Full Transcript for Everything you never wanted to know about the 2026 election

71 00:03:57.069 --> 00:03:59.930 is campaigning in places he already won big, trying to 72 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:02.849 drag the turnout numbers up by sheer force of showing up. 73 00:04:04.060 --> 00:04:06.840 That does not magically erase a bad national environment or 74 00:04:06.909 --> 00:04:09.349 high prices that still annoy people who vote for him 75 00:04:09.409 --> 00:04:12.229 two years ago, but it does raise the temperature on 76 00:04:12.270 --> 00:04:14.090 the side that was supposed to be half asleep. 77 00:04:15.750 --> 00:04:21.019 Campaigns are not magic. But they also are not nothing, either. 78 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:21.699 They're something. 79 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:26.759 The under-45 crowd still prefers Democrats. They are also the 80 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.730 least fired up about actually casting a ballot. I can 81 00:04:29.769 --> 00:04:32.790 remember year after year, back in the day, not long ago, 82 00:04:32.850 --> 00:04:35.709 we were told Bernie Sanders was a shoo-in because young 83 00:04:35.750 --> 00:04:37.769 people love him, but then they never showed up to vote, 84 00:04:37.810 --> 00:04:42.209 did they? There's a similar problem with the midterm math. 85 00:04:42.990 --> 00:04:45.949 The voters who lean your way the hardest are also 86 00:04:45.990 --> 00:04:48.240 the ones most likely decide the game is not worth 87 00:04:48.259 --> 00:04:52.019 the drive. The magaslice is smaller, older, and apparently treating 88 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:56.240 the election like it matters whether anyone else notices. In 89 00:04:56.259 --> 00:05:00.430 a low turnout contest, that is not nothing. Nobody knows 90 00:05:00.470 --> 00:05:02.769 the final score next week, guys. The polls have been 91 00:05:02.829 --> 00:05:06.769 wrong before in both directions. The map still favors the 92 00:05:06.810 --> 00:05:09.709 party that controls fewer dense urban districts, and turnout is 93 00:05:09.750 --> 00:05:12.459 still the only number that actually counts once the ads stop. 94 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:17.319 The people telling you the race is already decided are 95 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:19.939 the same people who spent the last three presidential cycles 96 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.060 explaining why their models were perfect right up until they weren't. 97 00:05:25.129 --> 00:05:28.170 The base is showing up at 68% enthusiastic. They do 98 00:05:28.209 --> 00:05:33.740 not appear to have gotten that memo. Now, I don't 99 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:37.220 know why, but there's an awful lot of John Cornyn 100 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:40.639 supporters out there who seem content to not show up 101 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:41.379 and vote right now. 102 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.579 I wonder if they'll change their mind. I don't know. 103 00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:47.850 I do know things aren't as bad as we've been told. 104 00:05:49.790 --> 00:05:51.569 And even if we lose, which I hope we don't, 105 00:05:53.509 --> 00:05:56.699 look on the bright side. At least you'll stop getting 106 00:05:57.019 --> 00:05:59.930 political text in a few days. And that's not nothing either. 107 00:06:00.490 --> 00:06:01.079 So go vote. 108 00:06:03.449 --> 00:06:06.250 Hey, it's me, the Donald. You're listening to the Pursuit 109 00:06:06.269 --> 00:06:07.470 of Happiness Radio. 110 00:06:12.250 --> 00:06:14.449 Have you ever looked at NVIDIA and the AI boom 111 00:06:14.490 --> 00:06:16.689 and thought, I wish I'd gotten in earlier? I know 112 00:06:16.790 --> 00:06:18.990 I have, but there's another part of the AI story 113 00:06:19.029 --> 00:06:20.269 getting a lot less attention. 114 00:06:20.910 --> 00:06:21.410 Silver. 115 00:06:21.589 --> 00:06:24.589 Silver plays an important role in the technologies powering the 116 00:06:24.670 --> 00:06:29.250 AI revolution. Silver is used in data centers, semiconductors, robotics, 117 00:06:29.310 --> 00:06:33.029 and as AI expands, so could demand for silver. Before 118 00:06:33.069 --> 00:06:35.740 you assume you've missed the AI boom, take a closer 119 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:38.699 look at the role silver plays in the whole phenomenon. 120 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:41.620 That's why my friends at Lear Capital can help you out. 121 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:45.350 Lear's been helping Americans invest in precious metals for 29 years. 122 00:06:45.389 --> 00:06:48.769 They've created a special report. It's called the AI Revolution. 123 00:06:48.810 --> 00:06:51.540 It explains the connection between AI and silver. and silver 124 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:53.439 and what the growth of AI could mean for the 125 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:57.540 future silver demand. Get Lear's free AI revolution report. Call 126 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.560 800-364-9200 and ask how to qualify for up to $ 20, 000 127 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:00.240 in bonus silver. 128 00:07:00.259 --> 00:07:00.920 Call Lear at 800-364-9200. 129 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:02.959 That's 800-364-9200 for Lear Capital. The Federal Trade Commission has 130 00:07:02.980 --> 00:07:03.720 sued Dollar General. 131 00:07:20.069 --> 00:07:23.230 for deceptive pricing practices. In other words, I think they're. 132 00:07:23.069 --> 00:07:27.709 In trouble for listing dollar general prices instead of dollar-specific prices. 133 00:07:27.750 --> 00:07:30.970 You can never do that. The economy is a hot 134 00:07:31.009 --> 00:07:34.250 topic right now. I think that's an understatement. And you know, 135 00:07:34.300 --> 00:07:37.759 President Trump is in Texas today. In fact, there's a 136 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:40.660 lot to be said about what's happening in and around 137 00:07:40.699 --> 00:07:43.180 the state at the moment. Texas Children's Hospital, the biggest 138 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.819 kids' hospital in the nation, just opened the nation's first 139 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:50.430 clinic dedicated to helping people reverse COVID or deal with 140 00:07:50.449 --> 00:07:54.509 the medical fallout from

gender transition treatments they received as minors. 141 00:07:55.189 --> 00:07:58.600 That was a pretty big win for Ken Paxton. The 142 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:04.899 whole thing traces back to whistleblowers, nurse Vanessa Savage and Dr. 143 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:08.610 Ethan Haim, you may remember, who said the hospital kept 144 00:08:08.620 --> 00:08:11.589 treating minors and billing Medicaid after it publicly claimed they weren't. 145 00:08:11.970 --> 00:08:12.689 That's interesting. 146 00:08:14.430 --> 00:08:17.829 With us right now, one of the editors of TexasSquareCard.com, 147 00:08:19.079 --> 00:08:22.819 Brandon Walton's live out on the campaign trail. Brandon, are 148 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:23.860 you in Corpus today? 149 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:29.519 Yes, I am in Corpus Christi, standing outside, actually, where 150 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:32.379 President Trump's going to be speaking here in just. 151 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:33.059 A couple of hours. 152 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:35.370 And so if you hear all of a sudden the 153 00:08:35.490 --> 00:08:38.659 YMCA blasting or something behind me, that's why. 154 00:08:39.610 --> 00:08:41.929 We've been told over and over again he's homophobic, but 155 00:08:41.970 --> 00:08:45.149 he always has YMCA at his campaign rallies. We've also 156 00:08:45.169 --> 00:08:47.570 been told he hates Jews, but his grandkids and his 157 00:08:47.610 --> 00:08:50.149 daughter are Jews. It feels like when they say stuff 158 00:08:50.190 --> 00:08:52.470 about Trump, they don't really fact check themselves. 159 00:08:53.990 --> 00:08:55.850 Yeah, exactly. Exactly right. 160 00:08:55.870 --> 00:08:58.269 All right. So Trump's DOJ was in the room when 161 00:08:58.330 --> 00:09:02.070 Paxton cut the deal that forced Texas Children's to open 162 00:09:02.110 --> 00:09:06.029 the first detransition clinic, wrote a $ 10 million check. Is 163 00:09:06.070 --> 00:09:08.830 that the federal government actually doing something useful for once? 164 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:11.320 Yes. 165 00:09:11.500 --> 00:09:13.720 And a lot of this, really, the credit does go 166 00:09:13.789 --> 00:09:17.000 to the attorney general, Ken Paxton, the attorney general's office. 167 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:22.600 And ultimately, as you mentioned, this case came from some whistleblowers, Dr. 168 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:26.870 Eaton Time and nurse Vanessa Sivage, who blew the whistle 169 00:09:26.970 --> 00:09:30.090 on Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, saying that despite the 170 00:09:30.129 --> 00:09:33.970 fact that this was supposedly prohibited by law, you had 171 00:09:34.289 --> 00:09:38.860 Texas Children's Hospital engaging in gender mutilation surgeries and procedures 172 00:09:38.980 --> 00:09:44.149 on children and then fraudulently billing Medicare, right, Medicaid. And 173 00:09:44.210 --> 00:09:48.809 so this was part of a lawsuit that the attorney 174 00:09:48.850 --> 00:09:51.309 general issued. We had the settlement announced just a few 175 00:09:51.350 --> 00:09:54.250 months ago that the hospital would have to create the 176 00:09:54.269 --> 00:09:59.950 nation's first ever detransition clinic. That detransition clinic has officially opened. 177 00:10:00.269 --> 00:10:03.379 as of this week. And so it's really great news. 178 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:06.299 We've not seen anything like this. And it's great to 179 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.860 see Texas taking the lead on this one. 180 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:09.220 All right. 181 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:11.759 We've been told over and over again, Ken Paxton and 182 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:15.080 Donald Trump are too friendly with Silicon Valley. It definitely 183 00:10:15.100 --> 00:10:19.419 doesn't seem that way. Texas is now suing OpenAI. and 184 00:10:19.539 --> 00:10:22.889 Sam Altman for allegedly selling a chatbot that talks kids 185 00:10:23.610 --> 00:10:27.250 into doing unwholesome things, among other things, without bothering with 186 00:10:27.289 --> 00:10:32.389 any real age check. I don't have a problem with 187 00:10:32.500 --> 00:10:35.659 AI existing. I think it's fantastic. I just don't understand 188 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:39.320 why is it so controversial to ask them to check 189 00:10:39.500 --> 00:10:41.500 and see if someone's actually old enough to be using 190 00:10:41.539 --> 00:10:42.139 the software? 191 00:10:43.570 --> 00:10:46.490 Yeah, I think when people talk about certain guardrails and 192 00:10:46.529 --> 00:10:50.779 restrictions on things like AI, this is exactly the sort 193 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:52.000 of thing they're talking about. 194 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:53.559 I don't think a lot of people. 195 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:56.759 Have a problem with AI in general, but they do 196 00:10:56.779 --> 00:10:58.889 have a problem whenever kids are able to go on 197 00:10:58.950 --> 00:11:01.230 there and there's no age check and they might be 198 00:11:01.289 --> 00:11:06.220 exposed to either pornographic material or self-harm, which happens, unfortunately, 199 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:09.850 in way too many cases. This can be a real problem, 200 00:11:09.870 --> 00:11:15.769 especially with children whose minds are developing. They're impressionable. AI 201 00:11:16.610 --> 00:11:19.090 can do a lot of great things, but AI is 202 00:11:19.129 --> 00:11:25.230 not human. It's not ultimately real intelligence, and it does 203 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:29.190 it can pose an actual problem in some cases to 204 00:11:29.230 --> 00:11:33.529 these kids. And so we have this lawsuit filed in Texas, 205 00:11:33.570 --> 00:11:38.110 by Texas rather, against not just OpenAI, who runs TrackGPT, 206 00:11:38.129 --> 00:11:39.950 but their CEO, Sam Altman. 207 00:11:41.330 --> 00:11:42.379 And we'll see where that goes. 208 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:44.980 But for a lot of the talking points from Democrats that, oh, 209 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:46.419 Republicans are now. 210

00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:47.879 Too in bed with big tech. 211 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:50.309 I mean, I think it just goes to show that people, 212 00:11:50.330 --> 00:11:54.100 at least like the Attorney General Ken Paxton, are just 213 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:59.139 calling balls and strikes and trying to encourage AI development 214 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:03.139 that makes sense, but to put restrictions where children might 215 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:03.539 be harmed. 216 00:12:04.029 --> 00:12:07.269 Yeah, I don't understand the controversy there, asking people to 217 00:12:07.309 --> 00:12:09.350 just check the age of the users. It's the same 218 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:13.370 thing with adult content. If you're upset that a website 219 00:12:13.429 --> 00:12:16.309 on the internet requires you to prove you're an adult 220 00:12:16.370 --> 00:12:18.409 in order to look at the content, I've got to wonder, 221 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:21.139 who are you showing this content to? In the meantime, 222 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:24.279 the Fifth Circuit just backed the Trump administration's views that 223 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:28.159 people who crossed illegally and are still applicants for admission 224 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:30.460 don't get a bond hearing or just because they've been 225 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:32.799 in the country illegally for a while. Is this the 226 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:34.799 first time in a while the border actually has a 227 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:37.019 legal spine? I mean, this is great news. It's nice 228 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:40.879 to see the judicial system catching up with the Trump administration. 229 00:12:42.570 --> 00:12:46.000 Yes, and this was a case where originally a three-judge panel, 230 00:12:46.009 --> 00:12:49.200 I believe it was on the Fifth Circuit, originally ruled 231 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:52.320 against this and said that no, illegal aliens do need 232 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:55.419 to be presented with bond. This was an en banc review, 233 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:58.820 so the entire court overturned that. And look, this is 234 00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:00.379 the sort of thing that I think we can expect 235 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:02.529 to probably make it all the way to the Supreme Court. 236 00:13:03.309 --> 00:13:05.090 But this is a real problem in Texas. I mean, 237 00:13:05.129 --> 00:13:07.730 you look at actual crimes that are committed here. 238 00:13:08.169 --> 00:13:08.669 People like. 239 00:13:10.009 --> 00:13:14.230 you know, the murderers of Jocelyn Nungere, right, who were 240 00:13:14.250 --> 00:13:17.350 illegal aliens. And, you know, that's just one example that 241 00:13:17.389 --> 00:13:21.070 comes off of the top of my head here. You know, 242 00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:23.389 it's nice to see a court say that, in fact, no, 243 00:13:23.429 --> 00:13:28.289 illegal aliens are not entitled to have bond, to be 244 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:32.159 let out of jail, you know, and to ultimately

try 245 00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:35.299 to escape deportation proceedings, which is what happens in so 246 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:36.000 many of these cases. 247 00:13:36.620 --> 00:13:39.340 Texas is becoming a place where a lot of the 248 00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:43.850 Trump-era legal fights are actually being decided in our courtrooms. 249 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:49.669 Immigration detention, kids' medical procedures, consumer claims against artificial intelligence. 250 00:13:50.210 --> 00:13:52.210 One has to wonder, is that because the Fifth Circuit 251 00:13:52.250 --> 00:13:55.129 Court is just friendlier to conservatives? Is it because Ken 252 00:13:55.169 --> 00:13:58.529 Paxton is a better attorney general than most other states 253 00:13:58.549 --> 00:14:00.950 seem to have? Or is it because the previous administration 254 00:14:01.389 --> 00:14:03.769 left so many open questions that the courts are now 255 00:14:03.830 --> 00:14:04.909 finally having to answer? 256 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:08.759 Yes, to all three. 257 00:14:08.850 --> 00:14:09.000 Right. 258 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:11.809 I mean, the attorney general's office has filed seemingly a 259 00:14:11.830 --> 00:14:13.070 lawsuit every day. Right. 260 00:14:13.409 --> 00:14:14.590 So there's been a ton. 261 00:14:14.409 --> 00:14:16.950 Of volume when it's come from activity from the Texas 262 00:14:16.990 --> 00:14:20.299 attorney general's office. The Fifth Circuit is generally one of 263 00:14:20.340 --> 00:14:26.179 the more conservative appellate courts. And so that's helpful as well. 264 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:31.200 And and yes, you're right. The the years, especially the 265 00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:33.419 four years that we had under the Biden administration, were 266 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:36.700 very ripe and fruitful ground for a lot of lawsuits 267 00:14:36.740 --> 00:14:40.379 to challenge their policies back then. And so I think 268 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:42.799 all three of those things are huge factors in why 269 00:14:42.850 --> 00:14:44.909 we see so many of these legal victories coming out 270 00:14:44.929 --> 00:14:45.769 of the state of Texas. 271 00:14:45.990 --> 00:14:46.250 All right. 272 00:14:46.289 --> 00:14:48.690 So we're getting a little bit of weather today. It's 273 00:14:48.809 --> 00:14:52.049 raining here in Houston. And I guess it's raining a 274 00:14:52.090 --> 00:14:54.309 little bit in Corpus Christi today as well. What's the 275 00:14:54.370 --> 00:14:57.100 turnout like? Is that affecting things or people? What's the 276 00:14:57.139 --> 00:14:58.070 base seem like today? 277 00:14:59.409 --> 00:15:00.629 Well, it's been amazing. 278 00:15:00.669 --> 00:15:04.250 The rain has stopped. The rally has been moved inside, luckily, 279 00:15:04.309 --> 00:15:06.399 but the rain has stopped. And there's been just a 280 00:15:06.460 --> 00:15:10.480 huge line of just tons of people. We're out here 281 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:13.860 at 6 in the morning in ponchos in the pouring rain. 282 00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:17.059 And so people are pouring into the venue right now. 283 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:19.590 It doesn't start. I don't think the president speaks until 284 00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:23.090 2 o'clock. And then he'll be afterwards. 285 00:15:23.129 --> 00:15:25.269 His day's not over. He's actually headed up to Lubbock 286 00:15:25.289 --> 00:15:28.269 where he's going to be speaking next. tonight. And so 287 00:15:28.370 --> 00:15:29.570 it's a big day for him. 288 00:15:30.289 --> 00:15:32.409 And then not to mention that even later this week 289 00:15:32.450 --> 00:15:36.019 on Thursday, you'll have the vice president, J.D. Vance, in Weatherford, 290 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:39.220 just west of Fort Worth. And so Texas getting a 291 00:15:39.299 --> 00:15:41.059 lot of love and a lot of attention from the 292 00:15:41.100 --> 00:15:43.879 White House in this last week before the election. 293 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:44.419 All right. 294 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:47.419 So I think Republicans win most of, if not all, 295 00:15:47.460 --> 00:15:50.620 the statewide races. I know we've been told all the 296 00:15:50.659 --> 00:15:54.370 conventional wisdom we're supposed to get from the elites on 297 00:15:54.409 --> 00:15:56.950 the East and West Coast is that Texas is sunk. 298 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.980 The Republican era is over. I'm just not buying it. 299 00:16:00.700 --> 00:16:04.159 I know people have questioned whether Paxton or French or 300 00:16:04.220 --> 00:16:06.669 Patrick has a chance of winning here, but I got 301 00:16:06.690 --> 00:16:10.509 to think with enough... support for candidates like maize middleton 302 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:14.940 don huffines uh don buckingham very popular right now with 303 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:17.840 moderates and centrists there's got to be enough people coming 304 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:21.019 out do republicans just show up late the polling data 305 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:24.090 seems to suggest a lot of republicans haven't voted yet 306 00:16:24.110 --> 00:16:26.330 but these are republicans who voted in the primary are 307 00:16:26.350 --> 00:16:29.470 those angry cornyn supporters or are they just people that 308 00:16:29.509 --> 00:16:32.309 tend to show up on election day Well, I. 309 00:16:32.289 --> 00:16:34.350 Think the concern is that you do have a little 310 00:16:34.370 --> 00:16:37.129 bit of that, right? I mean, obviously, Senator Cornyn hasn't 311 00:16:37.169 --> 00:16:40.259 been helpful in getting his voters to come out and vote. 312 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:43.259 But despite that, you're right, there are trends. 313 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:45.139 And we do see, at least looking at the numbers 314 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:47.559 from yesterday, that Republicans are closing that gap. 315 00:16:47.620 --> 00:16:50.570 Democrats started early voting with a pretty big lead in turnouts. 316 00:16:51.259 --> 00:16:54.350

