The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | China’s In K-12 Classrooms, Facebook to Welcome Trump Back, Classified Documents | Jan. 26

Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Virginia Allen. I'm Samantha Sherris. And this is the Daily Signal Top News for Thursday, January 26th. Here are today's headlines. China's influence on America's classrooms. That's how we're kicking off today's show. A number of congressional Republicans and Asia policy experts are sounding the alarm over the Chinese Communist Party's influence on K-12 education and colleges in America. The influence is coming through what are called Confucius Institutes and Confucius classrooms. Confucius institutes were first founded in 2004. They are China-founded culture centers that operate on college campuses. In the past few years, these centers have come under increased scrutiny as operations of Chinese state influence. Tennessee Republican Senator Marcia Blackburn says the Chinese Communist Party has been using Confucius. Confucius Institutes as a Trojan horse to push their propaganda and revisionist history in American universities.

Starting point is 00:01:17 And she added that their goal is to control what we see, hear, and think about China. Now, House Republicans have created a panel to investigate Confucius institutes in America. The panel is called the House Select Committee on the strategic competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party. An estimated 500 K-12 schools in the U.S. have had Confucius classrooms, according to our report from the National Association of Scholars. Wisconsin Republican Representative Mike Gallagher is the chairman of the new committee, and he says that Confucius institutes and classrooms allow the Chinese Communist Party to wield influence throughout the American education system, projecting the CCP's preferred message in the United States. We will keep you all informed on what this new House committee uncovers about Confucius institutes and classrooms.

Starting point is 00:02:14 The gross domestic product, or GDP, for the fourth quarter of 2022, increased at an annual rate of 2.9 percent, based on an advance estimate from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Joining today's show to talk about this report is Parker Shepard. He's the director of the Center for Data Analysis here at the Heritage Foundation. Parker, thanks so much for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me. So first and foremost, can you break down this report for us? Sure. The 2.9% real GDP increase was actually a little bit better than what was forecast.

Starting point is 00:02:50 But overall, it comes in at the end of a 2022 that was really underwhelming in terms of growth. It had two consecutive quarters of declining real GDP, which is a common indicator of a recession. a peak in the business cycle. There were two quarters of slow growth at the beginning of 2022, with now the third and now the fourth quarter showing some positive growth. So what happened is real GDP fell a lot during the pandemic. And then it caught up, it kind of slowly caught up to potential GDP, which is kind of its long run stable value.

Starting point is 00:03:33 And then in early 22, it started to fall back below. that again. So there's been this question of, is this a turn in the business cycle? Is this something that is actually going to continue? And also been looking at labor market data and finding conflicting values. If you look at the monthly reports, they've actually shown a growing economy. the unemployment rate is 3.5%. It is near all-time lows. But actually, just yesterday, BLS released more substantial labor data, more comprehensive labor data, that showed if you go back to the second quarter of 2022,

Starting point is 00:04:22 back when we were getting negative real GDP, there were also job losses. So there's conflicting data. And if you look at expectations across the market, it's just kind of, it's like the economy stalled out. That you see rising interest rates from the Federal Reserve trying to get inflation under control. And the expectation is that that would slow growth. We're seeing declining investments, particularly fixed, particularly residential, fixed investment that's falling off and that's exactly what you would expect when you see

Starting point is 00:05:05 rising interest rates that anyone considering about about making an investment they're looking at what the return is if they look at the hurdle that they need to clear from what they could earn on on debt or other things outside of investing in a real activity they just choose not to do it so so analysts are looking at what's happening with the with interest rates there and you're kind of wondering when is the turn going to come. You can look at a lot of people that are emphasizing the positive aspects of this GDP report, and it feels almost kind of like a sigh of relief that they were expecting something much worse, and it turned out not to be the case.

Starting point is 00:05:52 So this is good in the sense that it was a little bit better than expected, but a lot of the expectation is that over the next coming months that this continued run may not last. And we're just kind of looking to see exactly what's happening with the economy. It's not doing gangbusters. It's not rapid growth. But it's not tanking either. It's just kind of stalled out and it's really uncertain as to what's going on. Well, Parker Shepard, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it.

