1 00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:05,599 Speaker 1: What's going on. 2 00:00:05,759 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:10,080 is heard live every day from noon to three on 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,839 WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content 5 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,160 like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily 6 00:00:17,199 --> 00:00:19,480 show prep with all the links, become a patron, go 7 00:00:19,559 --> 00:00:23,399 to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. 8 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,359 Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet, 9 00:00:26,359 --> 00:00:28,320 and again, thank you so much for your support. 10 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: As we do. 11 00:00:29,879 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 2: Every Tuesday at noon, we talk with Andrew Dunn. He 12 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,520 is the publisher of long Leaf Politics. That's longleafpol dot 13 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,000 com and he's also a contributing columnist to the Charlotte Observer, 14 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:43,079 but we don't hold that against him. 15 00:00:43,359 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 1: Andrew Dunn, Welcome sir, how are you. 16 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:47,719 Speaker 3: I'm doing great, Good to be with you. 17 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: Good, good to have you here again. 18 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 2: So yesterday I covered the Jefferson Griffin Allison Riggs still 19 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:02,520 unresolved election race. And so your position, you say on 20 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,120 this was that all of this should have ended months ago. 21 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,599 So why do you say that? And then we'll get 22 00:01:10,599 --> 00:01:11,920 into where it goes from here. 23 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:17,799 Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks for the question. It's been pretty clear and 24 00:01:17,879 --> 00:01:21,680 consistent that I believe that the State Board of Elections 25 00:01:21,719 --> 00:01:24,079 has done a lot wrong. They've made a lot of mistakes. 26 00:01:24,519 --> 00:01:27,400 They have not enforced the law, and that does need 27 00:01:27,439 --> 00:01:32,200 to be rectified. However, I'm glad that this case is 28 00:01:32,239 --> 00:01:34,959 coming up because I think now the State Board of 29 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,640 Elections is going to make those changes and is going 30 00:01:37,719 --> 00:01:40,480 to fix it. However, I don't think it's right to 31 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:45,959 retroactively go back and throw out sixty thousand plus votes 32 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:50,159 in an election. I don't think that's the right remedy 33 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:55,079 for this because a lot of these voters are actual 34 00:01:55,159 --> 00:01:58,079 legitimate voters. They did show voter ID at the polls 35 00:01:58,159 --> 00:02:01,760 this year, and they followed the rules that were laid 36 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,120 out by the State Board of Elections. There was not 37 00:02:04,239 --> 00:02:07,799 really anything that they could have done differently. So I 38 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,319 do want to punish. I want to punish the right 39 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,080 person for this mistake. And I think the group that 40 00:02:14,159 --> 00:02:18,599 punishes the State Board of Elections and not the individual voters. 41 00:02:18,439 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 2: Right and we and I said this yesterday, I completely 42 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,240 agree that the Board of Elections has royally messed up, 43 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,159 and they've been doing so for a long time. And 44 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,439 the sixty thousand voters, these are people that don't have 45 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,560 social security last four digits of the social security number 46 00:02:34,599 --> 00:02:37,759 attached to their registration profile, or they don't have a 47 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,680 driver's license attached to that profile, and they were supposed 48 00:02:40,719 --> 00:02:45,400 to be given you a personal identification number, and I 49 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:47,680 guess some of them didn't even get that. It's all 50 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,039 just a mess. And the Board of Elections has known 51 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:54,879 this for twenty years. They and they were alerted to 52 00:02:54,960 --> 00:03:01,560 this deficiency before the election and still couldn't couldn't adapt. 53 00:03:01,759 --> 00:03:05,680 And at some point I start wondering, is this willful 54 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,240 or incompetence? And the longer it goes on, I got 55 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:10,680 to believe it's more intentional. 56 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 3: It may be, or maybe they just don't care. I'm 57 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:19,400 not entirely sure what's happening there. Yeah, for most of 58 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,280 the voters here, it was because the form, the registration 59 00:03:23,479 --> 00:03:26,639 form was incorrect. It basically said that it was optional 60 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,280 to put in your social Security number or driver's license number, 61 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,439 when it wasn't optional. I mean, that's kind of egregious 62 00:03:34,199 --> 00:03:36,719 and inexcusable. I don't know why that would happen. I mean, 63 00:03:36,759 --> 00:03:40,960 the form is updated now, but I'm not sure what's 64 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:42,840 going on. I don't know how much time you've spent 65 00:03:43,439 --> 00:03:46,159 getting into the State Board of Elections data. But it's 66 00:03:46,199 --> 00:03:49,719 a complete mess. I don't know if they just haven't 67 00:03:49,719 --> 00:03:52,560 invested in it or haven't made it a priority. I 68 00:03:52,599 --> 00:03:55,039 will point out that the State Board of Elections has 69 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,800 been run by Democrats almost exclusively over those last twenty years. 70 00:04:00,159 --> 00:04:04,639 Speaker 2: Uh yeah, and yeah, so these the problems. I've full disclosure. 71 00:04:04,719 --> 00:04:07,560 I have not spent my free time delving into the 72 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,319 data the Voard of Elections. I leave it for people 73 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:12,879 like you to do that because you know what you're 74 00:04:12,919 --> 00:04:15,800 looking for. But I know, I mean, you know, the 75 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:19,000 guy Jay Delancey from the Voter Integrity Project and his 76 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,800 group and others like his, they have been hammering the 77 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,480 Board of Elections for you know, two decades on their 78 00:04:26,639 --> 00:04:32,959 list maintenance procedures. And yeah, again, like I'm I fail 79 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,480 to understand why this is so often overlooked when it 80 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,079 is so vital to inspiring confidence in the system and 81 00:04:42,199 --> 00:04:45,399 it all, and then it leaves them exposed to the 82 00:04:45,439 --> 00:04:48,439 attack that they do this stuff on purpose in order 83 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,639 to allow fraud to occur. And I have no response 84 00:04:51,759 --> 00:04:55,079 to that argument because otherwise, like, why would you do this? 85 00:04:55,399 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: It doesn't make any sense. 