tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367104972024-03-12T19:54:41.034-04:00Campaign TrackerNotes from the campaign trailUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger439125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-32590868778335367332015-02-11T17:03:00.002-05:002015-02-11T17:54:19.158-05:00Home loan forgiven? It may count as income The debate in the N.C. Senate Wednesday was on what's been called the "gas tax bill." Whether it cuts the tax (as Republicans say) or raises it (as Democrats say) depends on how you look at it. But another part of the bill appears to be more clear. It's one that could affect thousands of N.C. homeowners.<br />
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A section of the bill dealing with income tax changes would require taxpayers to count as income any portion of their mortgage indebtedness forgiven by a lender.<br />
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Take somebody who owed $200,000 on a home and had been caught up in the mortgage meltdown. Say the lender forgave $50,000 of the loan. Under the bill, that $50,000 would be counted as taxable income in North Carolina. The Internal Revenue Service would not count it.<br />
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Democratic Sen. Joel Ford of Charlotte tried to remove it from the bill, and leave state law conform to federal law.<br />
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"We should
provide the same tax relief to North Carolina taxpayers and put more money in pockets," he said. "Not conforming to the
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For procedural reasons, Ford's proposed amendment never came up for a vote. </div>
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Democrats say up to 4,000 people could be affected. Legislative staffers estimate the change would result in $14 million in revenue for the state.</div>
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The Senate tentatively passed the bill 36-14 along part lines. Final approval is expected Thursday before it would head to the House.</div>
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Republicans say the gas tax bill, by the way, would ensure money for road building and maintenance. By setting a floor for the tax (35-cents a gallon) it would result in another $352 million for roads over five years. </div>
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Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-75665192778812735812015-01-23T14:55:00.001-05:002015-01-23T16:09:11.099-05:00Revealed at last: N.C.'s vast left-wing network<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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According to the conservative Civitas Institute, they're part of the "vast, shadowy network" that makes up "the radical liberal left in North Carolina." <br />
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They’re named in the institute’s latest project, "Mapping the Left," a list of 140 organizations and 1,800 individuals "working to enlarge state government and erode our freedoms."<br />
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Just who are these radicals? <br />
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Well, people like former Tar Heels Coach Dean Smith, who sat on the board of an anti-death penalty group. Some are Republicans like former gubernatorial candidates Bob Orr and Chuck Neely and state Rep. Chuck McGrady.<br />
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Then there’s former Gov. Jim Hunt and his wife, Carolyn; Charlotte Mayor Dan Clodfelter, former Mayor Harvey Gantt and former Mecklenburg commissioners Chair Jennifer Roberts.<br />
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Some are in high positions: state Treasurer Janet Cowell and state Auditor Beth Wood. And some come from business, like former textile executive Crandall Bowles. <br />
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Most are on the boards of groups that the institute defines as having liberal agendas, such as the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the League of Women Voters and the Sierra Club. Or they’re associated with funding such groups. That’s how The Foundation for the Carolinas (along with CEO Michael Marsicano), Food Lion Charitable Foundation and the Gannett Foundation all made the list. <br />
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"Mapping the Left was created to educate citizens and policy makers," the web site says. "It is a repository of vital information that exposes the largest funders and participants in today’s North Carolina political battles to public scrutiny."<br />
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The map consists of a giant web of interconnecting lines and circles. Susan Myrick, an election policy analyst with Civitas, said the point is to show who runs, funds and works for the groups she claims makes up North Carolina’s left.<br />
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Are the people on the list dangerous radicals?<br />
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"No but they’re people with an agenda," Myrick said. "Just like the right are people with an agenda. What makes the right different than the left? (The left) is so massive … <br />
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"It's easy for people to see the organizational network on the right because it's so small. But when we turn a light on the left, they're uncomfortable. I don't get it. People should know who they are."<br />
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Who they are are people like Orr, a former N.C. Supreme Court Justice who later ran the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law which, like Civitas, is funded largely by the Pope Foundation. Orr made the list because he’s on the board of The Conservation Trust of North Carolina.<br />
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"I'm a strong believer in land conservation and historic preservation," Orr says. "On the other hand I've won four statewide elections as a Republican. I don't think anybody over at Civitas has even run for office."<br />
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Neely, a Raleigh lawyer, was asked in an email how he felt being on the leftist list, replied succinctly:<br />
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"I have always suspected me," he wrote.
