#ncga [MORE on driver licenses]
*SIGH*. There’s nothing like having your veracity challenged by politicians.
We posted earlier about Republicans selling out the party platform to enable illegal aliens to obtain driver licenses in North Carolina. Our post included a list of those Republicans compiled by three different sources who were in the room at the time of the committee vote.
The list included Finance committee chairman Bill Brawley of Mecklenburg County, who contacted us — I’m sure — after hearing from some rather ticked off constituents:
We also heard from Brawley’s fellow Mecklenburgian Charles Jeter, also on the committee:
Interesting. How could three different — usually very reliable – sources for this site all turn in lists containing these two guys who SAY they didn’t vote FOR the bill? Oh, and here’s a fourth list from ALIPAC — an amnesty opponent.
Well, I found a video from WRAL showing a part of the debate on driver licenses for illegals AND the ensuing committee vote. (Go to this page, look about 1/4- down on the left side and click on the video link. The vote occurs in the last 5 to 10 minutes of the video.) The first vote is by voice, which Brawley determines to be inconclusive. 
Brawley THEN asks all of those IN FAVOR of the license bill to stand. He then asks all opposed to stand. No one is required to actually say anything. We still can’t find a recorded list of ayes and nays. For the record, Brawley remains standing during the calls for those in favor and for those opposed.
We could not see Jeter on the video during the call for a vote. But we have good information that he is famous for disappearing when tough, controversial votes come up. 
So, it’s pretty hard to tell how people voted in committee unless you are there and tallying who stands when. On the face of it, this tactic looks like a great way to maintain plausible deniability in the face of heat from angry constituents. (Or to grab campaign contributions from both sides of an issue.)
Mr. Jeter and Mr. Brawley — and anyone else on their committee — is welcome to all the space they need (in the reply section below this post ) to explain their personal feelings on giving driver licenses to illegal aliens. Contrary to popular belief in some circles, we’re committed to getting the whole truth out there.
This committee vote does not mean this measure becomes law. It still has to make it through the much more sensible and conservative Senate. But the vote DOES show the problem we have with so many House Republicans willing to veer away from the party platform. It’s disturbing — to say the least — to see something like this make it through a GOP-dominated committee by such a wide margin (22-11).
What is needed is a viable anti-amnesty PAC to defeat some of these Obama Republicans. ALIPAC is a PAC, but I am not sure how much they spend on campaigns. I do not know if NCFIRE has a PAC.
There needs to be some viable PAC to raise some money, recruit some primary opponents, and elect some legislators who actually believe in GOP principles. The Civitas poll shows that 76% of North Carolinians oppose drivers licenses for illegal aliens, and I’ll bet that the cross tabs likely show that number among GOP primary voters is well north of 90%. This is an excellent issue on which to take names and kick the ass of some liberal Republicans.
I would also note that an a NCGOP state executive committee meeting a year or so ago, there was an attempt to get a resolution on stopping amnesty at the national level on the agenda. Harry Warren, Bill Brawley, and Charles Jeter were present and voted against putting it on the agenda. These guys can run but they can’t hide.
If there is a viable anti-amnesty PAC actually doing something in next year’s primary, I will put in a hundred bucks, and I urge all other readers of this site to do so. Let’s kick some liberal butt.
I just did some checking and here is the problem. The anti-amnesty folks in NC have no state registered PAC’s to participate in state elections. ALIPAC is FEC-registered, which only lets them make contributions in federal elections. There is an NCFIRE PAC registered, but it is a firefighters PAC, not an immigration PAC.
NCFIRE has a website, and apparently a 40,000+ email list. This should allow them to fundraise rather easily if they will just set up a PAC, set up an online contribution link, and get to work. BTW, if you haven’t joined their email list, you should go to their website and do so.
Brant, I’ll be happy to forward to you an email from my two colleagues who were standing next to me in committee yesterday and clearly saw my stand with them in voting no. Please email at charles.jeter@ncleg.net and I will forward those two representatives verification.
