The Heritage Foundation Archives

Four Years Later, CDC Documents on COVID-19’s Origin in China Emerge as Oversight Wanes

July 8, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Newly released documents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal early evidence and analysis four years ago in which U.S. government officials indicated that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China.

These findings in the CDC documents obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, dating from about six months after the disease’s initial outbreak, are coming to light only now because of the government’s repeated delays in releasing relevant documents through the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Roberts and Milei Put the Globalists in Davos on Notice

January 22, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

While globalists, heads of large corporations, and officials in international organizations may consider democracy more of a spectator sport than a representative political system embraced by countries around the world, at least they were willing to allow some competition into the ring this year. In addition to its usual list of drastically tired global elites such as John Kerry, Bill Gates, and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, The World Economic Forum decided to invite a handful of conservative leaders to its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland this past week. The opposition offered a reality check to those in desperate need of one, even if it wasn’t welcome. A couple of unabashed speakers even drew a little blood.

Analysis Ties Surge in Inflation to Increased Spending, Value of Debt

January 16, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. government and those of other countries could be using higher inflation to lessen the value of growing public debt resulting from increased spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis by a Harvard economist working with The Heritage Foundation.

The study covers government spending from 2020 through 2022, the high point of the pandemic, and looked at the U.S. and 20 other economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.

Think Tank Looks to Lasso ‘Deep State’ by Recruiting Conservatives to Work in Government

December 25, 2023 Just the News

The prominent conservative think tank Heritage Foundation has launched a major initiative titled “Project 2025” to rein in the federal bureaucracy by recruiting patriotic Americans to staff the next conservative administration.

“You just don’t have enough time after the election to put together the government,” Heritage Foundation Executive Vice President Derrick Morgan said on “The Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Presidential Transition Project Special Report” hosted by John Solomon and premiered on Real America’s Voice.

Greater Pandemic Learning Losses Reported in School Districts with DEI Officers

October 11, 2023October 10, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

On Wednesday, a new report was released showing that school districts with chief diversity officers (CDOs) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) officers saw greater losses in learning capabilities during the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic than schools that do not have such positions.

According to Fox News, the report from The Heritage Foundation reveals that 48% of all school districts with 15,000 students or more had a CDO or DEI officer on campus. Despite such positions ostensibly being created in order to increase the performance of minority students, schools with these employees saw bigger losses in academic performance among black and Hispanic students than schools without them.

‘Real Wage Destruction’: Small Business Leader Reacts to Latest Inflation Report

July 13, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

An economist says “American families are having to eat the rotten fruit from the tree of government overspending” after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Wednesday that the consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, rose 0.2% in June.

“It’s great news for the consumer that inflation has slowed dramatically from 40-year highs, but we’re still in terrible shape,” EJ Antoni, a research fellow for regional economics in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in a written statement. (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation’s news outlet.)

New Study, Experts Debunk Trans Activists’ Child Suicide Claims in Puberty Blocker Debate

June 19, 2022June 18, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

“Would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son?”

That’s the question that transgender activists and “gender-affirming” therapists and physicians often hold over parents’ heads when they refuse to allow their gender-dysphoric child to take experimental puberty blockers and long-term cross-sex hormones.

Youngkin Picks Conservative Policy Leader Kay Coles James for Secretary of the Commonwealth

January 8, 2022January 7, 2022 Eric Burk

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin announced that former Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James is his pick for Secretary of the Commonwealth. James has experience in the administrations of both Bushes as well as Reagan. She also served as Former Governor George Allen’s Secretary of Health.

“Secretary James will be a true asset to the administration. Our shared vision combined with her tremendous experience will pave the way for a new day in Virginia. Kay has an extensive public service background; she has always been a leader and innovator in Virginia government. Kay has worked tirelessly as my transition Co-Chair, advising on personnel, policy, and strategic planning,” Youngkin said in a Friday evening press release.

Youngkin Picks Trump EPA Chief for Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources

January 6, 2022January 5, 2022 Eric Burk

Former Trump EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will be Secretary of Natural Resources, and former Federal Reserve System Chief Information Officer Margaret “Lyn” McDemid will be Secretary of Administration, Youngkin’s campaign announced Wednesday. Youngkin also announced that Michael Rolband will be Director of Environmental Quality.