Starting point is 00:06:30 Cool. Thank you. President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and former Vice President Mike Pence, all had classified documents they shouldn't have. Now, the National Archives is asking past presidents and vice presidents to look in their offices, garages, basements, wherever their old files live, and make sure that they don't have any classified documents either. Today, the National Archives sent a letter to the past six presidential administrations, so that goes all the way back to Reagan, asking them to look and see if they have any classified documents. It's worth noting, though, that this letter asks for more than just classified documents. The National Archives is asking that all presidential records of every administration from Reagan onward must be transferred to them regardless of classification status.

Starting point is 00:07:25 CNN reports that representatives from presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, and the late George H.W. Bush all say they have no classified documents. Former President Donald Trump is soon going to be allowed back on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook and Instagram have the same parent company called Meta. and META just announced that in the coming weeks, Trump will once again be allowed back on the platforms. Meta banned Trump from its platforms in early 2021 after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Starting point is 00:08:02 But META says it made the decision to allow Trump back on the platforms because the public should be able to hear what politicians are saying so they can make informed choices. Trump is running for president in 2024. and META says that they don't want to get in the way of open, public, and democratic debate on META's platforms, especially in the context of elections in democratic societies like the United States. Facebook and Instagram say that the public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying, the good, the bad, and the ugly, so that they can make informed choices at the ballot box.

Starting point is 00:08:40 But some policies have changed over at META, policies that they say will deter, repeat, offenses. If Trump posts what meta calls further violating content, it will be taken down, and Trump could again face suspension for anywhere between a month to two years. Heritage Foundation tech policy expert Jake Denton told the Daily Signal that no candidate for public office should ever be banned or suspended from a social media platform. Why? Well, Denton says politicians being allowed on the platform levels the playing field. and says that it is important that each candidate has equal access to the tools necessary to campaign in this growingly digitalized political environment.

Starting point is 00:09:27 Twitter decided to reinstate the former president's account in November, but Trump has yet to post on that platform. But even if Trump decides to start using Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter again, it won't be the same as it once was. Trump has his own social media platform now called Truth Social. The platform is owned by the Trump Media and Technology Group. The contract between Truth Social and Trump Media and Technology Group requires Trump to post on Truth Social before he posts on any other platform. The agreement stipulates that Trump has to post on Truth Social first and must wait six hours before posting the same thing on other social media platforms.

Starting point is 00:10:12 Democrats introduced a bill today to allow tax dollars to go to the funding of abortion. The bill is called the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act. If passed, it would repeal the Hyde Amendment. Now, the Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funds from being used to cover abortions. California Democrat Representative Barbara Lee is one of the pro-abortion representatives backing the federal funding of abortion. bill. She told USA Today that blocking federal funding of abortion is racist. Lee said the Hyde Amendment disproportionately impacts and restricts low-income people, primarily black and brown communities, from accessing the full range of reproductive health services that they should be afforded.

Starting point is 00:11:03 But pro-life advocates say the Hyde Amendment is foundational because many Americans do not want their tax dollars going to fund abortions. Marjorie Danenfelser is the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. She said earlier today that more than 2.5 million Americans are alive today, thanks to the Hyde Amendment. Danand-Felzer added that pro-abortion Democrats continue to ignore the clear will of the people in their push to impose abortion on demand and even infanticide, paid for by taxpayers nationwide. Danenfelser noted that polling released this month shows that 60 and every 100 Americans oppose using tax dollars to fund abortion domestically. And 78 in every 100 oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions abroad. Because Republicans control the House of Representatives, the pro-abortion bill is expected to not move forward.

Starting point is 00:12:03 And that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for listening to The Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Join us tomorrow morning for the Daily Signal interview edition. I'll be sitting down with the Heritage Foundation's Matt Dickerson to discuss the Republican and Democrats battle over the debt ceiling. And make sure to take just a moment to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen. We love hearing all of your feedback. Thanks again for listening.

Starting point is 00:12:39 Have a great night, and we'll be back with you all tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Blewey 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 DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | China’s In K-12 Classrooms, Facebook to Welcome Trump Back, Classified Documents | Jan. 26

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