In the January 11 episode, Congressman Roger Williams explains why he doesn’t think boots are needed on the ground in Greenland, and why he sees that territory as a “business deal” and selling Venezuela’s oil as a good business plan. State Rep. James Talarico touts his fundraising prowess and discusses why Texas voters should choose him for U.S. Senate. And the Dallas Business Journal’s Will Anderson talks about why AT&T is abandoning downtown Dallas.
< spk_0 - 00:00:02.9500000 >
Straight ahead, President Trump's expansion plans in Greenland and Venezuela have hit Republican resistance, but where will Texas Republicans draw the line? Congressman Roger Williams with us from Washington. A new floating barrier is coming to the Texas-Mexico border, and it covers a lot more ground than the border wall. Plus, he's the underdog but not underfunded.
< spk_0 - 00:00:30.0300000 >
James Talarico pulling in millions of dollars for his US Senate campaign, how he plans to close the gap with Jasmine Crockett, and what sets him apart. And AT&T is packing up in downtown Dallas. The headquarters move to Plano leaves a big question in the Metroplex, does downtown still matter?
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Inside Texas Politics with Jason Whiteley starts now.
< spk_0 - 00:01:00.8400000 >
Thanks for being here. Let's begin the program with some of the biggest political headlines happening across the state. A brand new floating barrier is soon going to separate Mexico and Texas. The Trump administration is deploying buoys along 500 miles of the river, even though illegal crossings have practically stopped since Trump took over. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act set aside $46 billion for new barriers. The Houston Chronicle says it's uncertain though how much of that money is being spent on buoys.
< spk_0 - 00:01:29.8000000 >
Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico are going to meet face to face for a debate later this month. This is the biggest race for Texas Democrats in the March primary. Polls show Crockett leads the race, but Talarico has brought in millions of dollars in fundraising, as we'll talk to him here shortly. The AFL-CIO is hosting the debate in Georgetown January 24th. And national Democrats are again dumping money into Texas, but this time hoping to flip some seats in the state legislature.
< spk_0 - 00:01:58.4300000 >
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is spending $50 million across the country on this, going after Republicans in Texas that have eked out close elections in the legislature like Angie Chin Button in Dallas, John Luan and Mark LaHood in San Antonio, and Denise Villalobos in Corpus Christi. The biggest political headlines right now are happening in Washington DC. President Trump's ambitious plans for Greenland, fallout from the raid he ordered in Venezuela.
< spk_0 - 00:02:26.4100000 >
Republicans are starting to show some resistance, at least in the Senate. Our first guest though this morning, Republican Congressman Roger Williams, chairman of the House Small Business Committee, who represents part of DFW. Mr. Chairman, it's good to see you again here. We'll get to your priorities for 2026 here in just a moment. First, a lot of news coming out of DC. President Trump saying he wants to buy Greenland. He's not ruling out military force either. Do you support either of those?
< spk_2 - 00:02:53.5200000 >
Well, I don't know about military force. Uh, Greenland can certainly be a, a, a friend of ours, but with this proximity to some of our other, uh, nations we're watching be a good place for a base. We've got one up there now, but maybe a larger one. So we'll just have to see what happens. I know he's talked about actually buying it from the 30,000 people that are there. He's put a price on it. So we'll see. Right now it's a business deal, uh, but I don't think you need military force for Greenland, but we'll see.
< spk_0 - 00:03:20.8990000 >
President Trump says the US oversight of Venezuela could last for years, and I remember, I know you do too, the president campaigning on no more foreign wars, America first. This doesn't seem to live up to that.
< spk_2 - 00:03:33.2580000 >
Well, I don't know. I mean, you know, all the drugs coming down from Venezuela have been affecting our, our country severely. I think I saw another day 300,000 kids or people have died of, uh, overdoses in a very small amount of time. That's been a real problem. We got, we, we began to address that. Uh, and, you know, uh, I think that his plan to, uh, get democracy back to Venezuela is not bad, actually.
< spk_2 - 00:03:56.6690000 >
I mean, we get this oil, we sell the oil at sticker price, and then take that money and have Venezuela put a democracy together. I mean, that's a pretty good business plan. So we'll see what happens, but I don't know so much as nation building, uh, but I think we do need, uh, we need friends down there, and they've been, that country's been devastated, uh, during that time with Maduro, so. We'll see what happens and if we can help them create a democracy and create opportunity, they can become a great friend of ours.
