Y'all-itics

The holiday season is upon us and the Y’all-itics team is taking a break to spend time with family. But the Jasons wanted to share our top two performing episodes of 2022 with you while they’re out. We start with your property taxes, and why 2022 might have been your best year to fight them and save yourself some money in the process. But don’t worry, the same will hold true in 2023 and the tips you pick up in this episode will carry over into the new year. This episode originally released on April 25, 2022. And eight months later, the Jasons add some new context to our most listened to podcast of the year.

Original summary:

Doesn’t it just seem worse this year? Many of us are still in sticker shock over our property appraisals, so this episode is all about how to reduce the amount of property taxes you pay. Turns out, your odds of winning that protest might be greater this year than ever before with half of the houses in Texas potentially overvalued. Wheeler is back for this one as the Jasons call up Chandler Crouch, a realtor, and an expert on protesting your property tax value. Chandler explains how to not only play defense in this process with the Central Appraisal District, but also go on the offensive. But the Jasons also zoom out and talk about how to reform this system politically. Texas’ property taxes are among the highest in the nation and home values have easily jumped double digits in Texas’ major cities. So, what exactly are lawmakers going to do to help us? We recently extended an invitation to Gov. Abbott to join us and have not yet heard back from his campaign staff. But his Democratic challenger this November, Beto O’Rourke, took our call even after testing positive for COVID-19 and explained his plan to lower the state’s skyrocketing property taxes. After all these years, can that even be done? (original release date: April 25, 2022)

Guests

Chandler Crouch, Chandler Crouch Realty

It sounds complicated, confusing, and esoteric. But if the U.S. Supreme Court legitimizes the independent state legislature theory (ISLT), many experts say it would upend hundreds of years of constitutional law and dramatically restructure the relationship between state legislatures and state Supreme Courts. The Justices have already heard oral arguments in Moore v. Harper. Now we await a ruling, expected in June 2023. But we’re impatient here at Y’all-itics. So, the Jasons called up our resident constitutional law expert, Professor Stephen Vladeck from the University of Texas School of Law to learn what could happen. Vladeck says it’s not that democracy is hanging in the balance in the short term, but that future state legislatures could alter Presidential elections in profoundly undemocratic ways. Think “Stop the Steal” on steroids. And that’s one of the reasons an odd collection of bedfellows have coalesced against the theory and filed Friend of the Court briefs, including one signed by the Chief Justices of all 50 states, something that’s never happened before.

GUEST

Stephen Vladeck, University of Texas School of Law

It’s the holiday season, so get ready for family, friends, and great food. But are you also ready to talk politics? As we get together over the holiday, many of these conversations are unavoidable… as is the stress and anxiety they can cause. You may have even seen phrases like “political stress syndrome” being thrown around. Well, the struggle is real. In this episode of Y’all-itics, the Jasons turn to a mental health expert for tips on how to keep your holiday stress from spiraling out of control. She tells the Jasons she’s seeing more and more clients with political stress and the anxiety is impacting their day-to-day lives. And if you’re looking to add some emotional armor, she says it all starts with boundaries.

PS: keep this episode of Y’all-itics close during the holiday in case you need another listen to make it through that holiday meal!

GUEST

Brianda Diaz de Leon, Thriveworks Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LSCW)

The kids did it again. They helped to alter the trajectory of the 2022 midterms for the third election cycle in a row, and helped prevent a predicted Republican “Red Wave.” 27% of eligible voters between the ages of 18 – 29 showed up to cast a ballot and they overwhelmingly backed Democrats, by a nearly 30-point margin. Politicians would be wise to understand why Gen Z is so important, their careers literally depend on it. Some Republicans have even responded to Gen Z’s growing political power by suggesting the legal voting age in the U.S. be raised to 21. In this episode of Y’all-itics, the Jasons have a conversation with Jack Lobel with the Gen Z political organization “Voters of Tomorrow.” And Lobel says much of the rhetoric coming from the right tells young people they’re not to be trusted and his generation is motivated by politicians who are fighting for their futures.

GUEST

Jack Lobel, Voters of Tomorrow 

Twitter: @jackplobel

Almost as soon as the election ended in Harris County calls to investigate began. Of the 782 voting locations there, 23 of them ran out of paper ballots on election day. Others opened late. But was a crime committed? Texas Republican leaders have called for investigations and even the Democratic District Attorney in Harris County, Kim Ogg, asked the Texas Rangers to get to the bottom of it. On this episode, the Jasons get two perspectives of the problem plaguing Houston and the state’s most populated county. Chris Hollins is a veteran of the Harris County Elections Office. He ran the 2020 election for Harris County and admitted even he’s surprised by the shortage of paper on election day. But Chris also tells the Jasons why he thinks these calls for investigation are rooted in politics. But one Republican state senator says not so fast. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, led significant changes to the state’s election law last year. And Sen. Bettencourt said he thinks the investigators will have no problem finding a crime.