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-nI4Dza3kxpk%2FVMKptvxYn6I%2FAAAAAAAAELU%2F0TsUbqEgfpo%2Fs1600%2FIMG_BobOrr.JPG_3_1_2S2MTT9B_L66628694.JPG&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08SR_rLjnsfYNrB5m3N4XR-nhdE1Biwn5BSVLogrs2zN7a5P0-TAJGXRQ8P65mqmcKCflwJGe0988ra7Hj0i86AyVSobs5Dy-R2IKRqUCTV78sm0s2g21V7U64cPMCtiSFK_JWg/s1600/IMG_BobOrr.JPG_3_1_2S2MTT9B_L66628694.JPG" -->Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-44281269955016020152014-12-17T12:16:00.000-05:002014-12-17T16:33:16.499-05:00AP story becomes fodder for Pat McCrory fundraising appeal<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmChXD-YtXRCdGetU3lk-Dsd7CxR7kKkIWlJQQj5NIRUOTlx3YfNb1fU28PES3rKTEMWEC3UhwGlcwSRBPybPQKbro-fxEa8J1Tx_c12LHqhAIUEWqtCpPVmpol_hzhRUQ4yPU/s1600/Pat+McCrory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmChXD-YtXRCdGetU3lk-Dsd7CxR7kKkIWlJQQj5NIRUOTlx3YfNb1fU28PES3rKTEMWEC3UhwGlcwSRBPybPQKbro-fxEa8J1Tx_c12LHqhAIUEWqtCpPVmpol_hzhRUQ4yPU/s1600/Pat+McCrory.jpg" /></a>N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory's office hit back Wednesday after <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/12/16/5389249/carolinas-politicians-get-payouts.html#.VJHTfifZvlc" target="_blank">an Associated Press story</a> reported that he had taken what it described as ethically questionable payouts from an online mortgage company, of which he was a director.<br />
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His campaign hit back too -- with a fundraising letter.<br />
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"We need your help," the campaign emailed supporters. "The media is at it again. This time it's the Associated Press. Yesterday they released a story attacking the Governor with false claims and innuendo made by anonymous people with no regard to the facts....<br />
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"Help Governor McCrory fight back and ensure that the citizens of North Carolina know the real story. Donate today ..."<br />
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The appeal was signed by "Team McCrory."<br />
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<br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-31250658709016631732014-12-03T16:57:00.000-05:002014-12-03T16:57:38.870-05:00Lt. Gov. Dan Forest ramps up 2016 campaign <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpYer8x08BLCqZD90XnaYWOYxN7201FtJ6RPr7cWCawC8niaZX3bPa3j68QNuOjcLtl8CaQz4kxQeSiniYdq3rhN-7c0z2SCtOOmGUq9Nckt06m2edSaJtcR-4tXC4FniuMJaD/s1600/Dan+Forest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpYer8x08BLCqZD90XnaYWOYxN7201FtJ6RPr7cWCawC8niaZX3bPa3j68QNuOjcLtl8CaQz4kxQeSiniYdq3rhN-7c0z2SCtOOmGUq9Nckt06m2edSaJtcR-4tXC4FniuMJaD/s1600/Dan+Forest.jpg" /></a>Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest is pushing his re-election campaign into a higher gear with a Thursday night fundraiser in Charlotte.<br />
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Forest's fundraiser will be at the Morehead Inn. Sponsors include former lawmaker Ed McMahan, former GOP mayoral candidate Edwin Peacock and Catawba County beer distributor Dean Proctor.<br />
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Spokesman Hal Weatherman says the event is the first event in a concerted push to get ready for the 2016 campaign. Forest had just over $20,000 in his campaign account at the end of June.<br />
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"We're completely focused on running for re-election," Weatherman said.<br />
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Forest has deep Charlotte ties. He's the son of Sue Myrick, the former mayor and longtime member of Congress. He grew up in town and attended McClintock Middle School and East
Mecklenburg High. As a teen, he moved to Columbia but eventually returned and studied architecture at UNC Charlotte.<br />
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His fundraiser comes the same week another Charlottean, Gov. Pat McCrory, released a video that effectively kicks off his own re-election campaign.<br />
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Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-59023518920303258192014-12-01T15:39:00.001-05:002014-12-01T16:51:02.329-05:00Jennifer Roberts gets a jump on mayoral race<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysA9VkFhYiO0tGmmwrQ78aVQWQ3SUDmriaR1n0bg7RpH84AX5_koEVX00GbF7XDqyVkMBRX8zTrDdikzLeOgLzp7KKGdxYGFjLSxcjH-AqJodptuKA_D5sSE2WF-ak0SoEwDy/s1600/Jennifer+Roberts.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysA9VkFhYiO0tGmmwrQ78aVQWQ3SUDmriaR1n0bg7RpH84AX5_koEVX00GbF7XDqyVkMBRX8zTrDdikzLeOgLzp7KKGdxYGFjLSxcjH-AqJodptuKA_D5sSE2WF-ak0SoEwDy/s1600/Jennifer+Roberts.png" /></a>Democrat Jennifer Roberts is getting a headstart on next year's mayoral race -- and on her neighbor -- with a Wednesday night fundraiser.<br />
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Roberts is the former Mecklenburg commissioners' chair who announced for mayor in May. She also lobbied city council members for the job after the resignation of Patrick Cannon, who last month entered federal prison for corruption.<br />
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Roberts lost out to fellow Democrat Dan Clodfelter, who happens to live two doors from her on Clement Avenue.<br />
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Roberts' had already raised more than $59,000 through June. Her Wednesday night fundraiser at Chima Brazlian Steakhouse is attracting some prominent Democratic donors, and at least one Republican.<br />
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Names on the invitation include longtime donor Sarah Belk Gambrell, former Charlotte Motor Speedway President Humpy Wheeler, businessman Bertram Scott, restaurateur Stefan Latorre and lawyer Bill Diehl. There's also attorney Scott Syfert, a Republican.<br />
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Dan McCorkle, Clodfelter's longtime campaign manager, said he expects the mayor to file papers this week for a new committee. That would allow him to raise money for an expected mayoral run. A former state senator, he could transfer $42,000 from his state account to a local committee.<br />
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Clodfelter and Roberts could be joined in a race by one or more City Council Democrats.<br />
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"I think the party’s pretty split at
