How Paul Taylor Hopes to Bring New Leadership to North Carolina’s Senate

Peter Pappas: Okay. Welcome back to the Carolina Cabinet. I'm your host, Peter Pappas, in studio with the lovely Laura Musler. Hello, hello, hello. And joining us this evening is Mr. Paul Taylor running for North Carolina Senate. Good evening, sir. Good evening. Well, welcome to the cabinet. as you know, we are a conservative type show, but I think we can get along pretty good here tonight. We're not gonna show any knives or nothing. I do well I do appreciate you coming, but we'll go easy on you a little bit. Before we get into any of this, what were you doing for a living before you decided to run for state senate? Is that a big question? It's a big one. It's this long now. Okay. So what I did, I I served in the military for about 20 years. Okay. after serving in the military, I what did I do? I went to college at Fairbest State. Okay. After leaving college at Fairbest State, I went overseas for a couple of about 18 months, 24 months, 36 months. Worked for the government for a little bit. Okay. What kind of work? Were you secret like Red Roof Inn type of stuff or what? I was never that popular. Never that pop? Okay. Nah. It was a little simple stuff. I was a mechanic actually in the military and work staff for the most part. Okay. So I work with the the officers as a a mechanical liaison or logistics guy to get them the information and the data they need to report to their generals and mark meetings and things like that right there. So Are you f you're from the district? Are you more or Cumberland? Where do you where exactly do you live? I live in Spring Lake. In Spring Lake, okay in that part of the district or part of the county. I was gonna say that's not yeah, I guess it does. It's like a reverse C around. That's exactly right. Everything but inside the city, all the county. Yeah, yes. Yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. So how long have you been in Spring Lake? about about what? A year, year and a half, something like that. All right. where'd you grow up then? I grew up in Apex. Okay, so you're you're a Carolina guy. Yes. Okay. All right. All right. To the heart. Carolina or State? Which one? I that doesn't matter to me, but some people here they get worked on. I'm not gonna disclose. Okay, not gonna disclose It was state. It was actually state. When David Thompson played that year, I loved it. Okay. So is there a restaurant or spot in Moore County or Crumley County that you tell everybody who comes out of town they gotta try? No. but I say this about Moore County. Moore County is so unique. They are so warm and friendly, opposed to Cumberland, which is transit. We don't know our neighbors like they do you go to the park and you see all the children out playing and having a good time, neighbors are having a good time. You don't see that so often here in Cumlin County. It's 'cause you'd be shot. Well, you know, and unfortunately that does bring up something. There was three shootings Sunday morning early. Somebody tried to accuse me of being racial when I said, Why can't these grease stains get up that early to go find a job? What how is that racial? I I I don't know. I said, I'm sorry, what qualifies as racist this morning? Were they were they white? I mean Yeah, I mean I didn't even know. They hadn't apprehended the guy yet. I just said my take on it was Grease meaning dirty dirty. I mean it was seven thirty stains, yeah. Seven thirty in the morning on a Sunday. I don't think this guy was on his way to Bible study. Mm he shot three women and carjacked one or two of them. Right. Ramsey Street. You saw yeah. Yeah, let's go hang out at the park so we can get carjacked. Yeah, but I just it was funny. A former so a former employee of mine got on the post and was like, What do you berated the lady whoever called me racist? Like, what's wrong with you? Everything these days. If we start talking if we stop talking about demographics, then we'll stop talking about demographics. Yeah. Yeah. I Paul, what's your you were gonna say? Everything everything is not about race. Yeah. It's not and in my opinion, it's more about good and evil. That's what we are dealing with. Who's the good guy and who's the bad guy? Yeah. And do they all really have morals that govern their thoughts? If I'm gonna go murder somebody, there's no government intervention program that's gonna stop me from wanting to go murder somebody. No, it's not. Okay. so let's talk about so I got a little bit about your career and background. family around here? The family, okay other than not in not here, but go back to Apex. My great grandfather, which makes me a community guy. Okay. Because of their legacy that I didn't want, but I'm here. they my great grandfather built a community church for Apex. But he named it after my great grandmother, which is Mary. So they named the church St. Mary Annie Church. So his