Non-citizen voting and how NC dodged the bullet (02-14-2025--Hour2)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:29] So, at the end of the last hour there, I started on a bit of a tirade about Sheriff Gary Not-My-Fault McFadden. Yet another example of him not cooperating fully with ICE, playing little cutesy games, too clever by half.

[00:00:47] You know, another illegal alien that was sought to be detained by ICE, he released back out because, you know, the letter of the law doesn't require me to, you know, hold him. He posted bail and ICE already knew.

[00:01:04] And so, you know, if they want to cooperate, you know, they could call me. And then he goes on to say that, you know, deporting illegal aliens is not a solution to the problem. Like, and there's the problem, right? There's his ideology trumping public safety. He says it makes our community less safe, which is absurd, right? If you've got a violent offender behind bars and you let him back out into the community, that does not make the community more safe.

[00:01:36] Maybe Tom Holman will turn his gaze towards Charlotte. I got a couple of messages here. This is from App Patriot Girl. If Charlotte voters had any sense, I'm going to stop you right there. No. If Charlotte voters had any sense, they would realize how dangerous it is to leave a psychopath in charge of the sheriff's office. Unfortunately, Mecklenburg County is hopeless in this regard.

[00:02:04] We can only hope that Tom Holman arrests him. Yeah, maybe. I welcome Tom Holman and Department of Homeland Security to turn its eyes to Mecklenburg County. Gary says, if Mecklenburg and North Carolina Democrats are covering for McFadden, what else are they currently hiding or covering for or are willing to do? That's the question that people need to start asking Democrats.

[00:02:35] Democrats, they sure don't care about the safety of Charlotte and North Carolina citizens. Well, see, Gary, there's the first problem is that you're assuming that people will start asking Democrats questions. And that's part of the big D shield by holding that, you know, by being a Democrat, you get this shield and it protects you from questions from the media like that.

[00:03:02] Right. Like this should be another. And look, to be fair, this story has been covered in the local media. But what it lacks is the constant what they call pack journalism where, you know, a scandal breaks of some kind. And then the pack of reporters.

[00:03:28] Proceed to, you know, nip at the heels of not just the target of the scandal or the person involved in the scandal, but then also the defend and disavow game D&D, where you run around and you start asking questions of all of these other people. Like, for example, the district attorney, like, for example, the chief judge, the superior court judge. Right. You start asking these questions of state lawmakers.

[00:03:54] Hey, what's going on with this guy? Is there anything you can do here with like what do you think about this fellow Democrat state lawmaker? And you start getting these people to defend. Or disavow and get them on the record. But we don't get that. We get the isolated story and then it goes away. And then after a month or two, Gary McFadden shows his butt at some other event or something, goes off on some tirade.

[00:04:23] A bunch of more people quit, accuse him of maladministration, which is a reason to remove him from office. But it has to be done a certain way. And Democrats can do that, but they refuse to do it. Nobody seems interested and media doesn't seem interested in asking these questions of like every other person that can affect that kind of a change. Oh, well, we're just going to have to wait till the next election is what they're saying. Even though I welcome.

[00:04:51] Like the Charlotte Observer editorial board finally came around and said, yeah, he's not fit for the office. I concur. But they offer no remedy. They didn't go and ask anybody who has the authority and power to actually investigate and get him removed for maladministration. They're not doing that. And nobody's asking them why. There's no pressure being brought to bear in a related story.

[00:05:21] Up in New York, there is a case that was heard, oral arguments were heard, in a case that would or would not allow noncitizens to vote. In New York City elections. Now, they always want to point out that, no, no, it's not for presidential races. This is not for congressional races.

[00:05:51] Right. This is just for or statewide races. It's just for the city elections. Okay. Because New York is what's called a home rule state. So the local cities have a lot more power to write their own laws, basically, to govern themselves without a lot of intervention or approval from the state. North Carolina is not a home rule state.

[00:06:21] Although Republicans wished it was when they were in the minority in the legislature. And now that they control the legislature, now Democrats wish it is a home rule state. But it's not. It's sometimes referred to as a Dillon's rule state or a mother may I state where if you want to do anything, you've got to go to the state legislature. The state government is the seminal authority. All right.

[00:06:50] If that is where all authority, the state can disband a city if it chooses. They can literally take your charter and throw it away and say you are no longer an incorporated city. You are no longer a town or whatever. They can do that. The state has all of the power. So what is the city of New York doing and why does this matter to North Carolinians? I will explain.

[00:07:16] 800,000 noncitizens in New York City could be voting in the next city election. The court is considering a law that would allow them to register to vote ahead of the city's elections. A top New York court is set to hear arguments or did hear arguments this week. After an appellate court struck down Democrats efforts to permit noncitizens to vote last year.

