Month: September 2024

Every Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers. Right after the show, today, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations, calling it a “swamp of anti-Semitic bile.”

Netanyahu’s speech would undoubtedly have put him at the top of the winner’s list this week if he had spoken before the deadline. I’ll take a closer look at what he said and circle back on that next week. Here’s who made the list:

Winner: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Paxton is suing the Biden-Harris administration for their latest requirement that the state actively recruit “LGBTQ+ affirming” foster parents for children who are gay or are suffering from gender confusion or gender dysphoria. This outrageous new federal rule would also require that foster parents pledge to provide “appropriate mental and behavioral health support to LGBTQ+ youth,” an ambiguous statement that could usher in all kinds of bureaucratic interpretation and abuse.

This is one more attempt to inject the inaccurate idea that gender is non-binary into our institutions and adopt the current progressive thinking about how to deal with so-called “transgender” children. Children, including those who think they are the opposite sex, can flourish under loving foster parents. They should not be required to be indoctrinated with left-wing gender theory. Paxton is right for not giving an inch on this.

Loser: Kamala Harris’ Holistic Interview

Even the New York Times panned Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, saying she “failed to answer questions substantively.” That may be the understatement of the year. Harris was simply awful, answering a question about the economy with some gibberish about transportation and its relationship to housing and the need to look at it all “holistically.” She used the word “holistically” three times in 30 seconds.

This was Harris’ first one-on-one interview on cable and she could not have had a stronger champion than Ruhle, who said following the interview that it didn’t matter that Harris had not provided “clear or direct answers” because they weren’t talking about “clear or direct issues.”

By contrast, former President Donald Trump held a press conference at Trump Tower in New York City yesterday where he addressed dozens of “clear and direct” issues from immigration and the economy to Ukraine and the Middle East. The New York Times didn’t like Trump’s comments either – charging that he rambled and talked for far too long. They aren’t wrong about that, but the comparison of the two candidates’ public appearances highlights one of the most basic rules of politics – you can’t beat something with nothing – a rule that is increasingly a problem for Harris.

Loser: Harris Cleanup Tour

After Harris’ disastrous MSNBC interview, Mark Cuban, who still owns 27% of the Dallas Mavericks, went on a Harris media clean-up tour, saying he was supporting the Vice President over Trump because he thought she would be better for business. Cuban doesn’t like Trump’s tariff proposals, but it’s still hard to see how he believes Harris would be better for business, particularly because she proposes to increase the corporate income tax rate to 28% – more than they pay in China or the EU. What could be a more anti-business, job-killing move?

But the bottom line is that Cuban said Harris’ team liked his ideas better than Trump did – so it was kind of a reverse Shark Tank thing.

Cuban told Fox News that he would like to be head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a Harris administration – which may be a very long shot considering how large a role DEI would likely play in hiring, should Harris be elected.  Most of the “White Dudes for Kamala” aren’t actually looking for jobs.

Loser: Gavin Newsom Apology for Slavery

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement this week apologizing for the Golden State’s role in perpetrating slavery, even though California entered the Union as a free state in 1850. The problem with this kind of apology put forth by someone who played no role in perpetrating the crime is that it requires the apologizer to affirm that our history of slavery continues to cause harm in American life today and deny that any progress has been made in working for racial equality.

Newsom’s apology comes after California spent a couple of years determining how to award reparations to African Americans whose descendants had lived in California prior to 1900. The cost, at $1.2 million per person or about a trillion total, was not financially feasible, so Newsom just said he was sorry.

If Newsom wants to offer an apology that would matter, he should tell the veterans, drug addicts, broken families and the mentally ill who are sleeping on California’s city streets how sorry he is that his state’s drug and housing policies have exacerbated their problems. That’s something he actually should apologize for.

Winner: Bastrop County

Elon Musk is moving the headquarters for “X,” formally known as Twitter, to Bastrop County.  Space X and The Boring Company are already located in Bastrop County where Musk has also built Hyperloop Plaza – which includes a bodega and a pub. Musk’s move to Texas continues to benefit the state as the billionaire entrepreneur’s innovation and energy perfectly align with Texas’ productivity and spirit.