< spk_0 - 00:04:24.4280000 >
He left the brutal dictatorship in place though. Are you surprised he didn't try to put democracy or restore democracy back in that country? Well,
< spk_2 - 00:04:31.1480000 >
you'd like to finish things, right, if that's the way you think, but I think that he's going to give everybody an opportunity, which is the fair way to do it. But they know that we, we have the power to do things that we need to do. Uh, but I think that he's given them an opportunity to see if they can turn it around and, and we'll just see what they do.
< spk_0 - 00:04:48.8090000 >
Health care, of course, uh, costs are rising for some 4 million Texans who purchased their policies on the marketplace. Congress obviously left for the holidays without addressing it. Do you expect Congress is going to address this in the, in the new year?
< spk_2 - 00:05:01.1300000 >
Yeah, I think we need to. I mean, it's a huge, uh, uh, expense for a lot of people, uh, but we also, uh, have to come up with a plan that works, and I'm one of those. I, I believe individuals ought to own their own healthcare. I don't think the government should own it. I don't think the place they work should own it. I think it should be transferable. I mean, if they lose their job or they retire, they can carry it with them. I think they should shop across state lines. I think they ought to be able to be put in a pool, uh, with other, uh, other businesses, uh, to bring prices down.
< spk_2 - 00:05:30.8090000 >
I, as you know, I'm a small business owner and I employ hundreds of people, and the cost of healthcare right now is, is out of sight, and it's a direct expense to businesses. So let's let, let's let individuals own their own healthcare. And take it with them and shop and get the best deal they can. That's where I stand with it.
< spk_0 - 00:05:47.4400000 >
We are a year into the president's second term here. Unemployment is up. Core inflation year to year has increased as well. Polls show affordability is a major issue, which I'm sure you're hearing from some businesses and constituents as well. How concerned are you though that national politics could drag down Republicans across the board?
< spk_2 - 00:06:07.1490000 >
Well, I think actually Republican, uh, we're gonna gain ground because of the various things we just talked about. People are gonna get a, a check probably by April that they haven't seen before. They're gonna get money in their pocket, uh, you know, the creation of inventories now.
< spk_0 - 00:06:20.5890000 >
What's the check, Mr. Chairman? I'm sorry if you're interrupting there.
< spk_2 - 00:06:23.3900000 >
Well, they're gonna get a refund check, uh, you know, on their, on their, uh, tax cuts and so forth. Yeah, taxes. I'm sorry. Uh, they're gonna get some money they haven't had in the past. There's gonna be money they can spend. Pay, pay bills, buy, buy things, send kids to school, whatever, they haven't had that in the past. I think when they start seeing that, and, you know, you would talk about inflation, inflation actually is getting ready to come down because we're getting inventories now, whether it be in my car lot or whether it be at the, at, at the, at the hardware store or whatever.
< spk_2 - 00:06:51.4500000 >
And when you have inventories, it creates competition, you drive prices down. So I think things are, are. And look at gasoline. There's, there's, uh, uh, fuel prices now that are under $2 across our country. So things are moving in the right direction. The Democrats can't say anything about that. A lot of infighting, a lot of blaming Republicans, but as we move along, we're seeing less government is truly the best government.
< spk_0 - 00:07:14.5100000 >
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the time.
< spk_2 - 00:07:16.1090000 >
Thank you, Jason. God bless.
< spk_0 - 00:07:18.6490000 >
All right, let's bring in the roundtable to talk about the politics of this. Bug Kennedy is here from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Ashley Goode, political director at Caveview in Austin. Natalie Haddad also is with us, political reporter at WFAA in Dallas. But he said that, uh, Republicans would gain ground in the midterm. I look at what's happening in Greenland and Venezuela, and a lot of Republicans are saying, listen, this is not MAGA priorities that we voted for.
< spk_3 - 00:07:39.5290000 >
Well, there's a lot of different things going up in the air, a lot of it to keep people from talking about Epstein, a lot of the other problems the president. Has the question is what will people remember by November if the president continues to make these strong arm moves around the world and if they do send out some money, people might be a little happier, but you look at Texans. Texans in the poll are really worried about the cost of health care now more than anything else, more than the cost of food or housing. I think that's going to continue
< spk_0 - 00:08:07.6400000 >
to hurt. And Ashley, can a tax rebate check and and and lower fuel costs, can that propel Republicans this November?
< spk_4 - 00:08:16.0190000 >
I mean, I think it'll certainly play a factor in it if you look at people and you go out and you talk to people, a lot of people still say they were doing better financially when President Trump was in office the first time around because of some of those checks we got during the pandemic. Now of course you have economists who say, oh yes, but look at what happened after that. But I think to the, the average person, the average voter, they. Will remember if they're getting bigger refund checks come November. Absolutely.
