This program was recorded on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25 at about 4:30 AM. Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13th and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig(@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show airing live every Monday night from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.
Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)
Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.
This program was recorded on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19 at about 6:30 AM. Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13th and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig(@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show airing live every Monday night from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.
Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)
Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.
This program was recorded on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11 at about 4:30 AM. Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13th and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig(@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show airing live every Monday night from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.
Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)
Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.
This program was recorded on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 at about 4:30 AM. Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13th and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig(@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show airing live every Monday night from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.
Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)
Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.
This program was recorded on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 at about 4:30 AM. Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13th and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig(@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show airing live every Monday night from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.
Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)
Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.
This program was recorded on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 at about 4:30 AM. Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13th and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig(@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show airing live every Monday night from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.
Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)
Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.
This program was recorded on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 at about 4:30 AM. Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13th and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig(@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show airing live every Monday night from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.
Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)
Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.
The election season officially kicked off this past Labor Day. Looking forward to election day, I have an anecdote.
When I worked in a photo lab many years ago, I was in process control. I would run test strips and chart the results. If a process looked like it was running outside of limits, I had to make a decision.
Here were the choices I was taught:
I can decide to take action.
I can decide NOT to take action.
I can decide to wait and see if things get better or worse.
One option I did NOT have was indecision, because indecision caused me to do nothing, and doing nothing was exactly like deciding not to act (I.e., choice #2).
And that’s the lesson.
Here’s where that lesson applies: In voting.
Remember that Houston light rail – a multi-billion dollar project — was approved by a majority of less than 10% of the registered voters. So about 5% of us made a decision that we will all be paying for and living with for decades; probably until at least the 22nd century.
In 1960, about 65% of eligible adults were registered to vote, and only 63% of eligible adults actually voted in the presidential election, and that was the best turnout in the past 50 years.
IN 2008, 50 years later, the number of eligible adults registered to vote has climbed to nearly 80%, but still, fewer than 57% of them actually voted for president.
So the registration numbers have improved dramatically, but the turnout numbers for presidential elections are stuck in the high 50s and low 60s, percentage-wise, for at least the past half century.
For off-year elections – like this one – turnouts are much worse: Typically in the high 30% range. And that’s the problem.
In the past decade, we’ve seen important elections totaling tens of thousands of votes decided buy a few hundred hotly contested ballots. Sometimes the difference has come down to dozens.
We can no longer be lazy on voting day and tell ourselves that our single vote doesn’t matter. It does. It might decide an election.
Now, remember at the beginning of this commentary I told you about my days in process control, and how there’s no such thing as a non-decision? Well, the same thing is true in voting.
Not bothering to vote is like voting. You’re just giving your vote to someone more motivated. Refusing to vote as a form of protest is exactly the same thing. You’re actually letting someone else decide for you.
Sometimes people tell themselves that they’re not voting FOR someone, they’re actually voting AGAINST someone else. Well, no … You’re actually voting FOR them. At least, that’s how the ballots will be counted.
Don’t tell yourself that it doesn’t matter to you who’s elected.
If you have a job or don’t, pay taxes or are retired, make minimum wage or are a salaried employee, there are all kinds of things your elected representatives do that make your life easier or harder.
And for people who tell themselves that it really doesn’t matter, because all politicians are the same and there’s no real difference between the parties? Those people need to know that there is actually a political and ideological war going on in this country today, and elections are deciding the future direction of this nation, and are literally fighting for its soul.
In business, there’s an old saying: 90% of your complaints come from 10% of your customers. That’s because anger and frustration are strong motivators, but satisfaction or indifference are not.
Remember! This election day, YOUR future is being decided. Don’t let someone else decide it for you!
Vote! Know that you participated in the choice. Before the election, try to get involved. Volunteer your time. Donate whatever money you can to a candidate of your choice or a party of your choice, whether it’s a thousand dollars or just five.
Someone else gets to choose your boss. In a democracy, elections let YOU choose your government.
The magic of getting everyone to vote is that it takes power away from motivated minorities. Usually, motivated minorities are dangerous. And in any case, you don’t want them to be the boss of you.
So vote! Vote early and avoid lines and crowds. Mail in your ballot if you have trouble getting to a polling place. Call your local party headquarters if you need a ride to a polling place. Call the Harris County Clerk for information on absentee voting.
I’ll put some information up on my website within the next few days I’ve created a new page for this information to make it easier to find. Click on the “Political Information and Resources”tab. I’ve added links to various voting information organizations and political parties there.
Remember that anything you do on voting day equals a decision. Decide to vote.
Texas voters are about to weigh in on 10 proposed amendments to the state constitution, which deal with everything from retiring law enforcement animals to the state’s tax code. Voters in three state House districts will also participate in special elections to fill empty seats.
Early voting begins Monday and runs through Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.
During this year’s legislative session, lawmakers passed several bills that require amendments to the Texas Constitution. A majority of Texas voters must vote to support any change to the state constitution in a statewide referendum. In 2017, all seven constitutional amendments on the ballot passed.
Below are the 10 amendments on the ballot next month. More analysis on each proposition, from the House Research Organization, is available here. And the League of Women Voters guide is here.
Proposition 1
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment permitting a person to hold more than one office as a municipal judge at the same time.”
What it means: Municipal court judges adjudicate city ordinance violations and certain misdemeanor criminal cases. The proposition would permit elected municipal court judges to serve multiple municipalities at the same time. Currently, only appointed municipal court judges — who make up more than 95 percent of the state’s municipal court judges, according the House Research Organization — can serve multiple jurisdictions at the same time, making it more challenging for small and rural cities to find qualified candidates, some argue.
Proposition 2
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of additional general obligation bonds by the Texas Water Development Board in an amount not to exceed $200 million to provide financial assistance for the development of certain projects in economically distressed areas.