this point," says Liz Johnson, a former county Democratic chair and a Roberts supporter. "But I think Jennifer maybe has shown proven leadership for a longer period
of time and has a style a good number of people are comfortable with.”<br />
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<br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-18275745119337460342014-11-21T11:12:00.001-05:002014-11-21T11:12:58.272-05:00In speaker's race, Leo Daughtry hopes second time's the charm<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R1uUBdYMApDLHPrkMvRcwkJHFnZxGDbbGv5q9ZYAbhS6uBci9nKFQY-zFi_U-UbpkGcrrG0-6WPuONMT8gBH0UF-GTqP2KK4qPsRGcMta4bUFcUjHxgGbrF8S44J349s5y4g/s1600/Leo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R1uUBdYMApDLHPrkMvRcwkJHFnZxGDbbGv5q9ZYAbhS6uBci9nKFQY-zFi_U-UbpkGcrrG0-6WPuONMT8gBH0UF-GTqP2KK4qPsRGcMta4bUFcUjHxgGbrF8S44J349s5y4g/s1600/Leo.png" /></a>The last time Republican Rep. Leo Daughtry ran for N.C. House speaker, it precipitated one of the biggest legislative upheavals in state history.<br />
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Now the Smithfield lawyer is running again. He's one of six GOP lawmakers in a race that House Republicans will decide Saturday at a meeting in Asheboro.<br />
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In November 2002, Republicans had just won a slim, 61-59 majority in House elections. A split GOP caucus nominated Daughtry for speaker. Not everybody was happy.<br />
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Critics, led by GOP Rep. Richard Morgan, continued to criticize Daughtry while scheming with Democratic leader Jim Black. With the caucus still divided in late January, Daughtry stepped aside in the name of unity. Republicans chose veteran Republican George Holmes as would-be speaker. <br />
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But the bottom was falling out for Republicans. Rep. Michael Decker made a surprise party shift, giving Democrats one more vote. And Morgan cut a deal with Black that made them co-speakers and sparked a long-running feud within the Republican Party.<br />
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Turned out Black had given Decker cash, campaign contributions and favors to switch parties. Both would go to prison on federal corruption charges. Morgan became a pariah to many Republicans and lost his seat in a 2006 GOP primary.<br />
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Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-75090455630364066502014-11-17T15:58:00.000-05:002014-11-17T16:30:46.346-05:00White smoke for House Republicans Saturday?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZut8BSByzk-MwmX_rSoVF2mzVdULic2zjsGjGdCFbnhqBppT3qTruawGDMbECcl0fR0wJy_ctbJTtcyyCE4722uRQR4VeOM1PjIbCJvuuDypsvMrk33gdYNp2y3rxe5W7dEdK/s1600/Charles+Jeter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZut8BSByzk-MwmX_rSoVF2mzVdULic2zjsGjGdCFbnhqBppT3qTruawGDMbECcl0fR0wJy_ctbJTtcyyCE4722uRQR4VeOM1PjIbCJvuuDypsvMrk33gdYNp2y3rxe5W7dEdK/s1600/Charles+Jeter.png" /></a>Republican House members gather in Asheboro Saturday to pick a new leader, a process that one legislator compares to another celebrated conclave.<br />
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"It's like electing a Pope in the Sistine Chapel," says Rep. Charles Jeter, a Huntersville Republican. "You cast secret ballots. Nobody knows how you vote. <br />
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"The only thing is, we don't put up white smoke when we're done."<br />
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Six Republicans, including three from the greater Charlotte area, are running to replace GOP Speaker Thom Tillis, who was elected to the U.S. Senate. Republicans will meet at Randolph County Community College Saturday to nominate a candidate for speaker and elect other caucus leaders.<br />
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Running for speaker are Republican Reps. Tim Moore of Kings Mountain, John Blust of Greensboro, Justin Burr of Albemarle, Leo Daughtry of Smithfield, Bryan Holloway of King and Mitchell Setzer of Catawba.<br />
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Like the cardinals in Rome, Republicans may have to go through several ballots before anyone gets the 38 votes needed. The winner would face a vote of the full House in January, though with 74 votes, a GOP candidate with broad party support will be the odds-on favorite.<br />
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Jeter is among other Republicans running for leadership positions. A candidate for GOP conference leader, a job that would give him oversight of the next elections, he's the only one running unopposed.<br />
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For Jeter, re-elected this month with 52.5 percent of the vote, that's welcome news.<br />
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"I'm certainly grateful that my election is unopposed," he says. "Being in a Democratic district where you're always going to be opposed, (it's nice) to finally be in an election unopposed."<br />
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<br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-35251472757189016132014-10-17T09:03:00.000-04:002014-10-17T09:03:19.580-04:00New Spanish-language ad targets Tillis<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
My colleague Franco Ordonez reports that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Thom Tillis is the target of a new Spanish-language ad directed at North Carolina Latino voters.</div>
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The 30-second spot, that will be aired starting<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1934790047" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Friday</span></span>, by liberal advocacy group People for the American Way says Tillis “<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14.56px;">doesn’t respect the values of our community.” It also targets his positions on education and minimum wage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14.56px;">“Republicans like Thom Tillis keep blocking opportunities for us, and that kind of disrespect we will not allow!,” the ad states in Spanish.</span></div>
