Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today.
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Biden must not return to Obama-era Cuba policies – Returning to Obama’s policies won’t bring a better life to the Cuban people or make Cuba a more responsible government. The Cuban government controls the public and private sector: Any money that flows into the country – from tourism or trade goods – flows through the regime’s fingers, strengthening and empowering its authoritarian leaders. The Trump sanctions may not bring freedom to the Cuban people. But reversing them is a surrender to the world’s illiberal forces — exactly what Biden said he did not want to do. The Biden administration’s best bet is to keep the Trump-era Cuba policy in place as it develops a bipartisan grand strategy focused on achieving political transition in Cuba. Heritage expert: Jim Carafano
Congress, Don’t Let Liberals Shoehorn Harmful Energy Policies Into Budget and Infrastructure Bills – Both policies are suddenly getting a lot of attention in Congress for at least two reasons. First, liberal Democrats are hoping to use the massive “must pass” budget bill and the infrastructure bill as vehicles to pass these politically unpopular policies. But secondly, liberal Democrats need cold hard cash to pay for the trillions in new spending in order to appease moderate Democrats who have the audacity to maintain that Congress should be able to pay for new spending. Coons and Peters expect their carbon border adjustment fee would bring in $5 billion to $16 billion per year. The incredible thing is, the details of these economy-altering policies are still unknown and haven’t been debated in Congress. Even so, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., defended his hurried deadline to begin voting on the infrastructure package, saying it “is simply about getting the legislative process started here on the Senate floor. It is not a deadline to determine every final little detail of the bill.” But those details matter and should be debated, not rushed. Heritage expert: Katie Tubb