86 00:04:58,079 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, now, I completely agree, and it doesn't seem I mean, 87 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,199 I haven't seen any evidence that fraud was involved in this. 88 00:05:06,079 --> 00:05:08,680 I tend to, you know, anything related to government. I 89 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:14,240 tend to believe the explanation is incompetence rather than malevolent, 90 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,120 and so I haven't seen anything here that leads me 91 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,959 to believe otherwise. However, you know, maybe we need to 92 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,480 get State Auditor Dave Bollock on the case and figure 93 00:05:24,519 --> 00:05:25,639 out what's going on here. 94 00:05:25,879 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, No, it's a fair point. And the other 95 00:05:28,639 --> 00:05:33,040 one was the never present voters, which in reading through 96 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,160 the dissent that came down on Friday from the Democrat judge, 97 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:40,639 he actually raises I think completely valid points, which is 98 00:05:40,639 --> 00:05:43,560 that if you're a kid and you're overseas with your parents, 99 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:45,759 you grow up in a foreign country. But they were 100 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:49,399 last domicile in North Carolina. That transfers to you until 101 00:05:49,439 --> 00:05:54,360 you choose a new domicile and like. But that was 102 00:05:54,399 --> 00:05:58,160 never explained at the outset, and so I find it 103 00:05:58,199 --> 00:06:02,480 difficult to toss those votes if that's who we're talking about. 104 00:06:02,519 --> 00:06:04,519 And then the thing with the military voters and the 105 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,519 overseas voters not providing ID on the absentee ballots I 106 00:06:07,519 --> 00:06:11,120 thought he made a compelling argument that their form is 107 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,319 covered under a different statute which was specifically designed to 108 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:20,279 harmonize our state absentee ballots laws with all of the 109 00:06:20,319 --> 00:06:24,319 other states, so it's uniform. So this way, everybody overseas 110 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,759 is basically following one set of standards, so it's easier 111 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,519 to convey that standard to them. So all of that 112 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:34,000 makes sense from a legal. 113 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 3: Perspective, right, And I think the military voters, especially, I 114 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,720 have a hard time throwing out ballots of military members, 115 00:06:43,759 --> 00:06:46,360 you know, our men and women in uniform overseas. And 116 00:06:46,439 --> 00:06:49,439 I really think that one is more clear cut. I 117 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:53,000 think the federal courts will step in and allow those 118 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,959 votes to go forward. The never residence is more questionable 119 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,480 to me, And I'm not a lawyer, and I have 120 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,839 I'm not fully up the speed with North Carolina's voting laws. 121 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:05,959 I've looked at them, but I'm not an expert in them. 122 00:07:06,439 --> 00:07:09,720 You know, maybe we need to clarify what the law 123 00:07:09,839 --> 00:07:13,439 is there and clean up I can honestly see arguments 124 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,160 either way on whether those folks you know should be 125 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,480 able to vote in North Carolina elections or not. 126 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:24,079 Speaker 2: I don't believe nuance is permitted any longer in America, Andrew, So, 127 00:07:24,759 --> 00:07:26,720 now I'm with you. I think there needs Yeah, I 128 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,079 think there needs to be some you know, to get 129 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,560 specific with the types of classifications we're talking about for 130 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:36,160 these overseas non are never residents rather because it does 131 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,279 present an opportunity for abuse in my mind as well, 132 00:07:40,519 --> 00:07:43,199 and that that would be on the legislature. Speaking of 133 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,519 no nuance, let's talk a little bit about tariffs, because 134 00:07:48,079 --> 00:07:52,360 all right, so you said Democrats have slammed the plan 135 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:56,519 Trump has rolled out as a tax hike on American consumers, 136 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,079 and a lot of Republicans seem uneasy about it too. 137 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,839 But you right that in rural North Carolina, the news 138 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:08,360 lands differently. Okay, so, uh, why does it land differently 139 00:08:08,399 --> 00:08:08,839 and where? 140 00:08:10,399 --> 00:08:13,199 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean most of your listeners 141 00:08:13,319 --> 00:08:16,759 are probably familiar with this, but North Carolina for decades 142 00:08:16,759 --> 00:08:20,399 and decades was a big manufacturing state. We were big 143 00:08:20,439 --> 00:08:24,399 in textiles, big in furniture. There's a lot of small 144 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,680 rural communities around the state, both east, central, you know, 145 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,120 all around the state. To be honest, you know who 146 00:08:30,279 --> 00:08:33,360 used to be who know where. Most of the folks 147 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:37,039 who lived there were either employed by these you know, 148 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,879 manufacturing facilities or knew someone who was, and you know, 149 00:08:40,919 --> 00:08:43,559 once NAFTA was passed, you know, a couple of decades ago, 150 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,399 those jobs all went away, and it happened slowly and 151 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:49,919 then all at once, and a lot of these communities 152 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,759 are now almost hollowed out, and you know, folks still 153 00:08:53,799 --> 00:08:56,559 live there who used to work at the factories, you know, 154 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:00,639 or their parents worked at the factories, and there's you know, 155 00:09:00,879 --> 00:09:04,399 a certain nostalgia for those days, you know, where you 156 00:09:04,519 --> 00:09:07,559 could you know, be a person without a college degree 157 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,159 and have a solid middle class job at the factory 158 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:12,799 and raise a family and have a good life. And 159 00:09:13,159 --> 00:09:16,600 a lot of people when they hear President Trump's messaging 160 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,440 around this, they think, you know, they hear you know, 161 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,399 Trump saying, I'm on your side. We're going to bring 162 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:26,320 back those days where you could make a good, honest living, 163 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:27,960 you know, throughout the state. 