Category: Winners & Losers

The War and The Debate – 31 Days Until the Election

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.

A strong new job report came out this morning, just as the radio show was going on the air and I am sure President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will take the credit. However, it is often the case that a huge percentage of new jobs created nationwide are in Texas as a result of the state’s conservative low tax rates and reasonable regulation policies that let businesses grow. Once we get the Texas numbers, I will report back.

Winner: Israel & Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

We know now that while Netanyahu was making a monumental speech at the United Nations last week, the Israeli Defense Forces were taking out Hassan Nasrallah, a founder of Hezbollah (which means “party of God”), a murderous killer who is responsible for, among other things, the suicide bombing that killed over 200 Marines in Beirut in 1983. Netanyahu said Nasrallah wasn’t “a terrorist,” he was “the terrorist.” His primary mission was to kill Jews.

“War on the West” author Douglas Murray said this week that the Torah teaches not to feel joy over the death of your enemies. That said, Murray notes that he is not Jewish, and he is going to rejoice over the death of Nasrallah. I am not Jewish either and I am also happy that this force of evil has been taken out. It has been noted that Israel has eliminated more people on the U.S. terrorist watch list in six weeks than the U.S. has eliminated in 20 years.

Learning nothing from all this, the Biden-Harris administration continues to push back against Israel moving forward in the war even as they give lip service to supporting Israel’s right to defend itself. They refuse to understand that the only real way for Israel to defend itself and stop the escalating conflict in the Middle East is to go in and win the war. Netanyahu is rightfully ignoring Biden and Harris.

Winner: J.D. Vance’s Debate Performance

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance’s smashing victory over Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the Vice Presidential Debate on Tuesday was the biggest unmasking of a media lie since they tried to tell us that Biden was fit and ready for duty. The media’s incessant attacks on Vance had resulted in astronomical negative ratings for him. Before the debate, he was very unpopular. After the debate, his ratings went up 19 points. Vance busted out of his “cat lady” image immediately and introduced America to a smart young guy who knows about issues and is quick on his feet. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one of those, and it was beyond refreshing.

Vance called his opponent “Tim,” as if they were friends, acknowledged points of agreement and generally reminded people how to disagree respectfully. A “sub-loser” this week is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who played Vance in Gov. Tim Walz’s debate prep. Whatever Buttigieg did, it was wrong. Walz wasn’t ready for Vance. He clearly didn’t know what hit him.

Losers: VP Debate Moderators Margaret Brennan & Nora O’Donnell

Of course, Walz didn’t need to do much to defend himself in the debate—the moderators were taking care of all that. Going into the debate, it was hard to imagine that the moderators could be any more biased than ABC’s David Muir and Lindsey Davis, but the two women from CBS News lowered the bar even farther, seemingly unaware that every question they asked was premised on the Democrat Party’s view of the world.

They did not ask questions about the war in Ukraine or the faltering economy. When they asked about immigration, they focused on the grave injustice against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio instead of the millions of Americans in border states and now U.S. cities that are crumbling under the weight of Biden-Harris’ open border policies. Instead of talking about the Biden-Harris sluggish response to Hurricane Helene (Biden didn’t come back from the beach to monitor the storm) the moderators asked an outraged question about “climate change denial,” which is not even a thing anymore.

Since the moderators knew they had an abortion question, why didn’t they bother to read the abortion legislation Walz signed which does not limit abortion at any stage of pregnancy—up to the nineth month. Walz denied that when Vance pointed it out, so perhaps the governor hasn’t read it either.

Democrats invariably blame former President Donald Trump for the hate and vitriol in our political discourse but if you want to see what real hate looks like up close, check out the contempt on Margaret Brennan’s face when she condescendingly “woman-splained” to Vance that the illegal immigrants in Ohio are actually legal. When Vance insisted on laying out the facts, Brennan simply seethed.

It was clear from the beginning that the debate was another “Three Against One” situation for Republicans but by the time it was over, it turned out to be “One Against Three.” The senator whipped them all.

Winner: Greg Abbott’s October 7th Proclamation and His Request to the Texas Media

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation this week directing that flags fly at half-staff on Monday, Oct. 7 and proclaiming a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist massacre in Israel last year. He also asked the Texas media to read out the names of the seven American hostages who are still being held by the Hamas terrorists. They are:

Edan Alexander

Itay Chen

Sagui Dekel-Chen

Gadi Haggai

Judith Weinstein Haggai

Omer Neutra

Being forced to watch the Biden-Harris administration vacillate on its support for Israel daily, it is great to live in a state that unequivocally supports our strongest ally in the Middle East—Israel.

Winner: Tony Gonzales’ Release of ICE statistics

U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, drove the news cycle for several days this week when he released statistics from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the number of criminals who are in the country who entered illegally—including 13,000 who have been convicted of murder either in the U.S. or abroad. Gonzales went after the long-sought statistics from ICE and made them part of the immigration narrative—which is a tough thing to pull off. Gonzales, whose district includes a huge part of the Texas border, knows as much about the negative impact of the deluge of illegal immigration under the Biden-Harris administration as anyone. Democrats have quibbled with the ICE numbers, but they can’t make them go away.

Loser: State Sen. Molly Cook’s statement on Israel

State Sen. Molly Cook, D-Houston, was elected to replace former Sen. John Whitmire who was elected Mayor of Houston last year. Whitmire is a strong supporter of Israel, resisting pressure from left-wing progressives who pressured him to issue a proclamation in support of a ceasefire shortly after the Hamas attack. Whitmire told the Jewish community: “When some of your enemies asked me to issue a proclamation for a ceasefire, I did not respond.”

His replacement, Cook, who never condemned the Oct. 7 attack and declined to attend a film about it at the Holocaust Remembrance Museum in Houston, has a different view. Last week, she issued a statement saying: “I cannot stay silent while the United States facilitates the indiscriminate bombing and starving of an entire population.”

Jewish leaders in Houston called Cook’s comments extremely harmful. They worry that her comments could fuel anti-Jewish hatred and spur attacks on Jewish institutions. We should all worry. Hopefully, Houston Democrats will continue to look to Whitmire, not Cook, for leadership.

Winner: Caitlin Clark – WNBA Rookie of the Year

No. 2 ranked Texas doesn’t play this week, but there is a round ball story that makes the winner’s list. Caitlin Clark has transformed the WNBA, just as she transformed women’s basketball in the NCAA and she was just named “Rookie of the Year.” Clark averaged almost 20 points a game and set a league record for the number of assists—19 in one game—and for triple doubles. She hit 122 three-point shots this season. Clark’s team, the Indiana Fever, also led the league in attendance, even though they didn’t make the playoff finals—which says it all. Women’s basketball has arrived. Many women players, past and present, have played a role in that, but nothing outweighs Clark’s contribution this year.

Texas A&M kicks off against Mizzou tomorrow at 11 a.m., and Texas Tech takes on Arizona at 10 p.m., book-ending more than 12 hours of college football tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

Listen to Winners & Losers on Talk 1370, the Cardle & Wooley show, every Friday morning at 8:30 AM. Here’s the listen live link.

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. 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.

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 in Texas, America and the world. Although it seems like the current presidential campaign has been going on forever, traditionally, Labor Day is the election year launch—the sprint to the finish, the beginning of the end. At this point, both sides have consolidated their respective bases and the battle is over a couple hundred thousand votes in the swing states. Early voting starts in Minnesota and Virginia on Sept. 20, so from that perspective, campaigns have less than three weeks to make their case.

