The Daily Signal

On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Mysterious Chinese spy balloon  Conservatives slam President Biden, Defense Department about the Chinese spy balloon U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning socialism The U.S. economy added over 500,000 jobs last month, which exceeded expectations. Relevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's that time of the year once again, tax season. While the process of filing taxes is often arduous, the hope of a sizable tax refund removes a little pain from the ordeal. But, with an economy like the one we have right now, Preston Brashers, a Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst for the federal budget, says it's possible some Americans are going to see smaller refunds this year. While there are a number of factors contributing to the likely smaller refunds, Brashers says "the big one that that's maybe being left out of this whole conversation is inflation."Brashers points out that the "IRS does do an inflation adjustment," but the "issue is they do that inflation adjustment in the fall of the prior year. So I think most of the most people can recognize things are a little bit more expensive now than they were in say, September, October of 2021. And so you're effectively being taxed like you're maybe 8% richer than you actually are because the value of the dollar, essentially your purchasing power, has gone down."Brashers joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to explain all the reason why Americans could be getting less back from the IRS this year, and to discuss what Congress and the White House should do to lower inflation. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar ousted from House Foreign Relations Committee Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will deliver the Republican rebuttal after Biden’s State of the Union address. Brian Deese plans to step down from his position as Biden’s economic advisor later this month. Biden said we can redeem the soul of America this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast.  Hunter Biden speaks out about infamous laptop  Relevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tyrants gain control through weaponizing the fear of loneliness, author and former CIA analyst Stella Morabito says. In America, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the omnipresent voice of the COVID-19 pandemic, is one example of this, she says. “I believe that he symbolizes for our era the weaponization of loneliness,” Morabito, a senior contributor at The Federalist, says of Fauci. “When you think about what all these COVID mandates did to our society: the lockdowns, the devastation in human relationships, the way that it created hostilities, even among family members." “When COVID hit, our loneliness, our isolation [grew], especially for people [who] lived alone, being put under house arrest ... for at least months, and some people afraid to come out," she says. "I mean, this was the enforcement of our isolation—literal, blatant enforcement. And I think Fauci symbolizes all of that. More than symbolizes it, I mean, he directed so much of it.”In her new book “The Weaponization of Loneliness: How Tyrants Stoke Our Fear of Isolation to Silence, Divide, and Conquer,” Morabito, who has a master's degree in Russian and Soviet history, explains how the powerful use the fear of loneliness as a tool to gain and maintain authority. Morabito joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss how her previous work at the CIA, which focused on studying propaganda, led her to write the book, and how Americans can reject tyranny. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: The Department of Justice conducts a search for classified documents of President Joe Biden’s Delaware home.  The House Oversight Committee holds a hearing to investigate where billions of dollars of COVID-19 relief money went.  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets with President Biden to discuss the debt ceiling. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the funeral for Tyre Nichols.  The College Board makes changes to its Advanced Placement African American Studies course following Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ criticism of the course.  Relevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are you willing to give up to stand by your religious convictions? That’s a question Jacob Kersey did not anticipate having to ask himself at the age of 19. Kersey was excited to be a new officer with the police department in Port Wentworth, Georgia, a town of about 12,000 people near Savannah. He says everything was going well until the start of the new year. On Jan. 2, Kersey posted a 20-word message on Facebook about his view of marriage. “God designed marriage. Marriage refers to Christ and the church,” he wrote. “That’s why there is no such thing as homosexual marriage.” Kersey’s supervisor asked him to remove the post after someone complained. When Kersey refused, he was placed on paid administrative leave. Kersey was ultimately given a choice by his command staff: Either agree not to post views that could be seen as controversial or face losing his job. Ultimately, Kersey made the choice to resign, explaining that he refuses to abandon his religious convictions. Kersey joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to share his story and explain why he was willing to sacrifice his job for his faith.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: President Biden’s intent to end COVID-19 emergency declarations  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education reform Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra teases public health emergency on abortion A pro-life activist is found not-guilty Rep. George Santos steps down from his committees  Relevant Links: DeSantis Announces Changes to Florida’s Collegeshttps://www.dailysignal.com/2023/01/31/desantis-announces-changes-to-floridas-colleges/ Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conservatives have been sounding the alarm over the use of environmental, social, and governance policies as they relate to investments, particularly for private and public pension funds.But, what exactly is ESG? According to Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-founder of Strive Asset Management, "ESG refers to the use of dollars—including your dollars—to advance environmental or social goals, in addition to what they'll call governance goals, that are not implemented through public policymaking, through elections, or through democracy." Rather, they "are implemented through the economy instead, largely by buying shares in companies and then forcing those companies to behave in a certain way. That's what it is," says Ramaswamy, author of "Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam."Ramaswamy joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss the impact of ESG policies, what he hopes to see policy-wise from a Republican-controlled House regarding ESG, and why ESG is such a terrifying and problematic prospect for American investors. Disclaimer: Neither The Heritage Foundation nor The Daily Signal provides investment advice. All material in this interview is presented solely as educational information, not as an endorsement of Strive Asset Management. We recommend that you seek the advice of a financial adviser in connection with all investment matters. There are risks associated with any investment and past performance is not indicative of future results. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: A total of six Memphis police officers have been taken off duty following the death of Tyre Nichols. Democrats continue to refuse to negotiate over the debt ceiling.  The CEO of TikTok will testify before Congress in March as lawmakers consider a national ban on the app. Pro-abortion protests continued over the weekend. Gas prices are rising.  Relevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erin Friday’s daughter was introduced to gender identity ideology in a comprehensive sex-ed class in seventh grade. “The seed was planted after that class,” Friday says. “And in fact, all of her friends, there were five, sat in my front yard saying what their new labels were.” Friday says she was “alarmed by the language that they were using, including 'pansexual,' which is not a term that 11-year-olds should know.” The mother began looking into what her daughter was learning in school and was struck by the fact that other adults were not also questioning the teaching of gender ideology to middle schoolers. When her daughter said she was "transgender," Friday began taking decisive steps to rescue her from transgenderism. She took her daughter's phone, put her in a new school, and tried her best to surround the preteen with the truth about who she was as a female. It was not easy, but Friday says, as a parent, “you have to be strong enough, your love for your child has to be strong enough, to take their vitriol.” After about a year and a half, Friday’s daughter stopped claiming a transgender identity. Today, through the work of the parental support group Our Duty, Friday is helping other families navigate through gender identity ideology. Friday joins the show today to share her story, and to explain how parents can protect their children from the harms of gender identity ideology.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices