KSEV Mornings · October 22, 2026 · Hour 1
JD Vance on the Vivek Ramaswamy ad, Neil Bush’s vote for James Talarico, health care prices, property taxes and Ilhan Omar’s “not to my knowledge.”
Thursday’s first hour started at the dentist and took a detour to South Africa, at least in theory. Craig Coglianese and Wayne Dolcefino took on Vice President JD Vance’s response to the Republicans complaining about Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad against Amy Acton, Neil Bush crossing over to vote for James Talarico, what Democrats promise on taxes, a $119,000 medical bill, Harris County property taxes and a very strange answer from Rep. Ilhan Omar.
A missing crown and a grade-school legend
Wayne was headed straight from the show to the dentist. Craig had already been, only to learn that someone had walked off with the crown he was supposed to get, which led Wayne to do his best mob voice: “Give me Coglianese’s crown.” Craig then revealed that three of his teeth are fake, courtesy of a hockey puck to the face during his street hockey days as a teenager.
That turned into Craig’s athletic résumé. He said he scored the most goals in his grade school and set the record for the fastest mile for a young kid at his grade school in New Jersey. Wayne was not buying it. “You’re almost sounding like a politician now,” he said, and a Google search turned up nothing.
Who runs this mob family?
Since Craig and Wayne have taken to calling themselves the Mob Guys, they tried to sort out the org chart. Producer Russell was offered the job of Don, Wayne prefers consigliere, and Craig volunteered to be the IT guy for the family. His reasoning was pure survival: “People are trying to kill the Don all the time. They’re not trying to kill the IT guy.”
JD Vance and the Ramaswamy ad
The big news conversation was Vance’s comments on Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad in the Ohio governor’s race. Craig said Vance is upset that conservatives are complaining about the ad more than about the left, and pushed back on that part: “You can also complain about a commercial while complaining about the insanity of the left.” He was quick to add that he likes Vance and “really liked most of his answer,” including the part where Vance said people can make up their own minds about the ad, which Craig said the mainstream media left out.
Wayne said he tells his fellow Republicans to stop whining all the time, but “I think you can criticize running an ad that had that many flaws in the story,” and still think Ramaswamy is the much better choice in that race.
Caller George on polls and rhetoric
Caller George had a theory on why Republicans skip polls: most of them come attached to a request to donate money. Asked about the Ramaswamy ad, he said “sometimes you have to match rhetoric with rhetoric.” He also has friends on the left who believe Harris County property taxes went up because of Donald Trump.
Wayne said people blame the statehouse when it’s Democrats running cities like San Antonio, Houston and Dallas who are raising property taxes. Craig’s version: every year they decide to raise taxes, “now we have to figure out what we blame for this year.”
Neil Bush votes for Talarico
Neil Bush, brother of former President George W. Bush, announced that he voted for Democrat James Talarico over Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race. Wayne said he watched Mark McKinnon argue it gives Cornyn Republicans the okay to cross over, and said he wasn’t sure he agreed. As for Republicans who would rather have Talarico than Paxton, Wayne didn’t mince words: “I can’t help you because you’re nuts.”
Craig drew a line between a moderate who just doesn’t like Paxton and someone actually willing to vote for Talarico. His guess is that some independents hear Talarico at a CNN town hall saying he wants energy to succeed and would never back a state income tax, “even though he voted for one multiple times,” and take him at his word.
When do Democrats lower taxes?
Wayne’s test was simple: in the last 30 or 40 years, when have Democrats lowered taxes? If a Democrat promises low taxes and a tough border, “I know instinctively that that is a bunch of crap.” Craig pointed to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tax-the-rich message as his example, saying the pattern is always the same: “They sell the message of, we’re taxing just the people at the tippy top,” and then the bill lands on everybody.
Wayne said he still sees wealth inequality as “a legitimate structural issue,” and said he thought Trump should have proposed some kind of tax on people making over $50 million. He joked that he doesn’t want to be taxed because he’s “a regular millionaire,” then immediately took it back.
The $119,000 infusion
Wayne shared that he just got the bill for a couple of drug infusions he had months ago, about six hours total: $119,000. After Medicare, his share was $5,800. Craig called it “a broken system” and noted that President Trump has said prices should be known up front. “It should be like a gas station,” Craig said, so patients can look up what they’ll pay before the procedure, not after. He also argued the left’s free-care plans would be worse, pointing to waits in Canada.
Data centers and the next campaign issue
Wayne said he’s watching Democrats in Brazoria County try to tie Republicans to data centers, and called it unfair without evidence. “I believe in connecting dots,” he said, but “the one guy actually has to actually connect to the other dot.” Craig predicted Democrats will blame Republicans for data centers now and then, once in power, decide “we actually do need them.”
Ilhan Omar’s “not to my knowledge”
Craig played audio of Rep. Ilhan Omar being asked on MS NOW about the long-running claim that her former husband was her brother. Asked whether there was any kernel of truth to it, she answered, “Not to my knowledge.” Craig: “That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard somebody say in response to, are you married to your brother?” Wayne said the right answer was “of course he’s not my brother,” and wondered why nobody has gone to find the ex-husband. Craig’s search said South Africa, and he figured a Wayne interview there would be worth the station paying for the trip.
Trump on Iran and Paxton’s pitch
Craig also played President Trump saying of Iran, “We are going to have something one way or the other that will happen fairly soon.” Craig’s view is that nothing on Iran can change the midterms at this point: “this would have had to end three months ago” to move gas prices before November. To close the hour, Wayne said he spent his evening with sushi and Ken Paxton’s speech in Corpus Christi, and called the opening minutes, about the billions recovered from big pharma and tech companies, “the most effective four or five minutes of Paxton I ever heard.” He also called John Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis sore losers and said he’s “so disappointed that John Cornyn can’t get over himself,” a thread the show picked up in Hour 2.
Hear Craig and Wayne live weekdays from 7–9 AM Central on AM 700 KSEV, The Voice of Texas. Visit the KSEV Mornings show page for live-listening controls and more episodes.
