Author: Sherry Sylvester

Every Friday morning I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers in public policy, politics, sports and culture in Texas, America and the world. After wading through the post-debate fog for the last couple weeks, here’s my list for the week ending July 12.

The “Big Boy” Press Conference at the NATO Summmit last night turned out to be a winner for both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Biden wasn’t great, but he did well enough to demonstrate that his brain doesn’t always operate as it did at the debate, although he did reveal he’s limited to about 3 talking points on any issue before just saying “anyway” and trailing off. The 15 days since the debate have been terrific for conservatives who are not only basking in the vindication of having known for a couple years that President Biden frequently performs a taco short of the full enchilada platter. Now, of course, many in the media admit they actually knew it too and we are watching them flail, stunned that a New York Times Editorial would not convince Biden to step down. Then, they up the ante, figuring that surely an op-ed from George Clooney will get him to acquiesce.

Apparently these people have never watched how a “king slayer” operates on “Game of Thrones.” A knife to the gut is the only thing that reliably gets a king off the throne and a figurative knife to the gut will be required here. Biden said in his press conference that polls would have to show he has no chance to win. It is doubtful such a poll exists or will ever exist. The country is evenly divided. Biden will lose if his cognitive decline costs him a couple more points among swing voters than Trump’s bogus conviction cost him. Because of our polarization, a seismic shift either way is unlikely. If Biden stays in, he will almost certainly be within “striking distance” until November. New polls come out all the time, like the new NPR Marist poll this morning that shows Biden running two points ahead of Trump. The President is not going to pay any attention to the polls.

For a Texas historical minute on this, ask the people who tried to get former Lt. Governor David Dewhurst to step aside after current Lt. Governor Dan Patrick beat him by double digits in the 2014 GOP primary. Polls were commissioned to show Dewhurst he didn’t have a chance of closing the gap. He ignored them. Patrick trounced him in the run-off by 30 points. That’s what is meant by a knife to the gut.

Speaking of Lt. Governor Patrick, he’s on the winner’s list this week for his handling of Hurricane Beryl while Governor Greg Abbott is out of the country. Although the Houston Chronicle will always quibble, Patrick, who is one of the best elected communicators in the country, provided Texans with hour by hour updates and kept the state informed and connected to Texas’ emergency disaster management resources. Of the many mistakes Biden made this week, one was picking a fight with Patrick about disaster declaration, a move which allowed the Lt. Governor to appear on local television all over the state calling the president incompetent or forgetful.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy is also on the winner’s list this week for his legislation strengthening prohibitions against non-citizen voting. Most Democrats voted against it and it will undoubtedly die in the Senate. Still, Republicans were right to pass this bill because it has already caused Democrats to pull out their old talking points in opposition to requiring a photo voter ID to vote. They call it racist. Photo Voter ID, of course, has the support of virtually everyone regardless of race or ethnicity so this attack is one more blow to identity politics and Democrat credibility.

Vice President Kamala Harris is on the loser list even though she clearly has a better chance of becoming president now than ever in her life as many Democrats believe it would be better to have the word salad queen, known for accomplishing nothing during her tenure in office, than the tragically failing Biden. However, it is important to remember that since October 7, Harris has repeatedly demonstrated that in the Middle East, her sympathies are with Hamas, not Israel. This past week she said the protesters on American campuses are demonstrating “exactly what the human emotion should be as a response to Gaza.” No, Madame Vice President, they aren’t. The only response to the Hamas attack on Israel is unequivocal outrage, not support for the terrorists who perpetrated it.

Former President Barack Obama is on the loser list for so many reasons, but these stand out for this week: (1) picking Joe Biden as his vice president (2) picking Hillary Clinton instead of Biden to run as his successor in 2016 (3) consequently, not having the clout to tell the current President he needs to step down (4) greenlighting George Clooney’s New York Times op-ed telling Biden to drop out, as if Biden, or anyone would care what some actor thinks. Now we hear that Obama’s team is behind the “get rid of Biden” movement. Is says something that Democrats view Obama as the best leader they have.

