Daily Signal

Joe Biden campaigned for president in 2020 as a practical politician with a moderate record. He promised to unite America under a Biden presidency. He even said, "There will be no blue states and red states with me." 

More than 18 months into the Biden administration, America is witnessing a radical departure from the candidate who made those promises in 2020. 

From Day One, the Biden administration pursued policies that appealed to the far left and socialists rather than working-class Americans. As a result, Americans appear more divided than ever on key questions about our country's future and the policy decisions confronting us. 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a bestselling author who is out with a new book, "Defeating Big Government Socialism: Saving America's Future," joins us on "The Daily Signal Podcast" today to tell us about his latest work and what's at stake. Listen to the interview or read a lightly edited transcript.

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Health care affects every single American. Republicans and Democrats argue over the best way to provide the essential service to the population.

But in Texas, a sweeping series of health care reform bills was able to make their way through the state Legislature. And it was done on a bipartisan basis.

Dave Balat, director of the Right on Healthcare initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, was instrumental in getting that legislation passed.

"When it comes to good health care bills, there really shouldn't be a left and right divide," Balat says. "It should be about what's best for patients."

Balat hopes he can spread these bills across the nation.

"These [bills] are designed for communities," he says. "They aren't by any means Texas-specific. And I'm working with a number of states already to try to export these ideas and give them the support that they need to implement exactly what has been done."

Balat joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss how his organization helped get these policies passed, and how other states can use Texas as a model.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to visit Taiwan next month and Beijing is not happy, threatening "determined and forceful measures" if the trip happens.

“[China] will have to take determined and forceful measures to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity” if the trip proceeds, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, according to the Financial Times.  

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is among those cautioning Pelosi, D-Calif., against any decision to cancel or postpone the trip while warning what message it would send to China.

"At this point, given the bluster and proclamations coming out from Beijing, I think if she doesn't take the trip it'll look like she stood down in the face of Chinese rhetoric and protestations," Esper says.

Esper joins this episode of "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss Pelosi’s planned trip to Taiwan, wokeness in the military, and the Army’s recruiting crisis.

We also cover these stories:

Enjoy the show!

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Classical education is a trusted model of learning. Virtual reality is a new technology still being fully developed. Despite the view of some that the two could be in conflict with each other, Erika Donalds disagrees. 

“Classical education ... is content-based, and [virtual reality] is the perfect way to deliver that content,” says Donalds, the president and CEO of the Optima Foundation. 

Donalds established the Optima Foundation, which has grown to be a network of charter schools, to give parents better education options for their children. After the pandemic, Donalds realized that some parents and students preferred an at-home model, but online education fell short of providing students with a strong education. 

Virtual reality allows teachers and students to meet live in a virtual space from home, she says. 

Through virtual reality, children “actually go to Mars, they go to the lunar landing, and they're there when it happens in virtual reality," Donalds says.  

Donalds joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the ways in which virtual reality can add to and expand classical education. 

Also on today’s show, we cover these stories: 

Enjoy the show!

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House Democrats—with the assistance of 47 Republicans—on July 19 passed the Respect for Marriage Act. The bill would federally recognize any marriage if it is legally performed in any of the 50 states, and would allow the attorney general to file civil action lawsuits against states that refuse to recognize marriages from other states.

The bill, which would formally repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, now goes to the Senate, where it will require 60 votes to overcome a likely filibuster.

While recent polling data suggests that Americans overall are more in favor of gay marriage than generations prior, Heritage Foundation research assistant Jared Eckert warns that the House-passed bill could have dire consequences if passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden.

“If one state—just one state—recognizes polygamy as a legitimate marriage or legal marriage, then basically, the federal government has to do that,” says Eckert.

Eckert joins the show today to discuss that and other possible unintended consequences of the Respect for Marriage Act, and what states can do to ensure their rights aren’t trampled on.

We also cover these stories

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Did you know that an estimated 90% of internet search queries are performed by Google?

That is an astonishing statistic when you think about one company's market dominance and ability to shape public opinion through search results. It's also highly problematic if you follow Google's pattern of anti-conservative bias and manipulation of its search algorithm.

Todd Ricketts, co-owner of Major League Baseball Chicago Cubs, is challenging Google's dominance by launching Freespoke, a search engine that promises unbiased and uncensored information for its users. Read his interview with The Daily Signal or listen to the podcast.

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The economic crisis facing the nation is disproportionately hurting small businesses. Mom and pop shops are struggling to stay afloat in the face of historic levels of inflation. Against this backdrop, Democrats have proposed raising taxes on pass-through entities—small businesses including sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies, and S corporations.

To Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that's just insanity.

"It's a terrible time to also talk about raising taxes," says Paul. "Businesses are reeling from the inflationary rising costs; now, they would have an additional tax."

Paul has been going around the country talking with small-business owners who want relief from inflation and high taxes.

"They're very concerned, not only with the inflationary input, but adding a tax to this when small business is tenuous, and they're still coming out of the lockdowns," he says.

The Kentucky lawmaker adds that this tax hike would have unintended consequences that Democrats aren't thinking of.

"One of the unintended consequences will be closure of businesses and increased unemployment and exacerbation of the recession," he says. "This is something that we will fight steadfastly against and do everything possible not to let this happen to the American people."

Paul warned that "if we do nothing, there's a possibility inflation gets worse. I think that's the most likely scenario. I think between now and the election, we're going to see a worsening of inflation."

Also on today's show, Heritage Foundation economics expert E.J. Antoni discusses the possible consequences of inflation on the American people and how long we might be dealing with the issue.

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A group associated with far-left billionaire George Soros is taking over 18 Spanish-language radio stations, including the iconic conservative talk station Radio Mambi. 

“It's a stab in the heart of the community,” says Lourdes Ubieta, a former host at Radio Mambi. 

Radio Mambi gained a reputation “as a station that serves the Cuban exile community,” Ubieta says, because it spoke openly about the harms of socialism and communism. 

When Ubieta and her colleague Dania Alexandrino learned that Radio Mambi was going to be part of the new Latino Media Network, they determined it was time to leave. The new network reportedly is funded primarily by Lakestar Finance, an entity affiliated with Soros Fund Management.

"These people from the left, these Democrats, they believe that [by] buying these 18 radio stations, somehow they can control the opinion they deliver [to] the Hispanic community," Ubieta says.

Ubieta and Alexandrino join this episode of "The Daily Signal Podcast" to explain why the left is targeting conservative Spanish-language media and how Americano Media is working to furthering the values of faith, family, and patriotism.

Also on today’s show, we cover these stories:

Enjoy the show!

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The American dream looms large in the nation’s psyche. Immigrants flock to our shores to make a better life for themselves, free of the chains that bound them in their countries of origin.

Native-born Americans also can achieve the American dream through hard work and determination.

But recently, many have come to view that dream as unattainable. Some view the system as broken and demand massive changes to fix it.

To Adam Brandon, president of FreedomWorks and author of the new book “America in Perspective: Defending the American Dream for the Next Generation,” that’s a huge problem for the nation’s continued survival.

“We’ve gone through incredibly challenging times, and this is part of our national history. And people forget that you go through these times,” Brandon says, adding:

Brandon joins the “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the American dream and how we can bring it back from the brink.

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