FITSNews Political Stock Index: 2/10/2025

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After a somewhat rocky second week in office, Donald Trump righted the ship in a big way during his third week back on the job. Even an oddly considered remark to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States should “take over” the Gaza Strip wasn’t enough to blunt his momentum.

Trump scored political points aplenty last week – and he started off this week with a bang by formally rechristening the ‘Gulf of America’ during a flyover en route to Super Bowl LIX. By the way, Trump became the first sitting president to attend the big game – and was greeted like a conquering Caesar at the Caesar’s Superdome on Sunday evening.

Last Monday things were looking a little rocky for the MAGA messiah as a two-front trade war threatened to erupt with our neighbors to the north and the south. Canada and Mexico blinked before the day was done, though, and Trump’s ‘art of the deal’ legacy seemed secure.

The president’s biggest score of the week, though, was the signing of an executive order which undid Joe Biden’s push to allow biological males to compete against female athletes. Fulfilling a key component of his 2024 campaign, Trump’s lavish East Room signing ceremony was one of the most visible demonstrations of his ongoing “revolution of common sense.”

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On the economic front, Trump announced last Friday that our ally Japan would bring its annual direct investment in the U.S. economy to $1 trillion – and would become an investor in U.S. Steel rather than attempt to take over the company.

Trump’s solid start has been reflected in public opinion polling. CBS News released survey data on Sunday showing Trump’s job approval rating at 53 percent – with 59 percent backing his aggressive stance against illegal immigration and 64 percent supporting his decision to send U.S. troops to the southern border.

That’s a definitional rising stock, people.

Every Monday, we track rising and falling fortunes via our ‘FITSNews Political Stock Index,’ which focuses on the national political scene. Every Tuesday, we publish the ‘Palmetto Political Stock Index’ – which looks at politicos from our home state of South Carolina, host of the quadrennial “First in the Nation” (for Democrats) and “First in the South” (for Republicans) presidential primaries.

Got a hot “stock tip” for these indices? Email Will Folks (here) and/or Mark Powell (here).

Where should you invest your political capital this week? To the index…

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DEMOCRATIC SOLIDARITY

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STOCK: FALLING

Many standard rules of thumb have been tossed out the window of late.  For instance, a decades-old saying about Capitol Hill was, “Democrats fall in love; Republicans fall in line.” But like so much else in politics, that’s been turned on its head. In a classic case of role reversal, House Democrats have mastered the art of making caucus members toe the party line — or else.

And during Nancy Pelosi’s speakership, “or else” carried swift and unpleasant consequences.

But now, cracks in Democratic discipline are starting to appear.

The lower chamber’s top Democrat, minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, spent half an hour Friday huddling with the Blue Dog Coalition. These ten self-described “centrist Democrats” sought permission to bolt party ranks and vote with Republicans on certain issues. Their argument was that with the House narrowly split at the moment (the GOP has 218 seats and Democrats claim 215, with two vacancies), they must retain their districts if their party wants to reclaim control in 2026. The only way they can do that? Sidestepping certain hot trigger votes.

For example, so far this year, the GOP has seen Democratic defectors join them on important votes related to Israel, immigration and beating back the woke trans movement.

“We’re making sure they understand that if we’re going to get the majority, they’ve got to give Blue Dogs and New Dems a little flexibility,” one participant said after the meeting.

There was no immediate word on Jeffries’ response…

It’s a tough spot for the minority leader. If Jeffries gives a little wiggle room to one group, will that prompt others to ask for it as well? And how would that impact overall party discipline?

Also, how will the rabid progressive base respond to all of this?

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TRUMP IMPEACHMENT

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STOCK: RISING

It’s déjà vu all over again, as Yogi Berra famously said. Well, with one huge difference.

U.S. congressman Al Green announced on Wednesday he was filing articles of impeachment against president Donald Trump, less than thirty days after Trump returned to office. The Texas Democrat seized on Trump’s recent comments about seizing Gaza as a pretense for the move.

“Democrats are 2-0 on impeaching Trump,” a former member of Congress told us. “Didn’t Green get the memo? As a political strategy, impeachment just doesn’t work.”

That doesn’t deter Green, who says President 45 and 47 should be punished for “dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done.”

There is a silver lining behind this fool’s mission. As long as Republicans control the House, Green’s impeachment push isn’t going anywhere. And even if Democrats retake control of the chamber during the second half of Trump’s administration, there’s no appetite on that side of the aisle for going down this road a third time.

“It’s not a focus of the (Democratic) caucus,” said Pete Aguilar, the third-ranking Democrat in the House.

That’s putting it mildly. There’s a better chance of Jimmy Hoffa turning up than there is of this longest of long shots going anywhere.   

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DOGE

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STOCK: RISING

By far, the most-talked-about topic in politics last week was the heretofore little-known U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Trump administration, namely Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is trying to shut it down. And of all DOGE’s moves, this one especially has Democrats – and certain establishment “Republicans” – in a tizzy.