Nikki Haley is on the winner’s list for releasing her delegates so they can vote for Trump and reiterating that Biden is not competent to serve. And, in case anybody wondered, she also noted that Harris “would be a disaster for America.” Remember that Biden’s cognitive decline was a key talking point of Haley’s presidential campaign which ended in March. Apparently, the national media who claimed they were shocked by Biden’s performance in the debate, didn’t hear Haley when she repeatedly said Biden didn’t have the mental clarity to do the job.

And how about that George Stephanopoulos? First, he was going to provide the Biden interview that would either put the post-debate doubts to rest or provide proof that the debate was not a one-off. It did neither because everyone knew the interview was edited and nobody trusts Stephanopoulos or ABC. Then, he “accidentally” got caught on camera saying he doesn’t think the President can make it for four more years. Apparently, he couldn’t get Biden to demonstrate that during the interview. He’s a loser.

Carrollton ISD is a winner for standing up against Biden’s proposed Title IX rules requiring public schools to treat gender identity as if it were a race or ethnicity– with all the pronouns and gender neutral bathrooms that come with that. Governor Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton had already told school districts to ignore the regulations, but Carrollton asked for the injunction as well, knowing they are risking millions in federal education dollars. Last week they got it.

Let’s put “a Threat to Democracy” on the losers list this week. The “threat” is losing its potency for all but the most rabid. Democrats and their media allies are currently tearing themselves apart to stop the re-election of former President Trump because they insist he is a “threat to democracy.” Polls repeatedly tell us that if Americans believe democracy is endangered, (which is a big if) they view Democrats to be as big a threat as Republicans. An Ipsos Poll recently found that 38% of voters believe Republicans will protect democracy and 38% believe Democrats will. This CBS/YouGov Poll chart below phrases the question a little differently but shows the same thing:

Finally, WNBA star Caitlin Clark is on the winners list again this week for becoming the first WNBA rookie to score a triple double, after tying the record for double-doubles last week. This phenomenal athlete is also quite a jokester. Take a look at her postgame response to breaking a new record here.

Anyway…that’s 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.

Every Friday morning at 8:30AM, I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers. We run the gambit from public policy and political trends to sports and culture in Texas, America and the world.

Here’s my list for the week ending June 28.

The big winner, of course, is former President Donald Trump, who didn’t have a great night at the first, and maybe the only, presidential debate of 2024, but still was good enough to trounce President Joe Biden, proving once again that the only relevant question in politics is “compared to what.” CNN’s Flash Poll immediately following the debate found that 67% of those watching believed Trump won the debate, while only 33% of those watching thought Biden won. This flipped the numbers from 2020 when 60% thought Biden had beaten Trump in the opening debate to only 30% for Trump. CNN’s pollsters also found that 14% are reconsidering their vote after the debate.

CNN’s reputation was also on the line last night and although many of their colleagues in the mainstream media disagreed I am counting CNN and it’s moderators as winners too. Jack Tapper and Dana Bash, came in with truckloads of anti-Trump bias, but with some notable exceptions on questions to Trump, they managed to pull off as balanced a debate as anyone expected the mainstream media to be able to manage. You do have to wonder why they decided to employ a split screen throughout the debate, making the lost and unfocused face of Biden all the more prominent.

That said, the so-called “fact checks” conducted by CNN and the Associated Press were loaded with bias, labeling everything Trump said as untrue, regardless of the facts. Meanwhile, they glossed over many of the looney statements Biden made including his frequent statements regarding the numbers of people coming into the country illegally and his denial of the economic state of the country.

Americans will be unpacking last night’s show in the days to come as Democrats ponder whether Biden was so bad that he has to be removed from the ticket, but whatever they decide, at this point, it looks like the debate could be a gamechanger. We won’t know for sure until we see more polling next week.