What it means: This would allow TWDB to issue bonds to fund for water and wastewater infrastructure projects in areas where median household income is at or below 75% of the statewide median income level.
Proposition 3
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster.”
What it means: This would allow the Legislature to create temporary property tax exemptions for people with property damaged in governor-declared disaster areas. The Legislature would be able to pass laws determining the eligibility requirements for exemptions, as well as the duration and amount of any write-offs.
Proposition 4
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of an individual income tax, including a tax on an individual’s share of partnership and unincorporated association income.”
What it means: This would make it more challenging for future lawmakers to enact a personal income tax, requiring support from two-thirds of the House and Senate and a majority of Texas voters. Currently, the state Constitution requires that any proposal be approved a majority of lawmakers in the House and Senate and a majority of voters in a state-wide referendum.
Proposition 5
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment dedicating the revenue received from the existing state sales and use taxes that are imposed on sporting goods to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission to protect Texas’ natural areas, water quality, and history by acquiring, managing, and improving state and local parks and historic sites while not increasing the rate of the state sales and use taxes.”
What it means: It would earmark all revenue from the sporting goods sales tax toward the state parks and wildlife department and historic commission, as intended when the tax was created in 1993. In the past, the Legislature has not appropriated all available tax revenue to TPWD and THC.
Proposition 6
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to increase by $3 billion the maximum bond amount authorized for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.”
What it means: This would allow the Legislature to double the maximum amount of bonds it can issue on behalf of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, to $6 billion.
Proposition 7
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment allowing increased distributions to the available school fund.”
What it means: This would allow the General Land Office, the State Board of Education and other entities to double the amount of revenue they can provide the Available School Fund each year. The Available School Fund provides classroom materials and funding for Texas schools.
Proposition 8
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the flood infrastructure fund to assist in the financing of drainage, flood mitigation, and flood control projects.”
What it means: This would create a flood infrastructure fund that the Texas Water Development Board could use to finance projects following a disaster.
Proposition 9
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation precious metal held in a precious metal depository located in this state.”
What it means: This would allow the legislature to create a property tax exemption for precious metals held in state depositories — like the Texas Bullion Depository, scheduled to open next year in Leander.
Proposition 10
How it will read on the ballot: “The constitutional amendment to allow the transfer of a law enforcement animal to a qualified caretaker in certain circumstances.”
What it means: It would allow for former handlers or qualified caretakers to adopt retired law enforcement animals without a fee.
Special elections
Three special elections to fill vacate state House seats are scheduled for next month’s election. Two of the districts — HD-100 and HD-148 — are reliably Democratic. In HD-28, Democrats are trying to flip a seat that Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, held from 2007 until last month.
Seven candidates — six Republicans and one Democrat — are vying for this state House seat in Fort Bend County that Democrats see as flippable after Zerwas retired to join the University of Texas System as executive chancellor of health affairs. The Republican won re-election by 8 percentage points last year.
The Republican candidates are:
Anna Allred, an anesthesiologist who recently announced $159,000 in fundraising during the first six weeks of her campaign
Gary Gates, a businessman who lost a Railroad Commission bid in 2016 and a District 18 Senate try in 2014
Gary J. Hale, a Katy businessman and former federal Drug Enforcement Administration intelligence official
Tricia Krenek, an attorney and former member of the Fulshear City Council who lost a 2018 election for the Fort Bend County Court at Law
Sarah Laningham, a salesperson who lost the Republican primary for HD-14 in 2018
Clinton D. Purnell, a Katy man who works in logistics and compliance for an engineering firm.
The lone Democratic candidate is:
Eliz Markowitz, a Katy teacher who holds endorsements from Annie’s List, the DLCC and the Fort Bend County Democratic Party
Former Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, vacated this seat after winning the Dallas mayoral race. Four Democrats are competing for Johnson’s former position.
They are:
James Armstrong III, a pastor and the CEO of a Dallas-based community development organization
Lorraine Birabil, a legal associate and a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey
Daniel Davis Clayton, a community leader and small business owner
Sandra Crenshaw, a former Dallas councilmember who unsuccessfully ran for HD-100 in 2018
A fifth Democrat, Paul Stafford, will appear on the ballot, though he ended his campaign last month after filing for the seat. His votes will be counted, though if he gets enough to advance to a runoff, his votes will be set aside and the results will be calculated again without him.
Kendra Yarbrough Camarena, a teacher and community activist
Carol Denson, a teacher and environmental lobbyist
Anna Eastman, a community leader and former Houston ISD trustee
Adrian Garcia, a legal case manager and community leader
Terah Isaacson, a physician
Michele Leal, a non-profit development director
Mia Mundy, a executive search consultant who unsuccessfully ran for Senate District 6 in 2018
Anna Núñez, a community activist and a former communications coordinator for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas
Penny Shaw, an attorney and congressional legislative advocate
Alva Treviño, an attorney and former general counsel for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County
Chris Watt, an attorney and Board Chair for a research and advocacy organization focusing on Texas children
The Republican candidates are:
Luis LaRotta, a U.S. Navy veteran and engineer who is endorsed by the Harris County Republicans
Ryan McConnico, a Republican consultant who lost to Farrar in the 2018 HD-148 race
The lone independent candidate is:
Chris Carmona, an attorney
Editor’s Note: We want your help in reporting on the challenges Texans face when trying to vote — and the possible ways to address them. Tell us about the hurdles or problems you’ve run into while trying to exercise your right to vote in Texas by filling out a short form or email our reporter, Alexa Ura, directly at aura@texastribune.org.
Disclosure: Texas General Land Office and the University of Texas System have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly described Anna Núñez’s former job at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and omitted one of the candidates for House District 148.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