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Latino voters make up less than 2 percent of the electorate in North Carolina, but some experts say they could be the difference in the close race between Tillis, the Republican state House speaker, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 14.56px;"><span style="font-size: small;">The ad makes no reference to immigration. Tillis opposes a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally, while Hagan supported a Senate bill that provided such a path. She, however, opposed efforts by President Obama to issue an executive order that would allow more undocumented immigrants to remain and work in the</span> country legally.</span></div>
Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-18411325546130868222014-10-16T18:54:00.000-04:002014-10-16T20:12:14.788-04:00Hagan stimulus money focus of new $1 million ad campaign <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtY1E-SMqswFmsEz9V6wII6Kkuznwya3mU2nXFqw80WRZjCxxx8fCm2fPsErt2xZAfys8IEWJ2hA1MqIy0-maU6QR_EeuvJJYSIuJh2AVbSjDN5OQhwysqNFqIb0q-Zi5j2X-B/s1600/Hagan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtY1E-SMqswFmsEz9V6wII6Kkuznwya3mU2nXFqw80WRZjCxxx8fCm2fPsErt2xZAfys8IEWJ2hA1MqIy0-maU6QR_EeuvJJYSIuJh2AVbSjDN5OQhwysqNFqIb0q-Zi5j2X-B/s1600/Hagan.jpg" /></a>Freedom Partners Action Fund plans to launch a $1 million ad campaign targeting Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan over allegations that her family benefited from the 2009 stimulus program.<br />
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The group, funded by the conservative Koch brothers, announced the ad campaign Thursday.<br />
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The ad is the first broadcast response to a story first reported last month by Politico. <br />
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Politico cited public records in reporting that JDC Manufacturing, a company co-owned by Hagan's husband, Chip, got nearly $390,000 in grants and tax credits under the stimulus law, which Kay Hagan voted for.<br />
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Hagan's campaign said at the time that Hagan was not involved with the business and consulted an ethics attorney, who advised that there was no conflict of interest.<br />
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But the Freedom Partners' ad says, "The Hagans got richer and we paid the price."<br />
<br />
Hagan spokeswoman Sadie Weiner says the family did not profit from the transaction.<br />
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"Speaker Tillis and his allies are desperate to say or do anything that will keep the focus off of his failed record in the General Assembly," Weiner said Thursday. "So now they are resorting to false attacks on Kay's family. Kay's only involvement was to seek the opinion of an ethics attorney who found it would be appropriate for her husband's company to receive these grants just like hundreds of other North Carolina companies did."<br />
<br />
Caitlin Legacki, a spokeswoman for JDC, said the federal money was monitored by inspectors and auditors. "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #141414; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Kay Hagan had no role during any of this process,: she said. "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Under no circumstances did JDC profit from these grants and any assertion otherwise is false."</span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-75993620778684276222014-10-16T08:51:00.001-04:002014-10-16T09:26:05.682-04:00A 12th District first? A Republican outraises the Democrat<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJMStRKklLAzj2kpNcAlEEmPaX5euife61yyQbS11gI6Vquye1Ksrkw8J5F4a_8_G_PsOYe2Rq-OgkZF11I8mrFqmKboXVycw9wP8VSFbmqYNV05L2iixS_gy81UYy-Ru0IEn/s1600/Vince+Coakley.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJMStRKklLAzj2kpNcAlEEmPaX5euife61yyQbS11gI6Vquye1Ksrkw8J5F4a_8_G_PsOYe2Rq-OgkZF11I8mrFqmKboXVycw9wP8VSFbmqYNV05L2iixS_gy81UYy-Ru0IEn/s1600/Vince+Coakley.png" /></a>Republican Vince Coakley did something no Republican has done before in the 12th Congressional District: Raise more money in a quarter than his Democratic opponent. <br />
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Coakley raised $172,000 in the third quarter to Democrat Alma Adams' $158,000, according to new reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. He also had more cash on hand at the end of September, $105,000 to Adams' $64,000.<br />
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Not that money is a big advantage in the district, which is overwhelmingly Democratic.<br />
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Adams, a state legislator from Greensboro, has raised more for the entire election: $666,000 to Coakley's $291,000. But she had a competitive primary.<br />
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Both are running for the seat held for two decades by Charlotte Democrat Mel Watt, who left to head the National Housing Finance Agency. Each of their names will actually appear on the ballot twice. Once to fill Watt's unexpired term and once for a full term.<br />
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Adams and Coakley, a Charlotte broadcaster, are about as far apart on issues as candidates can be. Both tapped national fundraising bases. <br />
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Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-62158709383579232942014-10-15T14:53:00.000-04:002014-10-15T14:53:59.949-04:00Guess who's not coming to the next Senate debate?Four U.S. Senate candidates are expected to debate Friday night at UNC Charlotte. And none of them are named Kay Hagan or Thom Tillis.<br />
<br />
Libertarian candidate Sean Haugh and three write-in candidates will appear at what's billed as an "all inclusive" debate sponsored by a group called Free the Vote North Carolina.<br />
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Hagan and Tillis were invited. Organizers never heard from Hagan; Tillis claimed a scheduling conflict.<br />
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It will be the second debate appearance for Haugh, who stood alongside the majority party candidates in Wilmington last week. It will be the first for write-in candidates Barry Gurney, John Rhodes and David Waddell.<br />
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Organizers say the debate is to show voters all their choices. That's what elections should be about, says Brian Irving, a spokesman for the Libertarian Party. "We have a
democracy," he says, "All the choices available to (voters) should be allowed to speak.”<br />
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The event is trying to make a statement about a system that not only keeps some candidates out of debates but often off the ballot. <br />