sons, one of them went to the Army in World War One many moons ago. He served in the Army as a medic, got out, went to Lennon University in Raleigh, which is Shaw University combined. So leaving there, he left and went to Martinville, Virginia, and built a economic empowerment up there in in Martinville, Virginia. So and my first cousin was the pastor of the same church that my great grandfather built for the community and named it after his wife. So this legacy that I'm walking in is the same legacy that my great grandfather started back here. Okay. So a way to continue the family, family commitment to public service, it sounds like. So that brings me to this. Why, why why are you running against a multi term incumbent? I mean, Mr. McGuinness, he's not only an incumbent here, but he does have quite a bit of clout up there in Raleigh. Yeah, the other guy got axed this year. So McGuinness is it. that's true. Yeah, that's true. So he's his he is the most powerful person. He's very powerful, a lot of money in his account. You know, but it it really doesn't take money to win the election. What does it take? It takes getting on the doors, knocking the doors, go to events and getting your name out there. See, I say it takes money and volunteers. Well, you got a point. But not so much money. Mainly volunteers and getting them to spread your name out. Now how can I get people to volunteer and donate to your campaign if you're saying it doesn't take money? Well it does. We usually do at the end. She will ask, you know. So she does she will try to even though you're Democrat, we're still gonna do it for you, see? Okay, that's That's what I appreciate it. okay, so w so what is your why? Like what is he doing? What what is he not doing that you need to do? I just not even do it like that. What can you what do you want to do? What do you want to see? I I I think y'all talked about some of this stuff in the lab. conversation is that I I want to see all people thrive. Not just Democrats and Republicans, not just minorities and whites, but all of us. Because once you get in that seat, you represent everybody. I don't care what they look like. I don't care what kind of language they talk about. I don't care what school they don't like. I don't care about any of that. You represent all of North Carolina, whether you like it or not. And so my why is I would like to make a change for everybody to somehow accommodate and I know it's not possible to accommodate everybody because you're gonna have them whiners out there that don't like something. But for the benefit benefit of all people that have good moral character and those that don't make life the quality of life better for all of us. What specifically quality of life do you think you can improve? What would be one thing you would pursue? Well the constitution talks about education. So I would like to have better schools, especially in Cumberland and North Carolina, better school for the kids or the children to go to. I went to a high school, I went to a public school, I came out okay. So and then went on to get a bachelor's degree after twenty years of service. So if we can get the foundation laid right, let the children or young adults at that time make a decision on what path they want to take with a little guidance from the should I say older people? Wouldn't you know it? I do have an education question for you. So what is your position on funding the schools and where where are we going to get more money for the schools if that is indeed a problem? Where are we going to get it from? That's a good question. I would like to do a task force of some sort to figure out how we can do it. I don't know exactly how to do it, but I know there is an answer out there for us to find out where we can get it. But I would like to find a get a task force to help us to solve that issue there. Well, your opponent made we're gonna switch to Medicaid now. your opponent made a Medicaid vote that has been publicly disputed by you. Or by his primary opponent, I'm sorry, his primary opponent, not you. But what would your what would your what would your take be on the his Medicaid vote? What was the vote on about Medicaid? That's what I don't know what that is. I don't know what he I don't you don't know w where his stance was on Medicaid? I don't know where that one is at right there. All right. Well I think judging by what's happened in the state, I think we voted to not. fund the gap in Medicaid. And we do need to fund the gap. Why do we need to? Well, we need to fund it because there are people okay, for instance, the seniors. Some of may have worked for twenty, thirty years at these companies and for one, it's not gonna be enough income for them to do the things they do when it comes to their health. So they need that Medicaid for some of those persons that are seniors and young adults that get some of these other issues, Down syndrome that can't