With 66 days to go until Election Night, Nov. 5, here’s who made the Labor Day Weekend list:

Maybe a Winner: Vice President Kamala Harris

Never forget that the only relevant question in politics is “compared to what.” Harris didn’t have to be good in her first interview after avoiding the press for the over 40 days since she secured the Democrat nomination for president. She just didn’t have to be bad, and she wasn’t that bad. Granted, she provided no explanation about why she adamantly opposed fracking when she was running for president in 2019, but she is fine with it now.

She also didn’t explain why her position has changed on decriminalizing border crossings or building the border wall, which she called Trump’s “medieval vanity project.” She didn’t express any regrets for telling the American people that President Joe Biden was absolutely, totally fit for office when 90% of Americans could see that he was cognitively impaired. And she glossed over going around the country insisting “Bidenomics” was making life better for everyone.

For those who know her record, when she said “my values have not changed,” it was an ominous warning. Unfortunately, a poll released by the Media Research Center this week found that 70% of registered Biden voters and Independents don’t know anything about what she stands for, including the fact that she voted to the left of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders when she was in the Senate. Those people may be fine with her flippant “that was then, this is now” responses.

Those of us who care about public policy and the future of the country were appalled by the lack of depth and the faulty analysis Harris provided in her first interview, but we were never going to vote for her anyway. In the end, elections boil down to math, and the interview for Harris was better than most people thought it would be. So it could turn out to be a win for her.

Or maybe not. Newsweek Star Sports released its latest betting analysis this morning and, according to its numbers, Harris’ odds of winning “deteriorated noticeably” after the CNN interview. Harris went from having a 52.4% chance of winning to being tied with former President Donald Trump at 51.3%. Trump must capitalize on this, of course, if he is going to regain the Big Mo.

Labor Day Winner: Texas

The good news this Labor Day weekend is that Texas earned an A+ from the Commonwealth Foundation’s Analysis of Public Sector Labor Laws. That group put out a new report this week comparing state positions on limiting collective bargaining and collecting union dues for public sector labor unions. Texas is a free state with strong right-to-work protections. Looking at all states, the reports shows that big public sector unions, including the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have lost over 300,000 members nationally since 2018, as more states have stopped unions from requiring membership in order to work.

Keep in mind that these public sector unions, whose employees are paid by taxpayers, are one of the most important organizing forces in the Democrat Party. Teachers unions have blocked school choice in Texas for two decades, putting their members’ preferences over the needs of Texas children. And when it comes to elections, public sector unions are the boots on the ground for Democrats, heading up efforts to get voters to the polls. Good for Texas for reining in this taxpayer-funded activism.

Loser: CNN and the Mainstream Media

Last week, Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Greek oil tanker in the Red Sea. It was carrying 1 million barrels of oil, four times what was on the Exxon Valdez. Fox News and other conservative media outlets have been reporting this story for a week. CNN and the rest of the mainstream media didn’t pick it up yesterday, perhaps because the Houthis are pro-Palestinian. Could it be that even when the threat of a monumental environmental disaster looms, the left-leaning press would slow-walk a story that indicts allies of the Palestinians, who they consider to be the “good guys” in the Middle East? Does anyone think that had Israel bombed an oil tanker it would not have been front page news minutes after it happened?

Loser: ABC News & Jonathan Karl

Another mainstream media loser showed up this week when Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, demonstrated how some reporters shill for the left. Cotton took on Jonathan Karl in an interview on ABC this week. When Karl insisted he “knew” Vice President Harris’ position on fracking, health care and the economy were not as left-wing as Cotton said they were—even though Karl had not spoken with Harris and she hadn’t told the country yet that nothing she said before July 21 matters now—Cotton pushed back. Watch the clip if you haven’t. Karl is pathetic.

Loser: Mark Zuckerberg

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally told the House Judiciary Committee that Facebook had bowed to government pressure from “senior Biden officials,” and censored content during the COVID 19 pandemic. He also reiterated that he was wrong to suppress the story of Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop in the days leading up to the 2020 election, because Biden’s team told him it was “Russian disinformation.” Zuckerberg’s confession provides a huge window into the power of social media and its ability to impact public opinion and elections, especially when it acts in collusion with the government.