GUEST

 Chris Hollins, (D) Former Harris County Clerk

 State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, (R) Houston

BEER SELECTION:

Wheeler’s pick:

FUBAR (Red Ale)

5X5 Brewing Company, Mission, Texas

https://www.5x5brewing.com/

Whitely’s pick:

Bowie Bock

Freetail Brewing Company, San Antonio, Texas

https://www.freetailbrewing.com/

Former congressman Beto O’Rourke is now 0-for-3 in his campaigns for higher office. So, what’s next for this former congressman from El Paso? Jason Lee was O’Rourke’s Deputy Campaign Manager and takes us inside his run for governor on this episode of Y’all-itics, explaining why Texas Democrats should be optimistic despite the loss, what Greg Abbott’s campaign did well, and the lesson for Texas Democrats in it. But what’s next for Beto O’Rourke himself? Would he run for office again? Will he remain active behind the scenes in Democratic politics? He’s leaving his successors with lots of data on donors, voters, and volunteers. And that’s one reason, Lee says, Texas Democrats have a lot to look forward to.

GUESTS

Jason Lee, Beto O’Rourke Deputy Campaign Manager

It wasn’t even close. In this episode, we go inside the Greg Abbott campaign and ask ‘how did you do it?’ Dave Carney, Abbott’s long-time political consultant who also worked for the first President Bush and former Texas governor Rick Perry, pulls back the curtain on Abbott’s winning campaign. Carney tells Y’all-itics why he never worried about Beto O’Rourke, how *he* would have managed Beto’s campaign differently, why there’s only one gubernatorial debate, the good and bad of polling, why the independent voter wields the real power, and how Abbott’s team knows exactly who to target with political ads. And to top it off, Carney says they already started work on Abbott’s 2026 gubernatorial campaign. 2026. Seriously. This is an ‘Ask Me Anything’ with one of the GOP’s veteran consultants.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Texas Republicans swept every statewide office on Tuesday night. Governor Greg Abbott even won by a similar, wide margin as he did four years ago, but this time against an opponent with much better name recognition and fundraising ability. Texas Republicans said they could also sweep three congressional seats in South Texas, but they’re projected to win only one Congressional District there. And after yet another brutal election for Texas Democrats, where do they go next? How about Beto O’Rourke? For this special Election Hangover episode of Y’all-itics, the Jasons assembled one of the best teams of political analysts in Texas to explain what the results mean for the future of Texas. Oh, and we go there. 2024 Presidential talk officially starts now.

We are now just days away from the midterms and many Elections Administrators across Texas are asking the same question: where are the voters? Even taking into account this isn’t a Presidential Election driving higher turnout, those running elections just aren’t seeing the numbers they expected. In this early release episode of Y’all-itics, we head all over the state to check the temperatures of those behind the vote. And turnout isn’t the only thing keeping those folks up at night. Because of the current political climate, we’ve discovered many firsts: from de-escalation teams to elections workers being told how to politely end a call with an irate voter. Join us as we travel from north Texas to the Mexico border, the Gulf Coast to central Texas for a snapshot of what’s happened so far in early voting and whether election day could turn into a long night for all of us.

Guests

Jacquelyn Callanen, Bexar County Elections Administrator

Kristin Miles, Bastrop County Elections Administrator

Hilda Salinas, Hidalgo County Elections Administrator

Bruce Sherbet, Collin County Elections Administrator

Clifford Tatum, Harris County Elections Administrator

Halfway through Early Voting and with November 8 now just days aways, Texas is back in the glaring, national political spotlight. And experts all across the country say what happens here will dictate the nation’s future… from Democrats’ untenable hold on South Texas, to the Governor’s mansion, to who will be controlling the levers of government the next time we vote for President. Are we ready for the scrutiny? Texas Secretary of State John Scott joins us to discuss whether the Texas election will be safe, the latest on the 2020 audit, turnout and any issues that have arisen thus far. ABC News Political Director Rick Klein also took our call for this episode of Y’all-itics to discuss the Texas impact on the rest on the nation. Get ready for 2024 talk. It begins in earnest on November 9th (unless you listen to this episode of Y’all-itics, in which case it starts now).

Early Voting is underway. The Election is November 8th. Go Vote! Elections have consequences.