“Virginia needs a diverse energy portfolio in place to fuel our economic growth, continued preservation of our natural resources, and a comprehensive plan to tackle rising sea levels. Andrew and Michael share my vision in finding new ways to innovate and use our natural resources to provide Virginia with a stable, dependable, and growing power supply that will meet Virginia’s power demands without passing the costs on to the consumer,” said Governor-elect Youngkin.

Commentary: A Former Prosecutor’s Take on the Rittenhouse Trial and Verdict

November 22, 2021November 21, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Could Kyle Rittenhouse face another trial? Does Rittenhouse have grounds to sue media outlets for defamation? What about the behavior of the prosecutors during the trial? The Heritage Foundation’s Zack Smith, a former prosecutor, joins Tim Doescher of “Heritage Explains” to answer these questions and more. Watch the full interview here or read, below, an edited and abridged transcript.

Commentary: The Rule of Law Hostage to ‘Enemy Action’

August 4, 2021August 3, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

I have always admired the admonitory wisdom that Auric Goldfinger imparted to James Bond early in Ian Fleming’s novel named for the gold-loving villain: “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.”

I have thought often of that sage advisory in recent months as so many once-trustworthy institutions of American life seem to have been weaponized against the people they were meant to serve.

This is, alas, a huge topic, and today I will only scratch the surface.

‘Communism Taking Root in America,’ Critical Race Theory Foe Warns

August 3, 2021August 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

About 350 concerned residents crowded into a church in Georgetown, Delaware, on Thursday evening to hear from a panel of experts about critical race theory—one of whom likened its spread throughout American culture to Mao Zedong’s communist Cultural Revolution in China.

“Today, communism is taking root in America,” speaker Xi Van Fleet said.

Congressional Candidate Kiggans Signs Pledge to Support Term Limits Amendment

May 31, 2021May 30, 2021 Eric Burk

Senator Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia Beach) has signed a pledge to support a term limits Constitutional amendment if she is elected to Congress. The proposed amendment would limit U.S. representatives to three terms, and U.S. Senators to two terms. Of Virginia’s current federal legislators, only Congressman Bob Good (R-Virginia-05) has signed the pledge. Good is also a cosponsor of HJR 12 in the current Congressional session.

“Term limits on elected officials will help guarantee the will of the people, not special interests or career politicians, are being heard,” Kiggans said in a press release.

2021 Index Finds Rise in Global Economic Freedom, but U.S. Score Falls

March 8, 2021March 7, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

America’s economic freedom ranking has fallen to an all-time low, according to The Heritage Foundation’s 2021 Index of Economic Freedom.

The United States fell three places since last year and now ranks 20th in the world among countries evaluated, with an economic freedom score of 74.8 out of 100.

The 27th annual Index of Economic Freedom was released Thursday during a Heritage virtual event featuring Charles Payne, host of Fox Business’ “Making Money With Charles Payne.”

Seven Ways the 2005 Carter-Baker Report Could Have Averted Problems With 2020 Election

November 27, 2020November 26, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

They called on states to increase voter ID requirements; to be leery of mail-in voting; to halt ballot harvesting; to maintain voter lists, in part to ensure dead people are promptly removed from them; to allow election observers to monitor ballot counting; and to make sure voting machines are working properly.

They also wanted the media to refrain from calling elections too early and from touting exit polls.

State Commission Issues Recommendations to Improve African American History Teaching

September 2, 2020September 1, 2020 Eric Burk

A state commission examining African American history education has published its report, issuing four broad recommendations for state educational standards, and six broad recommendations for professional development of teachers. The “Final Report of the Virginia Commission on African American History Education in the Commonwealth” is the result of a year-long effort started by Governor Ralph Northam.

Report: Voter Fraud In Virginia Could Top 10 Percent

August 31, 2020August 30, 2020 Eric Burk

According to a white paper written by a group called the National Election Integrity Task Force (NEITF), jury roll data in one county suggests around 10 percent of registered Virginia voters may be ineligible to vote.

After seeing the Washington Free Beacon report, Heritage Foundation Senior Legal Fellow Hans Von Spakovsky said, “I’m not surprised by it at all.”