[00:07:46] Like, why is this so important of an issue for Democrats? Why do you think they are pushing so hard to get 800,000 noncitizens to vote in their city elections? Do you think maybe some people may think that their electoral prospects are improved? If the initiative by Democrats is successful, around 800,000 noncitizens living in the city will be allowed to vote in city-level elections,

[00:08:15] including the upcoming mayoral election. Ooh, do you think that might have something to do with it? Do you think there might be some urgency now that Mayor Adams, Eric Adams, has gotten his DOJ charges dropped in exchange for cooperating with the federal government on immigration enforcement? Which, by the way, that whole thing stinks. That whole deal stinks to me.

[00:08:44] Advocates of the legislation that would let noncitizens cast votes are arguing that these residents are being unfairly taxed, which I kind of feel like is a lie. Why? Because if they're noncitizens, they're not paying taxes. Right? You're not a citizen. They probably don't even, you have no, you have no social security number. Right? You're not filing taxes. Why is this important?

[00:09:12] Well, North Carolinians were presented with this very issue recently. Do you remember? If not, I shall refresh your memory. All right, I hope you had a happy holiday season, but tell me if something like this happened at your house. Your family and friends are gathered around, maybe y'all are in the living room. You're laughing, swapping stories, reminiscing, and then somebody says, Hey, Dad, remember those old VHS tapes? Did you ever get them transferred?

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[00:10:28] So the New York court, the highest court in New York, if I remember correctly, from my New York civics education growing up on Long Island, is the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court is not actually like the Supreme Court, if I remember correctly. It's been a while, so I just remember it being a weird, like, inversion.

[00:10:51] So, anyway, but the top court in the state heard these oral arguments about whether or not the city of New York can grant voting rights to non-citizens in city elections. Okay?

[00:11:06] Now, if this issue sounds familiar, it's because in North Carolina, in November, we, the voters, were asked whether we would like to amend our state constitution to forbid non-citizen voting in North Carolina at any level.

[00:11:30] And, if you may recall, we said, yes, we would very much like to ban that. And so we approved, and the constitution was amended, and so now non-citizens do not get to vote. Now, do you remember what the arguments were from the Democrats who were opposed to this measure? It was, they already can't vote based on federal law.

[00:11:59] That was their argument. This is unnecessary. We don't need to put this in our constitution because federal law already prohibits non-citizen voting. And that is true. Federal law does do that. But it doesn't apply to local races.

[00:12:20] And so the Republicans in charge of the legislature made it very clear that the reason they are doing this, and they're asking voters to enshrine it in the state constitution, is to prevent cities run by Democrats like Charlotte, Raleigh, Asheville, Durham, Chapel Hill, right?

[00:12:48] To prevent cities from doing something stupid like New York City has done. So this was heading them off at the pass, if you will. This was a preemptive act because all it takes is the legislature to flip to be Democrat-controlled.

[00:13:13] And you would see local jurisdictions move in this direction. This has already been occurring across the country. There are other cities that have done it, other states that have done this. And so North Carolina Republicans said, we don't want this to occur.

[00:13:32] And so rather than just, you know, rely on the current law as it is and the current language in the state constitution, we're going to make it very clear to future Democrats that, no, you cannot do this. And the people do not want it. And so we make it a constitutional provision. And you do that so it is much harder to unwind. You make it that much harder to overturn.

[00:14:02] You're going to have to then repeal a constitutional amendment in the same way that we just passed it. You're going to have to go back to the voters and ask them. Now, maybe at some point in the future, a majority of North Carolina voters are like, yes, we would love for non-citizens to vote in our elections. What could go wrong? They're just as invested in our society as citizens are, right? Yeah, there are. Look, there's a reason why I don't make the arguments of the left.

[00:14:32] It's because I find them to be lacking in logic. And that's why I have empathy for people who attempt to make those arguments to me in debate. I do. I have empathy because like, man, that must really stink trying to make these arguments. I wouldn't be able to do it. And obviously they don't fare much better when they try. That's the reason. This is the reason why.

[00:14:57] So we'll see what North Carolina or we'll see what New York City and the state of New York decides to do there with allowing non-citizens to vote. But, you know, we should be encouraged. We can take comfort in the fact that we, the people, decided no and we have enshrined it in the Constitution. So we should not be seeing this kind of dumbassery in our state anytime soon. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know, I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do, too.

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[00:15:51] I started using Ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check.ground.news slash Pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get 15% off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature.

[00:16:18] Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Got a message here on Twitter at Pete Callener from Russ, who says regarding Sheriff Gary, not my fault, McFadden. Yeah, when it comes to immigration, well, that's not specifically in the law. But when it comes to firearms permits and renewals, well, I have to run it through every conceivable database to make sure everything is covered. Right.