Zuckerberg promised he’d never to do it again and says he’s not going to put $400 million into “get out the vote” efforts this year like he did in 2020. It’s good that he finally admitted what we all knew to be true, but it’s not enough to make him a winner. When you consider all the damage he caused by blocking information on COVID 19 and possibly impacting the election, the confession is way too little and way too late.

Winner: Katy ISD’s “Gender Fluidity” Ban

Too many Texas public school librarians are pushing back against bans on pornography in public schools, saying they don’t have time to look at all the books and, besides, banning any book is somehow un-American. That’s why Katy ISD is a winner for continuing to make clear the kinds of books that don’t belong in public schools, including those that promulgate “gender fluidity.” Science tells us that sex is binary, but gender fluidity enthusiasts insist that gender is actually everyone’s choice and that you do not have to accept whatever sex your doctor “assigned” to you when you were born. That is, of course, hogwash. If you want to know the kinds of books they are talking about read my review of Gender Queer.

Winner: Rep. Shawn Thierry

If you think that this crazy “gender fluidity” notion is a fringe ideology, keep in mind that Texas Democrat voters ousted State Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, from office in the spring primary because she voted against allowing pornography in public libraries and in support of blocking parents from allowing their children to take puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and even undergo unnecessary mastectomies or castrations. Today, Thierry announced that she is leaving the Democrats behind and has joined the Republican Party. Thierry promised to work hard on issues that reflect common sense and the values of most Texans, including fighting Democrat efforts to change Title IX so that men can play in women’s sports. This is a win for Thierry and the Texas GOP.

Loser: DEI Programs in Business

Lowe’s is the latest company to announce that it is abandoning its DEI efforts because they have proved divisive and counterproductive in moving their companies forward. Harley Davidson, Jack Daniels, Tractor Supply and John Deere made similar announcements recently. Thanks to social media, customers now know if a company has a DEI program and they can express their disdain by shopping elsewhere. A big plus from the DEI withdrawal is that these companies have also dropped their sponsorship of the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that used to advocate for gay rights but now is almost exclusively focused on so-called transgender and gender identity issues. If you are going to do household projects this Labor Day Weekend, go to Lowe’s.

Winner: Dennis Quaid and the Reagan Movie

Another Labor Day holiday option is Dennis Quaid’s new movie, “Reagan,” which opens today. Quaid, who is from Bellaire, outside Houston, was on hand for a screening of the movie at the Bullock Museum earlier this month, where he talked about why he made the movie and how he prepared to take on the role of the former president. “Reagan” comes at an important time, as Americans are watching Russia invade Ukraine, reminding Europe and the rest of the world what that threat means. The story is told from the perspective of an old Russian spy played by Jon Voight, whose character provides a great history of how the Cold War was fought and why it was important. Predictably, Hollywood is giving the film a thumbs down, but who cares? Go see it.

Winner: Tomorrow is Game Day!  

No. 4 ranked University of Texas at Austin kicks off tomorrow at 2:30PM against Colorado State and the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies will meet No. 7 Notre Dame at 6:30PM tomorrow night. ESPN’s College GameDay will be broadcasting live from College Station so the football show there actually starts at 8:00AM. Get your signs, get out there and get on TV! Texas Tech will play Abilene Christian, Texas State will take on Lamar, and the University of Houston will play UNLV.

Wonder what those rankings will look like next week. Have a great holiday 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 in Texas, America and the world. The Democrats put on their national convention in Chicago this week complete with American icon Oprah Winfrey, Al Sharpton (the Jussie Smollett of his time) and the Band Formerly Known as Dixie Chicks singing the national anthem. Hundreds of speakers over four days said every bad thing that could be said about former President Donald Trump—and then Vice President Kamala Harris made a speech.