< spk_0 - 00:08:41.9950000 >
And Natalie, the news cycle changes day to day, but right now affordability is top of mind for a lot of families across the state.
< spk_5 - 00:08:47.5560000 >
You know, when it comes to those checks, money talks and talking about getting those rebate checks, if that ever actually comes to be, will get voters moving, but President Trump has also called affordability crisis. a hoax, and I think you can ask any average American or Texan, and they're going to tell you they are struggling. So maybe money talks here, but I'm not so sure how much and will it be impactful enough to get them to the polls to vote for President Trump or for Republicans rather in the primaries. I'm not so sure.
< spk_0 - 00:09:15.2520000 >
And there is a lot of time between now and then, of course. All right, a lot more ahead here, including this. When we come back, James Talarico, what he says sets him apart from Jasmine Crockett and which Republican he says he would like to run against. And downtown Dallas just lost AT&T, its flagship corporation. Is the city doing something wrong downtown?
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A preview of our podcast up next on Inside Texas Politics. Welcome back to Inside Texas Politics. Now to the biggest Democratic race in the state, the nomination for US Senate. James Talarico has pulled in almost $7 million over the last 90 days, $13 million since starting his campaign. We reached Talarico at his campaign headquarters in Austin. Representative, it's good to see you again here.
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You raised $13 million in the last quarter. Those are huge numbers there. How much do you anticipate that you'll have to spend in the primary?
< spk_6 - 00:10:18.0300000 >
Well, Texas is a big state and there are a lot of voters to, to meet and introduce myself to and so that does cost money. I'm thankful that we are raising millions of dollars in grassroots donations. Uh, we don't take any corporate PAC money in this campaign. All that money was raised by 215,000 individual contributors who are giving $5.10 $15 at a time. This is a people powered campaign.
< spk_6 - 00:10:45.7190000 >
That's exactly how we take on this broken, corrupt political system.
< spk_0 - 00:10:50.8200000 >
You did face some criticism a few months back when you said you didn't take any corporate PAC money, but you did take some initially though, didn't you, from the uh Adelson family that, that owned the Dallas Mavericks?
< spk_6 - 00:11:01.2500000 >
No, I've never taken corporate PAC money, uh, and I've never accepted a donation from, uh, the Adelson family. Uh, I have taken money from groups that are focused on certain issues. Uh, in that case, it was an issue of legalizing gambling in the state of Texas, which is an issue I support. I believe it'll create more jobs. I think it'll create more tax revenue for our public schools, and so that is the kind of donations I do accept, but I have never taken corporate PAC money.
< spk_0 - 00:11:29.3800000 >
Congresswoman Crockett told me a few weeks back that the biggest difference between you and her is experience. She served in Congress and has been doing it a tad longer, I believe she said, but what would you tell the Democratic primary voters, uh, why they should vote for you over her?
< spk_6 - 00:11:44.0800000 >
Well, I think we need outsiders in Washington DC. I think we need someone who has experience fighting for working people. Uh, my public service career began in the classroom as a public school teacher on the west side of San Antonio, and then I flipped a Trump district that no one thought was winnable to win a seat in the state legislature and in the Texas.
< spk_6 - 00:12:06.9000000 >
Legislature, a Republican dominated body, as a Democrat, I've been able to not only stand up to Republican extremism, I've also been able to pass transformational legislation to help working people. I've passed numerous bills to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, bring down the cost of childcare, bring down the cost of housing. That's the kind of experience we need in the United States Senate.
< spk_0 - 00:12:30.4090000 >
You're out with your first TV commercial. The message is, uh, make life more affordable. Do you expect any issue this year to be more dominant than affordability?
< spk_6 - 00:12:40.4400000 >
I don't think so. I think people are fed up with a broken, corrupt political system that is not making our lives any easier, and folks are struggling with high prices, not just at the grocery store, but they're struggling with the high price of prescription drugs, the high price of childcare, the high price of housing. So we have to restructure this economy so that it can work for all of us, not just the billionaires at the very top.
< spk_0 - 00:13:04.2390000 >
The Republicans have an equally competitive primary. Is there one Republican you're hoping wins that you can compete against if you win?