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Some debate organizers, including media organizations, require a candidate to hit a certain polling number to participate. And North Carolina's ballot is notoriously hard to get on.<br />
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To get on the ballot, for example, a new political party or unaffiliated candidate has to submit petitions signed by 2 percent of the total number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Now that's 89,366. <br />
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Last year a bi-partisan group of state House lawmakers introduced the Voter Freedom Act of 2013, a measure that would have launched a <em>study </em>of ways to ease ballot access. It passed the House 109-5 but went to the Senate Rules Committee where it died.<br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #505050; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/21px Arial; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span>Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-20707755322746276262014-10-14T11:24:00.000-04:002014-10-14T11:24:51.422-04:00Republicans doubling down on Thom Tillis<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXAxk9DBmYOd6gZ70dYaTmmmCZrdWyBIkAansfcwNs7daApFn82R6lLdJJZfESiKVWz-Izc2GutU3zYJAbCikfbJ7ZtWYk9m8Dt-Bxn6hr1mac4GNX_uijnQvu6onSrgouigT/s1600/Tillis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXAxk9DBmYOd6gZ70dYaTmmmCZrdWyBIkAansfcwNs7daApFn82R6lLdJJZfESiKVWz-Izc2GutU3zYJAbCikfbJ7ZtWYk9m8Dt-Bxn6hr1mac4GNX_uijnQvu6onSrgouigT/s1600/Tillis.jpg" /></a>With polls tightening in North Carolina's Senate race, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is betting another $6.5 million on Thom Tillis.<br />
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The NRSC is investing that much to help Tillis on top of the $3.9 million already committed. <br />
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The move comes as groups are making last-minute adjustments to their spending strategies three weeks before Election Day. A week before the new N.C. investment, the NRSC canceled $850,000 in ads on behalf of Michigan Senate candidate Terry Lynn Land.<br />
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The NRSC bump still leaves it behind its Democratic counterpart. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has spent over $16 million on behalf of Sen. Kay Hagan, and just announced another $1 million.<br />
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The NRSC investment comes as internal tracking polls and outside surveys show the race is tightening. Real Clear Politics shows Hagan with an average lead of 1.5 points, smaller than just a few days ago.<br />
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After getting pummeled in TV spending for months, Tillis and his allies pulled even and even a little ahead in mid-September, according to the Center for Public Integrity.<br />
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Lately they've been hitting Hagan with a series of ads that highlight the time she missed a Senate security hearing to attend a Park Avenue fundraiser.<br />
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"Even though Sen. Hagan has persistently led in the polls,
it’s never been anywhere close to a lead too big to come back from," said Tom Jensen, director of Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling.<br />
<br />
"For
instance in 2008 we found her lead go from 3 points to 7 points just in the
final week of the campaign. If Tillis could make a similar gain over the next 3
weeks that would be enough to erase the 3-4 point lead Hagan has in the polls
right now. We’re finding that the overall national climate right now is
trending in the GOP’s direction."<br />
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Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-90457988087327483662014-10-08T15:29:00.001-04:002014-10-08T15:49:40.330-04:00Can Sean Haugh make Senate candidates play nice?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMy9nh6oLy96ivBbo3tpvaQ-o1EuPGzChP3ldiwfU0pme4h_OOp1MC5lmLxWuez3J5OaHexANSgLiOGtVcYoo0W9Brzd0D2iPvnSFPM4X9WQZd_4vtFFqcpNQfV9ps2KdFAD7Y/s1600/Sean+Haugh.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMy9nh6oLy96ivBbo3tpvaQ-o1EuPGzChP3ldiwfU0pme4h_OOp1MC5lmLxWuez3J5OaHexANSgLiOGtVcYoo0W9Brzd0D2iPvnSFPM4X9WQZd_4vtFFqcpNQfV9ps2KdFAD7Y/s1600/Sean+Haugh.png" /></a>Sean Haugh watched this week's U.S. Senate debate in a bar with the sound down, just the way he liked it. <br />
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“I have absolutely no interest whatsoever," he said shortly before Tuesday's debate. "One of the reasons I don't watch it it I already know what they re going to say."<br />
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But Thursday night the Durham Libertarian and pizza delivery man will join Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan and Republican Thom Tillis on the set of Wilmington's WECT studio for the third and probably last Senate debate.<br />
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Haugh doesn't plan to get into the personal attacks each of the main party candidates leveled on each other during their first two debates.<br />
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"I don’t feel any great need to talk about them" he said. "I think people are
already familiar with all the reasons not to vote for them. They've done a good
job of that."<br />
<br />
In fact he thinks he might help change the tone.<br />
<br />
"I hope my presence might help them play nice with each other,” he said.<br />
<br />
Haugh has lingered in the single digits in most Senate polls. A USA Today/Suffolk University Poll released Wednesday had him at 4 percent. He had 7 percent in an NBC poll released Sunday.<br />
<br />
So he could be a spoiler in what's expected to be a close race. But a spoiler for whom?<br />
<br />
Conventional wisdom has been that he would take votes from Tillis. But an Elon University survey suggested just the opposite.<br />
<br />
The online survey gave 763 voters a choice of a ballot with all three candidates and one with just Hagan and Tillis. It found that Haugh would siphon twice as many votes from Hagan as from Tillis.<br />
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Tillis, the survey directors concluded, "should be thankful that Haugh is on the ballot."<br />