With 73 days to go to the Election, here’s who made the list:

Big Winner – Democrats and Kamala Harris

It’s not immediately clear if the Democrat National Convention (DNC) was better than the Republican event in Minneapolis last month, but at crunch time, when the rubber hit the road, Kamala Harris stuck to her script and delivered a speech that seemed to transform her into a person who cares about border security, working Americans, Israel and the threat of Russia in Ukraine. While she was long on lies and short on specifics, she cleared all the thorny hurdles that could be political liabilities in her party while promising to solve all the problems she and President Joe Biden have created since they won election in 2020.

Unlike virtually every speaker before her, including former President Barack Obama and especially Michelle Obama, who spewed hatred and vitriol at Trump, Harris elegantly dismissed him by simply saying he is not a serious person. Even though she is wrong about virtually every policy issue, it is important that conservatives acknowledge this important display of the kind of message discipline that is critical to winning elections. Trump has called Harris stupid, incompetent, unattractive and only pretending to be black, but she did not feel compelled to respond to him.

Neither Biden nor Trump have been able to restrain themselves when criticized.

There were lots of American flags at the DNC, because Democrats say they are the party of freedom now, even though they want to force Americans to buy electric cars and stoves and accept drag queen story hours in public libraries. The right to send your child to the school of your choice is also not on their “freedom” list. Neither is the right to pursue your own idea of success and happiness if it involves money. Democrats repeatedly proclaimed their hatred of “billionaires” and “the wealthy,” although many of the top speakers including the Obamas, the Clintons, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are very wealthy—and some, like Winfrey and Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker, are billionaires.

Vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz, the so-called “coach” who has apparently lied about having a DUI, how his children were conceived and the rank he obtained in the National Guard, drew cheers when he said his philosophy of freedom is basically, “mind your own business.” That’s pretty rich coming from a guy who established a COVID-19 snitch line during the pandemic so people could report their neighbors who might not be wearing masks.

We can only conclude that freedom for Democrats is the same as it has always been—everyone is free to do exactly what they are told to do, like requiring an apology to Native Americans for stealing their land before you can start a meeting and allowing boys who think they are girls to play in girls’ sports.

Still, the Democrats had Bill Clinton, who remains one of the greatest political speakers of our time, perhaps the last of his kind, since the screaming insults of Michelle Obama are what is called “great” today. The Democrat Convention ended on time with a gazillion balloons falling from the ceiling, like millions of illegal migrants rushing across the border.

Before Joe Biden was pushed out of the race, the Democrats reported that Steven Spielberg would be producing their convention. I am not sure if he was on still on board once Harris took over, but they accomplished their mission—taking a candidate the country didn’t like, who had not received one primary vote, and transforming her into a beloved leader spewing both joy and hope. It was all hype of course—as the Free Press said, kind of like the Barbie movie. Still, you can’t count the Democrat National Convention as anything but a win for the left.

Big Loser – Harris Tax Plan

If you wonder what all that joy and hope is going to cost you, take a look at the Americans for Tax Reform analysis of the tax plan Harris released this week. News reports have primarily focused on her plan to increase the small business tax 39.6%, push the capital gains tax to 44.6% and the corporate tax rate up to 28% from 21%—making it higher than the European Union and China. But there are many other horrible things on her new tax list that Americans need to ponder, such as $37 billion in new taxes on oil and gas, a $24 billion “retirement tax” on IRA’s for “wealthy” people and a 32% increase in taxes on Medicare. There’s a real estate tax hike, the “unrealized gains” tax on money you don’t have and another $100 billion to the Internal Revenue Service to give it the tools to make sure you pay it. That’s more of what the Democrats mean when they say “freedom.”