Loser: China

China’s newest nuclear submarine has sunk in a shipyard near Wuhan, although it’s not really news, since it happened sometime last spring. China had been trying to cover it up, but news leaked out this week, even as the government still has no official comment.

The U.S. has an advantage over China in submarines and undersea technology and this latest sinking ship makes it clear we will stay in the lead for some time. China’s immediate push in developing submarines is to put pressure on Taiwan and discourage outside intervention. When it comes to military parity, it is always good news if China is losing.

Loser: Britain’s Last Call

England voted in a liberal government the other month and I am adding this to the loser list as a reminder of how progressives think. It seems some in the new Labour Party government believe it would be a good idea to require that bars and pubs close earlier in an attempt to force the Brits to drink less.

Progressive government bureaucrats sanctimoniously note that the state of British health is “morally reprehensible” – a problem they insist must be addressed. They are looking at ways to tackle obesity too. In response to outcries about individual freedom and “nanny state” policies, the government has backed off, but only a little. They will try to work with industries to get them to cut back on drinking hours and fatty foods on their own, but if they don’t, there’s the threat of regulation.

Winner: Texas is Still No. 1

Top ranked Texas is playing Mississippi State in Austin tomorrow and Texas State will play Sam Houston State in San Marcos. Fans will have to maneuver around Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York and Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who will be campaigning before each game for Austin Democrat congressman Greg Casar, D-Texas and we are all hoping that it doesn’t put a damper on either the Longhorns or the Bobcats. Meanwhile, Texas A&M is playing Arkansas in Arlington – one of those “neutral site” games.

With 37 days to go until the election, we are all looking for a “neutral site.”

Have a great weekend.

Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

Sign up to receive this in your inbox every week at www.texaspolicy.com/9thandCongress.

Follow me on X @sylvester1630 and follow my podcast, the Sherry Sylvester Show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers. The countdown to the November election continues—45 days to go. There are some big wins as well as some colossal losers to report this week. Here’s who made the list:

Winner: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Gov. Abbott declared war on the brutal and murderous Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, this week promising to bring the full force of Texas government on gang members. He went to El Paso, where many of the gang members are concentrated, and promised to use the courts and enhanced criminal penalties that came with the passage of Senate Bill 4 last year to keep the dangerous gang members behind bars for a long time. More than 3,000 Venezuelans have migrated into Texas illegally since 2021, and 200 are currently wanted by the authorities.

Incredibly, the mainstream media’s response to the Venezuelan crime in Texas, and elsewhere, is to insist that it has been exaggerated by Republicans, even though the feds have also declared Tren De Aragua a transnational criminal organization. Abbott changed the national conversation on immigration when he bused illegal migrants from the border to so-called “sanctuary cities” so the rest of the country could see the impact of massive immigration on communities and crime first-hand. His decision to focus on the ruthless gang activity is also likely to shift the narrative.

Winner: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Following the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Florida last week, DeSantis announced that his state will also investigate the attempted shooting. DeSantis promised an investigation that will be transparent, saying federal officials have “clammed up” on the on-going investigation of the Trump assassination attempt in Pennsylvania—but he will do better.

The federal investigations following both the assassination attempts on Trump have been sluggish and murky. It is a good bet that the free state of Florida will be more aggressive in its pursuit of the facts.

Loser: Trans Agenda in Texas

The National Republican Congressional Committee launched ads this week targeting South Texas Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, for his congressional votes in support of legislation allowing men to use women’s restrooms and letting men who think they are women play in women’s sports. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz went after his opponent, Rep. Colin Allred, with new ads for voting the same way. Both Democrats waived off the charges against them, suggesting, in a Kamala Harris-kind of way that voters want to talk about bread-and-butter issues like inflation and jobs, not trans issues.

They are likely right about that, but that does not mean Texas voters are willing to overlook the Democrats’ ongoing efforts to normalize the aggressive transgender agenda which includes allowing children to receive dangerous cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers and even unnecessary castrations and mastectomies while calling it “gender affirming care.”

Democrats try to pretend this is a civil rights issue—the legislation Gonzalez and Allred supported was called the “Equality Act” —but it has nothing to do with gay rights. The majority of Texas voters oppose every aspect of the transgender agenda, from open bathrooms to the attack on women’s sports. Allred and Gonzalez are both saying that their positions are being misrepresented in the campaign ads, but they voted with the Democrats on the trans agenda and Republicans are right to hold them accountable for it.

