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‘Economic Plan Is Breaking Records.’  (But Not in Good Way) - President Joe Biden on Tuesday, in a tweet ahead of his State of the Union address, claimed his “economic plan is breaking records.” Revolving debt is exploding as consumers wipe out savings to pay living expenses. Revolving debt is nearing $1 trillion, an increase of more than $200 billion since Biden’s first such address two years ago. For a family of four, that represents $2,400+ in additional debt. The personal savings rate is near all-time lows of below 3%. The hottest inflation in more than 40 years has dwarfed the growth in income. Real average hourly earnings year-over-year fell for the 21st consecutive month in January. That’s an unmatched disaster. Median inflation-adjusted weekly earnings dropped by 4.7% during Biden’s first two years—the biggest two-year plunge in more than 40 years. For a typical dual-income, married couple earning $60,000 each in 2020, inflation outpacing wage gains has eroded more than $5,600 in their standard of living. Indeed, in 2022, real disposable personal income dropped by a record 6.2%—the largest in history and for just the fourth time in the past 60 years. Looking to buy a home? It’s never been this unaffordable. The total median monthly payment on a home (mortgage principal and interest payments, taxes, and insurance) is more than $2,550 today versus under $1,600 when Biden took office—a payment hike of nearly $11,500 a year for a typical home. Heritage Expert: Joel Griffith

Members of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project Coalition Respond to Biden’s State of the Union Address - “The one real accomplishment Biden has a right to brag about is uniting conservatives.  Work to repeal and replace the disastrous legacy of Biden’s Administration cannot start soon enough. We are 50 (and growing) of America’s most prominent conservative organizations, joining forces to develop policies and a new generation of personnel to lead this great nation back on day one – January 20, 2025.” Heritage Expert: Paul Dans

The Case for Impeachment of Alejandro Nicolas Mayorkas Secretary of Homeland Security - Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas has been deaf to the voice of Americans, blind to the chaos and consequences of his policies and actions in violating the law, and untruthful in his statements to Congress and the American people. Secretary Mayorkas has intentionally undermined the sovereign interests of the United States by evading or violating the law and embracing policies he was warned would result in disaster. As Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, he bears responsibility for this catastrophic failure. It is time for him to resign or be removed from office—for the protection and good of the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security and the American people and for the preservation of national sovereignty. Heritage Expert: Hans von Spakovsky, Lora Ries and Steven Bradbury

The Justice Department Is Wrong: Federal Law Does Prohibit Mailing Abortion Drugs - A federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1461, prohibits “convey[ing] in the mails or deliver[ing] from any post office” any “article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion.” In July 2022, the U.S. Postal Service asked the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) whether § 1461 prohibits mailing mifepristone and misoprostol, the drugs used to cause a majority of abortions today. In a December 2022 opinion, the OLC bypassed the established process for interpreting statutes, reading § 1461 so narrowly that it would be virtually unenforceable. While this would advance the Biden Administration’s abortion agenda, the Justice Department is wrong. The plain and ordinary meaning of § 1461 unambiguously prohibits mailing abortion drugs. Heritage Expert: Thomas Jipping and Sarah Parshall Perry

 

Colorado Courts Still Don't Understand Religious Freedom - Phillips and his wife, Debra, are Christian co-owners of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado. In business since 1993, Masterpiece sells pre-made goodies in the store, and custom cakes that Jack designs and creates. Phillips has said that he strives to be obedient to Jesus Christ “in all aspects of his life,” including in his business and in exercising his personal skill in creating designer cakes. To that end, the Masterpiece website states that Phillips “cannot create custom cakes that express messages or celebrate events that conflict with his religious beliefs. Heritage Expert: Thomas Jipping

WHISTLEBLOWER DOCS: FBI Cites Southern Poverty Law Center in Report on ‘Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology’ - “We got briefings that SPLC was not legitimate when I was at Quantico,” Kyle Seraphin, who served six years at the FBI as a special agent before getting indefinitely suspended without pay in June 2022, told The Daily Signal in a phone interview Wednesday. Seraphin published the document on UncoverDC.com Wednesday. The document, “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities,” bears markings reading “UNCLASSIFIED/FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY” and “FBI INTERNAL USE ONLY — DO NOT DISSEMINATE EXTERNALLY.” Heritage Expert: Tyler O’Nei

China Surpasses US in Nuclear Missile Launchers; US Unprepared to Deter Growing Threat - As China engages in a rapid nuclear buildup as part of its strategy to achieve global dominance, the Pentagon  announced yesterday that the communist nation has surpassed the U.S. in the number of intercontinental ballistic missile launchers it has. The U.S. nuclear force was designed over a decade ago to deter primarily Russia, not both Russia and China. While the U.S. is modernizing its nuclear capabilities, it’s not to the scale we will need to deter this growing threat . Heritage Expert: Patty-Jane Geller