And, you know, while that gap hasn't closed, Republicans have 317 00:16:54.389 --> 00:16:58.129 been closing it ever since those first days of early voting. But, 318 00:16:58.529 --> 00:17:00.230 you know, look, when people ask me, you know, is 319 00:17:00.289 --> 00:17:03.049 it possible that Democrats could win some of these statewide 320 00:17:03.110 --> 00:17:06.289 races or that James Tallarico could win? It's very possible. 321 00:17:06.309 --> 00:17:08.730 And it's not because Texas is a quote unquote blue state. 322 00:17:09.230 --> 00:17:12.079 It will be because Republicans didn't go out and go vote. 323 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:13.720 And so that's why you see so many out there 324 00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:17.660 urging people not to be complacent, not to think that 325 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.359 it can't happen in Texas. But to go cast their vote, 326 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.940 go and go encourage their friends to do so as well. 327 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:23.359 All right. 328 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.569 Last time you were in Corpus Christi was back in February. 329 00:17:26.589 --> 00:17:29.609 I think a lot has changed since then. Brandon Walton's 330 00:17:29.650 --> 00:17:33.609 John Cornyn no longer in politics. Dan Crenshaw is leaving politics. 331 00:17:34.009 --> 00:17:36.230 Jasmine Crockett, her time is done. I mean, we don't 332 00:17:36.250 --> 00:17:38.450 know what these people do next, but at least they 333 00:17:38.490 --> 00:17:41.119 won't be in those public offices anymore. But there's one 334 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:43.420 more person you saw the last time you were out 335 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.079 there in Corpus Christi, if I'm not mistaken. 336 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:46.579 Who was that? 337 00:17:48.329 --> 00:17:48.589 Yes. 338 00:17:48.670 --> 00:17:50.450 I was reminded this morning, the last time I was 339 00:17:50.490 --> 00:17:52.940 here was one of the last real public sightings of 340 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:58.039 Tony Gonzalez before he, uh, resigned and disgrace earlier this year. 341 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:00.059 And it feels like a long time ago, right? 342 00:18:00.099 --> 00:18:02.970 So much has happened since then, but, uh, Yeah, wow. 343 00:18:03.009 --> 00:18:04.880 That was quite a time. 344 00:18:05.059 --> 00:18:07.160 Brandon Waltons, it's always been awesome keeping up with you 345 00:18:07.220 --> 00:18:09.480 and your adventures. If you're not following Brandon Waltons on 346 00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:12.339 social media, you should. Go check out what he's doing 347 00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:14.839 on X. You could see what's happening right now at 348 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.049 the rallies. And, you know, if you're not an X 349 00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:20.410 user or social media user, that's fine. Just go to TexasScorecard.com. 350 00:18:20.890 --> 00:18:23.390 This is Kenny Webster's Pursuit of Happiness. 351 00:18:23.890 --> 00:18:24.289 Dig it. 352 00:18:24.309 --> 00:18:28.829 All right. 353 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:33.730 It's election day today in Israel. Yesterday was election day 354 00:18:33.789 --> 00:18:40.869 in Brazil. President Trump claims Brazil's presidential election was rigged. Wow, 355 00:18:40.930 --> 00:18:44.250 that's amazing. The Democrats are even more powerful than we thought. 356 00:18:44.269 --> 00:18:45.940 I knew you'd like that. 357 00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:47.160 That was funny. Thank you. 358 00:18:47.220 --> 00:18:49.099 Evan Mintz is here from the Houston Chronicle. 359 00:18:49.140 --> 00:18:49.920 Good to see you, my man. 360 00:18:49.940 --> 00:18:51.799 I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me. People 361 00:18:51.819 --> 00:18:53.920 are always surprised. I hit the wrong button there. People 362 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:55.680 didn't get to see you laughing at my terrible joke. 363 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:58.450 People are always surprised that you and I are friends. 364 00:18:59.380 --> 00:19:01.200 every time you're on the show and you've been on 365 00:19:01.220 --> 00:19:04.140 a few times, it's always a mixed reaction. I think 366 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:07.619 the smarter people that listen to this show, uh, are impressed. 367 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:10.920 They're like, Oh, you and Evan, uh, very polite, get along, 368 00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:13.859 you know, uh, a good acquaintanceship or at the very least, uh, 369 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:16.400 I want what's best for this city and state. I 370 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:18.559 think you do too. Maybe different means of getting there. 371 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:21.109 And then there's people like, Kenny, how can you let 372 00:19:21.140 --> 00:19:22.609 that communist on the radio? 373 00:19:22.650 --> 00:19:22.890 Right. 374 00:19:23.049 --> 00:19:25.069 And then I read the comment section of the Houston 375 00:19:25.109 --> 00:19:27.609 Chronicle and I noticed you kind of get the same 376 00:19:27.650 --> 00:19:29.549 reaction to me being in your newspaper. 377 00:19:29.710 --> 00:19:31.589 It's always so funny because I'll run something from you 378 00:19:31.630 --> 00:19:33.589 and people are like, how can you run this conservative? 379 00:19:33.609 --> 00:19:35.829 You're a handmaid into fascism. I was like, I don't 380 00:19:35.990 --> 00:19:38.170 think that's what we're doing here. And then we'll run 381 00:19:38.230 --> 00:19:40.670 something that's more progressive and the conservatives are like, how 382 00:19:40.730 --> 00:19:43.279 can you run this stuff, Houston Chronicle, a bunch of communists? 383 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:45.700 And I say it's my job to get the opinions 384 00:19:45.740 --> 00:19:48.210 from all sorts of people in Houston. And you kind 385 00:19:48.230 --> 00:19:49.650 of just have to deal with it. Like if all 386 00:19:49.670 --> 00:19:52.299 of these people. are unfamiliar to you, then you got 387 00:19:52.339 --> 00:19:53.480 to get out of the house a little more. 388 00:19:53.619 --> 00:19:54.440 Yeah,

