What’s nice about this podcast is that the coverage is very broad. Politically, geographically (within Texas, of course) and demographically they provide a great overview of current political affairs in the Lone Star State. The journalism, however, is very narrow. What the guests have to say is taken at face value and post interview analysis is often just providing high-level context. It would be nice to see more value add from the journalists involved in creating this show. For example, a recent episode on 2025’s prop 9 cited an average benefit to businesses from the from the increased exemption to the inventory/personal business property tax of $3,000 dollars and average business size of 10 people. The Jason’s ask about the real economic effects of this decrease in the tax rate (an exemption is the same as a decrease of the average tax rate so in effect it is a tax decrease contrary to the distinction they make in the episode). The real economic effects could be, and this list is not exhaustive from the episode, deceased prices to consumers, increased wages for employees, increased healthcare contributions by employers to employees or increased cost of living wage adjustments for employees. Indeed an example of an increase of $1/hr wage increase is speculated as possibility on the show. Now, it seems basic journalism to me to do some back of the envelope math here to sanity check these figures. One employee earning an extra dollar a hour, assuming they work 40 hours a week for 50 weeks of the year, earns $2,000 per year more. Two employees earning an extra $1 an hour would earn $4,000. Now we’ve exceeded the expected windfall of $3,000 by 33.33% ($1,000). So, and a half of the average 10 employees could receive a dollar wage per hour increase. No money would be left over to reduce prices, increase healthcare or otherwise reinvest in the businesses. Alternatively, all 10 employees could receive 15c per hour wage increases. Even just on the fly, notepad calculations like that can enrich the discussion about the real economic effects of this proposition, but the Jason’s seem uninterested at worst and unaware at best. This is just one, I hope suitably detailed, example of the absence of journalistic curiosity by the Jason’s on this show in response to the very interesting stories being told by their guests. Otherwise this is a wonderful show providing interesting coverage. I’ve been a listener for 5 years and will continue to listen as long as they make the show. Step up your game, guys, it’s low hanging fruit and it’ll enliven the discussion and make it more tractable for the Texans listening in!