164 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:32,919 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think you said the right word there, nostalgia, 165 00:09:33,159 --> 00:09:35,519 because I think a lot of people think back and 166 00:09:35,799 --> 00:09:39,360 through a through a filter of only good times and 167 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:43,519 only great conditions. You know, if you've ever done repetitive, 168 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:48,120 tedious work for eight nine hours straight, it's repetitive and tedious, 169 00:09:48,919 --> 00:09:52,960 and so some of these jobs are not necessarily great 170 00:09:53,039 --> 00:09:53,840 jobs to have. 171 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,159 Speaker 1: Yes, they can give you a paycheck, but that's it. 172 00:09:57,159 --> 00:09:57,519 That's all. 173 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 2: That's all it's going to be, and that's all it 174 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,639 ever will be, right because it's just that you're there's 175 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:06,399 no room for advancement in that in that profession. Now 176 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:08,240 that being said, I was driving through a couple of 177 00:10:08,519 --> 00:10:14,120 small towns on the way down outside of Union County 178 00:10:14,759 --> 00:10:18,000 the other day, and I'm amazed at some of the 179 00:10:18,039 --> 00:10:22,159 downtowns that have now just been revitalized. I was, I 180 00:10:22,159 --> 00:10:25,440 remember twenty five years ago that was a pipe dream, 181 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,200 and now it just seems like that's the case, you know, 182 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,720 all of in many small towns, I should say. So 183 00:10:30,759 --> 00:10:31,399 there is hope. 184 00:10:32,879 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 3: There certainly is hope, I mean, And what's one of 185 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,200 the things I'm really interested in digging more into. I 186 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:40,240 think it's pretty clear that, you know, no matter how 187 00:10:40,279 --> 00:10:42,960 the tariffs go, you know, it's not going to be 188 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:47,000 exactly like it was before. I mean, manufacturing has changed dramatically. 189 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:48,399 Speaker 4: You know. 190 00:10:48,519 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 3: Now there's a lot fewer people that you need to run, 191 00:10:51,399 --> 00:10:55,320 you know, a factory because of technology. And you're right, 192 00:10:55,399 --> 00:10:58,159 I mean, there's there's a whole generation of people who 193 00:10:58,279 --> 00:11:01,240 grew up telling their children, you know, go to college 194 00:11:01,279 --> 00:11:03,519 so you don't have to work in a factory for 195 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,200 thirty years like I did. So, I mean there's certainly 196 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,399 some some rose tinted glasses there. However, I do think 197 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,679 that there needs to be a concerted strategy for how 198 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,200 do we bring you know, well, paying jobs to all 199 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:17,120 corners of the state. 200 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree. I appreciate the time as always. 201 00:11:21,039 --> 00:11:23,879 Andrew Dunne. He is the publisher of long Leave Politics. 202 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:25,600 You can also read this piece that he wrote on 203 00:11:25,639 --> 00:11:28,240 the tariffs at the Charlotte Observe. He's a contributing columnist 204 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,600 over there. Andrew, thanks so much, man, have a great week. 205 00:11:31,279 --> 00:11:32,519 Speaker 3: Thank you, all right, take care. 206 00:11:32,799 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 2: All right, if you're listening to this show, you know 207 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:36,639 I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, 208 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:38,759 and I know you do too. And you've probably heard 209 00:11:38,799 --> 00:11:42,840 me say get your news from multiple sources. Why, Well, 210 00:11:42,879 --> 00:11:45,600 because it's how you detect media bias, which is why 211 00:11:45,639 --> 00:11:48,840 I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app 212 00:11:49,039 --> 00:11:52,240 and it's a website, and it combines news from around 213 00:11:52,279 --> 00:11:54,679 the world in one place, so you can compare coverage 214 00:11:54,919 --> 00:11:57,639 and verify information. You can check it out at check 215 00:11:57,879 --> 00:12:02,080 dot ground, dot new slash pete. I put the link 216 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,240 in the podcast description too. I started using ground News 217 00:12:05,279 --> 00:12:07,960 a few months ago and more recently chose to work 218 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,039 with them as an affiliate because it lets me see 219 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:13,919 clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind 220 00:12:13,919 --> 00:12:16,720 spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the 221 00:12:16,799 --> 00:12:20,519 left and the right. See for yourself check dot ground, 222 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,399 dot news slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll 223 00:12:24,399 --> 00:12:27,600 get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage 224 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,080 plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription 225 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:33,879 then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports 226 00:12:33,919 --> 00:12:37,159 ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. 227 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:43,320 Andrew Dunn's piece over at the Charlotte Observer. He quotes 228 00:12:43,399 --> 00:12:47,559 the speaker of the North Carolina House, Destin Hall, talking 229 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:51,919 about the tariff messaging from Donald Trump, and he says 230 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,960 it resonates in a visceral way. They're more receptive. Talking 231 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:01,960 about rural residents, he says they are more receptive than 232 00:13:02,039 --> 00:13:05,080 ever to the message that the United States is a country, 233 00:13:05,639 --> 00:13:11,159 not an economic zone. And then Dunn points out that 234 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,679 free trade used to be a bipartisan ideal in North Carolina. 