Hillary Clinton wasn’t in the big debate last night but she is a big winner this week for endorsing Jamaal Bowman‘s opponent in the Congressional race in suburban New York. Bowman, a squad member who was been outspoken – to say the least – against Israel was defeated by George Latimer who went after Bowman for his blatant anti-Semitism. Bernie Sanders and AOC were backing Bowman, but Clinton took the other side. Clinton moved to New York in order to run for the U.S. Senate and lives close to the district.

Texas is also a big winner again this week for adding more jobs than any other state in the union over the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Governor Greg Abbott announced this week that 316,700 new jobs had been created in Texas, news that falls into the “same old, same old” category for people who are paying attention, but we should never forget that our state is the economic engine that helps keep the entire country afloat despite everything Biden has done to slow down prosperity and growth, particularly in the oil and gas industry.

A big loser this week is Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services who pressured an international group of health experts to take the age requirements out of the guidelines for children to receive sex change procedures including puberty blockers and surgeries. Getting the World Professional Association for Transgender Youth to back off was not easy because many European countries have stopped physical interventions for children suffering from gender confusion because the data show it isn’t effective. However, emails reveal that Levine pressured them to drop the requirements that children be at least 18 because of the political implications in the U.S. where the left still needs to keep progressives in line.

The New York Times has admitted that “…several countries in Europe, including Sweden and Britain, have recently placed new restrictions on gender medications for adolescents after reviews of the scientific evidence. In those countries’ health systems, surgeries are only available to patients 18 and older.”

Two more losers are Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg who announced this week that he has dropped the charges against most of the protesters at Columbia University, despite property damage and days of disruption in New York City. Back at home the Travis County District Attorney Delia Garza also dropped charges against most of the protesters who were arrested at the University of Texas in late April and early May. Both Bragg and Garza both cited lack of evidence and suggested police officers should not have been on campus.

A big loser this week is Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal who is seen laughing at a Fox News chyron noting that a Ecuadorian migrant was arrested for raping a 13-year old New York City girl. Appearing on MSNBC, Jayapal was asked to compare the chyron’s of MSNBC, which read “Soon: Biden announces legal protections for undocumented spouses of citizens” and CNN, which read “Biden announces new protections for some undocumented spouses” to Fox News which announced the rape. Jayapal laughed to demonstrate that she believed it was obvious Fox News was using scare tactics regarding crime and illegal immigrants. For those who are victims of crimes at the hands of illegals, including the family of Jocelyn Nungaray, who was recently killed in Houston, the only appropriate response is outrage – laugher is heinously callous.

Finally, a big win for Texas as Blue Bell ice cream announced this week that their Oatmeal Cream Pie ice cream is back by popular demand. I am not a fan but apparently many people are. Is this a great democracy or what?

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 8:30AM, I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers. We run the gambit from public policy and political trends to sports and culture in Texas, America and the world.

Here’s my list for the week ending June 21.

The first big winner is Sen. Ted Cruz who is up 11 points in the latest Texas Polling Project poll. Cruz also reeled in a million dollar donation from casino mogul Miriam Adelson, which should help him fend off the millions Democrats are planning to spend to try to beat him. Finally, in a week when national Democrats have been pushing the idea of “cheap fakes” to suggest that video footage of President Joe Biden’s campaign stumbles aren’t real, Cruz introduced legislation to protect against the actual deep fakes that are being used to victimize women and girls.

The same poll that has Cruz up double digits also found that Republicans say immigration is the biggest threat the country is currently facing while Democrats say that it is the “threat to democracy” – whatever that means. Texas Democrats may not have noticed that Gavin Newsom, Governor of the biggest blue state in America, is a pretty big threat to democracy himself. He went to court this week to take away the citizens’ right to vote on tax increases. At Newsom’s urging the California Supreme Court took a ballot initiative petition off the ballot that had been signed by over a million people who say they are drowning under California’s tax burden. The Court said the anti-tax increase initiative would “upend the way government works.”  Seriously? Pretty sure that was the point of the petition. Newsom is on the losers list.