[00:16:48] So there he takes an expansive view. That's exactly right, Russ. On the on the concealed carry permits, he takes this expansive view. But on the immigration issue. Very, very narrow. Right. We all know what his game is. Sociopathy. I am not a clinical psychiatrist. I'm I hold no degree. I am simply observing.

[00:17:17] So the other day, the Associated Press, by the way, had a story with this catastrophizing headline. Trump and Musk's dismantling of government. They're dismantling government. That's did you know that that's what they were doing? They're dismantling government. It's shaking the foundations of U.S. democracy.

[00:17:41] So this was before, by the way, this story predates the constitutional crisis narrative and the talking point that went out on that, that everybody is now obviously regurgitating. So this was them trying to shoehorn the democracy argument. And this is a piece by Lisa Mascaro, Mascaro.

[00:18:06] Congress is proving little match for Doge as wary lawmakers watch it march through the bureaucracy. Instead, a rush of lawsuits is demanding interventions to stop the Republican president's team from unilaterally gutting government. And protests are erupting outside government agencies and clogging the congressional phone lines.

[00:18:31] Which that would be as planned by the ministerial class and their shock troops. Right. But they are ineffective. Right. People are not moved by bureaucrats marching on government buildings. We're not. Like, seriously, we don't care.

[00:18:59] I think you guys have, I think, overestimated the value of government bureaucracies. I know they're super important to you. It's where your base is. I get it. But outside of your base, most people like we're like now they're going into the IRS. Did you see that? Doge is now moving into the IRS to look at their stuff. And the IRS is like, you can't possibly audit us. Oh, oh, oh, really? Oh, sorry.

[00:19:28] Standard disclaimer. I love the IRS and everybody that works there. They do fantastic work and are underappreciated by every American. Now, that being said, I do find it a bit difficult to believe that there would be a problem auditing an organization, particularly when that organization specializes in auditing. Right. What have you got to worry about? Do you have seven years of all of your receipts for us to look at?

[00:19:57] Elon Musk is rapidly consolidating control over large swaths of the federal government. He's not. Elon Musk is not controlling the federal government. OK. They are like this is the this is the recon, folks. In case you are unaware, this is how you you would go about making the larger cuts and doing them permanently through congressional acts.

[00:20:24] You have to first scout out to see where the problems are. That's how they got turned on to USAID in the first place. They were the ones that squawked the loudest and refused to cooperate. Right. Pushed a whole bunch of money out the door. By the way, have you heard this one also? Fifty nine million dollars. Fifty nine million dollars went from FEMA. To the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

[00:20:53] For migrant housing. I covered a little bit a little bit of this yesterday. The chief financial officer for FEMA has been fired. She moved that money after her boss, Donald Trump, said, don't do it. And she did it. She sent the money up there in violation of the directive as articulated in the executive order. She sent it up there anyway. FEMA money.

[00:21:24] And maybe the people of North Carolina, me being one of them, maybe people with roots, family members or who live in western North Carolina. may have a bit of a sensitivity to this. And seeing the way FEMA and the previous administration didn't seem to care too much about the devastation of Hurricane Helene there.

[00:21:47] And so when you hear the story that we're paying fifty nine million dollars to a hotel to put up illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, you can't get out of a tent. You can't get FEMA assistance after your house was wiped off the side of a mountain in a one thousand year flood. Yeah, people are a little they're a little salty about all of this.

[00:22:16] Oh, and the death toll for Hurricane Helene was just revised upward by one. There was an elderly woman who froze to death after the storms. Remember when it got really, really cold? So now she's part of the death toll. It's outrageous. A woman died.

[00:22:43] Because of the in part storm, obviously, but in part due to the failure to respond in an adequate and timely way. This is not new for FEMA either. And so when you see that, you know about that story, you know about all the other stories about the lack of response by FEMA or the inadequate response by FEMA. And then you hear that fifty nine million went to migrant housing.

[00:23:12] Yeah, people are a little upset. So Elon Musk with Donald Trump's approval. Well, that seems important. Right. Him being the president in charge of the executive branch for which you work like you work for the executive branch. You are in that administration.

[00:23:36] Sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases and dismantling a leading source of humanitarian assistance. There's the poster child. Right. The Mott in the Mott and Bailey fallacy. Right. Who could be against humanitarian assistance? I don't know. Do I have to. By the way, PEPFAR, that's for the AIDS funding in Africa that George W. Bush initiated. Successful program.

[00:24:04] That that funding was reinstated like almost immediately. But USAID, they had this hearing yesterday and they outlined where this money is going. And the list is obnoxious. Absolutely obnoxious. So rather than telling me, oh, it's for humanitarian assistance. I don't know. How about.