< spk_6 - 00:13:12.2390000 >
Neither John Cornyn nor Ken Paxton deserve the honor of representing our great state in the United States Senate. Both of them have sold us out time and time again. Ken Paxton's crimes are well known. I was part of the bipartisan majority in the Texas House that voted to impeach our corrupt Attorney General, but John Cornyn may be even more corrupt than Ken Paxton because John Cornyn was the.
< spk_6 - 00:13:38.6640000 >
Deciding vote on that big ugly bill, that big ugly bill that's going to kick millions of Texans off their healthcare, that big ugly bill that's going to take food out of the mouths of hungry Texas children, all to give yet another tax break to his billionaire donors. So we oftentimes think corruption is something that's illegal, but corruption is really just the betrayal of the public's trust.
< spk_0 - 00:14:03.2440000 >
Representative, always good to see you. Thank you for the time.
< spk_6 - 00:14:05.7050000 >
It's good to see you too.
< spk_0 - 00:14:07.6900000 >
Dallas City Hall suffered a major setback this past week. AT&T decided it would leave its downtown Dallas headquarters for a new place in Plano. That means none of the biggest businesses in the metroplex are based in downtown Dallas, and that's why we called Will Anderson, the editor of the Dallas Business Journal, for this week's episode of Y'alllitics. What should the city of Dallas be doing right now, do you think, besides cleaning up the homelessness, which they can't get a handle on.
< spk_0 - 00:14:36.2700000 >
Besides restaffing police, which they're trying to do, what should Dallas be doing right now for, for downtown for its central business district, not the pretty uptown, but for CBD downtown?
< spk_7 - 00:14:47.6300000 >
I, I think you kind of hit on like where they need to start, and that's where they've invested money, homelessness, public safety, kind of quality of life. Issues downtown because AT&T has talked about the issues at their campus for years. That wasn't a surprise. I mean, I think it was 2 or 3 years that AT&T, the city had been engaged. Like, what do we do? hire private security for this guy like that's been ongoing. So I think it starts there and, um, DDI, the city, they tout progress on lower violent crime downtown.
< spk_7 - 00:15:16.1790000 >
They, they have this initiative, I think it's called Safe in the City, a lot more officers dedicated to downtown. Which, why wouldn't you have done that when you, I think there's a realization at City Hall that downtown won't save itself
< spk_0 - 00:15:30.5300000 >
for a sprawling region like Dallas-Fort Worth, does downtown really matter?
< spk_7 - 00:15:36.0100000 >
That's a great question. It doesn't matter if you don't have a really strong downtown Dallas. You can live up here in Plano and never go into downtown Dallas. There's plenty of cultural options up here now, um, I mean, maybe not the really fine art stuff, museum, opera, there's plenty to do up here, and if all you care about is a cheap house, not too far from your job, yeah. So it doesn't matter. I think that is what we need to think about because do you, because do you want the Dallas EDC to offer oodles of incentives to keep A&T&T downtown?
< spk_7 - 00:16:05.1300000 >
You know, it's kind of a moot point because they're not, but do you want them to really, really incentivize AT&T to stay out of town when The coroll areas doesn't matter? Do we want to spend a lot of public resources to keep anti downtown? I,
< spk_8 - 00:16:16.4290000 >
I don't know. And that always drives uh, uh, a lot of people crazy when that happens too. Is there a potential that this is a huge domino that once you push it down, momentum starts building and other companies start eyeing the exits too because they just think, gosh, this isn't as viable, like maybe we should think about moving too.
< spk_7 - 00:16:33.4690000 >
It doesn't help. It doesn't help in that regard.
< spk_0 - 00:16:37.1690000 >
Downtown Dallas, uh, reportedly has one of the highest vacancy rates in the country when it comes to commercial office space. Will Anderson though there from the Dallas Business Journal says he's long on downtown Dallas, but it will have to be reimagined. This episode of Y'alllitics available right now wherever you get your podcasts or watch it on our station's app they're on your smart TV. Up next here on the roundtable, we'll be ready when we come back. All right, back to the roundtable now.
< spk_0 - 00:17:06.2090000 >
Bud, Ashley, and Natalie all with us here. Bud, let's start with you. Governor Abbott in Fort Worth the other day, he said that the lack of police and the crime in downtown Dallas is why AT&T is moving its corporate headquarters from downtown up to Plano and Collin County. My, my first reaction was, but wait a minute. Dallas has a Republican mayor.
< spk_3 - 00:17:24.5300000 >
Well, I, I think so, but you notice he had to go over to Fort Worth to say that. He didn't didn't say that in Dallas. But you know, I think what, uh, if you look at Dallas, I think what's not being talked about is the downtowns these days need three elements. They need hotels for conventions. They need government buildings, and they need apartments and downtown residents. And I don't think that the impact of crime and the homeless situation. On downtown apartments has been emphasized.