Wow a Republican super majority voting in favor of illegals that sneak into the country without insurance to have driver’s licenses. Sure bad accidents happen and people get injured and killed on the roads, but the Republicans in Raleigh just took a step closer to increasing the odds that the next accident you have that hurts or kills your family, the other driver won’t have insurance.
All the while we were thinking that the Republicans were fighting for us.
Brant, I’ll be happy to forward to you an email from my two colleagues who were standing next to me in committee yesterday and clearly saw my stand with them in voting no. Please email at charles.jeter@ncleg.net and I will forward those two representatives verification.
You already admitted that you voted against the Blust amendment. You are not getting off that easy, you liberal. You also voted to screw us consumers on our electric rates by siding with the green energy special interests. You need to be replaced by a real Republican.
And no thinking Republican should give a dime to the House campaign fund with you in charge of it.
I see the next step in this process to be voting rights for the illegals. Heck, with the voter ID law I bet many of these people will make it through just because the have a photo ID regardless of how “different” it looks from other driver’s licenses.
Raphael–You seemed to be very well-informed about what is going on with NC Republican politics. I enjoy reading your posts. Can you shed any light what is happening with the insiders on the UNC Board of Governors? Is it totally RINO controlled and are they in cahoots with Jim Hunt and the Chapel Hill liberals? Has some deal already been cut with Hunt and the Democrats on Tom Ross’s replacement? Why did the BOG Chairman say Art Pope was definitely out? Why did they put a liberal Democrat in as Dean of the UNC Law School? Would definitely appreciate your “insider” knowledge. All of this is very mysterious to the rank and file.
Brant, I’ll be happy to forward to you an email from my two colleagues who were standing next to me in committee yesterday and clearly saw my stand with them in voting no. Please email at charles.jeter@ncleg.net and I will forward those two representatives verification.
Outing the bad guys is all well and good and should be done so that appropriate steps can be taken against them in their next primary, but we should also praise the good guys who stood firm for Republican principle and the GOP platform. Those are the people we should be working to make certain they return to Raleigh. Could someone post a list of the GOP members of this committee who voted against drivers licenses for illegal aliens?
Rep Charles Jeter please share with all the readers on this blog the name of your 2 colleagues that confirm you voted no to give illegals driver license. We would like to know.
The next story shows the emails from the two members who were standing on either side of me when we voted… Rep. Bert Jones and Rep. Mitchell Setzer.
I sure HOPE someone primaries Jeff Collins. The disingenuous Rino’s need to become extinct!
There is a conservative former legislator in that district who would make an excellent primary opponent to Collins if he would run, Collins is a full blown Obama Republican – a Solyndra Republican who voted for Obama’s green energy crusade and a La Raza Republican who voted for Obama’s crusade for the illegals.
Why in the world does something like this go through committee without any actual, public evidence recorded of who voted what?
It’s 2015, and we have to rely on secret sources and the testimony of other politicians??
Yeah, I know – my gut understands that politicans run screaming from accountability and transparency *sigh*
The fact that this is even a question we have to bother with is ridiculous.
You are absolutely right. It is slimy to do voting in committee without a recorded vote and it leads to things like what we are seeing here. I can see Democrats operating this way, but it is disgusting to see Republicans do it.
Voters need better transparency.
Here we even had a committee chairman who in a standing vote, stood for both sides. Did he vote twice, abstain, or have the luxury of telling both sides he voted for them? Disgusting.
We need a new Speaker who will get things straight in the House.
Raphael – You are spot on! We are fighting vested interests and the only way to effectively do that is to organize a Force against them. Money is a force That means a PAC.
A PAC would also encourage real Conservatives to come forward for the primaries. If substantial enough, it would put some fear in the pockets of these RINOS and possibly limit the damage they can still cause on Jones Street.
We saw what a ‘force’ can accomplish when Conservatives were brought together at the State Convention!…..
This is not an issue of good people having different opinions or positions. These people need outing!