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Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-56847456171990891132014-10-07T16:11:00.000-04:002014-10-07T16:31:33.756-04:005 things to watch in tonight's Senate debate<br />
Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Kay Hagan meet Tuesday night in their second debate. Here are five things to watch for. The hour-long debate starts at 7 and will be shown on most broadcast stations.<br />
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1. How will they handle the inevitable question on gay marriage?<br />
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On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to gay marriage in North Carolina and other states, and couples could be tying the knot this month. Tillis opposes gay marriage and stood up for the constitutional amendment banning it. Now does he appeal to his base or to the middle that may be ready to accept what looks like the inevitability of same-sex marriage? <br />
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Hagan supports gay marriage, despite the fact that the amendment passed in 2012 with more than 60 percent of N.C. voters supporting it.<br />
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2. How will Hagan respond to criticism of her attendance at meetings of the Armed Services Committee, especially given the rise of ISIS?<br />
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And will Tillis say what he would do differently than President Obama in dealing with the militants?<br />
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3. How much will each candidate criticize the other over alleged conflicts of interest? Both have found themselves, or their families, the subject of recent stories.<br />
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4. How much of the debate will focus on the record of the Republican-controlled General Assembly as opposed to national issues? <br />
<br />
5. How will Tillis address his opponent? In their first debate, he called her "Kay," sparking criticism from some. He alluded to that Saturday when he spoke at an event with Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska.<br />
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“Sen. Fisher – if you don’t mind me calling you Deb – I know some senators
like titles,” he said.<br />
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<em></em><br />
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<br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-23476471776501387222014-09-15T07:30:00.000-04:002014-09-15T09:14:09.477-04:00New poll is latest showing Hagan with edge in Senate race<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRo4Ogd4MgW8-TY16DTMhtQYmQsp8eg7U6ZctBcfoHafgzqWR3_4EpdD-Kqt9mINsdYF_Z4LNXYSJWyP7Tze5hNdRVb3uvuMTGY9L6WMt4nslbviBHqZDpG_b9ZdEKAG2k34Uz0A/s1600/18R80o.St.138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRo4Ogd4MgW8-TY16DTMhtQYmQsp8eg7U6ZctBcfoHafgzqWR3_4EpdD-Kqt9mINsdYF_Z4LNXYSJWyP7Tze5hNdRVb3uvuMTGY9L6WMt4nslbviBHqZDpG_b9ZdEKAG2k34Uz0A/s1600/18R80o.St.138.jpg" /></a></div>
A new poll released today is the third in a week showing Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan with an advantage over Republican Thom Tillis in North Carolina's U.S. Senate race.<br />
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The latest came this morning from American Insights, a Republican-leaning firm in Raleigh. It found Hagan leading Tillis 43 percent to 34 percent among registered voters, with Libertarian Sean Haugh pulling 5 percent. The margin of error is 4.6 percentage points.<br />
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The 9-point lead is Hagan's largest in any recent poll.<br />
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"The race has unmistakably shifted towards Sen. Hagan in recent days," says polling director Pearce Godwin, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole. "This poll is a continuation and affirmation of the very recent trend in Sen. Hagan's direction. But there is still a lot of time left on the clock, and I would be surprised if this race does not revert to a jump ball between now and November."<br />
<br />
Godwin says it appears to be a result at least in part of the barrage of Democratic ads against Tillis. Hi polls also suggest that Hagan was helped by her first debate with Tillis. Fifty-seven percent of likely female voters and 50 percent of like male voters said she performed better, according to the AI poll.<br />
<br />
On Thursday a Rasmussen poll of likely voters showed Hagan leading Tillis 45 percent to 39 percent, while 6 percent favored somebody else and 9 percent were undecided.<br />
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A Survey USA/Civitas poll released the same day showed Hagan ahead 46 percent to 43 percent, with Haugh taking 5 percent.<br />
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Nate Silver's 538 blog took note of those two polls last week.<br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fefefe; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: ArnhemPro, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">"The two polls together moved Hagan from a 45 percent underdog to a 61 percent percent favorite," it said. "With Hagan now leading, the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/senate-forecast/" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fefefe; border: 0px currentColor; box-sizing: border-box; color: #008fd5; font-family: ArnhemPro, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">FiveThirtyEight model</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fefefe; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: ArnhemPro, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 26px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>does not project a single state in which President Obama won in either 2008 or 2012 to switch from Democratic to Republican control."</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fefefe; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 17px/26px ArnhemPro, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #e3e3e3; color: #272727; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 12px/16.79px verdana, arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-65761232366133838322014-09-10T11:51:00.000-04:002014-09-10T13:58:31.454-04:00New ads urge minorities to vote -- for Republicans<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMj-pDC-FWtw3l5qazJKPMAkiPMXT7R1kYvEjLE3fIcVoUpS0D3tHtHjnlGonGbfhQTeC1TKf7pBqZF0NQhb4_-lBPAus3KXJhvmhTwTBRHdOwbycz-9otwdYIV0RqnUDaDed/s1600/Ben+Carson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMj-pDC-FWtw3l5qazJKPMAkiPMXT7R1kYvEjLE3fIcVoUpS0D3tHtHjnlGonGbfhQTeC1TKf7pBqZF0NQhb4_-lBPAus3KXJhvmhTwTBRHdOwbycz-9otwdYIV0RqnUDaDed/s1600/Ben+Carson.jpg" /></a>Minorities have been the Democratic Party's most reliable voters in North Carolina and around the country. Now supporters of Ben Carson are trying to change that.<br />