In other California news, a mayoral debate in San Francisco this week featured incumbent Mayor London Breed asking her opponent to name three drag queens and to provide a list of LGBTQ+ advisors to his campaign. Breed’s challenger, Mark Farrell, declined although he said he has two staffers in the “queer community.” San Francisco was also named the worst run city in the country this week. Perhaps Mayor Breed believes having a list of drag queens at your fingertips is key to the Golden Gate City making a comeback. Put them all on the losers list.

Texans also picked their own winners and losers on that new Texas Polling Project poll. They told pollsters that the institutions they view most favorably are first, local businesses, then the military, the police and churches. Texas state government and municipal government tied for the last spot in the top five, which will be a blow to all those local governments who try to paint state government as the villain. In terms of losers, Texans put corporations based outside the United States at the bottom of the worst five, followed by the criminal justice system, the federal government and the news media.

It’s not clear what to make of the news that the University of Texas at Austin fired about 20 communications staffers this week. According to an anonymous source, the employees were told they were being pushed out so the university could focus on “managing reputational issues and crises” presumably which resulted after UT called the Dept. of Public Safety onto the campus to stop the encampment of pro-terrorist protesters earlier this year. Many professors at UT were also upset after the university fired dozens of DEI staff in order to comply with state law which bans the racially divisive programs. However, despite the wailing from the UT faculty, both those actions likely boosted the reputation of the state’s premier university. Polling conducted for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni found that almost 70% of Texans supported bringing in state police to stop campus encampments. Similarly, TPPF conducted polling in April which found that 68 percent of Texans – including African American and Hispanic Texans – do not believe there should be special programs like DEI for black, Hispanic or gay students.

Counting it as a win for former president Donald Trump when the New York Times reported last week that if everyone who is eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election voted, Trump would win by 14 points. Elections are always about turnout, so this number doesn’t matter much in the horse race.  What is important about this data is that it exposes the liberal lie that conservative legislation, like requiring photo voter identification at the polls, suppresses Democrat voters. Texas Democrats have been saying for years that “Texas isn’t a red state, it’s a non-voting state.”  Perhaps now they will take a look and see if their woke policy platform might be why they consistently lose elections.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that the federal budget deficit will jump to $1.9 trillion this year, a 27% increase from the February estimate. Almost half the increase is a result of Joe Biden’s policies on student loan repayment and his massive student loan forgiveness – one of the policies that keeps the president on the loser list. To understand how this works in real life, Ben Kamens, who works for a Democrat congresswoman, tweeted this week: “Just got a call to let me know my student debt has been canceled. This is why elections matter. Thanks Joe Biden.”

Outraged folks dived into the internet to find that Kamens reportedly makes $80K a year and his loan was already being repaid by a federal employee loan repayment program. We’ll add Kamens, whose salary is also paid by taxpayers, to the loser list too for his massive demonstration of cluelessness.

The same kind of cluelessness was visible in Fort Worth this week when at least four City Council members proposed raising the minimum wage for all city employees to twenty dollars an hour – a move that would cost $117 million and almost surely result in a property tax increase for Fort Worth taxpayers.

For a winner who understands that our tax dollars belong to us, we turn to former Vice President Mike Pence, who pledged $10 million this week to fight the repeal of the Trump Tax Cuts which are set to expire in 2025. Trump’s newest tax cut idea, to end taxes on tips is also a winner idea.

Finally, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but if TNT commentator Charles Barkley is really retiring that will be a loss for us all. Barkley is all over the map at times, but his funny and fearless observations on the state of the country extend far beyond basketball. Let’s hope it’s just a head fake.

