Heritage Expert: Melanie Israel