no kidding. 389 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:57.109 And also I have made a habit now when I 390 00:19:57.150 --> 00:20:00.849 see people on social media reacting to an op-ed they 391 00:20:00.869 --> 00:20:02.910 don't like, they're like, look at this. What'd you expect 392 00:20:02.930 --> 00:20:05.329 from Hearst Media? And I'll go get one of my 393 00:20:05.410 --> 00:20:07.829 articles and paste it in the comments. And I know 394 00:20:07.849 --> 00:20:09.730 they don't like that. I've ruined their fun. Yeah. 395 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:12.539 But it's I was like, here's a perspective you'd agree with. 396 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:14.259 It's always so funny when people are like, this is 397 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:16.480 New York City hearthstone. Like, I can tell you, I've 398 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:19.480 talked to the people at Hearst twice about our opinion content. 399 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:21.960 And one time was them saying, you know, you got 400 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:24.359 more conservatives there than our San Francisco paper. How are 401 00:20:24.380 --> 00:20:26.519 you going to get more conservative content in the paper? 402 00:20:26.539 --> 00:20:27.799 And I go, well, I'm going to try to get 403 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:30.160 more conservative writers. And the other thing they say is, 404 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:32.759 did you guys make money this year? We go, yes, 405 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:34.680 we did. And they go, okay, good job. And like, 406 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:37.160 that's about it. The second thing is the only thing 407 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:38.140 people care about here. 408 00:20:38.579 --> 00:20:38.779 Yeah. 409 00:20:38.940 --> 00:20:42.400 No one has ever come down the hall and said, wow, 410 00:20:42.460 --> 00:20:44.589 you guys aren't right-wing enough today or whatever. 411 00:20:44.750 --> 00:20:44.950 Right. 412 00:20:45.009 --> 00:20:45.690 That's never been. 413 00:20:45.730 --> 00:20:48.049 We do two things for a living, despite what everyone thinks. 414 00:20:48.430 --> 00:20:50.769 We entertain you while you're stuck in traffic or at 415 00:20:50.809 --> 00:20:52.809 work if you have a job, you know, mechanic, oil 416 00:20:52.829 --> 00:20:54.690 and gas guys, and we tell you where to shop. 417 00:20:55.150 --> 00:20:55.329 Yeah. 418 00:20:55.509 --> 00:20:58.130 It's not our job to get Paxton elected or whatever, 419 00:20:58.190 --> 00:21:00.740 but- At any rate, Evan Mintz, for those that don't know, 420 00:21:00.859 --> 00:21:03.019 I think you're one of the smarter liberals in Texas, 421 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:05.299 which is kind of like saying you're the tallest person 422 00:21:05.339 --> 00:21:06.299 in a miniature golf course. 423 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.099 And you still duck under. 424 00:21:08.940 --> 00:21:12.710 Some of the arguments from the conservatives here. I think 425 00:21:12.750 --> 00:21:15.150 you make some interesting points. We don't always see eye 426 00:21:15.190 --> 00:21:17.490 to eye, but I think you actually read the stuff 427 00:21:18.150 --> 00:21:20.009 that we write and we listen to the things that 428 00:21:20.049 --> 00:21:23.470 you're saying. You're one of the only people out there 429 00:21:23.529 --> 00:21:25.750 on the left, I think, who's trying to engage with us, 430 00:21:25.789 --> 00:21:27.230 which I find to be very admirable. 431 00:21:27.650 --> 00:21:29.390 There's more people out there than you think, and not 432 00:21:29.430 --> 00:21:31.849 everyone falls on the easy left-right thing. But it's my 433 00:21:31.890 --> 00:21:33.769 job to try to engage with all sorts of people. 434 00:21:33.809 --> 00:21:36.470 And if you look at my bookshelf in my office, 435 00:21:36.779 --> 00:21:38.759 you're going to have stuff there. You're going to have 436 00:21:38.819 --> 00:21:41.180 road to serfdom on there. You're going to have history 437 00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:45.000 of various Republican politicians in Texas. I take the state seriously, 438 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.220 and I want it to be successful and do well. 439 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:50.920 And my hope is that if you read our content, 440 00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:54.069 you'll see that come across. But I know it's hard 441 00:21:54.089 --> 00:21:56.589 to convince, you know, Democrats to not vote for Democrats 442 00:21:56.650 --> 00:21:58.750 even when they're bad. And it's hard to convince Republicans 443 00:21:58.769 --> 00:22:00.990 to not vote for Republicans. And so we just like 444 00:22:01.130 --> 00:22:05.009 really try to explain, you know, why it is that 445 00:22:05.029 --> 00:22:07.799 the editorial board says what it does and justify our 446 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:10.220 argument so that at least if you read the whole piece, 447 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:11.339 you get to the end and go, well, I still 448 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:14.819 think they're wrong. But like there is a cohesive rationale 449 00:22:14.859 --> 00:22:17.059 there behind it. It's not just a gut reaction. 450 00:22:17.259 --> 00:22:22.049 People– will react to my articles in your paper and 451 00:22:22.069 --> 00:22:25.940 they'll often ask is this satire and i it actually 452 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:28.819 is i'm trying to sound like norm mcdonald or pj 453 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:31.920 o'rourke who i love yeah i try to be a 454 00:22:31.940 --> 00:22:34.920 little self-deprecating i try not to take myself too seriously 455 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:37.660 but evan i gotta give you credit dude you did 456 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:40.720 an interview recently with the harris county treasurer's office oh 457 00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:45.089 yeah and i had friends Sending me this video. I 458 00:22:45.130 --> 00:22:47.099 don't even think they knew that it was your voice 459 00:22:47.150 --> 00:22:47.900 in the background. 460 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:48.259 Oh, yeah. 461 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:50.920 Well, this is so funny because we recorded it. We 462 00:22:50.940

--> 00:22:54.440 had like a professional videographer there. But she set up 463 00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:58.599 her own phone to live stream this meeting. And I 464 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:01.660 don't know why because she comes across as a crazy 465 00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:02.259 person in it. 466 00:23:02.549 --> 00:23:04.710 Did she think that she was going to show you 467 00:23:04.750 --> 00:23:05.990 guys up or what did she? 468 00:23:06.009 --> 00:23:10.579 I don't understand sometimes what goes on in people's minds, 469 00:23:11.099 --> 00:23:13.740 particularly politicians. You have to have some sort of ego 470 00:23:13.859 --> 00:23:16.160 usually to think I'm the person who should be in charge. 471 00:23:16.420 --> 00:23:18.859 But it's particularly weird as county treasurer because you're not 472 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:21.839 in charge of anything. The county treasurer doesn't do a 473 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:22.240 whole lot. 474 00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:24.740 Do people ever say to you, Evan, after reading one 475 00:23:24.759 --> 00:23:27.519 of your pieces, you should run for office? Because I 476 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:30.220 get that from time to time. I shouldn't be in 477 00:23:30.269 --> 00:23:34.970 charge of anything. Nothing. I can do one thing very well. 478 00:23:34.990 --> 00:23:38.549 It's throw stones at powerful people, figuratively, not literally. Yeah, 479 00:23:38.569 --> 00:23:40.470 it's a whole lot more fun to be on the outside, 480 00:23:40.509 --> 00:23:43.819 you know. critiquing rather than the insight having to do stuff. 481 00:23:44.140 --> 00:23:46.319 I was on the, uh, the West university parks board 482 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:48.289 for a term. I think that's enough of like public 483 00:23:48.329 --> 00:23:49.460 service for me for a bit. 484 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:49.950 Sure. 485 00:23:50.349 --> 00:23:52.269 Well, if people hadn't seen this or heard it yet, 486 00:23:52.309 --> 00:23:54.490 we actually had Mark Howard on the show yesterday. Um, 487 00:23:56.460 --> 00:23:59.180 Whatever you think of his politics or hers, you've got 488 00:23:59.220 --> 00:24:02.359 to admit, this woman probably shouldn't be in public office. 489 00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:04.839 I mean, car accidents happen every day. 490 00:24:05.019 --> 00:24:05.299 Right. 491 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:09.039 And so, again, as far as my personal life is concerned, 492 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:11.390 it has nothing to do with my ability to do 493 00:24:11.450 --> 00:24:14.130 my job. I have not failed at doing my job 494 00:24:14.190 --> 00:24:16.269 in any way, and I don't plan to fail at 495 00:24:16.309 --> 00:24:20.410 doing my job. So with regard to your question, I 496 00:24:20.589 --> 00:24:23.930 intend to be the Harris County treasurer, and I intend 497 00:24:24.250 --> 00:24:26.970 to work at the will of the people and That's 498 00:24:27.049 --> 00:24:28.799 all I can offer you at this time. 499 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:34.200 Perhaps for

just my own curiosity, what was happening as 500 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:37.000 you were driving a car and then ran into several 501 00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:40.119 other cars? Because car accidents do happen, but not ones 502 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:42.920 like this where it's sort of a bonk, bonk, bonk, 503 00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:45.700 and you don't stop. What was going through your mind? 504 00:24:45.900 --> 00:24:50.410 I haven't seen what you're describing, so I can't speak. 505 00:24:50.450 --> 00:24:53.990 But you just described something that allegedly happened. I haven't 506 00:24:54.089 --> 00:24:59.670 seen that. And so I can't speak to that. 507 00:24:59.710 --> 00:24:59.910 Hold on. 508 00:24:59.910 --> 00:25:01.670 I got to pause it right here. Wasn't she in 509 00:25:01.710 --> 00:25:02.150 the car? 510 00:25:02.349 --> 00:25:04.369 Yeah, she was the one driving it. And if you 511 00:25:04.450 --> 00:25:08.099 read these police reports, she's been arrested twice for DWIs. 512 00:25:08.579 --> 00:25:11.200 She has was cited in this car crash where you 513 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:14.400 can watch someone else's dash cam. And it's like, you know, 514 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:17.880 bumper boats up on the freeway. And the one time 515 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:19.720 she got pulled over, it was like one thirty in 516 00:25:19.740 --> 00:25:21.130 the morning. She was pulled over to the side of 517 00:25:21.150 --> 00:25:23.670 the freeway. Texas city cop comes up to her and 518 00:25:23.710 --> 00:25:25.150 goes like, ma'am, do you know where you are? And 519 00:25:25.170 --> 00:25:28.430 she goes, I'm in heaven. I was like, whatever she's on. Like, 520 00:25:28.490 --> 00:25:30.690 I'm a little jealous. I don't know what's going on there, 521 00:25:30.710 --> 00:25:34.390 but if you can't like keep your stuff together, uh, 522 00:25:35.269 --> 00:25:36.430 I don't know if you should be in public office, 523 00:25:36.569 --> 00:25:38.190 but you're going to keep playing and get to like 524 00:25:38.210 --> 00:25:38.829 the next line. 525 00:25:38.930 --> 00:25:41.430 This is the best part. It gets better. Uh, were 526 00:25:41.450 --> 00:25:43.630 there any dead babies thrown through the windshield? 527 00:25:43.650 --> 00:25:45.470 Still driving today? 528 00:25:46.470 --> 00:25:46.690 Yes. 529 00:25:46.710 --> 00:25:46.950 Yes. 530 00:25:47.269 --> 00:25:47.849 I have a car. 531 00:25:47.869 --> 00:25:48.069 Yes. 532 00:25:48.430 --> 00:25:51.670 Have you considered maybe not driving? 533 00:25:53.910 --> 00:25:57.170 Um, no, I haven't considered not driving. I didn't drive 534 00:25:57.210 --> 00:25:59.829 here today. Uh, someone brought me here because I had 535 00:25:59.869 --> 00:26:06.849 multiple appointments today, but, um, no one was injured. Uh, there, 536 00:26:06.990 --> 00:26:10.079 there was no babies thrown through the windshield or anything 537 00:26:10.099 --> 00:26:10.759 of that nature. 538 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:12.619 What

