Latest / Before You Speak / Before You Speak | Episode 44 | The Texas Experiment in Republican Governance

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Before You Speak | Episode 44 | The Texas Experiment in Republican Governance · Before You Speak

• Elwyn: Texas doesn't seem to me, lived here for 10 years, to be at all interested in the actual quality of life for its residents. They love saying that they've attracted more businesses and that they're the most business friendly state in the country. They love that. And they just don't care at all. They don't want anybody to look one layer below that to see what it's like to actually live here. Derek: What's up y'all? Welcome back to the Before You Speak podcast. I am your host, Derek Peterson, and as always, I am processing the fire hose of my news feed with this guy over here. Elwyn: What's up everybody? I'm here. I am Elwyn and I am processing the Firehose of My Newsfeed, which today is I don't know, I guess when you get fifty-two years old you get sick right away. So Fire Hose My Newsfeed is phlegmy and nasally and whatever, but I'm caffeinated and bringing it. Derek: You're you're you're toughing it out, Elwyn. Elwyn: That's right. Derek: just like just like all those NFL players that are hitting the hitting the field tonight. Repeat of the Super Bowl, Patriots and Seahawks, who you got? Elwyn: Tonight or overall? Derek: both. Elwyn: I don't know. I don't have a pulse on tonight's game. Derek: That team both teams have have well, actually I'll say Seattle's relatively the same. They're bringing most of their players back, minus their running back. Yeah, Elwyn: They lost Walker, they lost the running back, yeah. Derek: they lost the running back. And then AJ Brown joined the Patriots, which is a pretty big addition. so I mean, Patriots. Elwyn: I think I'm going Patriots for tonight. Yeah. Derek: you know, you being all patriotic. Elwyn: No, I generally hate the Patriots. Tom Brady's a condescending son of a bitch, and Bill Belichick is just a cheater. I've got no I've got no love for the Patriots. But I feel like Seattle's big thing is a subtraction, New England's big thing is an addition, and Drake May's probably healthy, and Will Campbell's probably healthy. And AJ Brown is probably happy. So Derek: Wait, who so who do you got for the year this year? Elwyn: do I have for the year? Probably someone like the Rams. Derek: Yeah, I mean that's the easy pick. They have the Elwyn: Yeah. Derek: best. I mean, their defenses with Miles Garrett, McDuffie, I think is the cornerback that they got from Kansas City, and then Aaron Donald coming out of this is just ugly. It's stupid, but I will like always root for the same Super Bowl where everybody wins, which is the Detroit Lions against the Buffalo Bills. Nobody's gonna be mad about that. everybody could be like, Yeah, I don't care who wins this game 'cause both teams are you know, they do they deserve it. So that's my Elwyn: True. It'd be funny that that would be played in like a warm weather stadium, by the way, and for those two teams. Derek: for sure. Absolutely. I'm also annoyed that they're doing the whole repeat of the Super Bowl as the first game of the year. this is just me speaking, but I think it's dumb as shit and I think it devalues the product of the Super Bowl. Who wants to see a rematch first game of the season? Like I I'm I I don't know if I I don't know if I dig this. Elwyn: Are you mad about UT Ohio State week two? Derek: no, that I'm actually stoked about because I'm going to it. So that's I will be drunk at about 1 p.m. on Saturday, and probably maintain that until about one a.m. Depend depending on Yeah, but it's not Elwyn: that that's a rematch. If Indi if Indiana played Miami, I'd be styked about it. Derek: No, but that'd be like Indiana playing Miami first game of the year. That's yeah, I'm against it. especially Elwyn: I think it's it's an easy way to Derek: Ruin football? I agree. Well done. Elwyn: No, to like I what am I gonna care about more? Some like Rams versus the Buccaneers? Some fucking stupid non conference game, week one, or a Super Bowl rematch. At least the story with a Super Bowl rematch is there. Like, all right, you know, I remember these two teams played. Like I'm in for one game, it's one game, it's not a whole full slate of ten games on one day, sixteen games on one day. you have to have some story for game one. Derek: Now they should allow after the Super Bowl, they should poll America and put up a put up a poll on the website and just say what matchup do you want to see game one of the next year? And whatever gets the most votes, they build the entire schedule around that. That's what that's my we're we're we're bringing socialism to the NFL, Elwyn. Elwyn: I I think you should have to show I D to vote in that poll. Derek: Fair point. So anybody that votes in the poll has to upload their ID to the NFL's website. Elwyn: Yeah, you have to prove your bona fides as a as a f NFL fan. You have to answer a seven question qu quiz about the NFL before you're allowed to vote. Derek: I'm all in for this. So and three votes later we'll probably have the same outcome. The three people that voted are like, we just won the Super Bowl again. I'm like Elwyn: Well, if you have a great Super Bowl or an ad all controversial game, that's exactly what's gonna happen. Derek: It's exact it's a thousand percent what's gonna happen. I'm screwing myself here, but and I'm realizing it as we're talking about it. But well let's move into the news today. I think most of my news feed the last couple days have been Trump's comments around him being at ground zero with a construction crew that apparently had you know firefighters lifting him out of the area during which more then a few people have already even even like Fox News and Republicans are like, that didn't happen. So the Elwyn: It most definitely did not happen. Derek: Yeah, it's interesting to see this because there like everybody this is a struggle for me because this feels like this feels like straight like dementia almost. So like, and I know he's repeated these lies before, but I I just don't I'll never understand how people can realize that he's lying to you right now, but not apply the same filter to everything else he says, but to each their own. Elwyn: Yeah, he's built this brand where his supporters are like, no, that's just Trump being Trump. That's his he he veers into storytelling and we think it's funny and blah blah blah. And but they don't hold that anybody else to that low standard, right? Everybody else has to be dialed in and honest and serious all the time. And it is just so over-the-top stupid. Like two two big strong men. It's like the this like Borderline homoerotic fantasy that he throws out there every now and then about, you know, being helped by big strong men coming with a tear in their eye and you know saying, Sir, sir, that was beautiful. It's worth remembering what the prevailing clip from Donald Trump on September 11th actually is, though, which is him calling in at sometime in the afternoon, four or five o'clock, and he owned a building down there and basically talking about how. His building was now the tallest one in downtown New York. You know, where he says, you know, it used to be the tallest before they built the World Trade Centers. Then I had the second tallest, but now I guess I have the tallest building again. Six hours after the Derek: Yeah. Hmm. Elwyn: buildings fell down. He's like, I guess I got the tallest building. Like the amount of narcissism to think that at all. Yeah, I think he said, you know, I just got the You know, I got a call and it was a remarkable call that I have the tallest building. It's like that's that's what we should remember about Donald Trump and September eleventh. Derek: Yeah, just the