Monthly Archives: August 2016

See you on the radio

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osgood02_300x250Charles Osgood announced he is retiring this fall from his “Sunday Morning” program on CBS Television. For those of you unaware of this gem of a broadcaster, shame on you. You have missed out on what could be argued, the greatest storyteller of all time.

Notice I did not say journalist. Osgood was a master at informing his audience of events in a way that drew you in and would not let you go. It today’s world of shrinking ratings and fragmented audience’s Osgood delivered the goods. “Sunday Morning” continues to be a ratings leader, with a year-to-date audience of nearly 6 million viewers, it consistently tops rival Sunday morning news shows.

I first heard him on the radio where four times a day, Osgood found stories to share with his listeners; from major national news, to human interest essays. His ability to use words to paint pictures left all of us who wanted to write for a living feel inferior.

When I heard he was leaving TV, but would continue to host The Osgood File, I wondered if radio stations still even carry it. It had been years since I heard it in Houston. Sadly, I discovered Houston is one of two top 10 markets where the program is not broadcast (Atlanta is the other).

Somehow, stations in NY, Los Angeles and Chicago can spare four minutes so that their listeners can learn and be entertained by the man known as the CBS News “Poet in Residence”. 

Is bigger better?

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hqdefaultThe University of Houston is making a lot of noise about being added to the Big 12. Cougar Nation wants a seat at the grown-ups table and adding them makes all the sense in the world with one exception; economics.

UH had to subsidize their athletic program to the tune of more than $25 million in 2015. That ranks as the seven-largest subsidy. Only 12 schools (including Texas and Oklahoma) did not have to subsidize their programs.

The UH athletic program took in $44.8 Million (62nd in the nation). James Madison and South Florida produced more revenue for their respective schools. It’s also $30 million less than Iowa State who had the smallest revenue in the Big 12 among public universities.

It does not take a Noble Prize winner in economics to understand who pays for these “subsidies”, The university has increased tuition 22 percent between 2011-12 and 2015-16. Students and fans of the University of Houston might have a different opinion on the value of joining the Big 12 when confronted with tuition costs that are already higher than UT or Texas A&M.

Taxes in Texas

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There is always a lot of talk about taxes in Austin. One of the selling points politicians like to make is reminding people we have no state income tax (other states with no state income tax are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming).

That sounds really good, until you ask yourself how Texas pays the bills without one. The answer is sales and property taxes. Texas has the 12th highest sales tax in the nation at 8.17 percent (Tennessee is the highest with a 9.46 percent).

Texas also has a higher-than-average effective property tax (Fifth highest in the nation). This has gotten the attention of Austin lawmakers who are crying foul and looking to find ways to have municipalities cutback on their tax rates, but education officials say not so fast. Thanks to Austin cutting back on funding for education, schools and other government entities look to property tax to fill the gap.

A 2010 report from the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute found funding for education in Texas to be “antiquated”. The study group was co-chaired by Dan Patrick, now Texas’ lieutenant governor.

While an argument can be made on both sides of the issue of state income taxes, one thing seems to be very clear, not having a state income tax hurts the poor. Why? Because a state income tax is based on what a person earns. Sales taxes are considered regressive because they don’t change based on a person’s income. Someone making $15k a year pays the same tax for a gallon of milk as someone who makes $150k annually.

If you look at taxes paid as a percentage of income on the poorest to the wealthiest, Texas ranks fifth in the nation for having the most regressive state tax system. The poorest 20 percent pay 12.6 in taxes compared to the middle class (8.8 percent) and the top 1 percent (3.2).

Much like the federal tax system, the Texas tax system needs some fixing. It’s a simple question; how do we want to collect money to pay for state services. The answer? Well that’s a little harder.