< spk_3 - 00:17:49.8630000 >
Dallas should be filling up some of these skyscrapers with more apartments with safe parking with people who want to live downtown. Yes,
< spk_0 - 00:17:56.4220000 >
I think that effort is underway right now, Natalie, but this, this was just a cheap shot at Dallas City Hall.
< spk_5 - 00:18:01.5420000 >
Yes, it was definitely a critique of Dallas government and to your point, we do have a Republican mayor. What is interesting is that there was a survey done about a year ago with businesses in Dallas and public. Safety was a concern. Governor Abbott mentioned some of that being an issue on why AT&T moved out. And while that was a concern, you know, police patrols have expanded in downtown Dallas. The homelessness reach has also expanded, and we don't really see a whole lot of that these days.
< spk_5 - 00:18:28.7050000 >
And so this really was, like you said, a cheap shot, an interesting critique of Dallas government,
< spk_0 - 00:18:34.2340000 >
interesting indeed. And then the other big news coming out of Austin. Uh, Ashley was from the Comptroller's office. The Texas oil and gas industry paid $27 billion in state and local taxes and royalties last calendar year. Those are huge numbers and the state budget is really living off that, isn't it?
< spk_4 - 00:18:53.3590000 >
Yeah, I mean if you think about that, that 27 billion is larger than some states' entire budgets, and so that's exactly what just the oil and gas industry paid in one year alone and so that is what is fueling our budget surplus. It is something that Texas lawmakers certainly have enjoyed. Now you always hear that there's a caution, right, that this number is not set in stone. This is not going to happen.
< spk_4 - 00:19:17.0660000 >
Every year and certainly things could change once we get Venezuela and that oil into play if production ramps up there, but as of today, oil and gas is king in Texas and it is good news for the economy.
< spk_0 - 00:19:28.7550000 >
Indeed it is. But Bud, let me ask you this if we bring in the 30 to 50 million barrels from Venezuela, doesn't that drive down the cost of oil, which isn't good for the oil patch? I
< spk_3 - 00:19:37.1150000 >
think, and we heard Congressman Williams talk about lowering the. Cost of gasoline. Lower costs of gasoline, lower price of oil are not good for Texas. Texas needs a reasonably high price of oil to sustain the economy, particularly the Midland Odessa economy. Texas wants oil to not be so expensive. We can't afford trucking. We can't afford equipment, but we want to get money for our product.
< spk_0 - 00:19:58.8710000 >
And at the end of the day, Natalie, everyone loves low gas prices.
< spk_5 - 00:20:02.1120000 >
Everyone loves low gas prices, but. What I loved about what he was about what the congressman was saying about, you know, this administration and why people are going to be happier and why the GOP will be favored is due in part to gas prices, but we still have, we're at step one for all of this. We still have to see it
< spk_0 - 00:20:18.4000000 >
happen. We have that we have insurance, a lot of other. Factors in play here when it comes to the economy and affordability. Let's talk also about Wesley Hunt, the congressman from Houston, Republican running for US Senate, uh, one of the three Republicans running for that nomination. He has TV ads up. John Cornyn has his ads up as well too, um, and, and. This race seems to be kind of tightening up and the Texas Politics Project just dealt with some new numbers.
< spk_3 - 00:20:43.3690000 >
It really is a three-way, uh, uh, race, and Wesley Hunt, uh, has a positive, uh, uh, you know, uh, uh, likability rating, while both Cornyn and Paxton now have horrible approval ratings. It's almost like people said, I don't want either one of you. Who are you? What's your name? Maybe I'll vote for you, you know. He's, he's touring the state. He's making a good impression. He'll be in Dallas this week. Yeah.
< spk_0 - 00:21:04.1990000 >
Does it make it any easier? Here for, for Democrats when you see someone like James Tallarico?
< spk_3 - 00:21:08.2240000 >
Well, I think that, you know, Democrats have all their own problems on their side, you know, Tallarico, whether he can get through that side of the primary is going to be his own problem. But I think, uh, you know, the Democrats are building all their strategy around beating Paxton. If they're up against Wesley Hunt, I don't think they have as much of a chance. Yeah,
< spk_0 - 00:21:24.9840000 >
we shall see, guys. Thanks so much. We appreciate it as always. Thank you for watching as well. We're back next Sunday to take you inside Texas politics. We hope to see you then. Take care.