really work a job, or I can't think of the name of some of the other programs or issues that you may encounter, but they need it because they don't have the income or the family don't have the income. I think the issue, federal Medicaid, they basically stopped funding the gap from the ACA, Obamacare, popularly referred to the ACA had built in a lot of compensation from the federal government to the insurance companies and by repealing by having those provisions of extra money going to the insurance companies end with the ACA, that's what left the gap for North Carolina citizens. So it goes back to again, where are we going to get the money from? We we I mean as long as the government is involved in medical Then then in the medical costs are going to go up and and elderly people are not going to be able to afford it. The government needs to get out of the private industry. I would agree with that. I agree with that too. I I had a discussion earlier today with a gentleman I'm going to bring on the show. he's a political philosopher. He's written five or six books. He sounds smart. Very I it was a it was a good discussion. I really enjoyed it. I already feel dumb. I'm gonna be sick that day. Don't you need to be here. You need to be here. You a comical. So he well yeah, she definitely brightens the day, believe me. my god. He was talking about FDR. I mentioned a couple of things about FDR and he's like, if he had his way, he would have privatized everything. Right. I mean, not privatized, taken over for the government. You know, he had the War Powers Act in World War Two, but He didn't really use it because Ford and Chrysler and all those guys said, just give me a purchase order. Right. And we'll charge you, but we'll give you what you need. Mm-hmm. So he didn't have to take advantage. But yeah. So that can government does not do well in commerce. They don't do well in anything, actually. They really don't. so PFAS water here is a big deal. it kind of ties so PFAS, data center, it all kind of ties together. I thought we were in talking about data centers today. I don't want to I thought that was Nick's. That was for the live. That was for the live. That was only for the live. For you. So we gotta come back circle back around, right? You put your name on a ballot, you're gonna have to have some kind of position. So look, I think the biggest thing with PFAS is who are we gonna hold accountable for the cleanup? Hmm. Who should we hold? Who put the damage in the water? I mean, I'm asking you, what do you wanna do? The company, I think the company that destroyed our water need to pay for it. Okay. And they also need to compensate those families that are suffering from putting the PFAS in the war. That's my take. because in the military, if you did the crime, you had to suffer whatever the consequences was. And that's something I believe we have gotten away from accountability. We need to be accountable for our actions and be held to the fire, not fire. But held to defy you and accountable for the people in these communities. So there is leg I mean, there's a lawsuit right now. And I think our own county commission took the position that we're gonna just do this stuff and then hope for the best, I guess, from the litigated outcome. where would you be where could we go to find more funding to fix the problem? We have a lot of families that they don't even have filtration. They don't. That's one thing that I think no, I know that I thought that was settled though. The federal government and the EPA settled because that was a very small like five. Thirty five hundred families, was it? No, no, it wasn't that. No, that one goes to court Monday actually. Okay. Okay. Yeah, that one goes to court Monday. So they should be held accountable to put the filtration systems in the family in the in the homes or build a plant near where they are at to filter their water to those communities. I think one of the county commissioners was talking about certain it wasn't the word the term wasn't used as districts, but it was used as areas of interest where they could do something in these areas that is satisfied The homeowners in these areas that's dealing with the P FAS. I think it was district. So yeah, they kind of created water districts. Yeah, that's what it was. Yeah. Yeah. But it was that my understanding is they created those districts so that they could shortlist like what is that area because that area of town is going to be different than this area of town in in terms of need, but also lets us pursue smaller grants. smaller grants and things like that from the federal government. So well, okay, so what is it you want to do better in the Senate? What is it I want to do better in the city Senate? Well, this will be my first GOAT rope. This will be my first time actually running at this level. So I guess I have to learn exactly what is really needed for the constituents in Cumlin County