Every Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio in Austin where we discuss who made the list of Winners & Losers for the previous week. After Donald J. Trump’s Second Inauguration on Monday changed so many things, he’s got dozens of winners. The Texas Legislature has finished all of its ceremonials and is up and running too, so there’s lots going on, no matter where you look. Here’s who made the list:
Winner: Donald Trump’s List of Immediate Changes
In the ‘70s, everybody agreed that the “medium is the message,” and Trump’s a boomer who clearly gets that. He is the medium, and the message he delivered is that American exceptionalism is back. You could see that in everything from the guests on the inaugural stage, which included legendary innovators like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, to his take-no-prisoners inaugural address. The contrast of the winners and losers on the inaugural stage also amplified Trump’s message. The somber faces of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama sent a clear message—their dark, divisive vision of America has been rejected.
In terms of Trump’s Day One initiatives, it’s hard to rank the list, but my personal favorite is the president’s declaration that “henceforth, the official policy of the United States government is that there are only two genders: male and female.” (ICYMI, see my op-ed “Gender is Over! Sex is Back!”) If you’ve forgotten a few of Trump’s initiatives since Monday, here’s the list from his speech—all winners.
- Declaring a national emergency at the border (and sending troops)
- Designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
- Making bringing down inflation, costs and prices a top Cabinet priority
- Ending the Green New Deal
- Revoking the Elective Vehicle Mandate
- Establishing an External Revenue Service to collect tariffs
- Establishing the Dept. of Government Efficiency
- Ending government censorship, bringing back free speech
- Restoring fair, equal and impartial justice
- Bringing law and order back to the cities
- Ending DEI social engineering programs and forging a color-blind and merit-based society
- Reinstating service members who were dismissed because they wouldn’t take COVID vaccine
- Rebuilding the military
- Initiating a federal hiring freeze
- Changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America
- Restoring the name of Mt. McKinley
- Retaking the Panama Canal
- Planting the American flag on Mars
Winner: School Choice Gets a Billion in State Budget
The time has come for Education Savings Accounts in Texas. Most Texans have supported school choice for years, and Gov. Greg Abbott has proved again and again that it is a top priority for him. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick proudly noted at the State Senate swearing in ceremony last week that senators have passed parental choice legislation five times. This week Texas lawmakers put their money where their mouths are by allocating a billion dollars for the program in both the Texas House and the Texas Senate’s proposed budgets.
Loser: National Cathedral Bishop Embarrasses Christians
In what can only be viewed as a pitch to get a guest slot on ABC’s “The View,” Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Washington, launched into a left-wing harangue targeting President Trump at a prayer service in the National Cathedral. In lecturing Trump, Budde insisted that because of his policies, illegal immigrants and so-called “trans people” are living in fear. Trump has been clear that people who entered the country illegally must be held accountable, but if “trans people” are living in fear, it is because people like Budde are fueling it.
It is notable that President Trump did not ask Budde to apologize to him; he demanded that she apologize to the entire country for her outrageous partisan flag waving.
Bishop Budde should look at what is going on in Britain (the mother country of her church) and the rest of Europe where health providers have switched to counseling for children who believe they are the opposite sex. Puberty blockers and sex change operations have been discontinued there because they have shown to be ineffective and harmful in treating people suffering from gender dysphoria. Trump is proposing the same. If Budde truly wants to care for her flock, she should stop stoking paranoia and division and look at how to really help people.
It is ironic that earlier this month former President Obama and President Trump were seen talking and laughing together at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral at the National Cathedral. Some real grace shown there on both sides—Budde should have been paying attention.
Full disclosure, I am an Episcopalian, one of many this week who were embarrassed by Bishop Budde’s antics.