Loser – Planned Parenthood’s Abortion Truck

Democrats pushing the “joy and hope” theme of the Convention might have asked their pals at Planned Parenthood to re-think their idea of parking a truck offering free abortions and vasectomies outside the Convention hall. The parade of women dressed as abortion pills also was off message. Democrats ridiculed GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance’s unfortunate “childless cat ladies” comment, but these kinds of antics make it abundantly clear why Vance believes pro-family policies must be emphasized to counter the Democrat culture that glorifies abortion and sterilization.  .

Loser – Media Coverage of Harris

The Media Research Center reported this week that 84% of the media coverage of Vice President Harris has been positive since she became the Democrat nominee, while 89% of the coverage of Donald Trump has been negative. During the days when the media was pushing Biden to step aside, we got to experience what it would be like if we had news media that asked serious questions, but that is all gone now. Harris has gone for more than a month without a press conference, and there’s no sign that the press will ever hold her feet to the fire. It also seems unlikely that ABC News will provide a fair platform for the first debate next month.

Winner – Trump Campaign Website for Harris

To fill the void created by Harris’ failure to honestly articulate what she supports, the Trump campaign launched a website with Harris’ policy positions to remind voters that she strongly backs  the Green New Deal, eliminating private health insurance, decriminalizing border crossings, abolishing ICE and a host of other lefty policies. The Trump campaign must expose her record to voters and this is a good start.

Loser – Democrat Run Cities

It has been rightly noted that the Chicago police—with support from law enforcement from around Illinois and the country—did a great job of keeping the Convention from exploding this past week, but crime in America’s Democrat-run urban cities is still a huge problem. Twelve people were shot and one person was killed on the second day of the Convention, and a Democrat delegate from Texas was robbed at gunpoint not far from the Convention Center. Meanwhile, joyful Democrats continue to insist that crime is going down.

Margin of Error Winner – Colin Allred

Democrats got some good news in Texas when the latest Hobby School poll showed Democrat challenger Colin Allred within the margin of error in his race to defeat U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. The poll, which was conducted August 5 through 16, shows Cruz at 46 and Allred at 44. Like the gender gap in the presidential race, Cruz is winning men by 13 points—52 to 39—and Allred is winning women by 7 points—49% to 42%. Allred spoke at the Democrat National Convention, although he has been careful not to align himself with Harris so far. Trump is up five points over Harris in that poll.

Winner: Science

The Texas Department of Public Safety announced this week that individuals can no longer change their gender on their driver’s license. Almost nobody wants to change their gender on their driver’s license—it’s not like fudging your height—but that hasn’t stopped the left from issuing a huge outcry about the supposed injustice to the so-called “transgender” community and their allies who are relentless in their efforts to normalize gender confusion.

Winner: John Whitmire

One Democrat speaking the truth this week is Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who is continuing to draw fire from protesters in the Bayou City for suggesting that pro-Hamas protesters are being paid by Iran. Numerous reports show Iran is supporting American pro-terrorist protesters in all kinds of ways. Outside of Houston, the protesters got a big boost this week when the actual President of the United States, Joe Biden, said “they have a point.” Biden has earned a permanent place on the losers list.

Winner – Merit

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology released enrollment statistics for the class of 2028 now that the Supreme Court has outlawed affirmative action. The number of Asian students admitted has jumped from 40% to 47%, while the number of African American students dropped from 15% to 5% and the number of Hispanic students dropped from 16% to 11%. The fact that far fewer African Americans and Hispanic students now qualify for MIT highlights the continued failure of too many public schools to close the learning gap and is one more reason school choice is essential, not just in Texas but across the country.

Winner – Texas Football

The pre-seasons rankings are out and the University of Texas is at No. 4. Texas A&M is also on the list at No. 20. Georgia is No. 1 and Ohio State is No. 2. Texas and the Aggies both start the season next Saturday. The Longhorns play Colorado State and the Aggies go up against Notre Dame.

As usual, I will be rooting for the Oregon Ducks, ranked No. 3, but I will try not to be a pest about it.