and more. And not just in Cumberland County and more, but across the entire state. What is really needed? in these geographical locations to make our community better for for us as a people, as a people as a whole in North Carolina. I have to find I have to do a not a survey, a question and answer to find out what are the needs of the people, analysis, I guess that's the right term. Well I mean you've been campaigning so you've Must have some idea. I have some idea. Schools is number one. Okay. Schools is number one. Economics is what about the schools? the schools. There's a lot of moving parts with schools. Don't just tell me schools. I want to hear what about the schools. Well, I was at the door, one family, husband and wife. Okay. And the lady, the the teacher says, I do not make enough money to get my car fixed in my driveway. Is that from personal choices or is that the government's job to help you? She she didn't say. I don't know what it was. I didn't go into it. I just heard her. I wasn't trying to ask a lot of questions. I just wanted to be a listening ear. So show the concern that I'm listening. So she was saying that it was r I don't know. But she was saying that she can't get a car fix. Husband and wife, they had so many other bills, I believe, that came with it, but she couldn't get it. fixed to go back and forth to work to work because the salary wasn't enough to make that happen. So how is a senator are you going to fix that? I don't know. That that's a that's a individual thing, I believe. Mm-hmm. I don't know how it would do that. Because people make good and bad choices. That's right. And and we can't control that. It's called accountability. I think it was you that was talking about accountability. It was me. Yes, and Yeah, I work three jobs. And that ain't that ain't fair. Why is that not fair? Because why should a person have to work three and four jobs? Because I made poor life cho I I stayed home with my children as a a mother and didn't get educated or anything like that. I made poor life choices when I was younger. I married the wrong man. and so now in my older age I'm paying for it. That's called accountability. Yeah, but you're learning. You learn from what yeah. You can't figure out. She learned some hard lessons. Yeah, that's Well, not you in particular, but the avatar of the poor decision maker, which I really wish she wouldn't vote either, because she can't choose the right man ever. So she doesn't need to be casting the ballot. Well, she not her. Again, the archetype, the avatar. No, no, no, no. She said the avatar, not me. The avatar, not the avatar. Okay. We I say avatar as not as the blue queer people. It's something I use in real estate to determine my ideal customer. Right. Okay. Yeah. What does that look like? So well look, people suck at choices. Yeah, they we do. We've seen a decline in our schools. We we everybody beats up the teachers and they don't get paid enough. I don't think you could pay them enough. Number one, you need people that want to be there. True. Okay. And number two, you gotta support the people that are doing the work for you. That's true. Go ahead. so on that. So but on that too, if minimum wages was at a average where we could do some of the things we don't normally be able to do, that would help a little bit. It won't help with the choices we made. Can you explain that? What is that you're looking for a higher minimum wage? I would think that would help. How is that gonna help? Can you explain that to me? Yeah, I I think it will because look the cost of living went up Mm-hmm. So why come the minimum wage can't travel with the cost of living? Well, when the minimum wage goes up, you know what happens? Yes. What what happens? What happens? Prices and everything else goes up. You know who suffers the most when prices and everything goes up? Who is it? The people that are on fixed income, the elderly. Yeah. You got a point. Though they don't have the opportunity to have three jobs. They're at home. You're right. And and as so as we're paying that McDonald's employee who has no education, Nothing wrong with an there aren't there's none I'm not saying this to be mean that there's something wrong with being a a McDonald's employee. There's nothing wrong with a McDon I love McDonald's French fries. Just saying, please don't. But are we advertising? I'm just saying. But that that guy that was making seven dollars an hour, he's now making fifteen dollars an hour. I can no longer go to McDonald's get a ninety nine cent cheeseburger. It's now a dollar eighty five. So if I'm on a fixed income, my income didn't double. I'm still on that sa my mom is on a fixed income. She has her social security. She has all that's it. Right. She can no longer make ends meet. I work three jobs to help my mom too. Okay. Because she has no other way to make money. So I'ma ask you a question. Okay. How do you propose we fix