235 00:13:15,759 --> 00:13:18,399 No matter if it was Governor Jim Hunt, a Democrat, 236 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,840 or Governor Jim Holshauser, a Republican, both men saw it 237 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:29,039 as the pathway to growth. They championed open markets, they 238 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:34,399 recruited foreign investment, they leaned into globalization, and in many 239 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:39,240 ways they were right. The state's economy modernized. New jobs came, 240 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:43,399 but not everywhere. The jobs that replaced them came with 241 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:48,399 college degrees and urban addresses. Textile and furniture towns got 242 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,559 left behind, he says. Now, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson tried 243 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,879 to bring this issue to the forefront. Remember he worked 244 00:13:55,879 --> 00:13:58,440 in a furniture factory. He got let go. He talked 245 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,120 about NAFTA, but that message was quickly drowned out. 246 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:05,879 Speaker 1: I don't even remember what was it that never mind, 247 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:08,240 he said. 248 00:14:08,519 --> 00:14:10,519 Speaker 2: Destin Hall, the Speaker of the House, said, I am 249 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:15,240 as most conservatives are a free market capitalist, but world 250 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,480 trade is not a free market. When you talk about 251 00:14:18,519 --> 00:14:22,240 free trade, basically, to them, it means we gave all 252 00:14:22,279 --> 00:14:25,159 our jobs to China and in exchange we got cheaper 253 00:14:25,159 --> 00:14:28,240 TVs at Walmart, but we lost our jobs and have 254 00:14:28,519 --> 00:14:29,360 less money. 255 00:14:29,399 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: Now I do have some statistics on. 256 00:14:36,759 --> 00:14:42,679 Speaker 2: The middle class and GDP and household wealth, because I 257 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,759 think I think a lot of people are operating under 258 00:14:46,879 --> 00:14:51,039 feelings and not data. Let me go over to the 259 00:14:51,039 --> 00:14:53,720 phones first. Let me get to Mary. Hello, Mary, welcome 260 00:14:53,759 --> 00:14:54,159 to the show. 261 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,559 Speaker 4: Oh hey, Pete, thanks for having me on. You know, 262 00:14:57,559 --> 00:14:59,639 one of the things I like to bring up about 263 00:14:59,799 --> 00:15:03,080 the of bringing manufacturing back to the United States is 264 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,000 that not only to revive these lost towns, these forgotten towns, 265 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,240 but to make us self reliant. I mean, during COVID, 266 00:15:11,279 --> 00:15:13,639 you couldn't get a bike for like two years because 267 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,440 they wouldn't let them come in. And that could be 268 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,679 so manipulative. Like well, I can't believe when I'm at 269 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,360 the grocery store and like a tomatoes from Holland, and 270 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:24,759 I mean, you gotta be kidding. It has to be 271 00:15:24,799 --> 00:15:26,679 expensive to bring a tomato here from Holland. 272 00:15:26,879 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 2: Well but why but Mary, But Mary? All right, let's 273 00:15:29,879 --> 00:15:32,840 take the tomato example. What does it tell you then, 274 00:15:32,879 --> 00:15:35,919 if you are seeing a tomato from Holland, what is 275 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,200 that What is the market signaling to you? 276 00:15:40,039 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 4: I guess that it's cheaper to buy a tomato from 277 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:45,720 there than here, that our farmers are too expensive? 278 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 2: Is that it? 279 00:15:46,279 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 1: I don't we don't have enough farm right. 280 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,919 Speaker 2: The fact that the fact that the tomato went halfway 281 00:15:51,919 --> 00:15:54,840 around the world in order to land on your produce 282 00:15:54,879 --> 00:15:59,200 shelf means that it was cheaper for that good to 283 00:15:59,279 --> 00:16:03,039 make that journey than it was for it to make 284 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,240 it from somewhere else for that price, whatever the price was. 285 00:16:06,519 --> 00:16:08,639 And I don't know if you actually saw, like, what 286 00:16:08,759 --> 00:16:12,480 did you actually see it was from Holland? Oh okay, 287 00:16:12,639 --> 00:16:15,080 I didn't realize they grew a lot of tomatoes. But yeah, 288 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:20,000 So even with the illegal labor right that that America 289 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:24,440 has been utilizing that we keep hearing the Democrats talking about, oh, 290 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:26,639 you know, your crops, your produce is going to be 291 00:16:26,679 --> 00:16:28,720 way more expensive now if we, you know, kick out 292 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:32,039 illegal immigrants and all of that. Even that wasn't apparently 293 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:36,399 enough to beat the pricing from from Holland. 294 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,919 Speaker 4: Well, but that's because of tariffs too. See, here's the 295 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:43,600 lie that I think most Americans have. 296 00:16:43,799 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 1: What was the what's the tariff on the Holland? Hang on, 297 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:50,320 what's the tariff on the on a Dutch? 298 00:16:51,679 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 4: But here's what I just learned about China versus America. So, 299 00:16:55,080 --> 00:17:00,240 like I was always under the impression that like just 300 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,320 it's just cheaper to get everything elsewhere because our our 301 00:17:03,399 --> 00:17:06,279 lifestyle is so expensive that we pay our workers so 302 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,599 much higher in a wage that we can't afford anything 303 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,640 from America anymore. But that's not really true when you 304 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:17,920 realize we're paying like like like some I don't know, 305 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,599 like they have slave labor in China, So that's not 306 00:17:20,759 --> 00:17:21,200 right either. 307 00:17:21,279 --> 00:17:24,160 Speaker 2: I mean I don't Yeah, correct, So there's a there's right, 308 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,480 so right, So there we cannot compete with if we're 309 00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:31,279 if China is making a TV and we are making 310 00:17:31,279 --> 00:17:35,519 a TV, we are paying workers way more than the 311 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:39,160 Chinese slave labor, right, So we can't compete on that 312 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:42,720 price point. So I would argue that's not actually fair 313 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,279 or free trade because there's no way to compete with 314 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,559 human rights abuses in order to get that product to 315 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:50,920 the market, right. 