an odd thing to say. 539 00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:12.859 Yes. 540 00:26:12.940 --> 00:26:16.460 That was a very odd. The whole interview was very weird. 541 00:26:16.519 --> 00:26:19.819 She would say things like, um, you know, nobody's stealing 542 00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:22.319 any money and hiding it under their mattress. Like, we 543 00:26:22.450 --> 00:26:25.259 didn't say there were no one's said that there is like, 544 00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:27.500 why would you bring that up? That's very odd. 545 00:26:29.299 --> 00:26:31.279 My girlfriend the other day says to me, you know, 546 00:26:31.319 --> 00:26:33.559 I like when you play footsie with me sometimes under 547 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:35.509 the table. I was like, yeah, that's not because there's 548 00:26:35.549 --> 00:26:37.170 some junk on my shoe and I'm trying to get 549 00:26:37.210 --> 00:26:40.710 it off. Not that you asked, you know, no, certainly not. 550 00:26:41.009 --> 00:26:43.509 This is one of my favorite political interviews. Cause it's 551 00:26:43.609 --> 00:26:46.769 funny the whole time, but then right at the end, 552 00:26:46.849 --> 00:26:49.140 even after you make a point, she still interrupts you 553 00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:50.019 to say, allegedly. 554 00:26:50.779 --> 00:26:53.309 Um, it's just some, It's just hype as far as 555 00:26:53.430 --> 00:26:57.950 I'm concerned. No one was injured. Unfortunately, there was an 556 00:26:58.170 --> 00:27:03.119 unfortunate thing that happened. And again, I don't have anything 557 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:06.240 to offer you that you can sink your teeth in 558 00:27:06.299 --> 00:27:06.960 and chew on. 559 00:27:07.180 --> 00:27:10.359 It just feels like you're not taking personal responsibility for 560 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:14.339 this long track record. of charges that you've racked up 561 00:27:14.390 --> 00:27:16.359 and trouble that you've gotten into. 562 00:27:16.700 --> 00:27:17.119 Allegedly. 563 00:27:17.579 --> 00:27:18.220 Allegedly. 564 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:21.640 That's my favorite part. It's the best part of the interview. 565 00:27:21.859 --> 00:27:25.500 I mean, there is this like big gap between what 566 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:28.000 actually happens in the world and then like having to 567 00:27:28.039 --> 00:27:30.380 get charged for it under a court of law, you know, 568 00:27:30.509 --> 00:27:33.410 barriers pretty high to bring charges against someone to convict them. 569 00:27:33.450 --> 00:27:34.069 And that's good. 570 00:27:34.109 --> 00:27:36.269 You want, you know, limits on government power to do that. 571 00:27:36.579 --> 00:27:38.240 But that doesn't mean she didn't get into this big 572 00:27:38.309 --> 00:27:41.789 car crash and get arrested twice for being drunk or 573 00:27:41.829 --> 00:27:45.869 asleep at the wheel or something. And then as treasurer, 574 00:27:45.910 --> 00:27:48.170 you don't really have any power. You basically just sign 575 00:27:48.210 --> 00:27:50.430 off on the

checks for the money that the county 576 00:27:50.470 --> 00:27:51.210 already spent. 577 00:27:51.509 --> 00:27:51.730 Right. 578 00:27:52.170 --> 00:27:56.630 But her office processed two faulty checks, like two scam checks, 579 00:27:57.049 --> 00:28:00.059 even though their system that they have set off a 580 00:28:00.450 --> 00:28:04.720 red alarm and said, hey, don't process these. And so- 581 00:28:05.619 --> 00:28:09.339 Once that got revealed, the county, which is Democratic majority, 582 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:11.509 went to this Democratic treasurer and said, like, we are 583 00:28:11.569 --> 00:28:14.670 defunding your office. We are taking authority away from you 584 00:28:14.710 --> 00:28:17.880 to the extent that we can. And the next legislative session, 585 00:28:17.900 --> 00:28:20.769 we are going up to Austin. to ask lawmakers to 586 00:28:20.869 --> 00:28:24.410 get rid of this position entirely, to fire you. All right, 587 00:28:24.509 --> 00:28:28.970 so you do a lot of these interviews. We don't 588 00:28:28.990 --> 00:28:31.349 have to get to see all the interviews, right? This 589 00:28:31.390 --> 00:28:33.289 was unique because she put it online. 590 00:28:33.509 --> 00:28:33.849 No, no, no. 591 00:28:33.890 --> 00:28:35.150 We recorded this one, too. 592 00:28:35.170 --> 00:28:38.069 There's a Houston Chronicle video of it as well, but 593 00:28:38.130 --> 00:28:39.710 I don't know why she recorded this one and put 594 00:28:39.730 --> 00:28:42.450 it online. But we only have the, you know, really, 595 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:45.519 we're writers over the newspaper, but we know that people 596 00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:47.099 like to see videos. It's the way of the world 597 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:47.359 these days. 598 00:28:47.380 --> 00:28:47.519 Sure. 599 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:50.599 We record some of the more interesting ones and then 600 00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:54.079 put them up there. You know, I remember four years ago, 601 00:28:54.180 --> 00:28:57.299 it was the Alex Mueller and Lena Hidalgo meeting that 602 00:28:57.319 --> 00:28:59.460 we record and put out. And like that got a 603 00:28:59.589 --> 00:29:01.769 lot of people to watch. And I used to think 604 00:29:01.890 --> 00:29:05.650 that the candidates wouldn't want to be on camera. But 605 00:29:05.690 --> 00:29:07.869 it turns out that most of them really do because 606 00:29:07.910 --> 00:29:10.109 they rarely get to be on camera otherwise. 607 00:29:10.269 --> 00:29:12.369 The thing that was so remarkable about that is. 608 00:29:13.589 --> 00:29:16.269 This election right now, everyone's comparing it to 2018, which 609 00:29:16.329 --> 00:29:18.509 is how we got Lena Hidalgo in the first place. 610 00:29:19.109 --> 00:29:22.069 And they say, oh, Republican enthusiasm is very low. It's like, 611 00:29:22.089 --> 00:29:24.170 all right, well, hang on a minute, guys. Last time 612 00:29:24.210 --> 00:29:27.250 this happened, we got a Democrat leader that

was so bad, 613 00:29:27.329 --> 00:29:30.430 even Democrats don't like her anymore. All that being said, 614 00:29:30.430 --> 00:29:32.230 you've done a lot of these over the years. I 615 00:29:32.230 --> 00:29:34.309 always ask you, you know, you, and you often, you, 616 00:29:34.390 --> 00:29:36.670 you don't try to pander to this audience. I never 617 00:29:36.690 --> 00:29:40.970 seen you do it. Who is the most objectively funny 618 00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:44.529 candidate you ever interviewed? Forget about what party, who was it? 619 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:49.359 Objectively funny? Like this woman doesn't know she's hilarious. Evan, 620 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:50.960 that's a really funny interview. 621 00:29:50.980 --> 00:29:51.200 Okay. 622 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:56.119 Stan Stannert was funny. Um, and you know, I, I've 623 00:29:56.140 --> 00:29:58.970 got a soft spot in my heart for Stannert. You know, 624 00:29:59.009 --> 00:30:04.349 he was county clerk, and he's been involved in Harris 625 00:30:04.369 --> 00:30:06.289 County politics for a long time, and he used to 626 00:30:06.309 --> 00:30:09.009 work at NASA. But he's running for state rep, and, 627 00:30:09.109 --> 00:30:12.890 you know, we ask him, and his Democratic opponent is like, okay, well, 628 00:30:12.910 --> 00:30:15.089 you know, what about education? What are the big things 629 00:30:15.130 --> 00:30:16.970 you think the ledge should be doing on education? And 630 00:30:16.990 --> 00:30:18.529 he starts talking about how we're going to have AI 631 00:30:18.970 --> 00:30:22.549 robots in classrooms teaching kids things. And we're just like, 632 00:30:23.230 --> 00:30:23.809 I don't know. 633 00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:25.480 What? 634 00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:28.059 What are you talking about? Like, yes, there's a role 635 00:30:28.119 --> 00:30:30.420 for AI, but he literally had this vision of, like, 636 00:30:30.940 --> 00:30:32.880 AI teachers going around. 637 00:30:32.940 --> 00:30:35.440 What year was this? This year. Okay. 638 00:30:35.880 --> 00:30:39.319 And it just seemed, like, so far bizarrely out there. 639 00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:41.940 It's like, maybe you need to be grounded more on just, like, 640 00:30:42.130 --> 00:30:44.170 what is the budget this year? How are we going 641 00:30:44.190 --> 00:30:47.650 to provide accountability? It was a little spectacular. It reminds me, 642 00:30:47.910 --> 00:30:51.369 this is way back, but to talking with John Culberson, 643 00:30:51.410 --> 00:30:55.119 used to be a congressman, and Culberson... was obsessed with 644 00:30:55.180 --> 00:30:59.569 trying to discover life on Europa, the Jupiter moon that's 645 00:30:59.609 --> 00:31:02.269 an icy moon. And he was on the committee that 646 00:31:02.309 --> 00:31:04.490 did NASA stuff. And so he would talk about how, 647 00:31:04.529 --> 00:31:06.529 you know, we've really got to put money in to 648 00:31:06.569 --> 00:31:09.990 getting these probes to Europa to discover