Winner: Agriculture Secretary Nominee Brooke Rollins—A No Brainer
Both Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz introduced Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, as an appointment whose confirmation should be a “no brainer.” Throughout frequently intense questioning by the Senate Agriculture Committee, Rollins demonstrated that the Texas senators were absolutely right. Because of her broad policy range and depth, particularly on agricultural issues, trade and labor policies, even cynical Democrat bomb-throwers like California Sen. Adam Schiff and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock didn’t lay a glove on her. Rollins, of course, is the former CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation and she did us all proud.
Loser: PBS Starts Elon Musk Nazi Salute Lie
Normally these crazy stories come off fringy social media threads, but the smear campaign that Elon Musk delivered a Nazi salute at an Inauguration Day event seems to have been put out there by PBS, who delivered it with a straight face. Four days later, it is still running in the news cycle even though both the Anti-Defamation League and Benjamin Netanyahu have called it bogus. Netanyahu called Musk “a great friend to Israel [who] visited after the October 7 massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
Still, U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY, said Musk’s gesture “can only be interpreted as a Seig Heil salute that is synonymous with Nazi support for Hitler,” and the press is still replete with stories debating whether Musk actually delivered a Nazi salute, with most leaning toward the affirmative. In a background story, the New York Times just released a thousand word report on the history of the Nazi salute.
Jon Stewart also suggested that Eric Trump made some kind of Hitler hand gesture during the Inauguration. A few questions: What is wrong with these people? Do they have any idea who Americans are? Do they really think that broad support for Trump indicates any support for Hitler? Finally, why is the media treating this stupidity as if it is actual news?
Winner: Abbott Presents Bill for Border Security to Federal Government
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a bill to Congress this week for the $11 billion that the state of Texas has spent doing the job the federal government is supposed to do—securing the border. In his invoice, Abbott included the cost of busing illegal immigrants to blue state sanctuary cities, a move that helped the country finally understand the impact thousands and thousands of illegal aliens can have on communities, services, crime and quality of life. On behalf of Texas taxpayers, thank you!
Loser: Joe Biden’s Last Minute Pardons
In what may have been his last official act, former President Joe Biden issued a host of pardons as he went out the door on Monday including reprieves to both his brothers, his sister and their spouses. Perhaps to distract the focus away from the obvious financial implications of the family pardons which, like the one delivered to his son Hunter, exonerate his siblings from everything they’ve ever done or will do, he threw in some political players as well.
He pardoned COVID-19 czar Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and every member of the House Committee that investigated January 6. The pardons mean that the recipients can’t be punished, but they can still be investigated and while we are all tired of hearings, we must push forward and get the facts on every one of these people—family and all. History needs to know.
Winner: Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
DOGE head Elon Musk may have identified a future loser, this week, the penny. Musk just announced that it costs about 3 cents to mint a 1 cent penny, which he says added up to $179 million in 2023. Presumably, this is the first step toward moving us to a cashless country, but it will take a while. In the meantime, this is a great issue for Musk and for Trump. Virtually everyone in the country will have an opinion on what to do about the penny, and the new administration will undoubtedly come up with all kinds of ways to make sure those opinions are heard.
Texas will have a number of strong voices on the DOGE Committee in the U.S. House to help jump start the legislative effort. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson appointed four Texans to serve there—U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Prosper, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Flower Mound, Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas. The always outspoken Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia will chair the committee, so it should be fun.
What Ohio State’s Championship was Worth
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Ohio State Buckeyes would be worth almost $2 billion if the team were sold on the open market. The report comes from a finance professor at Indiana, but it doesn’t look like there’s any built-in pro-Indiana bias since his team didn’t make the top 25 list.
Texas came in second to Ohio State, with its value estimated at $1.9 billion. Texas A&M came in at $1 billion even, ninth on the list. There has been talk of private equity entering the college football world for a while. Now that we are in that long boring stretch of empty time, analyzing recruitment and transfers and watching the rebuild for next year’s college football season, we can also ponder the possible impact private equity might have on the game.
If I missed one of your winners and losers for the week, email 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.
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