inability to empathize with anybody ever. Like, yeah, people like the worst experience, the worst terrorism attack on US soil in history. and you're talking about you having the haul tallest building right now, like, go fuck yourself. but that tracks with Elwyn: Yeah. No, I it it Derek: his his his brand. Elwyn: The right answer is, you know, I'd spent my career building in New York City. I I have an an incredible amount of respect for that city. And I know hundreds and thousands of people who have helped me build and I've built my career there. And this is just a devastating loss for the city, for the country, and for the world. And, you know, my whole personal holdings don't matter. You know, and it's canned and whatever, but anything short of that is insane. Derek: Yeah, we yes, canned responses are good for especially for people with no empathy. Like if you that at least shows that you have the the foresight to to plan and be like, look, I'm a heartless bastard, but at least I'm aware of it and I will have somebody else write a note that will that will make sure that I don't come across as a giant asshole all of the time. which is most of our politicians. That's why they have speech writers that are usually much better human beings than they are. So but in regards to the New York thing, so following that was this interesting exchange with you know, Jon Stewart and Mamdanny got up and you know, we're we're coming up on the anniversary of nine eleven, so t which is insane that we're 25 years out from that. You know, like in my head, I'm just like, man, this is so crazy to think about. It's that time is such a weird experience where it's like it feels like twenty five years. It's hard for my brain to compute that. But I also knew exactly it like it feels like forever ago while at the same time I'm like I knew exactly where I was and what I was doing when it happened. So the it's an interesting dynamic to be dealing with, but it yeah, crazy twenty-five years ago. But Elwyn: Well I think we're at the point now where more than half of the country was either not born or like two years old or younger and then therefore has no functional memory of September eleventh. Derek: That's crazy. Yeah, our kitty our kids have to learn about it through videos, which is nutty. so what what's your take on Mamdani's exchange with because I mean him and Giuliani, I think got into it a little bit, but then Mamdani decided to release a bunch of I don't think they were necessarily classified documents, but documents that New Yorkers had never seen before in regards to the quality of the air post-9-11. and a bunch of other stuff. What's your you know, do you do you read anything about that? What's your take? Elwyn: I read only that he released those documents, and you know, the thing that Mam Dani is doing well, and and you don't have to be a DSA progressive or anything like that, is he's governing as though he cares for the people that he governs, as though he has a belief that the people of the city of New York have a right to know what is going on in the city of New York. in their air, in their water, on their roads, in their infrastructure, and in their government. And it's very refreshing. You know, and it's why he has something like 69% approval rating. His approval is is off the charts. merely because he's governing as though he cares for the people that and has respect for the people that he governs for, that that he governs, right? And we'll get into this later with Texas. But that's like astonishingly rare at this point to see any public official from either party in any position, you know, take their position of leadership and of governance seriously and in the mindset with the mindset of we have a responsibility to the people we govern to provide them services and information. They deserve that. And it's our job to provide that and to then go do it. I mean, it it's incredible that that's not the standard. It should be the standard. And it has nothing to do with government run grocery stores and nothing to do with, you know, free buses. It has everything to do with just respect for the the people of New York City. Derek: Yeah. Dude, it's crazy to me to think that like kids, not even kids, like young human beings that are like thirty and younger, have really it only consciously been raised through some pretty like turbulent times. You know, like the Obama age was probably a lot more calm, but we still had the the financial crisis two thousand eight that we had to kind of navigate through. And then since then it's been the Trump show, you know, so for the last what, ten years we've been dealing with eleven years or so dealing with Trump being the focal point of everybody's conversation all the time, which is exactly what the dude wanted. But yeah, I transparency, like going back to what we were talking about, like the the transparency thing is such a key part of all of the like this is how you win people over. Like Just tell them what's going on. Let them make a decision. Release all the documents and allow, you know, if people need to if their prosecutions need to happen or cleanup needs to happen or people need to be aware of like if I was breathing in that air and like, you know, had cancer as a result of it and been fighting it, I would wanna know. Like even if there's no even if there's no relief for me on that, you know, I'd still want to know where it came from. so I think that there's a I mean that's how you build trust with communities. So transparency's number one. And transparency is the fastest way to show people that you care too, even when you're telling them something that they don't want to hear. So which would be nice. And in politics, it's not common. We just instead of anything transparent, they just, hey, let's not just lie, let's lie about everything all the time. So it just confuses the shit out of people. I'm ready for this era of politics to be over. Elwyn: Yeah, and maybe maybe it is. I don't know. We'll see, but you know, you have two parties where we've talked about this before. The Republican Party, I don't think, cares at all about what people think, and they've got a f thirty-seven to forty percent slice of the country that is completely fine with whatever they say and whatever they want to do, so long as, you know, men go to the men's room, women go to the wind's room women's room, and trans people don't play sports. Right? That's it. As long as those Derek: Yep. Elwyn: those boxes are checked. They're kind of fine with everything else. They've made that very clear. Democrats, on the other hand, have just been much more I don't know if it's cynical, but mealy-mouthed about it, where they get elected and then they begin to, you know, the goal of a politician is of course to do a good job and to help the people that they govern, but also to get re-elected. Right? Like part of your responsibility, part of your job security is and and your family suc financial security is getting reelected. But for I don't know, twenty years, the Democrats have decided that polls and you know and some sort of consultant feedback loop set of priorities is the way to get re-elected rather than simply doing a good job, you know, doing what you believe is right and being honest or transparent about what you're doing and why you're doing it. And it's remarkable that they've let that go, but That is why Democrats lose in in the last 20 years, because they say they stand for the working people, but their policies don't help working people. And, you know, they they run these kind of focus grouped candidates, and it's very clear that people like Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris or Joe Biden or Bill Clinton are all testing the wind before they really go out and say anything. Even Obama, same thing. Derek: Yep. Elwyn: Instead