the little tube 649 00:31:10.029 --> 00:31:11.970 worms that are going to be living in the ocean. 650 00:31:11.990 --> 00:31:14.259 I'd be like, John Culberson, like, that is the coolest 651 00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:16.940 thing I've ever heard. I am probably the only person 652 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:20.319 in like a 100 square mile radius who is like 653 00:31:20.380 --> 00:31:22.400 there with you on it. I don't think any of 654 00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:23.559 your voters care about this. 655 00:31:23.579 --> 00:31:25.259 All right, we've got a break. We've gone long on 656 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:26.619 this segment. I have a lot I want to ask 657 00:31:26.660 --> 00:31:29.619 you about that. Evan Mintz is here from the Houston Chronicle. 658 00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:32.279 If you're watching us live streaming on social media, feel 659 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.680 free to type in questions. We'll answer them for you 660 00:31:34.779 --> 00:31:36.619 on the air if we have answers and more with 661 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:38.089 him coming up right after this. 662 00:31:40.170 --> 00:31:45.609 You've got Kenny Webster's Pursuit of Happiness on KPRC 950. 663 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:52.900 Oh, this is exciting. Rapper Macklemore has kicked off his 664 00:31:52.980 --> 00:31:56.150 solo tour. It's called a solo tour because apparently there 665 00:31:56.170 --> 00:31:58.910 was only one person in the crowd at the time. 666 00:31:58.930 --> 00:32:01.789 So that's unique. If you're just joining us, we're back 667 00:32:01.829 --> 00:32:04.089 with Evan Mintz of the Houston Chronicle. Evan, you have 668 00:32:04.130 --> 00:32:07.230 this unique ability to write about Texas politics without sounding 669 00:32:07.250 --> 00:32:10.269 like you're filing a police report for the Republicans, which is, 670 00:32:10.609 --> 00:32:13.150 I think, cool because you're not a Republican. We may 671 00:32:13.190 --> 00:32:15.410 disagree on a lot, but you usually argue with facts. 672 00:32:15.809 --> 00:32:17.849 And that's a problem for me because I argue with jokes. 673 00:32:18.309 --> 00:32:19.089 That doesn't help me. 674 00:32:19.329 --> 00:32:20.829 Jokes are great. You know, I don't think of myself 675 00:32:20.869 --> 00:32:22.750 really as a Democrat either. I think of myself as 676 00:32:22.789 --> 00:32:24.970 being a Texan first And we meet with all these 677 00:32:25.049 --> 00:32:27.569 politicians and we had some good lines from Democrats this 678 00:32:27.589 --> 00:32:30.009 year where they say, like, listen, when Democrats were in 679 00:32:30.049 --> 00:32:32.309 charge of the state for 30 years, they started to 680 00:32:32.349 --> 00:32:34.529 get lazy, corrupt and out of touch. And I've had 681 00:32:34.589 --> 00:32:37.549 Republicans in charge for 30 years. Sometimes what's the line? 682 00:32:37.910 --> 00:32:40.049 Politicians are like diapers. You want to change them every 683 00:32:40.089 --> 00:32:42.250 now and then. And for the same reason, it's pretty 684 00:32:42.309 --> 00:32:45.259 healthy to get a nice washout every now and then. 685 00:32:45.339 --> 00:32:46.759 I don't know if it's going to happen this year, 686 00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:47.960 but I get the instinct. 687 00:32:48.230 --> 00:32:50.640 All right, let's pick the best and worst of both 688 00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:52.859 parties right now. In fact, let's just do worst. 689 00:32:53.119 --> 00:32:53.640 Okay. 690 00:32:53.660 --> 00:32:56.099 Because I think that's more interesting for people. I voted 691 00:32:56.160 --> 00:32:58.549 straight party line. That probably doesn't shock people much. I 692 00:32:58.589 --> 00:33:01.089 voted for all the Republicans. I don't think Beau French 693 00:33:01.130 --> 00:33:02.309 has ran a great campaign. 694 00:33:02.490 --> 00:33:03.190 I told him that. 695 00:33:04.250 --> 00:33:06.009 Uh, I don't think he's, I think there's been a 696 00:33:06.029 --> 00:33:09.799 very interesting, um, chance here to have a conversation about 697 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:12.099 how we went from the oil boom in 1901 to 698 00:33:12.460 --> 00:33:15.519 the data boom that's happening now and how the railroad 699 00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:18.500 commissioner could very soon be the data center commissioner. 700 00:33:18.579 --> 00:33:18.960 Who knows? 701 00:33:19.309 --> 00:33:21.869 That would have been a fascinating conversation to have. Instead, 702 00:33:21.890 --> 00:33:24.329 we're talking about Indian kids at a football game. It's 703 00:33:24.349 --> 00:33:25.089 not very helpful. 704 00:33:25.269 --> 00:33:27.589 No, we just ran a piece today where one of our, uh, 705 00:33:27.769 --> 00:33:30.769 opinion writers went out to West Texas to a lot 706 00:33:30.789 --> 00:33:33.809 of these, uh, These landowners who have zombie wells on 707 00:33:33.829 --> 00:33:37.049 their land, basically old wells that are leaking with the 708 00:33:37.069 --> 00:33:40.339 call of produced water that's poisoning the soil. It's getting 709 00:33:40.619 --> 00:33:42.980 toxins into rivers. And it's the job of the Railroad 710 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:45.140 Commission to plug these up. And they just don't have 711 00:33:45.180 --> 00:33:47.400 the budget or the wherewithal to focus on that. So 712 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:50.720 John Rosenthal, you know, the Democratic candidate who is an 713 00:33:50.859 --> 00:33:54.519 engineer who worked on offshore oil platforms, is going around 714 00:33:54.599 --> 00:33:57.480 like desperately trying to convince a lot of these conservative 715 00:33:57.519 --> 00:34:01.259 Republicans like he's the guy. And we have these conversations 716 00:34:01.299 --> 00:34:03.880 between folks where they're like, well, it definitely sounds like 717 00:34:03.900 --> 00:34:06.109 you've got the resume and I care about this stuff. 718 00:34:06.720 --> 00:34:08.630 But I've seen the things you said about those trans 719 00:34:08.670 --> 00:34:11.170 kids and I don't know. And

he's like, oh, OK, 720 00:34:11.230 --> 00:34:13.170 like we're not going to agree on the trans stuff. Like, 721 00:34:13.289 --> 00:34:14.369 you know, I'm from Houston. 722 00:34:14.389 --> 00:34:14.590 I got. 723 00:34:14.989 --> 00:34:16.849 Trans friends, I got you. But what's his line? 724 00:34:16.869 --> 00:34:19.570 Like, if you like whiskey and you like cigars, like 725 00:34:19.869 --> 00:34:22.039 have whiskey and a cigar with me and we'll talk. 726 00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:24.019 But like, I swear, like, I just want to plug 727 00:34:24.059 --> 00:34:24.719 these wells. 728 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:25.239 Right. 729 00:34:25.860 --> 00:34:27.800 And I think it's an important thing to deal with. 730 00:34:27.860 --> 00:34:30.969 I certainly do. For me, it's eminent domain. I don't 731 00:34:31.010 --> 00:34:33.949 like the idea of I'm very pro oil and gas. 732 00:34:34.110 --> 00:34:37.010 I'm very pro energy industry. I don't like the idea 733 00:34:37.230 --> 00:34:39.659 of the energy industry showing up and telling some eighth 734 00:34:39.699 --> 00:34:44.139 generation Texans, sorry, we got to put a pipeline here. 735 00:34:44.460 --> 00:34:48.010 Weirdly enough, Beau French, you probably agree with him on 736 00:34:48.050 --> 00:34:50.889 that position. He's strongly against the use of eminent domain. 737 00:34:51.409 --> 00:34:52.840 But nobody's talking about that. 738 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:54.059 That's not even a conversation. 739 00:34:54.119 --> 00:34:56.039 I don't think that Beau French is running a serious 740 00:34:56.079 --> 00:34:58.619 campaign in any sort of way. Like all he ever 741 00:34:58.679 --> 00:35:01.780 talks about is just racism online. That's how he got 742 00:35:01.820 --> 00:35:03.780 into politics. That's what he does now. And there's a 743 00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:06.909 reason why Donald Trump left him off his endorsement list. 744 00:35:07.230 --> 00:35:10.510 The oil and gas workers of Texas, their PAC left 745 00:35:10.550 --> 00:35:13.550 him off their endorsement list after first endorsing him. You've 746 00:35:13.570 --> 00:35:16.190 had all sorts of folks, the mayor of Fort Worth, 747 00:35:16.210 --> 00:35:19.380 who's a Republican, albeit a moderate Republican, who knows Beau 748 00:35:19.409 --> 00:35:22.360 French because he was the head of the county Republican Party, 749 00:35:22.820 --> 00:35:25.800 actively endorsed the Democrat. And I will lay this out 750 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:28.190 to Republicans. This is my big pitch to Republicans to 751 00:35:28.230 --> 00:35:31.409 not vote for Beau French. Not just because he's unqualified, 752 00:35:31.449 --> 00:35:33.449 not just because he's a terrible person who's going to 753 00:35:33.510 --> 00:35:35.409 drag down the party because you're going to have to 754 00:35:35.429 --> 00:35:37.750 deal with all the stuff he can't help but say. 755 00:35:37.989 --> 00:35:39.610 But that you could lose a seat on the Railroad 756 00:35:39.630 --> 00:35:41.840 Commission and it won't give any power to Democrats. It 757 00:35:41.880 --> 00:35:46.159 is a three-member panel. You can lose one. You still 758 00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:48.599 have a majority. And then you won't have to deal 759 00:35:48.659 --> 00:35:51.239 with Beau French's BS for the next six years. 760 00:35:51.539 --> 00:35:54.719 All right, I voted for him because, despite the party thing, 761 00:35:55.260 --> 00:36:00.059 Wayne Christian, who is on the Railroad Commission, is pro-eminent domain. 762 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:02.360 And so to me, I don't care that much about 763 00:36:02.380 --> 00:36:02.880 the party thing. 764 00:36:02.920 --> 00:36:04.639 I care about that. All right, let's move on. 765 00:36:04.699 --> 00:36:06.480 I got one more eminent domain rant. 766 00:36:06.539 --> 00:36:07.340 Please, yeah, please. 767 00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:09.199 Let's come back to the data centers. I get like 768 00:36:09.239 --> 00:36:11.969 people are worried about the data centers. They have their arguments. 769 00:36:12.130 --> 00:36:15.570 We're both pro-data centers. Yeah, yeah, me too. But my 770 00:36:15.610 --> 00:36:19.409 thought on it is that it's... Private money buying private 771 00:36:19.449 --> 00:36:22.489 land to build a private thing with their own cash. 772 00:36:22.769 --> 00:36:25.389 But the moment people are concerned because it's, you know, 773 00:36:25.690 --> 00:36:29.179 politically important rural voters, suddenly the governor is like flip 774 00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:31.199 flopping on the issue and he's going in to stop 775 00:36:31.219 --> 00:36:33.539 them or protect them, this and that. Meanwhile, here in Houston. 776 00:36:33.960 --> 00:36:38.480 You've got a state-owned freeway using taxpayer dollars to eminent 777 00:36:38.519 --> 00:36:42.969 domain 1,500 homes and businesses to expand I-45 that the 778 00:36:43.010 --> 00:36:46.449 people living here don't want. And there's no argument you have. 779 00:36:46.550 --> 00:36:49.090 So the state can do whatever it wants. You can't 780 00:36:49.150 --> 00:36:52.510 stop them. But this private entity, suddenly, like, people are 781 00:36:52.550 --> 00:36:53.929 concerned about that. And the state can come in and 782 00:36:53.949 --> 00:36:56.980 stop the private entity. It seems totally opposite from the 783 00:36:57.000 --> 00:36:57.519 way it should be. 784 00:36:57.539 --> 00:36:57.800 Right. 785 00:36:58.690 --> 00:36:58.949 Yeah. 786 00:36:59.010 --> 00:36:59.570 The freeway. 787 00:36:59.829 --> 00:37:00.050 Right. 788 00:37:00.090 --> 00:37:01.420 The chemical processing plant. 789 00:37:01.659 --> 00:37:03.420 Nobody wants to live near this stuff, but we all 790 00:37:03.460 --> 00:37:05.050 go somewhere and we all want it. 791 00:37:05.099 --> 00:37:05.280 Right. 792 00:37:05.340 --> 00:37:08.559 It should be if it's private land, private money like 793 00:37:09.030 --> 00:37:12.989 that should be harder to stop than public money buying 794