316 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 4: Right, So like, but I mean, here's the thing, what 317 00:17:55,519 --> 00:17:57,880 if we had if we. 318 00:17:57,920 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 2: Made it more? 319 00:17:58,759 --> 00:18:01,039 Speaker 4: I mean, is it really impossible to grow food in 320 00:18:01,079 --> 00:18:03,400 America as cheap as Holland like, isn't there a way 321 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:04,400 to solve that problem? 322 00:18:04,559 --> 00:18:06,519 Speaker 1: There might well, yeah, there very well might be. 323 00:18:06,599 --> 00:18:08,839 Speaker 2: I think it's going to be crop specific Like I 324 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:14,319 just saw a write up this morning about rubber for tires, 325 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:19,240 and we rubber trees apparently don't grow in America, and 326 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:21,039 so I mean, I guess maybe we could set up 327 00:18:21,079 --> 00:18:25,559 greenhouses to start growing all the rubber necessary to supply 328 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,519 all of the tire manufacturers so they can make tires, 329 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,599 because like you need those, you need that product, you 330 00:18:32,599 --> 00:18:35,119 need that raw material. But most of the rubber comes 331 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:38,319 from overseas, so we're importing all that. Well, when you 332 00:18:38,319 --> 00:18:40,599 you know, when you tax those things to come in, 333 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,319 then it drives up the price or takes it out 334 00:18:44,319 --> 00:18:47,200 of the market, and now they can't afford the tires. 335 00:18:47,599 --> 00:18:49,160 And you're not going to get a car if it 336 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,839 doesn't have tires. So like that's going to be a problem. 337 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,720 So not all crops grow well. I think the other 338 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:58,640 one we were talking about last week was bananas. You know, 339 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,279 bananas don't necessarily grow very well in our climate. 340 00:19:02,799 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: Coffee, I think is another one. 341 00:19:04,279 --> 00:19:08,400 Speaker 2: So like some of these products really only grow well 342 00:19:08,559 --> 00:19:11,839 in certain climates and grow well enough where you could 343 00:19:11,839 --> 00:19:14,920 go at scale for a low price. 344 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:18,319 Speaker 1: Right, that's their advantage too. 345 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 4: And I saw a whole thing about South America and 346 00:19:21,279 --> 00:19:25,519 the avocados are really making towns in South America have 347 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,960 no water because avocados require more water. They're making so 348 00:19:30,039 --> 00:19:33,039 many crops for avocados because it's in demand that these 349 00:19:33,079 --> 00:19:36,000 poor people now have no water because it wouldn't be 350 00:19:36,039 --> 00:19:39,240 normal to grow that many avocados there because of the 351 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:44,240 economic demand elsewhere, the locals are literally like without water 352 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:46,920 for us to have our avocados. I think we could 353 00:19:47,039 --> 00:19:48,519 grow avocados. 354 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:50,720 Speaker 1: Well, we could, it's just at what costs. That's the 355 00:19:50,759 --> 00:19:51,960 other side of the equation. 356 00:19:52,079 --> 00:19:55,079 Speaker 2: As Thomas Soul famously says, right, there are no solutions, 357 00:19:55,079 --> 00:19:57,000 there were only trade offs. Mary, I appreciate the call. 358 00:19:57,039 --> 00:19:59,359 I got to go to news. If you think avocado's 359 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:04,119 use a lot of water, check out almonds. Good grief, Mary, 360 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:06,880 I appreciate the call. Here's a great idea. How about 361 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,160 making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway 362 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:12,599 in western North Carolina? Just a quick drive up the 363 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,880 mountain and Cabins of Ashville is your connection. Whether you're 364 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:18,759 celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan 365 00:20:18,839 --> 00:20:21,559 a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for 366 00:20:21,599 --> 00:20:24,799 a big old reunion. Cabins of Asheville has the ideal 367 00:20:24,839 --> 00:20:27,440 spot for you where you can reconnect with your loved 368 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,480 ones and the things that truly matter. 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Hello, Scott, Welcome to the show. 384 00:21:24,519 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 5: Hello, Hey, I have a question regarding the Griffin Riggs election. 385 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,920 There were over five and a half million votes in 386 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:38,759 North Carolina in that election, and the general vote went 387 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:44,119 fifty point two for Griffin and forty nine point eight 388 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,680 for Rigs, but when the provisional votes were counted, they 389 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:55,039 went sixty for Riggs and forty for Griffin. And that 390 00:21:55,079 --> 00:21:57,440 doesn't sound statistically legitimate. 391 00:21:59,759 --> 00:22:03,319 Speaker 2: Well, he was up by like ten thousand votes on 392 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:11,079 election day and then after the Canvas the total flipped, Yeah, 393 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:13,720 by like ten thousand, eight hundred votes. 394 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 5: Yeah, so that would have been thirty five thousand for 395 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:24,039 in the provisional votes for Riggs and twenty five thousand 396 00:22:24,519 --> 00:22:28,880 for griffmin right, so overcome that ten thousand dollars, I 397 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,319 mean ten thousand vote deficits. 398 00:22:31,799 --> 00:22:35,200 Speaker 1: So your question is about the provisional ballots. 399 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 5: Yeah, why was that sample so lopsided? 400 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:45,319 Speaker 2: So think about well, think about who is casting provisional ballots, right. 401 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,920 A provisional ballot gets cast if you show up at say, 402 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:53,759 your your precinct and you try to vote and they're like, oh, 403 00:22:53,799 --> 00:22:56,799 you're not on the voter rolls or you're in the 404 00:22:56,839 --> 00:23:02,519 wrong precinct, right, And so maybe there is something to 405 00:23:02,599 --> 00:23:08,440 be said about the demographic of the provisional voters that 406 00:23:08,599 --> 00:23:11,400 end up voting in the wrong place that they These 407 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,000 are people that may be participating in the. 408 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,079 Speaker 1: Souls to the polls types of efforts. 