[00:24:24] Eleven point seven five million to measure the effectiveness of DEI promotion efforts in Nepal or seven hundred fifty thousand on Princeton University. Dei survey in the Middle East. Eight hundred fifty nine grand on hiring a DEI specialist at USAID. Eight hundred fifty nine thousand dollars to hire somebody. A DEI specialist.

[00:24:52] Twenty three thousand on hosting DEI recruitment seminars in San Martin, Iquitos and Lima, Peru. Half a million on emergency DEI support. It's like, oh, my gosh, we have a DEI emergency. We need some money for this. Here's half a million. See, so is that all humanitarian assistance or maybe the agency has become a wee bit corrupted? Here's a great idea.

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[00:26:24] Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. The Associated Press, in this story about how Trump and Musk are dismantling government, it's shaking the foundations of U.S. democracy. They have a quote from Chuck Schumer. Whatever Doge is doing, it is certainly not what democracy looks like. That's not a good Chuck Schumer impression, I recognize. Okay.

[00:26:54] He goes on to say, in a post, on Elon Musk's Twitter, he says, an unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government. And I agree, Chuck. I agree. Except the shadow government is USAID and the NGOs that our government bureaucracies have been funding. See, the Mises Institute.

[00:27:20] They said, the establishment's problem with Elon Musk is not that he's willing to upend norms and test or break rules. I mean, they have shown an enthusiastic willingness to do so themselves. No, the establishment's problem with Elon Musk is that he is threatening their power. He's threatening their power. Abigail Schreier, author, she says,

[00:28:00] This has been the story of the Democrats for my entire life. It's also the best explanation for the Democrats' current desperation and hysteria. And that is exactly right. This is just the Democrat machine at a national level. That's all it is. If you look through North Carolina's history, the Democrat machine that controlled our state, it still operates. It just doesn't have the power it used to have. But it does still operate.

[00:28:31] And that kind of machine has been operating at the national level. Instead of, you know, patronage and spoil system jobs that they could just give to their political allies, they fund them through non-government organizations. And I saw somebody make a point the other day that if your nonprofit, if your organization cannot survive without government grants,

[00:28:58] then I don't think you're actually a non-government organization. Right? You're not really a non-government organization. You're doing something the government wishes to do, but doesn't do themselves for whatever reason. Right? Usually, they are constrained by law or PR or optics. They don't want to be seen doing this stuff. So they'll just throw a bunch of money at a bunch of NGOs and then let the NGOs advance the Democrat agenda,

[00:29:28] not just in America, but overseas as well. And in foreign countries that don't particularly want that kind of stuff. This piece at the Associated Press by Lisa Mascaro, she goes on to say, Musk responded on his platform, hysterical reactions like this is how you know that Doge is doing work that really matters. Now, Congress has been here before,

[00:29:55] tested during Trump's first term by his willingness to break the norms and skirt the outer banks of legality, most notably when he steamrolled Congress and poached federal military housing and construction funds to build parts of his promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. But Trump's second-term partnership with Musk, who spent some $200 million on Trump's White House bid and employs the tech world ethos of moving fast and breaking things,

[00:30:24] he is escalating the confrontation. On a stated quest to save money by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, those monsters, they are making moves to upend American institutions. Again, the assumption is that there is no waste, fraud, and abuse, and corruption inside of these institutions. They seek to decimate the civil service

[00:30:49] and leave a reformed or hollowed-out federal government in its place. There is actually a term for this. It's called limited government. Limited government. And I don't know if you guys on the left have just been purposefully ignoring what half of the country thinks about the size and scope of government,

[00:31:16] but limited government is sort of a cornerstone to conservatism, libertarianism. There are a lot of people that don't want GovCo doing all of the stuff that it does. This should not come as a shock, unless, of course, you've been living in an echo chamber, which a lot of people on the left do. People on the right do as well. But they are never reinforced by the idea

[00:31:43] that all of these legacy media outlets are telling them the truth. There's no seal of authority that is bestowed by the New York Times and the Associated Press here and the major news outlets, the traditional legacy outlets. That gives this sort of appearance of credentials, like this is the official right position to have.

[00:32:11] And then by ignoring what half the country thinks about the size and scope of government, now you may be very well surprised to learn that when we said we want limited government, we want to reduce the size of the government, you may not have known that. Or maybe you thought we were kidding or something, but we weren't. I wasn't. Most people I know that are for limited government are not kidding about that. Now, Congress should do this, but Congress won't.

[00:32:40] And all of this is based on an assumption that all of the spending is legitimate. All of it. Otherwise, why would you be upset if they're trying to find waste, fraud, and abuse? Because you control the levers of power and this is it. This is where that power is seated. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening.

[00:33:09] I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalendorshow.com. Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.