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The National Draft <span class="hit">Ben</span> <span class="hit">Carson</span> for President Committee is spending $300,000 on ads on radio stations geared to African Americans and Hispanics. It's spending another $230,000 on ads in Louisiana. The ads, which start in most markets today, target Democratic U.S. Sens. Kay Hagan and Mary Landrieu.<br />
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The ads seek to persuade minority voters that Republican positions on energy, abortion and education are more in line with their values than those of Democrats.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"Minority voters for 60 years have only heard what the Republican Party stands for from Democrats, and they haven't been kind descriptions," says Vernon Robinson, a Winston-Salem Republican and campaign director of the draft Carson committee. "Democrats have been running ads that say Republicans want to kill your mom and your dog."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Robinson says the ads are designed to chip away at support for Hagan, who's in a tight race with Republican Thom Tillis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"Even minor shifts in minority participation are significant
in a close race because Kay Hagan doesn’t have any minority voters to give up,” he says.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Carson has said a Republican takeover of the Senate -- the GOP needs a net gain of 6 seats -- would encourage him to seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">A retired neurosurgeon, Carson is also author of "One Nation," which currently sits atop the New York Times bestseller list.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong></strong></span><br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-22483068507614719312014-09-04T17:35:00.000-04:002014-09-04T18:21:30.978-04:00Tillis isn't only Republican pushing contraception changes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQ2rVJWjkT3l8hIIexReD4wYuFngkU3LEZ_49atog2bD9m3-1YAFiynns9dIia1tIfKH0a2dm0hWYh2Dj0MAGjEkz4kQLb-A8PewWH0QlDXUgWDY_6NDqejgA0BeJXKIyBGBy/s1600/Contraception.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQ2rVJWjkT3l8hIIexReD4wYuFngkU3LEZ_49atog2bD9m3-1YAFiynns9dIia1tIfKH0a2dm0hWYh2Dj0MAGjEkz4kQLb-A8PewWH0QlDXUgWDY_6NDqejgA0BeJXKIyBGBy/s1600/Contraception.jpg" /></a>Republican Thom Tillis caused a few eyebrows to rise Wednesday night when the subject turned to contraception.<br />
<br />
Debate moderator Norah O'Donnell asked Tillis and Democrat Kay Hagan what they thought of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision, which said a company that objects for religious reasons can deny employees contraceptive coverage.<br />
<br />
"I believe contraception should be available probably more broadly than it is today," he said. "I actually agree with the American
Medical Association, that we should make contraception more widely available. I think over-the-counter oral contraception should be available
without prescription. If you do that, you will increase access and reduce barriers
for having more options for women for contraception."<br />
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Turns out Tillis isn't the only GOP Senate candidate pushing the over-the-counter alternative. </div>
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The Los Angeles Times reports that Republican Senate candidates in Colorado, Virginia and Minnesota have also broached the idea of over-the-counter sales. The Times said the positions "bear the strong scent of election-year choreography."</div>
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Like candidates across the country, Tillis and Hagan are fighting over the women's vote.</div>
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Tillis said the Hobby Lobby decision was about religious freedom, not contraception. </div>
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Hagan disagrees with the ruling.</div>
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"Kay Hagan, I suspect, with the support that she's getting
from the pharmaceutical industry, may have a variety of reasons to not put it
on the counter," Tillis said, "but that's how you reduce costs and improve access."</div>
<br />
Tillis suggested Hagan might oppose over-the-counter sales because of her support from the pharmaceutical industry. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, she's gotten over $425,000 in contributions from the industry.<br />
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Tillis' comments on contraception caught even supporters by surprise.<br />
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“We were a little surprised by the over-the-counter idea on
contraception," said Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the N.C. Values Coalition. "But look what's happened in the race. Kay Hagan has tried to paint Thom Tillis
as being extreme. She's gone out there and created this false narrative that he’s
trying to limit women's access to contraception..... </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"Making contraception available over the counter is is a bad idea. But what
we know about Tillis is he has a record of being pro-life. He’ll be a supporter
of pro-life values in the Senate."</span></div>
<br />
Melissa Reed, a v<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">ice president of Planned Parenthood Health Systems Action Fund, <span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">said Tillis's proposal "<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">masquerades as a solution, but it is not one."</span></span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">"It's not surprising that Thom Tillis is trying to muddy the waters: 57 percent of women voters say they would be more likely to support a candidate who opposes allowing employers like Hobby Lobby to refuse to cover birth control."</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></span><br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-71682539072937242962014-09-03T17:51:00.000-04:002014-09-03T18:02:07.782-04:00Charlotte teacher hits Thom Tillis in new Kay Hagan adJustin Ashley, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg teacher who last year wrote an open letter to House Speaker Thom Tillis, is now featured in an ad for Tillis's U.S. Senate opponent, Democrat Kay Hagan.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="236" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WA2e5sOcRyA" width="420"></iframe>