409 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,319 Speaker 2: Right, people are are bussing voters around, taking them to 410 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:22,799 their polling stations, and then they get it wrong. A 411 00:23:22,799 --> 00:23:24,720 lot of times they'll bring them to one place and 412 00:23:24,759 --> 00:23:26,920 they weren't supposed to be there. That kind of thing 413 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,759 that's possible. You also have a lot of uh, these 414 00:23:31,799 --> 00:23:35,960 overseas voters, right, they were part of the uh. They 415 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,160 were part of the mix. The military ballots were part 416 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,960 of the mix. But the provisionals that get counted afterwards, 417 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,359 there was some you know, deficiency, and that's why they 418 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,519 had to get scooped up with the provisional versus a 419 00:23:52,559 --> 00:23:54,960 ballot at the at the polling place. 420 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:01,880 Speaker 5: I don't know. The sounds well, I'm away's a case 421 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:06,480 and when a Democrat needs more votes, there's some case 422 00:24:06,519 --> 00:24:09,400 of votes out there that votes about ninety or one 423 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,240 hundred percent. For Democrats, it's either mail in votes or 424 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:17,960 provisional votes or whatever they can find. Well, I know 425 00:24:18,079 --> 00:24:22,599 there was one precinct in Georgia one percent for Biden. 426 00:24:23,759 --> 00:24:24,480 So I don't know. 427 00:24:24,599 --> 00:24:26,880 Speaker 2: It just seems like, oh, there's there's a precinct here 428 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,160 in Charlotte that comes in and it's it's a very 429 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:34,200 large box and it is almost every single election cycle 430 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:35,839 it is one hundred percent Democrat. 431 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 1: But that's because that's all who lives there. I mean, 432 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:42,440 with all of this vote. 433 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,160 Speaker 2: But think about it, with all of the sorting, well, 434 00:24:45,279 --> 00:24:48,319 with all of the sorting that is occurring, the self sorting, right, 435 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:52,200 we are self segregating by political ideology. We have people 436 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,599 that are moving into red areas because that's what politically 437 00:24:55,599 --> 00:24:59,279 aligns with their ideas and vice versa, and so you 438 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:03,920 end up with more densely populated areas in in the cities, 439 00:25:04,519 --> 00:25:10,039 and they then become overwhelmingly Democrat. In those boxes are 440 00:25:10,079 --> 00:25:12,839 Democrat and there are very few, if any Republicans left 441 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,079 in those precincts, but they are still large precincts. There's 442 00:25:16,079 --> 00:25:18,839 still a lot of people in there because they're it's 443 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,119 densely populated versus going out, you know, to the suburbs 444 00:25:22,519 --> 00:25:25,920 and it's not densely populated. But that means also on 445 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,079 election day, you can you can get a lot of 446 00:25:29,079 --> 00:25:34,359 people to move through more quickly versus getting overwhelmed with 447 00:25:35,319 --> 00:25:38,079 you know, with people getting bussed in through their church 448 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,039 or nonprofits or whatever. And I'm not alleging any illegal 449 00:25:41,079 --> 00:25:43,720 activity by you know, getting people to the polls, but 450 00:25:43,799 --> 00:25:47,880 those types of operations put stress on the polling locations 451 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,640 on the election day itself. And if somebody's name, if 452 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:52,400 there's a problem on the books, then they have to 453 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:56,440 file the provisional the provisional ballots. And out of five 454 00:25:56,599 --> 00:26:01,680 million votes that were cast, a a change of ten 455 00:26:01,759 --> 00:26:06,319 thousand statistically, is that that's that? I mean, it was 456 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,920 a close race before, right, it was, it was already tight, 457 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,599 and so I mean, I guess I don't I don't 458 00:26:13,599 --> 00:26:15,759 know if that's I don't know if that's as clear 459 00:26:15,759 --> 00:26:21,279 cut evidence of something fishy going on, just because the 460 00:26:21,319 --> 00:26:24,920 provisionals came in more lopsided for Democrats, because they did 461 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,799 come in for Republicans too, like you said, So I 462 00:26:27,799 --> 00:26:30,279 don't know if that proves any kind of fraud. 463 00:26:34,079 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 5: It doesn't improve it, but it certainly to me suggested. 464 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 2: Well, and this is why it's important to have systems 465 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,799 that people have confidence in because when and this is 466 00:26:46,799 --> 00:26:48,880 one of the reasons why, you know, when the vote 467 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:52,359 counts drag on for weeks and weeks after election day, 468 00:26:52,599 --> 00:26:55,720 everybody becomes suspicious with any result that comes out of that, 469 00:26:56,599 --> 00:26:59,960 and you know that's that's part of managing the system, 470 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:04,920 is that you've got perception of wrongdoing that's occurring, and 471 00:27:05,039 --> 00:27:07,119 you want to try to address that as well, and 472 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:11,960 you do that by constructing a system that people can 473 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:13,880 have confidence in. And I don't think we have that 474 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:15,559 right now. I don't think we have a system that 475 00:27:15,559 --> 00:27:17,640 people have confidence in. I think you're an example of 476 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:23,160 what happens when we don't. So Scott, I appreciate the call. Yeah, 477 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,880 I don't know if I can't say, yes, there was 478 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:28,720 fraud because I can't look at I can't look at 479 00:27:28,839 --> 00:27:33,480 numbers of provisional ballots and say aha, because the numbers 480 00:27:33,519 --> 00:27:37,119 went this one direction, therefore it was fraud. I can't 481 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,960 say that now if I can find actual Like one 482 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,799 of the things that I find to be suspicious about 483 00:27:43,799 --> 00:27:48,200 the provisionals is the way they get counted. And we 484 00:27:48,319 --> 00:27:52,279 know that in the past they have counted double votes 485 00:27:53,799 --> 