Loser: Colin Allred

Colin Allred made another Kamala Harris-like move this week when he first proudly posted that he had been endorsed by an anti-fracking group, the National Resources Defense Council, and then pulled the announcement down and announced that he, like Harris, has supported fracking all along.

With only 45 days to go until the election, Democrats believe they can pretend that it wasn’t the Biden-Harris Administration that cut back almost all drilling leases on federal lands, canceled the Keystone Pipeline, drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and heaped tons of production-killing regulation on the oil and gas industry. Climate change zealotry is a core belief for Democrats and they will not back away from their war on fossil fuels once the election is over. They are only pretending.

Winner: TEA Commissioner Mike Morath

Morath told the Senate Higher Education Committee that week that he believes students should be banned from carrying cellphones at school. Noting that the latest data shows that only 41% of Texas students can do basic math, Morath believes the distraction of cellphones is harmful to student progress.

Tons of data indicates that cellphones have a negative impact on kids ,and giving them up during school hours is not as draconian as taking them away all together, which is what many experts recommend. Some Texas districts have already banned cell phones, but they must overcome blowback from many parents who believe the phones are essential for monitoring their children’s activities throughout the day. The Legislature will debate whether to impose a statewide ban or let the districts decide, but it is important that Education Commissioner Morath put this on the table.

Winner: Trump’s Teamsters “Endorsement”

When the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced this week that it would not endorse Democrat Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, it was a victory for former President Trump, even though they didn’t endorse him either. The Teamsters released internal voting data showing almost 60% of their members are supporting Trump.

The Teamsters have endorsed every Democrat presidential candidate since 1996. When Teamsters president Sean O’Brien spoke to the Republican National Convention in July, it sent shockwaves through Democrats who were forced to acknowledge that Trump’s message resonates with working class voters. Harris’ campaign has fought back with its “White Dudes for Kamala” groups, but so far polling does not indicate that working class men—the base of Trump’s support—is moving toward the Vice President.

Winner: David Axelrod

Perhaps that’s because Kamala just doesn’t sound authentic. But don’t take that from me. I have conservative bias. Harris mostly sounds unhinged to me whenever she talks. But a big guy on the Democrat team, David Axelrod, a former Obama advisor, said this week that Harris is having trouble gaining traction because when she talks about economics it “sounds like its flowing from a poll.”

So when you hear Harris talk and it sounds phony when she says she was raised in a middle-class family and just wants to make life better for working people, it’s not just you. Apparently, she even sounds like a phony to Democrats.

Winner: Patrick Mahomes

Following the hoopla over Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris for President, it is notable that Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback (and former Texas Tech star) Patrick Mahomes said he would use his platform to encourage people to do their own research and vote. Humility among celebrities is rare these days and it is refreshing that Mahomes does not believe that his back-to-back Super Bowl wins gives him any special political insight that he should share with voters.

Loser: Texas Commuters

Next time you are stuck at a railroad crossing for what seems like hours, know that you are having what is, in many ways, a distinctly Texas experience. A report in the Wall Street Journal this week revealed that Texas is hosting far more so-called “monster trains” —some of which are three miles long—than any other state in the country.

Texas reported 8,000 blocked railroad crossings in the past year. No other state is even close to that number. Illinois, which ranks second, had about 1,600 blocked railroad crossings a year.

The good news is that the long freight trains are a sign of Texas strong economy. They are largely carrying cargo out of our ports on the Gulf. The bad news, of course, is that it can take forever to get anywhere.

Winner – Texas Football

After Week 3 in college football season, UT’s football team made it to the No. 1 spot and Texas A&M is back in the top 25. Arch Manning will start tomorrow for UT against Louisiana-Monroe while Quinn Ewers recovers from a strained muscle. Texas A&M plays Bowling Green and Texas Tech goes up against Arizona State. Looks like it’s going to be a good day for it.

Have a great weekend.

Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

Sign up to receive this in your inbox every week at www.texaspolicy.com/9thandCongress.

Follow me on X @sylvester1630 and follow my podcast, the Sherry Sylvester Show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.