of just doing what they believe is right. so hopefully Mam Dani, you know, he's the first of these electeds. you know, of this age. There's some in Congress, but they don't have enough power to really stand out. He does. and Derek: Yeah. Elwyn: and thus far thus far this is what he's standing out for, and his approval rating shows that it's working. Derek: Yeah, and hopefully it hopefully it paves the path for others to follow. Like I'm hoping that people see this and see how refreshing it is and they're like, I can actually like maybe I need to and El Sayyed in Michigan has kind of broached this line on a few a few times where he's still playing politics, I think more more than you know, I like. But for the most part, it's like driving the conversation back to the whole point he's running, which is to help people. and I genuinely Talarico, same thing. Like I when I hear him talk, I'm like, I I genuinely feel like the dude has the best interest of people at at heart. and I I hope people see that and reward him with a job for it. But Elwyn: But to really see it, we need to look at the executive positions, right? Tal Rico, El Sayed, they they're one, two of a hundred. It's the governors, it's the mayors where they're setting the policy, they're setting the tone directly. It's they don't have to to win over fifty other people in order to get their thing passed. They need to whip some votes and and exercise power. Derek: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you're right. which is what's scary about Texas is, you know, like 'cause I'm pretty confident that the reason Talerico didn't run for governor of Texas was because he didn't think he could beat Abbott. And so the result was Texas w there like nobody wins in that situation. So I think he intentionally ran against the corn and Paxton, what whoever was going to be because he thought thought he could beat it. But yeah, and I think we have more I think If I'm being honest, I think if if Beto had the same kind of like if if we were in the same position now that we were you know, when Beto was running, I think Beto probably wins this one against Abbott. there's an there's more firepower and people are a little more angry than ever before. I think the and we'll get into this later with, you know, vouchers and data centers and all that kind of stuff, but because all that stuff is starting to hit the fence and people are feeling the impacts of it. So But before we jump out of the news, you wanted to do you want to talk a little bit about what's going on with Netanyahu? Elwyn: Yeah, so it came out yesterday that Netanyahu was given a a direct warning about a week and a half before October seventh that Hamas was planning something big in the form of a phone call from UAE. I I think it's the ruler of the UAE, Mohammed bin Zalman, who called up Netanyahu directly and said, We know that Hamas that Yaya Sinwar is planning something big, and they had a forty-five minute conversation. And the Benzalman left that conversation, according to this report, surprised by the fact that Netanyahu was rather cavalier about this news. And I believe Netanyahu did not relay the contents of that conversation over to his security team. And, you know, I was telling Lisa about this, and she was like, Well, it's same thing as George Bush on September 11th. These guys get a lot of briefings. It's probably just something that. was tucked into a briefing and amongst a bunch bunch of other news, and you know, they they tell these guys everything that they see. Why would this stand out as something worthwhile? And of course, it's well known that Bush was briefed about the possibility of September 11th. And I think that what he was given was above the level of kind of what she described it. But the point was nevertheless fair in that it wasn't a briefing, right? It was a a call from another head of state y in the area who would have ties to the people who know this, saying, you need to be aware. And Netanyahu did nothing about it. And Netanyahu, if you look back at his 15 years, he repeatedly enabled Hamas to to stay in power and to enrich themselves. He knew that they were getting money from countries like Qatar. He knew that they were building tunnels. He knew they were taking UN supplies. And he always felt like having them as a that there was an acceptable level of danger that they could pose that he could leverage to win elections. Because his deal was, I'm the guy who will keep you safe more than anything else. It's me that will keep you safe. I will keep Hamas on the other side of that fence. and he needed them to be a worthwhile threat. In order to credibly make that argument. So he kind of enabled that. That's been known for some time now. So this was just we're talking about cine cynicism and the cravenness of politicians and how politicians don't do what's right. I mean, Netanyahu, they have an election coming up in October. If he wins that election, what a disgrace. Like the is the Israeli people, I think, at some point have to take a stand and just be like, look, it's not like Gotti Eisencott, one of his competitors, is meaningfully different on Gaza policy. Or Neftali Bennett. They're actually not meaningfully different on Gaza policy. But you just have to acknowledge that this guy has to go, that Netanyahu has to go. His time is up. He's fucked up too much stuff. His record is too bad and he can't be trusted. And, you know, I hope he gets voted out. But it would, it's quite a story. It's quite a story to hear that. Y yeah, he knew. He pretty much knew and did nothing. Derek: Yeah, and it's also interesting because like I feel like Israel and see, I'm so disconnected from this. I don't know actually how much it means for an Israeli to have to feel like they have the support of the United States. I don't know how meaningful that is would be there. Elwyn: Net Netanyahu won his last election on that. There are there are billboards that he puts up in in Israel saying, I'm the guy who who Trump likes. I'm the guy who can talk to Trump. It's it's hugely important. Derek: Yeah, and that's the thing that they, you know, like they're losing they're losing the US support, which is evidently clear, right? So I don't and I don't know if that comes through in Israel. So it'll be interesting to see if there is a change on that front because of that. Because yeah, like you will not see a lot of US politicians circle back around and let Walnet and Yahoo's there. I mean, mo they're not touching that with a ten foot pole right now. So Like every politician in the US right now is avoiding those questions as much as they possibly can ahead of these midterm elections. So be interesting to see how that how that pans out. Well, jumping it into today. So Texas has been a long-running experiment in Republican governance. So what happens if you scale that model nationally? This is our conversation for today. So like I'm gonna start here with You know, Texas has undeniably been successful at attracting people, companies, and capital. I mean, both of us are transplants here. We we moved here, you moved here from New York, I moved here from California. so it's an attractive place to move. there was a a lot about Texas that we we loved when we moved here. The first time I visited Austin, I kind of knew the second I landed it was home, you know, which is fantastic for most people. But what Does the Texas model ask ordinary people to give up in exchange for growth? So I think let's start there. Elwyn: Healthcare, life expectancy, education, personal rights, you know. Yeah, yeah. Derek: To name a few. Well, let's start let's start with like let's start with economic growth because like data centers are a big topic right now. Texas is historically good at A attracting businesses and B, you know, Texas has its own grid, which