economics? We get out of the way and stop over regulating and stop over taxing our people. We start being responsible with the tax money that we do get. Audit every single solitary penny penny and get rid of NGOs. NGOs have no business being involved in the government at all. If you want to volunteer and create something, don't get money from the government. Get money from the people that are around you. There are people that will donate, not the government. It's not the government's job to fix your problem. It's not what you can do. For your country, not what your country can do for you. Good point. Okay, thank you. I like it. You're not running for office? I am not running for office. I did run for office and I lost because I live in a Democrat town and people don't like responsibility, accountability, and or good answers. So I'm not gonna they're not gonna like meeting. I I don't know. Everybody everybody's different. Everybody's different, Paula. Everybody's different. Yeah, for sure. but I mean if you I I could fix the world's problems in five minutes, but I'm just saying Yeah, right. If if you can do that, you'd have done that already. Yeah, I'm just saying We're so busy worrying about and taxing people and and regulating people that we we can't get out of our own way. Well we lose sight and we do hurt the very bottom when we increase minimum wage. in in this room it's gonna be veh vehemently against raising the minimum wage because to me, I need you in the legislature. To find the money for schools so that you get us out of the tier one status that we're in in Cumberland County. Good point. And find us some money for the capital. So the school the county is supposed to pay for the buildings. Right. It's up to the legislature to pay those teachers. Right. So you need to find the money to pay some teachers. you need to reward the ones that have been there. I think the budget that just got passed, they give what, 17% raise to the entry level. But they didn't do anything for the compression, the guys that have been there two to five years. So now as a brand new teacher, I'm making as much money as the people that have been there for thirty years. I mean that's just that's a help. Yeah. but if you wanna help society, you bring economic development, you get the training, you get teach the students to read and write by the time they graduate. And write cursive. my goodness. Yeah. Well you would I you would crack the code 'cause I you I forgot to I like that they I like that they don't know how to read cursive it's like I'm sp dri writing a foreign language and they don't know what I'm saying. Cursive or a straight shift car. Well, you know, if they can't write curs how you gonna sign a contract? You go to buy your house. How you gonna sign your license you don't know how to write cursive? I I write cursive, so I'm I'm just saying, I'm not talking about you. No, I know. I I went to school when there was shop. Right. And carpentry. She was in shop because she I was in auto shop. That is the story. So we were in the same shop. That's right. We was in I was in auto shop. I was there for the because the boys were there. I was not there because I wanted in the reason. I can build an engine. Initially, but we all make bad choices. But it was a good choice, but yet for the wrong reasons. Right. There you go. There you go. But it turned out. So I became a mechanic in Army because of Well and I can change the tire, and I'm sure you can too, right? I sure can. We need to retrain it's called one eight hundred triple A. Now you got Lazy Honna. I'm old. But it's okay. I don't want to hurt my hip. As long as you know it, you'll never need to use There you go. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. yeah, I look, it it's a whole what what I feel that people don't understand running for office. not this is you, but it's like it government can do more than one thing at a time. True. And you know, you work on the economic development, you work on the Fayetteville Tech pipeline to feed the manufacturing plants. You know, Fayetteville Tech's like the second or third largest in the state community college. We have a hell of a program. We do. And we we have a lot of momentum there right now. we have the opportunity to provide industry the workers they want. What we n but what we need here is infrastructure. We need the power and the water. Right. We need our K through twelve schools turning out kids that are in shop class or have been early college and have some credits out of the way so they hit the job market running. all this takes I hate to say money cures all all this, but it it kind of does. It does. you know, we have to set the foundation for the next twenty years. We can't look directly in front of us. No, we can't. so well all right. So the Democratic Primary was canceled, so you advance without facing a single vote. How is it canceled? I don't know. It wasn't canceled. I