00:37:13.289 --> 00:37:15.809 public land. That should be easier to stop. Grimes County 795 00:37:15.829 --> 00:37:18.380 is building one of these huge, massive, massive. 796 00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:18.599 Right. 797 00:37:19.030 --> 00:37:21.679 I've been out to rural Texas. I go there regularly. 798 00:37:21.699 --> 00:37:23.739 We're on the radio all over the state. I drive 799 00:37:23.780 --> 00:37:24.300 around a lot. 800 00:37:24.340 --> 00:37:24.519 I do. 801 00:37:24.860 --> 00:37:26.739 For some reason, we do a comedy show in a 802 00:37:26.820 --> 00:37:28.699 small town. A lot of people show up. 803 00:37:28.719 --> 00:37:28.940 Yeah. 804 00:37:29.079 --> 00:37:30.610 We do a comedy show in Fort Worth. 805 00:37:30.809 --> 00:37:31.010 Meh. 806 00:37:31.429 --> 00:37:33.909 You know, it's just something about a small town. And 807 00:37:34.650 --> 00:37:35.559 our listeners love it. 808 00:37:35.730 --> 00:37:37.389 I show up. I look around. 809 00:37:37.969 --> 00:37:40.309 I haven't gotten the impression that the data center is 810 00:37:40.349 --> 00:37:41.070 ruining their life. 811 00:37:41.369 --> 00:37:41.570 Right. 812 00:37:41.650 --> 00:37:45.360 And I brought this up to end and surprisingly, they're 813 00:37:45.400 --> 00:37:47.699 not as against it as we've been told either. It's 814 00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:51.000 always a small, it's like the trending section on social media. 815 00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:54.099 It's the way that nimbyism works. It's the loudest people 816 00:37:54.239 --> 00:37:56.550 in the room are able to, to get this done. 817 00:37:56.570 --> 00:37:57.869 But I think a big part of it is that 818 00:37:57.909 --> 00:38:01.320 Republicans have really relied on rural voters to, to, you know, 819 00:38:01.679 --> 00:38:05.199 overcome whatever democratic turnout you get in cities. And if 820 00:38:05.239 --> 00:38:07.739 they start to lose any of that support out in 821 00:38:07.780 --> 00:38:10.280 rural areas, you know, it's not that, you know, Democrats 822 00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:11.300 are going to win it. But if you go from 823 00:38:11.320 --> 00:38:13.760 like 90 percent to 70 percent or 70 percent to 824 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:16.579 60 percent, that can win or lose an election for you. 825 00:38:16.920 --> 00:38:20.599 And so unlike almost every other issue that like comes 826 00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:25.030 into politics, data centers are ones that cut across partisanship. 827 00:38:25.070 --> 00:38:27.840 It's not an easy partisan divide there. And so suddenly 828 00:38:27.940 --> 00:38:30.280 Republicans at the very top, you know, notice how Greg 829 00:38:30.360 --> 00:38:33.059 Abbott is acting, goes like, oh, shoot, like I actually 830 00:38:33.099 --> 00:38:36.260 have to respond to this issue rather than just say like, hey, 831 00:38:36.300 --> 00:38:38.139 Republicans are on the right side. Democrats are on the 832 00:38:38.179 --> 00:38:38.739 wrong side. 833 00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:39.559 End of day. 834 00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:40.039 Yeah. 835 00:38:40.139 --> 00:38:43.070 Data centers are popular, unpopular, depending on who you're in 836 00:38:43.090 --> 00:38:45.130 the room with. And I think the other thing that's 837 00:38:45.170 --> 00:38:46.429 like that is school vouchers. 838 00:38:46.510 --> 00:38:48.030 Yeah. I can remember a time. 839 00:38:48.469 --> 00:38:52.130 When Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvester Turner and Al Green, 840 00:38:52.150 --> 00:38:55.429 these people loved the school choice. They loved it right 841 00:38:55.469 --> 00:38:57.329 up until they were told not to love it anymore. 842 00:38:57.750 --> 00:38:59.650 I can remember a time when all the Republicans were 843 00:38:59.690 --> 00:39:01.730 for it right up until they were told, you know, 844 00:39:01.769 --> 00:39:04.170 it's going to be bad for small towns. And now 845 00:39:04.269 --> 00:39:07.840 as we get into this election, it's my understanding the 846 00:39:07.929 --> 00:39:10.219 school vouchers went out to a lot of single moms 847 00:39:10.260 --> 00:39:14.159 around the state. People that aren't necessarily traditionally Republican voters. 848 00:39:14.860 --> 00:39:17.880 Abbott's opponent, Gina, says she takes over as governor. She 849 00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:20.960 gets rid of those day one. I don't think school vouchers. 850 00:39:21.260 --> 00:39:23.989 The question is, does it become like the Somalian daycare 851 00:39:24.030 --> 00:39:26.280 thing where we learn five or 10 years from now? 852 00:39:26.289 --> 00:39:28.530 That is my huge concern, too, because this is an 853 00:39:28.570 --> 00:39:31.280 issue you have like in higher education. Basically we have 854 00:39:31.340 --> 00:39:34.340 vouchers in higher education at a federal level through subsidized 855 00:39:34.380 --> 00:39:37.500 loans or grants. And so like down 610 from like 856 00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:39.440 where we are right now, there used to be something called, 857 00:39:39.500 --> 00:39:41.940 it was like the Art Institute of Texas or the 858 00:39:41.980 --> 00:39:45.460 Culinary Institute of Texas. And it was a scam school. 859 00:39:45.579 --> 00:39:48.119 And it was taking in all these federal grants or 860 00:39:48.159 --> 00:39:52.630 federally subsidized loans graduating students into jobs where they would 861 00:39:52.690 --> 00:39:55.190 not make enough money to actually pay off the loans 862 00:39:55.230 --> 00:39:58.130 they already got. And the thing had been investigated by 863 00:39:58.170 --> 00:40:01.170 the DOJ previously, and eventually it all collapsed and left 864 00:40:01.250 --> 00:40:04.170 everyone high and dry as students and basically took all 865 00:40:04.210 --> 00:40:06.150 these federal dollars. So you want to make sure that 866 00:40:06.170 --> 00:40:08.269 you've got a lot of good transparency, you've got strings 867 00:40:08.289 --> 00:40:14.420 attached in vouchers. I'm not against vouchers 100%, but if 868 00:40:14.440 -->