is kind of separate from like a lot of states operate on a federal grid, correct? so Texas has been long known for, you know, being an an energy state. and over the last couple of years, you know, it's Abbott was very clear about his data center policy a couple of years ago when he came out, like and was very pro, like, we are going to be the AI infrastructure place, essentially. and I at that time I don't think people understood how much data centers were going to impact communities around them. And so it this This rhetoric is now starting to rapidly change. They're they're having to clean it up because, you know, data centers are not wildly popular at the moment. So what's your what's your kind of like what's your take on the just Texas being an attractive place for business, but also, you know, being a place where those businesses can really change how we live life here. Elwyn: Yeah, I think that it is an extraordinary net positive for a state to be attracting as much capital that Texas attracts. You know, without a doubt, if if every business wants to come here, every state wants to attract businesses because it provides jobs, it provides tax revenue, you know, it provides opportunity, it pr it enables growth, it provides a million different benefits. But If all you do is attract the business and then cater to the business and do the whim, you know, perform to the whims of the business leaders, then you're not really helping the citizens of your state. Right. So Texas is is a great example where as Texas has grown and has as companies have moved here, the education system has gotten worse. The environmental conditions have gotten worse. the healthcare has gotten worse. According to a C N B C survey that ranked a whole bunch of these different things, cost of living, etc., Texas is the second worst state to live in in the in the United States. a a great example of kind of where this falls, like where Texas, I think is a wonderful example of repo the a fever dream of Republican policies, is a couple of years ago they passed a law Taking away mandatory breaks for construction workers. where it used to be that construction workers who work outside, it was mandated that every four hours they would get like a 15-minute break because it's 105 to 110 in the summer in Texas every day. And the sun is relentless, and that is dangerous. And a 15-minute break every four hours is extremely exceedingly low bar is an exceedingly low bar, but even that was too much. Was too much. So when business lobbyists came in and said we don't want to have have to provide this break, they took that break away. And that's kind of to me like you can attract business and also mandate that people who are working outside in full gear, right? These workers are not in shorts and a t-shirt in full gear. Still have the right to take a break every couple hours and not fucking die from heat exhaustion. So that's kind of this tension that that Texas symbolizes, where they're they've been very good at at providing the tax structure and the the the corporate landscape that companies want to take advantage of, but they never sort of stopped to say, okay, how can we balance this growth that we've had had? with providing a quality of life that is acceptable for the people that actually live here. And we kind of hit on that with Lyndon Johnson, right? When we talked about the the New Deal with FDR was about the quantity of life, you know, just houses. Is there enough food, the quantity of food? Whereas LBJ was talking about the quality of life, right? Texas doesn't seem to me, lived here for 10 years, to be at all interested in the actual quality of life for its residents. They love saying that they've attracted more businesses and that they're the most business friendly state in the country. They love that. And they just don't care at all. They don't want anybody to look one layer below that to see what it's like to actually live here. Derek: Yeah. And you're you're not wrong because like what in during the I remember in 2019, this was a huge part of what caused our property taxes to go bananas was the housing spike in 2020 and 2021 during COVID when you know like Oracle announced it's opening up its headquarters here. Tesla announced it Opening its headquarters here and then moving Twitter here. And then, you know, like all these tech companies ended up opening shop here as a as a result of that. And a big part of that is the tax incentive compared to, you know, they move their business here because you know, California is a much harder place to operate a a business. but at the same time, people enjoy living in California a little bit more so. They st like over the last few years, they've started to lose the recruiting war a little bit. And so a lot of those companies have had to reopen space in San Francisco or move headquarters back because they need like their most valuable employees are are not moving to Texas, or they tried and wanted back out. But I want to hone in a little bit on data centers before we move on because you know, Texas wanted to become the home of AI. And the question was, you know, whether or not ordinary Texans would be asked to subsidize the infrastructure required to make that possible. And what we're learning now is they the answer to that was absolutely yes. And the our elected officials have signed NDAs. We don't know a lot of what's going on. There's a there's a building, 3M building in West Austin right now that's under a bunch of fire because this building was supposed to be taken over by soft bank and be used as commercial space. And then, you know, over the last couple of weeks we found out, they kind of slid one under the radar and that it's gonna most likely be by used as a as a data center. And I think for me, the the most frustrating aspect about all of this with Texas is that it's businesses have just learned it's way cheaper to pay a politician off than it is to build your own infrastructure. So And that's where Texas politics to me has landed. Elwyn: Yeah, I mean, I think that when we look at the past few years of data center build out and then we look at what's going on today, I don't know that Texas is all that different from a lot of other states. They have Texas happens to have a a shit ton of land. So yeah, more more data centers are gonna come in. And what the data centers in Texas, like there's the Amazon data center out in West Texas, which I think is the single highest polluter polluting factory in the world. you know, the the stats on some of these data centers are just appalling with how much pollution they they they generate. But a lot of other states kind of the same thing, right? Two years ago, data centers were viewed as a great way to bring in capital to to bring investment into your state or city or town. And then people started to turn against them and politicians have had to catch up. You know, but I think to me, right now with with data centers And particularly Greg Abbott. All all I can think is Greg Abbott hates us. He does he has he has no respect for us at all. Zero. Because he's now running a campaign on, you know, stopping the growth of data centers. He he's literally trying to, you know, he's scared. He's he's running he's it's close in the polls. He's still ahead, but it's close and he's getting hammered on data centers. And he's now campaigning on, you know, I'm There's a moratorium on connecting data centers to the grid. It happens to take effect in the middle of November, which is interesting, you know, right after the election. Derek: yeah, right after the election. So so he can basically just tell all the people that have paid him a bunch of money to get all this done is like, yo, we just need to hit the brakes so I can actually get this done until November. but nothing is actually going to