That’s it for me. 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 in Texas, America and the world. The latest Olympic medal count shows the USA with its big lead at 111, but we always get the most medals, so no surprise there.  The big race is for the gold and USA is currently tied with China with 33 gold medals each. There’s still lots of Olympics to go plus its 87 days until the November election. Here’s who made the list this week:

Winner:  Lt. Governor Dan Patrick & Texas Exceptionalism 

The mainstream media hate to post corrections and virtually never run retractions.  That changed last week at the Houston Chronicle when the Editorial Board, walked back an editorial charging that my former boss, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, had “botched” the emergency response to Hurricane Beryl, snidely suggesting that one party rule in Texas was the root of a management problem.  But in a stunning reversal, the Chronicle published a full page update on Sunday where they concluded that “Patrick appears to be right” about what happened during the state’s emergency response.  You can read the details here .

The Chronicle’s “Patrick Didn’t Flunk Beryl” op-ed not only vindicated the Lt. Governor’s leadership and management skills, it also vindicated the “Texas exceptionalism” that fuels Patrick’s approach to problem solving in every area of public policy.  Texas simply does so many things right and the Texas Dept. of Emergency Management (TDEM) is one of those things.  We have smart and experienced people who take great pride in getting things done. Of course the Texas has some chronic and frustrating challenges, but more often than not, Texas is the pace-setter among all the states, the job creator for the nation, a leader in innovation, a leader in productivity, a magnet for thousands of people fleeing the despair and failure of big liberal states, like Minnesota (see losers below).

The majority of Texans know this, although stories of Texas doing it right rarely appear in the Texas press.  Patrick is a winner for taking the time to help the Houston Chronicle see what the state can do and acknowledge Texas’ exceptionalism … even for a day.

Winner:  Ted Cruz – Bipartisan Endorsements 

Sen. Ted Cruz continues to expand his brand by pulling in Democrat law enforcement endorsements.  He landed the biggest one so far this week when outgoing Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said she was supporting Cruz because of his strong stand on reducing illegal immigration. Ogg blamed illegal immigration for increases in crime in Harris County and said that 12 year old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was killed earlier this summer by two Venezuelan illegals, would be alive today if Cruz’s latest immigration legislation had passed.  Ogg said “public safety is more important than political parties.”

Winner:  Former President Donald J. Trump

Trump is a winner this week for holding a press conference and throwing out a bunch of debate dates — taking away Harris’ absurd attack that he’s afraid to debate her. Trump also showed Harris how easy it is to hold a press conference – you just call some reporters and grab a podium. The former president talked with reporters for over an hour, responding to policy and political questions, calmly fielding both serious and silly questions and mostly coming off as presidential.

Unfortunately, he also said some dumb things. He’s never had a rally as large as Martin Luther King’s March on Washington, for example. He’s also said he’s leading in the polls – he’s not, and he seems willing to write off losing the black women’s vote because he’s getting more black male voters than he did in 2020. The former President is apparently unaware that almost 60 percent of the black vote is women, so the trade-off won’t add up to a win.

Trump is currently winning men, 54% to 43% for Harris. Those numbers are exactly reversed for Harris who wins 54% of women compared to 43% of men. Trump’s strategy appears to be to win more men than he loses women – but that’s a clear path to defeat. 54% of all voters are women and 60% of voters in swing states are women. Over ten million more women voted in 2020 than men and ten million more women than men are registered now. It’s time for Trump to look at the math and get on message.

Loser:  Minnesota Governor Tim Walz

Gov. Tim Walz, the new Democrat candidate for vice president, kind of looks like a moderate, but even the New York Times calls him a lefty.  Conservatives have a long list of things that ought to sink him if they play their cards right, including his economic record in Minnesota, which, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out today, is fueling a mass exodus out of the state. High taxes and government spending puts Minnesota right up there with the other big blue states like Illinois, California, New Jersey and Massachusetts fueling a mass migration to low tax states like Texas. He’s made Minnesota a sanctuary state, not only for illegal immigrants, but also for children who want to change their gender and their parents won’t let them. The charge that he has inflated his military rank and left his National Guard troop just before they deployed to Iraq also lands him the loser list.