00:27:56,400 for people like because they go in on the initial 486 00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:00,480 tally and if it's a provisional cast ballot, then in 487 00:28:00,519 --> 00:28:02,440 the past I don't know if they have corrected it. 488 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:04,160 It's been a while since I looked into it, but 489 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:06,720 this was one of the problems was that if somebody 490 00:28:06,759 --> 00:28:08,720 went and voted, and then they go to another precinct 491 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:10,440 try to vote there, and they're like, oh, you're not 492 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,759 supposed to vote here, cast a provisional and then that 493 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:19,279 vote gets thrown into the hopper, but they're supposed to 494 00:28:19,319 --> 00:28:23,039 go back through and pull out any kind of double voting, 495 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:27,240 that kind of thing. Yeah, it is a system that 496 00:28:27,279 --> 00:28:30,759 can be improved upon, and the Board of Elections has 497 00:28:30,799 --> 00:28:34,240 proven themselves, in my opinion, to be unable or unwilling 498 00:28:34,319 --> 00:28:37,720 to improve upon it. All Right, So spring is here 499 00:28:37,839 --> 00:28:42,000 a time of renewal and celebrations. You've got graduations, weddings, 500 00:28:42,079 --> 00:28:45,039 anniversaries and the special days for mom and dad. Your 501 00:28:45,039 --> 00:28:47,359 family's making memories that are going to last a lifetime. 502 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,160 But let me ask you, are all of those treasured 503 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,880 moments from days gone by? Are they hidden away on 504 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:58,119 old VCR tapes, eight millimeter films, photos slides? 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I 517 00:29:40,599 --> 00:29:47,559 mentioned earlier the rubber trees needed for tire manufacturing and 518 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:51,920 bananas like these are crops that America doesn't grow, and 519 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,440 I don't even know if we can grow them except 520 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:58,039 in like maybe high tech grainhouses and all of that stuff. 521 00:29:58,079 --> 00:30:00,880 I mean, you think about like all of the crops, 522 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,240 the different kinds of crops that you would need to grow, 523 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,599 you know, in all of the different greenhouses because they 524 00:30:06,599 --> 00:30:13,000 don't grow naturally in our climate. But here's a solution, potentially, 525 00:30:13,119 --> 00:30:17,839 Timotao points out, rubber bananas sounds like fifty second and 526 00:30:18,039 --> 00:30:19,880 fifty third beautiful states that we can end. 527 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:21,759 Speaker 1: That's that's this. 528 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:27,079 Speaker 2: Takeover, just colonize the the rubber capital in the banana 529 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,400 producing countries. 530 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:37,279 Speaker 1: Why not does Greenland grow rubber trees? I don't think so. 531 00:30:37,279 --> 00:30:40,799 Speaker 2: So back to Andrew Dunn's piece at the Charlotte Observer 532 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:47,000 talking about the tariffs and specifically North Carolina. He talked 533 00:30:47,039 --> 00:30:53,279 with the Speaker of the House, Destin Hall, and Hall said, 534 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:57,519 you know, you talk about free trade basically to a 535 00:30:57,559 --> 00:31:02,000 lot of rural voters, it meant we give away all 536 00:31:02,039 --> 00:31:06,240 our jobs to China in exchange for cheaper TVs, but 537 00:31:06,319 --> 00:31:11,680 we lost all of the jobs. Andrew Dunn goes on 538 00:31:11,759 --> 00:31:16,240 to say that we are one of the fastest growing 539 00:31:16,279 --> 00:31:19,279 states in America, and most of it has been concentrated 540 00:31:19,359 --> 00:31:23,759 in our metro counties, which are booming. Half of the 541 00:31:23,799 --> 00:31:27,480 state's counties, though, have lost population over the last decade. 542 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,039 All of those are rural. That creates more than just 543 00:31:32,079 --> 00:31:36,519 an economic gap. It's deepened the political one too. Cities 544 00:31:36,559 --> 00:31:41,440 get bluer, small towns are getting redder, and by the way, 545 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,480 the small towns are getting bigger too. I drove through 546 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,599 so we a went to see a went to watch 547 00:31:47,599 --> 00:31:50,559 a baseball game. My nephew was playing a baseball game 548 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:55,960 down in Union County, and so we you know, they 549 00:31:56,039 --> 00:31:58,119 routed us through Waxaw. 550 00:31:58,799 --> 00:32:01,559 Speaker 1: I hadn't been in downtown in a while. It's been 551 00:32:01,599 --> 00:32:02,359 a long time. 552 00:32:03,079 --> 00:32:11,960 Speaker 2: And holy moly, downtown Belmont, Downtown rock Hill. Last time 553 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:14,000 I was down there last year, I want to say, 554 00:32:15,319 --> 00:32:20,799 just explosion of growth. I remember I worked at a 555 00:32:20,799 --> 00:32:25,640 at a bar slash restaurant in downtown rock Hill. It 556 00:32:25,759 --> 00:32:31,200 was called for what It's Worth and it sold after 557 00:32:31,319 --> 00:32:33,880 I was gone, but I worked there as a cook 558 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:40,599 for several years. And downtown rock Hill had nothing. It 559 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:45,319 had the police department, it had a bank building, it 560 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:49,000 had nothing, and they tried to get everybody to come 561 00:32:49,039 --> 00:32:51,519 down with the downtown you know, Live after five or 562 00:32:51,519 --> 00:32:53,759 whatever they called it, to try to get people to 563 00:32:53,759 --> 00:32:55,960 come downtown. I remember talking to guy by the name 564 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,920 of Clay Andrews, I believe, and he was the head 565 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:04,599 of the rock Hill Economic Development Corporation and I would 566 00:33:04,599 --> 00:33:08,920 interview him regularly and he was like, the thing I 567 00:33:09,039 --> 00:33:11,960 want to do if I do nothing else in this job, 568 00:33:12,519 --> 00:33:17,519 is to get residential into downtown rock Hill. And you 569 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:20,839 drive through there now and you've got apartment buildings going 570 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:21,759 up all over the place. 571 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:24,519 Speaker 1: But that's bad too. I think. 572 00:33:26,079 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 2: Even though the retail follows the rooftops, right, so you 573 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:32,039 get more people there, then you're going to have more 574 00:33:32,039 --> 00:33:33,680 retail services for those people. 575 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: That's how that works, right. 