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 8:30AM, I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers. We run the gambit from public policy and political trends to sports and culture in Texas, America and the world.

Here’s my list for the week ending June 14.

The first winner of the week is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who scored a big win in federal court this week when U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth ruled the U.S. Department of Education did not have the power to change the Title IX law to include men and boys who think they are girls. The Biden administration had threatened to withdraw federal funds from schools that did not comply.

Notice in this news report how NBC News is doing their part to push the transgender agenda. They describe Biden’s regulation as preventing schools from “discriminating against students based on their gender identity or sexual orientation, such as by requiring students to use bathrooms and other facilities that correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth.”

Uh, sex is not “assigned at birth,” it is recorded. It’s a chromosome thing. Follow the science.

The same message goes to a big loser this week, Florida District Judge Robert Hinkle, who struck down Florida’s law banning puberty blockers, unnecessary mastectomies and castrations on children – so called “gender affirming care.” He accused Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republicans who passed the legislation of “racism and misogyny.”

This comes at a time when most of Europe, including England, has stopped providing puberty blockers and other medical interventions to treat gender dysphoria because there isn’t any medical data that indicates it is effective. Counter to the most prevalent propaganda, medical intervention does not prevent suicides in people experiencing gender dysphoria and the side effects of “gender affirming care” are chilling. Counseling and talk therapy are proving a better option. England is especially important to watch on this issue because they have been doing gender transition surgeries since the 1950’s and have the most data to analyze.

Another loser on “gender issues” this week is Liam Morrison, a middle schooler in Massachusetts who lost his free speech battle in a federal court which ruled that his school in Middleborough could bar him from wearing a T-shirt that reads: “There are only 2 Genders.” The Alliance Defending Freedom said, “This case isn’t about T-shirts; it’s about a public school telling a middle-schooler that he isn’t allowed to express a view that differs from their own.” Not going to put Liam on the losers list, but will chalk it up to a loss for the First Amendment. ADF is considering an appeal.

Finishing up what has turned out to be a whole “gender issues” section is a win for women athletes everywhere — Lia Thomas, a man who competes in women’s NCAA swimming, won’t be going to the Olympics. Thomas has been on the loser list for some time.

Of course, Hunter Biden is also a big loser this week. The fact that he was found guilty in Delaware says a great deal about just how guilty he was. The trial told us way more than we want to know about who he is and, unfortunately, we can’t unsee it.

Amarillo City Council is on the winners list for rejecting what was called an “abortion travel ban” to stop women who might be traveling through Amarillo to another state to get an abortion. Amarillo resident Michael Ford most clearly articulated the position of many in Amarillo’s pro-life community when he said, “I firmly believe that what women and families need most in crisis is love, compassion, and support, not the threat of public shame and humiliation.”

Unfortunately, the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard is a loser this week. As if the Title IX stunt wasn’t enough, in another move to pander to his progressive base, Biden’s Department of Fish and Wildlife Services designated the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, which only lives in the Permian Basin, as an endangered species. The Permian is the largest oil and gas producing region in the world and the Bidenites slapped down the endangered species designation in a clear attempt to hamper oil and gas production, despite the fact that oil and gas producers in the region have been working with the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife for over a decade to ensure that the lizard’s homeland is protected. My colleagues at TPPF note that in announcing the new designation, Fish and Wildlife provided “next to no scientific data demonstrating that the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard is presently or will soon be endangered.”

Bureaucrats have been trying since 1982 to use the lizard to slow down oil and gas production, but it hasn’t worked. The lizard is not extinct and I am betting the people of the Permian can produce energy and keep on keeping the little lizard safe.

Another winner is Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson. If you haven’t read the latest Texas Monthly profile of him, take a look at it now. Johnson, converted from Democrat to Republican last year, which continues to make him a winner. In this interview, he tells it like it is, saying, among other things, “I learned that the real heart of the Democratic Party is with the criminals and that it feels more sympathy toward the offenders. The Democratic Party does not take public safety seriously… so, I joined the party that’s right on public safety.”