change. Elwyn: But the level of of cynicism and just disregard for the the voting population of Texas to just to not even try and make the argument about why he brought data centers in in the first place. But just to say, no, data centers are bad. I'm not for data centers. You guys don't want data centers. I don't want data centers when everything he's done has been to attract data centers. It's just kind of this this beautiful example of. He thinks we're all stupid and don't know what he's done. And that carries through to a whole host of other policy areas too. So the data set the data centers are just, you know, they're this flashpoint right now of government accountability and local control and this this fight. I think Harling in Texas is the first municipality. They just recently passed a resolution banning data centers in their in their town. So good. Derek: Awesome. Elwyn: But at the same time, out in Texas, you have Westlake outside of Dallas and I think Keller or Southlake. And one one of those municipalities approved a data center that is built right up on the town line. And on the other side of that town line is a whole bunch of residential houses. And, you know, the people in those houses are like, bro, we don't want this. This sucks. What can we do? But they live in the wrong town. They can do nothing. and Greg Abbott is sitting there going like, Well, you know, I don't want data centers. Data centers are bad when all along he's been saying data centers are good. So there's there's just this cynicism and disregard for us that's at play when it comes to data centers and and Texas is kind of the fever dream for all that. Derek: Yeah, and this is going back to our conversation from earlier, which is okay, like what's the actual transparent approach here? Because there's a few things that have happened over the last few years that if you just were transparent about it, you could have an honest conversation and still win the voters over, right? If Greg Abbott had been like, look, the we wanted to attract data centers, be pro data center. What we didn't understand was the actual demand. For data centers and what it was going to take to build out AI infrastructure. And it far exceeds what we had originally expected. And the result of that is that we're having to pull back our, you know, data center and we're gonna have to audit all of these things and make it make sure that we have the capacity to handle what we can handle and also make sure that there's regulations that they're not building too close to our our residence. Like, like, dude, that's a Honest, easy conversation to have rather than just fucking gaslighting us, and we get gaslit all the time here. And it drives me crazy because the same thing is happening, and I want to use this to transition into schools, is the same thing's happening with schools. You know, we have a school voucher program that is literally stealing money from and people will push back on me sometimes when they hear me say this. But here's what I will tell you: is that look. You can you can argue with me about school the school voucher programs, but the school voucher programs are basically taxpayer subsidized for private educ education while that money is getting taken out of the public school system. 75% of the kids that are usually actively, not usually actively using the voucher program right now were already being homeschooled or in private schools. And We have a public school system that is incentivized by enrollment. So your the enrollment numbers is how the budgets they they get budgeted for. So just follow the logic on this. If we are incentivizing people to move their kids to homeschool or public school, you their intention is very clear. We're trying to kill the public schooling system. There's no other way to look at this in my head than that. Elwyn: Yeah, I don't I wouldn't argue with phrasing that they're stealing the money from public schools at all. The because they are, right? They're saying you can take, we'll give you a $10,000 subsidy, basically, voucher, to go to a private school. Okay, well, that comes from taxpayer money. and then, yeah, the enrollment in this in the public schools drops, so they give less money to the public schools. And you're exactly right about the 75%. And that's been shown in other In other states that have a similar voucher system too. This was always going to be the path. And they just asked for $2 billion more dollars for the vouchers. And it's not improving access for people to private schools. It's a subsidy. It's a right, it's a gift to the people who can already afford private schools. That's all it is, right? It's Derek: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Elwyn: it's just a gift to the people who are wealthy enough to take advantage of this already and add on to that the school recapture system here. Where I think Austin ISD is one of the largest payers into this into the recapture system. I know Eanes pays something like I think sixty percent of the tax revenue that they get goes to goes to the recapture, so it gets put into other school districts. And you just have an education system that's eating itself alive for the the whims and benefit of Greg Abbott's friends. you know, and and that's where Quality of life. Like what good is having Facebook and Indeed and PayPal and Oracle and Twitter and all these companies come in if the school system is being pulled, if the rug of the school system is pulled out from people, if the infrastructure can't keep up. You know, it's great. Those companies have to pay less taxes. So that helps the shareholders who some live in Texas but most don't. It helps the CEOs who probably don't live in Texas anyway either. None of it helps the people of Texas. I can't think of one policy that Greg Abbott, and it and it's proper and correct to keep laying this at the foot of Greg Abbott and the Republicans, because they've had a trifecta in Texas government for 23 years. I can't think of one policy, not one, that helps individuals, Derek: Mm-hmm. Elwyn: right? There's no environmental policy that helps individuals. There's no healthcare policy here that helps individuals. There's no education policy that helps individuals. Infrastructure is a shit show and will be forever. you know, what what is being done by our government to help the people? We had catastrophic floods last year that killed hundreds of people, right? And Derek: More yeah, more happening right now. There's more fucking weather patterns that are going on right now that are dangerous than ever before. Elwyn: And they won't put in flood sirens. You know, put in the fucking flood sirens. What are we doing? Right? What on earth are we doing? The reason why people want to go back to California is because for all the taxes that they pay, there's a whole host of benefits that the people get r surrounding prenatal care, postnatal care, child care, you know, preschool education. there's there's all these programs that are available to the citizens of California. Now they may not know about maybe they know about and there's obviously a whole host of problems with with California, but I'd rather some of those problems be in poorly run but existent public pu you know, public programs that we can all take advantage of instead of just, no, it's a hundred five out, get to fucking work, man. you passed out, sorry. We're also gonna limit tort reform so that you can't sue your employer for a lot of money. Derek: Yeah. No, you're a thousand percent correct on all of that. And it's funny, I was having coffee with a Republican buddy of mine the other day, and he was he said something in regards to like, you know, it it blows my mind right now that more and more people are choosing like not to have kids. Like, you know, we're like you have an like his take was