Supporters say USAID is a key vehicle for delivering humanitarian aid and development funding around the world. Detractors say it is a status quo piggy bank and purveyor of administration propaganda – not to mention the tip of the spear for a host of ill-conceived foreign policy interventions.

“USAID is a key component of the federal government’s ‘regime change’ operations worldwide,” former U.S. congressman and DOGE supporter Ron Paul wrote. “USAID spends billions of dollars every year propping up ‘NGOs’ overseas that function as shadow governments, eating away at elected governments that American interventionists want to overthrow. Behind most U.S. foreign policy disasters overseas you will see the fingerprints of USAID. From Ukraine to Georgia and far beyond, USAID is meddling in the internal affairs of foreign countries – something that would infuriate Americans if it was happening to us.”

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Unburdened by what has been. pic.twitter.com/NK2bcK3hlH

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 7, 2025

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“The agency needs to be shuttered completely, and its employees sent home,” Paul concluded.

That’s exactly what Trump and Musk are trying to do – although certain components of their shutdown are being blocked by the courts.

There was one amusing side note to the USAID drama, and it came from an unlikely source. You’ll recall the Index reported last week that David Hogg, the 24-year-old Parkland school shooting survivor turned gun banner turned woke poster boy, was just elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). He tweeted Musk should be fired and replaced by — wait for it — former transportation secretary and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.

Really? From the belated and bungled response to that toxic trainwreck in East Palestine, Ohio toxic train wreck to increasing passenger frustration with air travel, his time at transportation was one failure after another.

While Buttigieg isn’t coming back to the executive branch anytime soon, he is reportedly eyeing a U.S. Senate bid in Michigan.

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LEGACY MSM MEDIA

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STOCK: HARD FALLING

These are tough times in the liberal news biz. First, word came veteran “reporter” Jim Acosta was leaving CNN. You’ll remember he turned news conferences during the first Trump presidency into a personal grudge match. That won him rave reviews from liberal viewers, but further staked the network out as left-wing propagandists.

The self-proclaimed “world’s most important network” recently sprayed Renuzit on its stodgy schedule. When the fumes had settled, Acosta found himself banished to the dreaded midnight time slot… the Russian Front of TV news viewership.

He stomped out of CNN in typical braggadocio style by urging the network’s dwindling audience to hold fast.

“Don’t give in to the lies, don’t give in to the fear,” he said.

The TV departure tour then shifted to 30 Rockefeller Center, where the Peacock propagandists received Chuck Todd’s official notice.

“There’s never a perfect time to leave a place that’s been a professional home for so long,” Todd wrote in a memo to NBC staffers.

His departure was hardly a surprise after he was bumped as host of the venerable “Meet the Press” Sunday morning institution in 2023. From then on, it was a matter of when and how, not if, Todd would depart. His hefty salary is going out the door with him, adding to a growing belief that the era of millionaire TV news stars is rapidly coming to a close.

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she’s so over their crying about USAID pic.twitter.com/dILvawoakY

— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) February 3, 2025

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The headaches weren’t limited to the networks, either. Politico found itself caught up in the USAID spending controversy last week as well. The White House announced Wednesday it was over $8 million in federal subscriptions to the decidedly left-of-center news publication.

“Subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the taxpayers’ dime will no longer be happening,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.

A messy spat ensued with Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Politico’s parent company, angrily huffed it “has never taken a cent of government money or state funding.”

On cue, the legacy MSM circled the wagons to defend one of its own. “A False Right-Wing Conspiracy,” CNN’s headline snorted in self-righteous indignation. “Republican Ire,” The Washington Post labeled it. “The Media Scandal That’s Driving MAGA World Into a Rage,” Slate proclaimed.

From plummeting viewership and circulation to fading celebs’ bloated salaries to 2024’s wholesale hit to its credibility, working in the news business these days is like being part of the bucket brigade onboard the Titanic. All you can do is bail water as fast as you can — and pray for a miracle as the ship goes down.       

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STERILIZATION & TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME

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STOCK: SPLITTING

This time last week, few folks outside of Michigan House District 19 had ever heard of Laurie Pohutsky. You’ll never hear of her children, either.

The four-term state representative says she was voluntarily sterilized last month. The reason?

“I underwent surgery to ensure that I would never have to navigate pregnancy in Donald Trump’s America,” Pohutsky said.

Wait… what?

That’s right. Pohutsky announced her shocking decision at an anti-Trump rally outside Michigan’s state capitol last week. 

“I’m going to repeat myself: A sitting government official opted for voluntary sterilization because she was uncertain she would be able to access contraception in the future,” she told a local news outlet.

The 36-year-old said she talked it over with her husband, who was okay with her decision. Although given that Pohutsky is openly bisexual, there’s no word who else she may have discussed it with.

No doubt the liberal lawmaker views her radical protest as some sort of burnt fallopian tube sacrifice upon the anti-Trump altar. But how many other women of childbearing age are willing to follow her extreme example?

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