00:40:16.579 you're going to do this, there's a lot of lessons learned, 869 00:40:17.059 --> 00:40:19.889 and I feel like Texas didn't implement those. And right now, 870 00:40:19.989 --> 00:40:24.070 you've got the controller, Don Uffines, who's saying he's not 871 00:40:24.110 --> 00:40:27.780 going to tell the public where the voucher money is going, 872 00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:31.380 like what school is getting it, what contractors are getting this. 873 00:40:31.800 --> 00:40:33.199 And it seems like if you think it's doing a 874 00:40:33.219 --> 00:40:36.530 good job, Texans should be allowed to know where the 875 00:40:36.610 --> 00:40:38.750 money's going. It seems weird to me. 876 00:40:38.849 --> 00:40:40.510 I would love to hear more of his position on 877 00:40:40.550 --> 00:40:43.590 that because he is a guy that's for transparency. But 878 00:40:43.869 --> 00:40:45.809 when you zoom out the camera lens a little bit 879 00:40:45.909 --> 00:40:48.539 and you talk about school vouchers, it's like the one 880 00:40:48.579 --> 00:40:50.340 thing that people on the left, it's the one kind 881 00:40:50.380 --> 00:40:51.840 of welfare. 882 00:40:51.719 --> 00:40:53.639 That they don't like. Yeah, it's the one welfare the 883 00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:54.440 right wing does like. 884 00:40:54.539 --> 00:40:56.159 And wouldn't you think if we could all just have 885 00:40:56.199 --> 00:40:59.460 a conversation about this, you've got a single mom in 886 00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:01.610 a low-income neighborhood on the east side of Houston who's 887 00:41:01.889 --> 00:41:04.409 with a smart kid in a terrible school. Don't we 888 00:41:04.449 --> 00:41:06.409 all agree that we want something good for that kid? 889 00:41:06.650 --> 00:41:08.849 But you want to make sure the funds are going 890 00:41:08.929 --> 00:41:11.010 to the right school and that it's going to a 891 00:41:11.110 --> 00:41:13.159 good school and it's a school with good outcomes. You know, 892 00:41:13.179 --> 00:41:16.280 you could say something like, OK, vouchers can go to schools, 893 00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:18.239 but they have to show they get better outcomes than 894 00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:20.860 like the average public school in the region or something 895 00:41:20.880 --> 00:41:23.519 like that. But we haven't put any of those regulations 896 00:41:23.559 --> 00:41:25.929 in place. We're just kind of stupid with money when 897 00:41:25.969 --> 00:41:28.050 it comes to this billion dollar voucher program. And there 898 00:41:28.070 --> 00:41:30.449 are a lot of like worthwhile criticisms we had at 899 00:41:30.550 --> 00:41:32.949 public schools. But it's the same sort of thing. Is 900 00:41:32.989 --> 00:41:35.800 our money going to a good institution or not? 901 00:41:35.989 --> 00:41:38.280 Yeah, it's a good question. All right. Bottom line, how 902 00:41:38.300 --> 00:41:40.929 would you fix it? How would I fix it? 903 00:41:41.010 --> 00:41:43.510 How do we prevent what ultimately people are worried about, 904 00:41:43.570 --> 00:41:45.550 which is that it's going to be corrupted or that 905 00:41:45.929 --> 00:41:47.269 it's the Somalian daycare thing. 906 00:41:47.730 --> 00:41:48.630 It's the leering side. 907 00:41:48.670 --> 00:41:51.900 You'd have to measure the outcomes of students, particularly at 908 00:41:51.909 --> 00:41:53.920 a high school level, to make sure, see what percent 909 00:41:53.940 --> 00:41:58.099 of students are graduating into college, public service like military, 910 00:41:58.380 --> 00:42:01.039 or a job. And as long as those stats are 911 00:42:01.099 --> 00:42:04.280 high enough, it's probably a good institution. I'd say that's 912 00:42:04.300 --> 00:42:06.780 what we do. That's easy for high school. It's harder 913 00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:09.599 for middle school and elementary school things. It's also weird 914 00:42:09.619 --> 00:42:11.579 that you can spend the money, get $ 2, 000 just to 915 00:42:11.619 --> 00:42:15.900 spend on like tutors or just like various school supplies. 916 00:42:16.179 --> 00:42:18.780 That seems like really like an opportunity for waste. 917 00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:20.110 Like I would get rid of that. 918 00:42:20.289 --> 00:42:22.809 Right now there's about a thousand people watching us on 919 00:42:22.869 --> 00:42:26.530 social media. Um, who knows how many people listening on 920 00:42:26.550 --> 00:42:28.190 the radio? I would imagine by the end of today, 921 00:42:28.250 --> 00:42:30.550 there'd be close to 80,000 to a hundred thousand people 922 00:42:31.050 --> 00:42:32.840 that have heard this interview. And most of them are 923 00:42:32.860 --> 00:42:34.599 going to be on the right. They're not going to 924 00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:38.480 be liberals or Very few centrists. People ask me a lot. 925 00:42:38.519 --> 00:42:40.360 They're like, you know, why don't you have more liberals 926 00:42:40.440 --> 00:42:42.739 on the show? Well, first of all, I invite them on. 927 00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:44.989 They often will say no or they don't want to 928 00:42:45.030 --> 00:42:46.469 do it. It just depends who it is. It's a 929 00:42:46.530 --> 00:42:49.030 short list of them that'll do the show. You're one 930 00:42:49.050 --> 00:42:51.769 of the only ones that Evans never said no to me. 931 00:42:51.809 --> 00:42:52.449 He's busy. 932 00:42:52.469 --> 00:42:54.909 He doesn't always have the free time. Similarly, I have 933 00:42:54.949 --> 00:42:56.900 been I've been one of the biggest critics of the 934 00:42:56.940 --> 00:43:00.039 Houston Chronicle op ed department over the years. And Evan said, 935 00:43:00.079 --> 00:43:02.659 why don't you start writing for my newspaper? Over the 936 00:43:02.699 --> 00:43:05.730 past year, maybe two, almost two years at this point, 937 00:43:05.750 --> 00:43:09.190 I've written for the Houston Chronicle many times. Evan's published 938 00:43:09.230 --> 00:43:12.070 my articles many, many times. I don't

think the left 939 00:43:12.110 --> 00:43:14.539 and the writer is divided as people think. You guys 940 00:43:14.579 --> 00:43:18.099 put more conservative thought in your newspaper than I put 941 00:43:18.139 --> 00:43:19.639 liberal thought on this radio station. 942 00:43:19.920 --> 00:43:20.599 Well, we try. 943 00:43:20.679 --> 00:43:23.219 And I think that, you know, people have gotten into 944 00:43:23.260 --> 00:43:25.750 these silos, particularly if you're online. It's really easy to 945 00:43:25.789 --> 00:43:28.510 surround yourself with people who agree with you, who knows 946 00:43:28.550 --> 00:43:30.449 how many of them are actually real people or bots. 947 00:43:30.929 --> 00:43:33.110 And my thought is that when you live in Houston, 948 00:43:33.409 --> 00:43:35.610 you have more in common with people who disagree with 949 00:43:35.650 --> 00:43:38.969 you politically, but also live in Houston simply because of 950 00:43:39.010 --> 00:43:40.920 the fact that physically you're in the same space. You 951 00:43:40.940 --> 00:43:44.360 deal with the same weather, same schools. Same crime, same traffic, 952 00:43:44.519 --> 00:43:46.820 same sports teams. And so there's a lot of overlap 953 00:43:46.840 --> 00:43:49.630 there that people don't focus on. And the incentives of 954 00:43:49.670 --> 00:43:52.170 being online are driven by these algorithms that like just 955 00:43:52.269 --> 00:43:56.070 reward outrage. And so that always like shows you the 956 00:43:56.179 --> 00:44:00.039 worst possible example of someone on the other side rather 957 00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:03.260 than a. kind of boring generic person who disagrees with 958 00:44:03.300 --> 00:44:05.139 you politically. Like that doesn't get a lot of clicks. 959 00:44:05.219 --> 00:44:06.760 All right, we got about a minute left here. Bottom 960 00:44:06.780 --> 00:44:11.500 line me, early voting continues until Friday. The election's on Tuesday. 961 00:44:11.880 --> 00:44:15.940 The Houston Chronicle has endorsed several candidates who are not 962 00:44:16.019 --> 00:44:19.739 necessarily who our right-wing audience would have expected. What is 963 00:44:19.780 --> 00:44:21.519 it you want people to take away from this interview today? 964 00:44:21.559 --> 00:44:23.340 I would say, you know, most folks kind of know 965 00:44:23.380 --> 00:44:25.199 who they like at the top of the ticket. I'd 966 00:44:25.239 --> 00:44:28.500 encourage you to read the Houston Chronicle endorsements at houstonchronicle.com 967 00:44:28.519 --> 00:44:31.590 slash opinion for those down ballot races. to really try 968 00:44:31.610 --> 00:44:34.309 to find the places where there are bad candidates you 969 00:44:34.349 --> 00:44:37.130 should just not vote for. A lot of these judicial 970 00:44:37.170 --> 00:44:39.550 races are good people on both sides. We usually go 971 00:44:39.570 --> 00:44:41.230 with the person who's got a little bit more experience 972 00:44:41.289 --> 00:44:43.429 or has been in the office already. But like you're 973 00:44:43.449 --> 00:44:46.599 going to have some just terrible judicial candidates or terrible 974 00:44:46.659 --> 00:44:49.500 candidates in those down ballot seats. And you should feel 975 00:44:49.619 --> 00:44:53.179 fine not voting for them or crossing over specifically because 976 00:44:53.420 --> 00:44:54.559 they're not going to do a whole lot when it 977 00:44:54.599 --> 00:44:56.909 comes to public policy. They're just trying to run their courtroom. 978 00:44:57.300 --> 00:44:58.739 Get the good judges in there. All right. 979 00:44:58.900 --> 00:45:01.219 I'm Kenny Webster. That has been Evan Mintz. Follow him 980 00:45:01.300 --> 00:45:04.469 on X. Check out the Houston Chronicle op-ed sections. They 981 00:45:04.510 --> 00:45:06.570 published me. They couldn't be that bad. To the rest 982 00:45:06.590 --> 00:45:08.230 of you, I'll be back bright and early tomorrow morning 983 00:45:08.250 --> 00:45:09.590 for more of what you bought a radio for. 984 00:45:15.630 --> 00:45:21.480 You are listening to the pursuit of happiness radio. 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