you have an obligation to society to, you know, continue the lineage of The human race. Elwyn: Good. Derek: And I was, yeah, in my head, I was like, okay, first, did you choose to be here? Cause I didn't. So we just showed up. I had no decision or say in the matter. So if you tell me I have any obligation to continue the human race, you can go straight fuck yourself. Cause my kids all like I chose for my kids to be here based on my own decision, not them. They did not choose to be here. Now, beyond that, like If my kids ever came to me and they're like, Man, I don't know if I want to have children, I 1000% could understand it. Because look at it's virtually impossible to have kids without working a job anymore. So like you you need a two-income family. you don't get health care. And so oftentimes if if you're if you don't have good health care or you're struggling to maintain healthcare, You're walking out of having a child with, you know, forty to fifty thousand dollars of debt potentially, right out of the gate. and then beyond that, like we're destroying all of the things that benefit our children. Like we're destroying public schools. We have no health insurance. Like we care more about limiting women's rights to it what to have an abortion than we do actually taking care of look, I would be far more with pro Pro-lifers, if they actually had policies that took care of children when they were here and took care of moms after they had babies. Like if it was like, yeah, we don't ever want anybody to have an abortion, and as a result of that, we're going to make adoption super easy. And moms get maternal leave for X amount of time. And we have all of these other policies in place to take care of these things. Yeah, preschool. Elwyn: Pre pre school is widely available. Derek: And p our public age educational system is robust. And you know, like one of these kids that might have been born to a mom that wasn't ready, you know, can get adopted by a good family and go through the public schooling system and potentially become like an amazing human being that changes the world. Fantastic. Full fully behind it if everything is there. But if like I said, if my kids came to me and they're like, I don't know if I want to have kids, I would be like, I get it. I wouldn't. Elwyn: I mean how much Derek: I w I would never want to do this again. Elwyn: how what what's the bill now, like the annual increase in expenses for a household to have their first kid? You know, if if the both parents are gonna work. It's like easily eighteen thousand dollars in in daycare per year. Derek: he's I I would say for the younger years, it's probably a little bit cheaper. And well, not because of h daycare, but because they're just not necessarily as like active in everything. But if when you get to like three or four, you know, you're talking about Yeah. just daycare. Yeah, daycare, just daycare alone, Elwyn: No, I'm I'm just saying I'm just saying daycare. Like just the bill. Just daycare. Fifteen hundred a month. Derek: yeah, to for full days and it's more expensive when they're and then you have another person literally standing in a bedroom just holding your baby. Because they they're they're Elwyn: And then you have to add that kid to your insurance? Probably another thousand a month, right? You're looking you're looking at a at a thirty th Derek: Yeah. And yep. And they they go to the doctor at least four or five times the first year. Yeah. Elwyn: You're you're looking at a thirty thousand dollar bill the first year to have a kid. You Derek: Minimum. Yeah. Elwyn: know, is it ludicrous for for someone to and and I doubt your kids who are younger than mine have done that math. But no, there's nothing romantic about having kids these days. It's a stress. Parents are running all over the place. They gotta figure out daycare, they gotta figure out all this other shit. Take kid take older kids to sports, get them from school, take to the doctor. It you know Because both parents almost always need to work. You know, that's a that's a huge contributor to this. And that's just I don't have a problem with both parents needing or wanting to work, right? If if that's and I don't and I work basically a part-time job, right? So I sit from position of some luxury here. But you know, if both parents want to work, if both parents need to work, society should enable that. And I think Derek: I agree. Elwyn: a lot of people see it now and they're like, no. It just doesn't work. Having kids just doesn't work. I don't want to live a life defined by, you know, taking care of a small human and the money that that and time that that costs because it doesn't look like any fun when I watch my parents do it. Derek: Yeah. Well, let's use this to jump into like repo reproductive rights because we're already basically there because you know, like if the na the nation adopted Texas's reproductive rights, what do you think is the the outcome of that? Elwyn: I mean I think we had it pre-Row a little bit, right? Like back alley abortions, things like that. Derek: I was not Yeah. Elwyn: you know, the but it it's even worse because of the surveillance state in place now where you have stories of of law enforcement in Texas following cars through thousands of cameras to track where they were going on suspicion that they were leaving the state to have an abortion. you know, you have the The law here, which provides $10,000 for somebody for a neighbor to rat out their neighbor, you know, that provides criminal penalties for to to doctors. That those are present in a number of other states. And all of that to me, you know, that that whole issue, it's all wrong, like from level one to level ten, it's all the same level of wrong in a sense, because the state shouldn't be involved in that decision at all. When it comes to reproductive rights, like I d the issue doesn't confuse me, because I I think I understand why people feel passionately about not being in favor of abortion. But why do they feel so passionately that their decision is the right decision for everybody else? Why isn't this just a no, I am opposed to abortion in all circumstances? And that's not my position. But I have no problem with someone saying I'm opposed in all circumstances. To this issue, to birth control pills, to any sort of birth control, to mail in abortion to miphopristone, to traveling for an abortion in state or out of state. I just simply don't believe it. Great. You are entitled to that belief. Okay. But why is this not an issue that's settled between a family and their doctor? Why is this an issue that's legislated? Right? Why do we welcome businesses and companies and say we're gonna give you whatever you want? But tell the people that they have no rights in this space, that the interests of the state, of the of the cuckoo bananas, Christian rights state legislators from like Mubock and Amarillo somehow outweigh the interests of personal autonomy and and personal decision making and familial decision making in these issues. it's just part and parcel with the whole thing, right? Like individual rights really don't matter. They're really secondary in this state. To the drive to attract corporate revenue, and then surely one layer below that, just naked corruption. Derek: a thousand percent. Yeah. And if the nation adopted any kind of policy that was exactly that was similar to Texas, I mean I mean the reason we don't ha hear more and more stories about women going, you know, women dying because of eggtopic pregnancies and other stuff going on is because you you know, they go to other states to get health care when they need it. And so like if if we had a nation that had all of Texas's policies. I do think that there would be enough stories out there where of women dying that maybe something gets done, but you know, like