Also, in a series of responses that clearly drove the lefty Texas Monthly interviewer crazy, Johnson said:

Being the mayor of Dallas, in some people’s minds, was me taking something that I wasn’t entitled to. I started getting all kinds of hate, and it was coming, disproportionately, from people on the left. From a lot of white liberals. They would tell me that I shouldn’t run for mayor because I’m doing “so well” as a state representative. It felt like people were telling me to stay in my place… I do believe that some folks, primarily white liberals, have a problem with a strong-willed, competent, self-assured, highly educated Black man leading their city. Period. I said it. You got me to say it. That, as an African American, he’s always felt people from the left who patronized him and encouraged him to “stay in his place.”

Finally, the close out winners this week are the Congressional Republicans who trounced Democrat House members 31 to 11 in the annual Congressional Baseball Game. Texans had a big boost from the start since this year’s game was in honor of former President George H.W. Bush who would have turned 100 on Wednesday. Bush, who played baseball for Yale, was an avid baseball fan who participated in the game when he was in Congress. Play was interrupted by some climate protesters, but they didn’t manage to spoil the fun.

That’s all for now. Have a great weekend.

The Texan Founder and CEO Konni Burton is my latest guest on the Sherry Sylvester Show. If you missed it, you can watch it here.

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 8:30AM, I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers. We run the gambit from public policy and political trends to sports and culture in Texas, America and the world.

Here’s my list for the week ending June 7.

It was a week filled with gratitude for the courage and heroism of those brave Americans who stormed the beaches on D-Day. Those of the greatest generation will remain winners for all time. American pride seemed to bring the country together for a bit as Americans remembered our connection to those who risked their lives and died to save Europe and the world expanding the American legacy of freedom that is part of our DNA.

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton apparently was not moved by it all. She took the opportunity to push the tiresome partisan trope that her former political opponent, Donald Trump, is a threat to democracy.  She posted:

Eighty years ago today, thousands of brave Americans fought to protect democracy on the shores of Normandy. This November all we have to do is vote.

It was also noted this week that Hillary was fined $8000.00 for misrepresenting the money she paid to create the Steele Dossier, her phony report on Russian involvement in her 2016 campaign, as “legal expenses,” precisely what Trump is now facing jail time for.  The term “loser” doesn’t adequately to cover it.

The Texans who want to challenge the New York Stock Exchange by establishing a Dallas–based stock exchange have a tough hill to climb, but it’s likely a big win for the state no matter how it turns out.  The Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE) would be an ongoing demonstration that the Texas pro-business formula of low taxes and reasonable regulation works.  Texas is routinely one of the top job creators in the country and businesses come online, without the requirements of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental social governance (ESG) that hamstring companies, depress profits and inhibit productivity and innovation.  Reports indicate Blackrock and Citadel Securities are leading the charge while Elon Musk, Mark Cuban and Texas Governor Greg Abbott are cheering it on.   Where do you sign up to ring the bell?

Another winner is Houston Mayor John Whitmire.  He faced a huge backlash in March when he ignored the demands of pro-Palestinian groups in the Bayou City who threatened the Mayor with a loss of “audience” and “business partnerships” if he did not call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists.  The Mayor ignored the threat and this week he celebrated the 76th anniversary of the founding of Israel with the Jewish Community in Houston where he vowed to continue to fight anti-Semitism anywhere he sees it.

President Joe Biden is on the loser list again, this time for his Executive Order pretending to address the crisis at the southern border.  After three years of policies that have allowed eight million people to enter the country illegally, Biden finally issued an executive order that cannot even be described as “too little, too late.”  Instead it’s “nothing, too late.”  My colleagues at TPPF, Rodney Scott and Selene Rodriguez call it political theatre, noting Biden’s only goal was to try to get some good press on the border issue, undoubtedly because it is now the top concern of voters across the country who will decide whether to re-elect him in November.  Biden rolled back dozens of border policies that were keeping the border secure when he came into office in 2021.  Jiggering with the asylum application process at this late date is, frankly, pathetic.