didn't have a challenger. He didn't have a challenger, so there is no. So it wasn't really canceled. Okay. Well, I was thinking the way I wrote it, it was like you know, Kamala didn't have a primary. Biden did. Right. Remember? Well, Biden really didn't. They wouldn't let him the people that were running against him run against him. So that's In their fight for democracy, they were shutting down the Democratic candidate. Yeah. Just saying. Yeah, and nobody from the Democratic Party is really pissed off about that. I know, whatever. But but yeah, it's okay. It's it's water under the MAGA bridge and whatever. Anyway. So so what is a what's a big issue that you what's another big issue besides education you want to attack? Economics. Okay. Don't know how. Is that just because I told I said that in here? No, no, no. Actually that's a part of my platform. So you got jokes. Okay. Yeah. This is to show the human that's running for office. Okay. So that's what we're here for. Yeah. but well tell us your platform then. Go ahead and just explicitly. Actually, education, economics, and environment. Okay. I think those three intertwine with each other because if we dis destroy infrastructure by climate, water, Bad water, taking down our trees and stuff and the ozone there continue to get hot and hot and do whatever you do. It messes up our economy. And also with the economical part, if people y'all kinda got my mind wrapped around this thing, don't raise minimum wage. We need to figure out another way to make it work. So but that would be a task force. How can we make it work so that it don't affect the seniors? Now I'm impressed. I'm impressed by you because you took something that you thought and you heard somebody else's side of it. And that's the part that we're missing these days in politics. See, and that's what I want it to I want to do. I want to hear what the people have to say. Because hearing what they my ideas are my ideas, but what the the constituents say is more important than what my ideas are. And that's human. I just want to be a human. I want to be an ordinary guy, but I can't be no more because of where I'm at. Can you let me be me me be normal? We'll let you be you, as normal as that is. You whatever your form of normal is, you do it. So so Paul, I wanna thank you again. You came into a room where you knew that we're gonna probably disagree with you, but you answered every question and not everybody does that. So thank you for doing that. well some people just they're they're afraid a little old me. You yeah, they're chicken shit. But anyway. No, you know what you did. I'll beat that out later. You know what you did? What I did. When I walked in that door, we had a conversation. Yeah. And it was a friendly conversation. And you wasn't like, I'm gonna beat you cross the head. I had a warm and friendly You're too tall for me. And then I showed you can't reach them off. But you walked in the room and ran with y'all little jokes and stuff, but it's okay. That's look, this is real people, real conversations, and this is to show who you are. Right. better I the voters cannot learn you in a three minute sound bite in a forum. That is the biggest BS cop out for people running for office. So where do people find you? Do you have a website? I have a website. It's a very long website. good. That's is w w dot Paul Taylor for North Carolina. Spell it out. Senate District Twenty One. Holy fuck. Okay, so we we here at the Republican Candidate Resource Center could help you with your marketing, even if you're you know so my god. Y'all gonna help me a Democrat with marketing? Your money's green, brother. It is green. That's exactly right. But it no campaign runs on its own. All campaigns need two things. They need money and they need volunteers. So if you like what you've heard and you want to don donate, then go to that really long website. I think they better just Google it and then Yeah, it'll pop up. Actually on my Facebook page. What's your what's your Facebook page? Paul Taylor for North Carolina Senate District twenty one is the Facebook page. Okay, there you go. So donate, volunteer whatever you can do because Campaigns need help. Yeah. Well, guys, just go look it up yourself because even if I put it on the screen, it's not gonna fit. I was gonna say my glasses out. It'll shoot a QR code or something up for podcasts. I do have a QR code though, but I'll have it with me. Well, again, thank you. Call the the door is open. You come back. the week early voting starts if you'd like. We can have a quick discussion then or just call in and have a little little little chat. So everybody joining us, you can of course follow us, the Carolinacabinet.com. You can find all of our shows. Just like, follow, maybe share it with a friend if you think you like our version of talking smack to our guests. Anyway, and with that, y'all have a good evening. Thanks for being here.