it's awful. And the people in Texas have to leave Texas to to get that kind of care if they ever need it. And it's just a shitty situation. And I agree a thousand percent. it's it makes me nervous as the father of two daughters of what could potentially become, you know, if one of my daughters got raped. You know, there's no way in hell I'm telling them to keep that baby. So like, you know, I like I would be staunchly opposed to it. And then also giving that baby up for adoption, like is like I don't think my kids should have to destroy their body because they were raped and carry a baby for nine months and deliver it. Like I I that's just my view on it. And I d I think it's wrong. But I wanted to move into one other area before we before we wrap it up with your shut the fuck up, which is just health insurance, because among people under 65 in Texas, n or 19.2% of Texans were uninsured in a 2024 poll, which compared to the national average, was 9.8%. So basically we're double the national average of uninsured Texans or like uninsured. Yeah, by far, we Elwyn: I think we're the worst. I think we're the worst state in the country. Derek: are the worst. But the national average, we we are double the amount percentage wise of that. so Texas also remains one of the only states that has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. So, you know, Texans might have like one of these, like we might see pro business like economic success while simultaneously seeing that, you know, we're not taking care of people. Like they and I think some of these businesses moving back out of state right after they moving here, it may be a result of that. But what's your what's your take on all of this? Elwyn: Yeah, I mean I I think I've been quite clear how I feel about health insurance. You know, it's a it's should be a right, not a privilege, but in in Texas and especially it's a privilege and not a right. and you know, my analysis sort of ends there at this point. Like that seems so obvious to me. It th having people insured helps everything, right? It helps the Derek: Everything. Elwyn: bottom line for the state because you're paying less money in trying to care for uninsured people. You have more healthy people. You have more people that are more productive because they're healthier. You have people who might want to get pregnant and have children because they can afford it. You know, and they're not worried about the the insurance bill. In every way, having more people have access to health care is a positive. And when you have the high when you have one in five people are uninsured, they don't have access to health care. They're passing disease around. you know, that's why we had high rates of death with COVID. you have lack of productivity or higher unemployment because people get fired because they can't get sick and can't take a sick day. it's healthcare is the one issue where it's like I'm borderline radicalized because it is insane that people cannot afford health care in this state, one of the richest states in the richest country, and it is a decision that our state government has made. When they refuse something like Medicaid expansion. It's a there they simply don't care. Work hard, don't get sick. It's the American way. It's the Texas dream. Okay. And if that doesn't make you enough money, the fault is not ours. You did something wrong. Work harder. Work a second job, right? Don't don't buy a phone. Don't have a refrigerator. Right? That literally there are there are these like sort of bullet point lists of Fox News will run sometimes. It'll be like, look at the expenses that these families have. A refrigerator. Six hundred dollars. Like sorry, what? You know? The Derek: Yeah. Elwyn: these poor people have phones. That's how people get jobs now. Right? On their phones. Derek: Yeah. Yeah. You cannot live as an adult in the United States without a maybe anywhere without a phone, reliably. Like you if you have to. Elwyn: Yeah, yeah, that's it's it it's not like yeah, it's not that there's homeless people that are like gleefully stealing from the the public till so that they can have a new iPhone and and play, you know, Candy Crush. No, you need that if you want to get a job. People are gonna email you. You you yeah, you can go to a library, but not for very long, and you have to be close to the library and you probably wanna make a phone call to that potential Derek: Well, Elwyn: employer. Derek: and your response time to anybody is actually is absolutely an example of what kind of employee you'll be. So, and the fact that you can own a phone is also probably an example of what kind of employee you'll be. Look, there Elwyn: Yeah. Derek: there will never be something more glaringly thrown in our face that is the case in point example of how corrupt our government is, as healthcare, because there is not a topic that it would be is more universally agreed on when you get down to the core of it between both sides to be honest that healthcare should it should be you know everybody there's not a single person that if you actually talk to them would not be pro having universal healthcare and having it covered by our our taxes in general, like especially if the expenses are far less than what we're paying. which just tells you how radical the insurance lobby is with our government officials. The fact that they've been able to convince, you know, because I you could probably say there's maybe like 20 to 30 percent of Americans, which are probably the MAGA Republicans that would be like, no, we don't want this. But for most people, they understand like, dude, if if you have universal health care and you cut those costs way down, not not only is there all of these benefits, societal benefits of like Hey, people might want to have more kids and people are healthier and they're living more active lives. You also stimulate the economy. All of the money that is by and businesses, you allow businesses to flourish because they're not having like most businesses, one of their biggest is expenses is covering healthcare for their employees. So like this helps everybody, everybody. Elwyn: Not just that, you you enable entrepreneurship and you enable you enable s economic mobility because people don't feel trapped by their job because they need their insurance. Right? It's a huge issue where people simply will not look for a new job or won't take their idea and start a new business because they can't give up their health insurance. You know, it it's Derek: Yeah. It's Elwyn: a it's a prison in the in the workforce the way we've set set it up. So yeah, it it's The only people who are against universal healthcare, I think, are like well-off people who have a job they love that provides healthcare for them. Derek: Mm-hmm. Yeah, but that's what I'm saying is like, and even those people, if they had access to cheaper health care, might still jump at the opportunity. And I'm not saying like you need to take private healthcare off the table for everybody. Sure. Like if you have the money and you want to pay for your own private policy, great. But everybody should be covered in some way, shape, or form, with with some kind of like catastrophic insurance for sure at the minimum. And the hope would be that no, like it's all covered, but we will wrap our conversation there. I think we did a pretty good job of shitting on Texas today. and w who we telling to shut the fuck up, Owen? Elwyn: So we're running it back two weeks, okay? When I Derek: Right. Elwyn: was unsure whether it was the bank tellers who needed to shut the fuck up or me. Nope, it's the fucking banks. It's the fucking bank Derek: sweet. We're we're re Elwyn: tellers. God damn it, shut the fuck up, bank tellers. My I had to go back into that bank because they took they switched. They were acquired. It