Loser:  Kamala Harris on the Liberal Scale 

Former President Trump and others frequently describe Vice President Kamala Harris, as “even more liberal” than Bernie Sanders,” which is true.  A closer look at the numbers also reveals how she stacks up to past Democrat leaders.  According to The Hill, of the 109 people who have served in the U.S. Senate when she was there, Harris ranked 107 on the left-leaning scale, just behind Elizabeth Warren.  Other important numbers to look at on this scale is that former U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton ranked 72 and former President Barack Obama ranked 62 – both far closer to the middle than Harris.

Winner: Gov. Greg Abbott 

Last month, the Congressional Budget Office put out a report estimating that the migrant surge that occurred under the Biden-Harris Administration, will result in $1.2 Trillion in additional revenue to the federal budget – presumably because they assume the millions of people crossing over illegally will get jobs and pay taxes.  In the small print, the report admitted that it did not factor in the costs to various states in dealing with the massive influx of illegal immigrants. Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s leadership in busing migrants to sanctuary cities has helped the rest of the country see exactly what it means to have thousands of illegal immigrants descend upon a community. Texas has also spent billions to secure the southern border, but the cost is not just in National Guard and fencing. The burden on Texas schools and hospitals is also astronomical. This week Abbott announced that all public hospitals will need to report the cost of treating illegal aliens.  This data will give us a true picture of what open border policies are costing states and communities.

Loser:  Delta Airlines – Ladies & Gentlemen

Just when you thought all the crazy DEI stuff was dying out, at least in business, Delta Airlines recently revealed that they have decided to “boldly pursue equity” starting with asking if gate announcements that begin with “Ladies and Gentlemen” are as “gender inclusive” as Delta wants to be.

Delta’s employee handbook reads: “Use gender-neutral language and pronouns. Do not use language that suggests a gender binary (male-female).” Can we really put people who think like this in charge of very big airplanes?

Loser:  Anti-Semitic Democrats

This week saw the defeat of another member of the anti-Semitic wing of the Democrat Party, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri. In her concession speech, Bush vowed to “take down the kingdom” of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which heavily funded her opponent. The bad news is that the Democrat Party has an anti-Semitic wing. AIPAC recently led the fight to defeat another anti-Semitic House member in New York and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is on the ballot next week in Minnesota.

Winner:  Texas Gold Medalists 

If Texas were a country, it would be 6th in the Olympic medal count right after Italy with more gold medals than Japan or Canada. The big name Texas winners are Scotty Scheffler, who won the golf gold this week, shooting a 62. Simone Biles and Gabby Thomas have also dazzled.  The medal count changes every hour so Texas may move up in the standings.

Winner: USA Olympic Stunners 

The Paris Olympics featured more great moments this week that must be included in any true winners and losers list including Team USA’s nail-biter win over Serbia in men’s basketball yesterday. Coming back from a 17 point deficit, basketball icons LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant did what it took to get the USA in the gold medal round. A great USA! USA! Moment.

Kevin Durant broke women’s basketball great Lisa Leslie’s all time Olympic basketball scoring record this week and sprinter Noah Lyles, who already had some gold medals, actually won a bronze in the 200 meter race after testing positive for COVID.  Noah’s definitely a winner, even though after Lyles’ victory it is probably going to be harder for ordinary folks to use the COVID excuse to get out of going to work or blow off a distant cousin’s wedding.

WaHoo!  Mountain Dew 

In case you missed the Wall Street Journal report today, the beverage of choice for both Republican Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance and Democrat Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz is Diet Mountain Dew.  It looks like that lime green soda can is a beacon of hope, proving that no matter how polarized our country has become, we can always find something to agree on.

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.