The Daily Signal - Hostage Deal, Elon Musk Sues Media Matters, Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner | Nov. 21

Starting point is 00:00:00 Snap up Ancestry DNA's lowest price ever in our incredible cyber sale. With 50% off Ancestry DNA kits, it's the perfect time to help a loved one unwrap the past. And with their latest update, they'll discover their family origins like never before. With even more precise regions and new and exclusive features, their best gift, our lowest price. 50% off Ancestry DNA, only until December 2nd. Visit Ancestry.ca for more details. Terms apply. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Tuesday, November 21st.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Here are today's headlines. A hostage deal between Israel and Hamas appears to be near completion as of this afternoon. In the deal, Hamas would release some captives held in Gaza, and Israel would release some Palestinian prisoners. According to a USA Today report citing Israeli Channel 12, about 50 abdivis. the abducted Israelis would be freed, most of the hostages being women and children. Israel would reportedly release between 150 and 300 Palestinian prisoners in exchange. Israel's government said that no Palestinian prisoners accused of murder will be released. There were protests in the streets of Israel today calling for Israeli leaders to take the hostage deal, per Suleiman Ahmed's ex-page.

Starting point is 00:01:41 Once the deal is completed, Israeli citizens will have 24 hours to petition the government against the release of any of the Palestinian prisoners. Both Israel and Hamas have called this deal a limited ceasefire, with prisoners being released over a period of days. However, once the exchange has been completed, hostilities will continue. While turning to the tech world for a little bit of news today, Elon Musk's X-Corp, formerly known as Twitter, sued Media Matters for defamation on Monday. The left-wing website released a report saying that X ads appeared on anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi content on the platform. The report triggered several notable advertisers to halt their spending on X, including Apple, Disney, and IBM. Must said he would go thermonuclear on Media Matters and filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas days later. The lawsuit claims that Media Matters

Starting point is 00:02:55 manipulated the platform to have ads appear on fringe content. It also says that the report was done to create a false misleading perception of how X operates. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he launched an investigation into Media Matters for what he called potential fraudulent activity. Media Matters president said that the lawsuit was frivolous and a means to bully critics into silence. Oklahoma Republican Representative Josh Burkine is leading GOP lawmakers in introducing two pieces of pro-life legislation challenging President Joe Biden's efforts to increase the number of abortions. The Daily Signals, Mary Margaret Ollahan, reported that the bill called the no abortion coverage for Medicaid Act

Starting point is 00:03:47 addresses a move by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services to allow states to access federal funds for abortion. In August of 2022, shortly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services sent a letter inviting states to use federal funds under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act, to help promote abortion. Burkine argued that that's a clear violation of congressional intent since the Hyde Amendment bans federal funds from being used for abortions.

Starting point is 00:04:24 The Oklahoma lawmakers legislation would amend Section 1115 of the Social Security Act to clarify that the Department of Health and Human Services can't approve applications of extensions for Medicaid projects that provide funding for abortion or benefits that include abortion, such as travel expenses, incurred while obtaining an abortion. Thanksgiving is around the corner and Americans are preparing their mashed potatoes, their stuffing, and of course, their turkey. But the cost of that Thanksgiving meal is slated to be quite a bit higher this Thanksgiving, actually hitting a record high due to inflation. Here with us to discuss further is Heritage Foundation Research Fellow in the Center for,

Starting point is 00:05:11 for the federal budget. E.J. and Tony. E.J., thank you for being with us today. Oh, thank you for having me. E.J., share with us, if you would, how much more Americans are going to be paying for their Thanksgiving dinner this year compared to recent years? Well, unfortunately, you're going to be spending about 26% more this year than you did before Joe Biden took office because all of the staples of your Thanksgiving dinner have gone up so much. What's really sad is that this is happening to Americans at a time of year when we're supposed to be giving thanks for our abundance. And instead, a lot of Americans who are faced with record credit card debt are having to cut back, whether that's making less food or inviting less people.

Starting point is 00:05:58 So when you look at some of those core things like your turkey, your stuffing, your pumpkin pie, have all of those items individually gone up? Oh, dramatically. You know, your turkey is going to be about a third, more expensive. Stuffing is roughly that much as well. Mashed potatoes aren't quite as bad, but things like the pumpkin pie that you mentioned are up well over 20%. Wow. And so when you put all of these things together, it really, really is devastating, not just because it's a single meal, but because it's emblematic of the higher food prices which families are facing year-round.

Starting point is 00:06:37 So inflation is the reason why we're spending more. on the turkey and the stuffing and the potatoes this year. But what is driving inflation? Oh, that is a great question. It is entirely from the government spending, borrowing, and printing much too much money. And unfortunately, it's not really slowing down. And that's why we continue to see these high prices. For example, the Treasury had to borrow half a trillion dollars just in the month of October alone.

Starting point is 00:07:09 And so until we can rein in the government largesse that we have right now, we're going to continue to see these high prices, and they're going to march higher. So you use that term rain in. What does that look like to rein in spending so that by Thanksgiving next year, we're not having to spend even more for our Thanksgiving dinner? Well, it means the government needs to spend much less money. But it also means that we need to reduce the amount of government transfers because that's really killing, economic growth. It's basically a fancy way of saying whenever the government takes a dollar from one person and gives it to someone else because that has had a tremendous dampening effect on the growth in our economy. You don't have much incentive to work if the government takes

Starting point is 00:07:54 the proceeds of your work away from you and gives it to someone who's not working. E.J., thank you. We appreciate you joining us to break this down. We hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and that none of us break the bank too much on our Thanksgiving dinner. But have a great holiday. You too, Virginia. Thank you very much. And that's going to do it for today's episode, but a quick announcement before you go today. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will not be having top news the rest of the week. We hope that you maybe take a little bit of a break from the news this week. Enjoy time with family and friends. We will be back with top news on Monday, November 27th. But We do have a very special episode tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:08:39 I am sitting down for the Daily Signal interview edition tomorrow morning with the Harmon brothers. Jeff and Neil Harmon to talk about Angel Studios, some of the content that they have coming out later on this year, including a brand new film hitting theaters on December 1st called The Shift. We also discuss something called the Angel Guild that allows Americans like yourself to be a part of actually determining. what content that Angel Studios is considering posting on their platform actually hits movie theaters. It's a really unique program and something that we get into the details of exactly how it works during our conversation tomorrow morning. So be sure to check out that interview. And then on Thanksgiving morning, we have a special bonus episode talking about the history of Thanksgiving.

Starting point is 00:09:27 We're sharing an episode from the Kevin Roberts Show from here at the Heritage Foundation. and we dive into some of the reasons why we actually celebrate Thanksgiving. So be sure to check out that conversation. But as far as top news, we will see you next week. But be sure to check out those conversations, both tomorrow and Thanksgiving morning. And hey, over the holiday, if you have a little extra time, take a minute to leave the daily signal, a rating and review on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Caffbox, wherever you like to listen. And also be sure to hit that subscribe button so that you never miss out on brand new shows.

Starting point is 00:10:00 Thanks again for being with us today. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will see you right back here tomorrow morning for my conversation with Neil and Jeff Harmon. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Lewy and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit Daily Signal. dot com.

The Daily Signal - Hostage Deal, Elon Musk Sues Media Matters, Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner | Nov. 21

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