Two professors at the University of Texas at Austin, Daniel Bonevac and John Hatfield make the winners list this week for pushing back on President Biden’s Title IX revisions.  Biden expanded Title IX to include men who say they are women.  According to the Austin American Statesman, the professors say they would not discriminate against men who dress as women in hiring but they would not allow them to dress in drag or appear in clothing of the opposite sex while they are teaching.  They also said they would not give excused absences for non-medically necessary abortions or address any student with a plural pronoun like “they” instead of him and her.  Obama tried to legalize and normalize men saying they are women in 2017 with a threat to take away funding to public schools if they didn’t open girls bathrooms to boys. He was not successful.  Like the professors, most Americans don’t want to discriminate against anyone, but they simply don’t support the so-called “trans agenda” being pushed by progressives. That’s probably why there is growing concern that guy who just became the new Miss Maryland USA will be spending so much time around children. Put him on the losers list.

The National Center for Energy Analytics is a winner this week for giving us more news about what transitioning to electric cars is actually going to cost.  The NCEA’s new report finds that the cost of building the charging stations and infrastructure to service electric cars will run somewhere between $2 to $4 trillion.  That’s the cost of the charging stations and getting electricity to those charging stations – something that hasn’t been in the calculation so far.  Taxpayers have already put down billions to subsidize electric cars – which most people still don’t want — and now this.  But wait, there’s more.  The $4 trillion doesn’t include the cost of new power plants that will also be required.  Take a look at the new report.

The pandemic continues to be a loser.  Pollster Scott Rasmussen reported this week 61% of Americans believe that at least some of the information released by the federal government during the pandemic was intentionally false and misleading. This includes 34% who say that most of it was false, 19% who think just about all of it was false and 15% who think everything the government told us was a lie. Given that, a healthy majority of Americans were undoubtedly not surprised to hear Anthony Fauci tell Congress this week that he had nothing to do with any of it.  Fauci, who referred to himself during the pandemic as “the science,” is also on the loser list.  He told Congress that even though he was leading the national response to COVID, the 6-foot separation rule “just appeared.” It wasn’t him. He denied ever telling the country that COVID couldn’t have been the result of a leak in a Wuhan lab and when emails were revealed from his long time senior advisor saying they had a system for avoiding public information disclosures, Fauci said he hardly knew the guy.  Expect the percentage of Americans who believe the government gave us intentionally false information during the pandemic to increase soon.

In other loser news, we’ve all been waiting to see what would happen if the pro-Hamas protests continued into Gay Pride Month which is always replete with parades.  Sure enough, two parades collided in Philadelphia where the pro-terrorists belted out chants comparing the Philadelphia Pride Parade (PPP) to the KKK.  The counter parade was led by Queers for Palestine, a group that has been likened to “Chickens for Colonel Sanders.” There’s a concept called “intersectionality” within the DEI ideology where the goal is to determine who is the biggest victim. To see where such one-up-manship ultimately leads, take a look at this footage from the Philadelphia streets last weekend.

Finally, as college football continues its massive realignment, news dropped this week that San Antonio’s Alamo Bowl has lost the option to include University of Texas or Oklahoma in its selection pool for the bowl game this year.  Alamo Bowlers were hoping to put either Oklahoma or Texas in a slot in place of picking from what is left of the PAC-12, but the powerful SEC, the new home for Oklahoma and Texas, said no.  An unnamed SEC source gave what may well be the best quote of week when he said:  “Allowing the Alamo to take OU or Texas instead of a Pac-12 legacy team would have caused a lot of issues with the SEC bowl, and we don’t like issues.”

Got it. We’ll just leave it there. 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.

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