576 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 2: So I guess I am unclear as to as to 577 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,039 how we like, What is it that like? What is 578 00:33:45,079 --> 00:33:49,000 it that we're trying to do? What's the vision? I 579 00:33:49,039 --> 00:33:52,240 understand everybody's got a different answer to this. Is the 580 00:33:52,359 --> 00:33:58,079 vision to reopen a manufacturing plant, stick a bunch of 581 00:33:58,119 --> 00:34:01,640 people on like sewing machines for eight to nine hours. 582 00:34:01,279 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 1: A day, just sewing stuff. Is that the idea? 583 00:34:06,079 --> 00:34:10,360 Speaker 2: That's what we and we want that for the for 584 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,639 small towns. We want the whole town to be employed 585 00:34:13,679 --> 00:34:18,360 by the one factory. Again, we want that model because 586 00:34:18,519 --> 00:34:20,519 when that fact is the thing. And look, I understand 587 00:34:20,599 --> 00:34:24,639 this from a personal perspective. It's sort of like in 588 00:34:24,679 --> 00:34:27,960 the advertising world, you get either lots of little accounts 589 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:32,159 or you get the big, the big account and if 590 00:34:32,199 --> 00:34:36,199 you live by only going after the big accounts, then 591 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:38,960 you end up when that account says, hey we're pulling 592 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:43,079 our advertising now. You have no accounts, you have lots 593 00:34:43,119 --> 00:34:45,159 of little ones. You got to you know, you got 594 00:34:45,159 --> 00:34:48,480 to go out and get more of them. But if 595 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,880 one of them says we're not going to advertise anymore, 596 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:54,599 then you have others still and you still have revenue. 597 00:34:55,159 --> 00:34:58,440 It's like that's the that's the all in, all your 598 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:02,119 eggs in one basket. Is that the model we're trying 599 00:35:02,159 --> 00:35:05,119 to go back to where it's a one factory per 600 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,679 rural town and everybody works at that factory, and then 601 00:35:08,679 --> 00:35:11,039 you don't have to get a high school degree. You 602 00:35:11,079 --> 00:35:13,760 could just graduate high school, go to work in the mill, 603 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:18,599 and never get out. Is that that's the benefit, Because 604 00:35:20,199 --> 00:35:23,119 like my parents did not go to college. They wanted 605 00:35:23,559 --> 00:35:27,599 all of their kids to go to college because they 606 00:35:27,639 --> 00:35:31,920 wanted us to have a better future than they had 607 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,320 and their parents wanted them to have a better future. Right, 608 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,159 That's always been sort of the natural progression, right, you 609 00:35:38,199 --> 00:35:40,840 want your kids to have a better life. And so 610 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:44,800 I'm kind of like I'm noticing a bit of a 611 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,320 shift where we have gone from sort of the well 612 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:50,559 first was the helicopter parents, and then it became the 613 00:35:50,559 --> 00:35:54,360 bulldozer parents, you know, where they would just clean out 614 00:35:54,679 --> 00:35:57,519 every obstacle in front of their kids so they don't 615 00:35:57,559 --> 00:35:59,159 have to worry about anything. And then, of course the 616 00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:03,360 kids don't develop resiliency because they've they've never encountered obstacles 617 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:05,000 because mom and dad always push them out of the 618 00:36:05,039 --> 00:36:07,519 way for him being bulldoze er parents. So are we 619 00:36:07,559 --> 00:36:12,400 shift we're moving away from that model, maybe to one 620 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:14,800 where it's like, no, sorry, junior, you got to go 621 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,039 to work at the mill. You're going to go to 622 00:36:17,039 --> 00:36:21,880 work in the factory. Is that the thing to aspire too? 623 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,639 Now that is a different that's a different question also 624 00:36:27,199 --> 00:36:31,760 than whether or not we should have industries that are 625 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:37,880 vital to our national security that remain protected because they 626 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,679 are vital to our national security. I mentioned this example 627 00:36:41,159 --> 00:36:45,480 the other day after Trump announced the tariffs. You know, like, 628 00:36:45,639 --> 00:36:49,000 for example, I would not feel comfortable having all of 629 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:53,199 our fighter jets and ammunition manufactured by the Chinese. That 630 00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:56,639 doesn't seem smart, right, It doesn't seem smart. And yeah, 631 00:36:56,679 --> 00:36:59,000 to the point where we are reliant on countries that 632 00:36:59,079 --> 00:37:02,559 hate us, that doesn't seem smart either. That was my argument, 633 00:37:02,599 --> 00:37:08,039 by the way, for us having our own energy independence 634 00:37:08,159 --> 00:37:10,440 from the Middle East. I don't want to buy oil 635 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,679 from those people. They don't like us. If they turn 636 00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:18,119 off the taps we're in some serious trouble, right, I mean, 637 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,599 how are we going to lubricate the windmills here without 638 00:37:22,599 --> 00:37:27,920 the oil? Same thing goes for China more so they 639 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:32,480 And I was watching an interview Douglas Murray did He's 640 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:34,920 got a new book and he was on Piers Morgan. 641 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,280 But he made a point. He said, America, there's this 642 00:37:38,639 --> 00:37:42,800 funny thing about Americans in that they want to be 643 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:45,800 the global superpower, but they don't want to engage in 644 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,760 the rest of the world. And I thought that, I 645 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,519 thought that was accurate. And I guess we need to 646 00:37:52,599 --> 00:37:55,480 kind of figure out what our national identity should be. 647 00:37:55,559 --> 00:37:58,119 Is it fortress America, close ourselves off to the rest 648 00:37:58,159 --> 00:38:01,679 of the world, or is it you know where the powerhouse, 649 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:05,079 where the superpower, you know where the top dog? Which 650 00:38:05,119 --> 00:38:08,760 is all right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank 651 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:10,719 you so much for listening. I could not do the 652 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:13,400 show without your support and the support of the businesses 653 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,280 that advertise on the podcast, So if you'd like, please 654 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:18,119 support them too and tell them you heard it here. 655 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:20,800 You can also become a patron at my Patreon page 656 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:24,480 or go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so 657 00:38:24,559 --> 00:38:31,199 much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.