was Comerica Bank and they were acquired by Fifth Third Bank, which goddammit, has that b can that bank change its name? Fifth third. Derek: Yeah. Elwyn: So all my stuff changes over, right? Like I have to get new online banking and of course they tell you it's gonna be nice and easy. This is how it's gonna work. It doesn't work that way. You know, I go online and I and I try to transfer everything over and they're like, Nope, you have to either call support or schedule an appointment. Here's our online appointment scheduler. It's online appointment scheduler doesn't work. So all right, fine, I'll go to the bank. This shouldn't be that hard. I go into the bank, everybody's like, they've got cookies and trail mix out and balloons and they're all so excited about this transition. And the teller who was very nice last time is very nice again. how are you? my god, it's such a great day. Let me this is what you need. Come meet my manager, he'll be happy to help you. And the manager says, How are you? we're so happy to have you. I can help you with that right away, sir. It'll be no problem. I don't know what's happening. I I'm not sure why this isn't working. Let me try this. Well, let's try it this way. let me call let me call computer serv c customer service. I'm like, no, no, no, I I can't stay here for more than fifteen more minutes. I gotta go. I d I don't want this fucking guy calling customer service. It's gonna take forever. Right? And he's like, Well, you know, we it it there's a long wait time for customer service today. You're right, because we we weren't anticipating this much traffic. you know, on this day. I was like, Really? You didn't plan for this? Like, no, we ran three mock transitions and all of them were off. They all underestimated Derek: Ha ha ha. Elwyn: the amount of traffic. So I was like, well, yeah, that's not great, you know. And and then I make the mistake, my business loan, my building loan is due on the tenth of each month. And last week I had to set up the bill pay because with Comerica it would take like n eight days. When I did the bill pay, for them to write a check to themselves, mail it to themselves, and then cash it, which is just amazing to me. Like why this isn't ones and zeros and done immediately. But it would Derek: Yes. Elwyn: take eight days. So it's due on the 10th. I would have to go in on the first, set up the bill pay. That feature was disabled. So I emailed my my account manager and I said, Hey, just so you know, I tried to set up the payment, it wouldn't let me. You know, I assume it's because of the coming transition, but I'm just telling you. So she said, okay. She emailed me back. She said, yes, it's because of the transition. You'll need to do this on the eighth when the transition actually happens. Great. Please note my count that if this is gonna take another eight days to process, it's not me that's late. It's you guys that late. I don't want I don't want a late fee on this. It's like two hundred dollars or something ridiculous. Right? Derek: Yeah. Elwyn: It's like okay. So I make the mistake of telling this guy that my loan payment is due on the tenth. So he says, well We can process that payment for you directly today. You know, let me let me see if I can do that. I was like, yeah, okay, might as well get that done. It took him 20 seconds to take my money. 20 seconds to go out, talk to some bank guy, figure out which button to push. 20 seconds. I still don't have access to my accounts. I'm quite certain that there's money in my accounts. It hasn't touched my account yet. I have no idea about anything. And these fucking guys are like, have a cookie on your way out. So no. Shut the fuck up, bank tellers. It wasn't me. It was you. You suck at this. You fucking suck at this. You want my money. When you need to take my money, that's easy. But for me to see how much money I have, I gotta walk through like 30 feet of sugary sweet hi. How are you? Isn't this a wonderful day to get no resolution, no support, and now no money. So Derek: Yeah. Elwyn: Yeah, it wasn't me two weeks ago. Fuck them. Derek: Yeah, fuck them. I'm I'm with you now. I'm out on them. I'm I think I'm out on most banks in general. Like usually if you're telling a bank to shut that is that might have been like the biggest miss of like if I could go back in in my to meet and meet myself when I was like 17, like go to an Ivy League school and start a bank. You're good. Like that's you you will never need for money after that. Elwyn: The, you know, there there's a larger thing here, which is, you know, I'm not gonna get into the whole thing, but I've become more and more convinced that with several companies, that that there's a new corporate strategy that they'll never tell us about, which says something like customer satisfaction has no in no input in this decision-making process. Period. Where where it's so obvious and so pervasive now to me. That it has to be in a memo somewhere that's like when faced with this issue, here is the priorities. Here are the priorities that must be met when resolving this issue, and here's the order. And it there's actually a bullet point on that memo that says customer satisfaction is not to be considered when following this list, because so much of what happens now has nothing to do with customer satisfaction. I'm not satisfied that they took my money. You know, I'm glad that I don't have to worry about paying the loan, but I would have been more than happy to fight the late fee, right? Because of their Derek: Yeah. Elwyn: own incompetence. I would have been more than happy to have that argument when especially when considering that I still haven't been able to get a hold of them, right? I'm still on hold for half an hour at a time. I still don't have access to the accounts. The online scheduler still doesn't work, and the people in the branches don't know what the fuck to do. Right? Yeah, they do. They do. Derek: No, they know what to do, Owen. They know that in in that memo it just says smile, say hello, and offer a cookie. customer Elwyn: Yes. Derek: customer satisfaction does not matter. Move on. Elwyn: Does it so yeah, so it's the bank. It's the bank. Derek: Well, what are we talking about next week? Elwyn: I never know. Derek: we got you know DOJ independence. We kind of covered that last week. Inspector general protections, independent investigations. We can go you know ban on individual stock trading. You know, there's some some codify some norm stuff in there. we've kind of been on this series that we that we want to do that, but we'll we'll we'll talk offline, figure out what we're gonna do next week. I need a good a good like sign off signature for this and I think it was gonna be, you know, like a a remember remember to everybody that made it this far into the podcast that you know Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton and Dan Patrick are all assholes. they hate you. just Elwyn: They hate you. Just remember everybody, Greg Abbott hates you. Derek: just just remember right and and Chuck Schumer will send you a strongly worded letter at some point. Yes, Elwyn: And Susan Collins is concerned. Derek: Susan Clantz is concerned. We need to I need just need to string together a a list. Yeah. That's the that's the sign-off from now on. There we go. Elwyn: That's not bad. Just remember everybody, Clarence Thomas is a piece of shit. Greg Abbott hates you, and Susan Collins is concerned. Yeah. Derek: That's exactly what I was looking for, Elwin. This is why Elwyn: Ha ha. Derek: this is why we're good friends. Well, to anybody that made it this far, wait, what was it? Clarence Thomas piece. Elwyn: Clarence Thomas is a piece of shit, Greg Abbott hates you and Susan Collins is concerned. Derek: I need to write that down. I'll memorize it for next week. Take care, y'all.