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A year ago, Ashley wrote to Tillis in the form of an op-ed in the Observer. In it, he explained how he had benefited from a North Carolina <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ORIGHIT_3"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="HIT_3"></a><span class="hit">Teaching
Fellows</span> Scholarship, a program the legislature ended. He implored Tillis to keep it.<br />
<br />
"I feel like I’m doing what I was born to do. I come from a low-income family, so this scholarship gave me the opportunity to go to college to become a teacher," he says in the new Hagan ad. " “This is an opportunity that no teacher will ever have again in this state. That scholarship, it was eliminated <br />
under the last budget because of the cuts from Mr. Tillis.”<br />
<br />
Like the other ads in the series, he says Tillis "has taken the money we need for our schools and given it to billionaires."<br />
<br />
That's an allusion to last year's tax cuts, which Republicans credit with boosting the economy while Democrats say disproportionately benefit the wealthy.<br />
<br />
Ashley, who won N.C. teacher of
the year honors last year, is one of four people -- including a Charlotte student -- featured in four separate Hagan ads about education.<br />
<br />
Says Tillis spokesman Daniel Keylin: <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">"Kay Hagan is hitting the panic button and running a negative campaign because she can’t defend her record of voting with Obama’s failed liberal agenda 95 percent of the time. ... Thom Tillis cut taxes and created opportunities for every North Carolinian taxpayer, which has helped middle-class families struggling under the Obama-Hagan economy get back on their feet. Under Thom’s leadership, education funding has increased every year, and teachers recently received historic 7 percent average pay raises."</span><br />
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<br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-62541881712239288772014-08-27T16:39:00.000-04:002014-08-27T17:39:47.283-04:00Sanders may offer choice for Democrats in 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hK1-A9wQKWf0xl669OABPm-U8XOcXL9xeJ9WVt6R6gnqMzLq3OhxS6BuzlEVDlR9TFQ3BX3dEB8rVEszXxmB33Ff9XlJVYrQUpdLs7joTLDEwxn1NJL01Qxz8kx8AxkXjTjX/s1600/Bernie+Sanders.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8hK1-A9wQKWf0xl669OABPm-U8XOcXL9xeJ9WVt6R6gnqMzLq3OhxS6BuzlEVDlR9TFQ3BX3dEB8rVEszXxmB33Ff9XlJVYrQUpdLs7joTLDEwxn1NJL01Qxz8kx8AxkXjTjX/s1600/Bernie+Sanders.png" /></a>Four years ago, Sen. Bernie Sanders made headlines with a passionate, 8-hour speech on the Senate floor lambasting the Bush-era tax cuts and bemoaning the growing gap between rich and poor.<br />
<br />
Now Sanders, one of the Senate's two Independents, is taking that message on the road. On his itinerary: The early presidential primary states of Iowa and South Carolina.<br />
<br />
On Wednesday Sanders was in Charlotte to accept an award from the American Legion during its national convention. Sanders, who chairs the Senate's Veterans Affairs Committee, was honored with the Legion's Patriot Award.<br />
<br />
"The cost of war doesn't end when the last shots are fired or the last missiles are launched," he told the Legion audience. "The cost of war continues until the vet receives all of the benefits that he or she has earned."<br />
<br />
But when Sanders' met with me, it wasn't veterans that he wanted to talk about. It was the same subject he talked about four years ago and one he's cared about for a long time.<br />
<br />
"The main issue that I have is that in America today the middle-class is disappearing while the gap between rich and poor is growing wider," he said. "...We need more people in politics working for ordinary people and not just the top 1 percent."<br />
<br />
Sanders, who turns 73 in two weeks, says he hasn't made up his mond about 2016. And he's under no illusions about the prospect for a Democratic Socialist from Vermont getting the nomination, particularly in a field that could include a well-funded Hillary Clinton.<br />
<br />
"I realize I'm not a household name," says Sanders, who refuses corporate donations though he has taken money from organized labor.<br />
<br />
But he thinks there might be an opening for somebody with the right message. And he's going around the country seeing if audiences agree.<br />
<br />
"I think the average American is a lot more frustrated with the establishment than a lot of people perceive," he says. "I think there's receptivity for voices that are going to speak for a working class that is being battered."Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-3998663720993927182014-08-11T18:08:00.000-04:002014-08-11T18:17:07.955-04:00Will financial anxiety among older voters swing election?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAb50bzMGl3YniZXfA7Egeiz2hpiL0-ci3BkZAl8htkq_MqsZBvfvnm34GI3QDxt2zpvDkV4-YtGnEJpWwhRjtRz1U0T7s8fecg16cFnEYV3KffOIJKBgBCQN-CZ4yQx6iYrIaXA/s1600/9vxVn.St.138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAb50bzMGl3YniZXfA7Egeiz2hpiL0-ci3BkZAl8htkq_MqsZBvfvnm34GI3QDxt2zpvDkV4-YtGnEJpWwhRjtRz1U0T7s8fecg16cFnEYV3KffOIJKBgBCQN-CZ4yQx6iYrIaXA/s1600/9vxVn.St.138.jpg" /></a></div>
A new poll by the AARP shows a lot of financial anxiety among North Carolina voters who are retired or planning to be.<br />
<br />
And that anxiety could have implications for the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Kay Hagan and Republican Thom Tillis. Exit polls in 2010, the last off-year election, showed more than a quarter of N.C. voters were seniors.<br />
<br />
How bad is the anxiety? According to the survey of voters 50 and over:<br />
<br />
-- 68 percent worry that their income falls behind the cost of living.<br />
<br />
-- 67 percent of non-retirees -- and 55 percent of retirees -- are 'more worried and concerned' than hopeful about meeting their financial goals.<br />
<br />
-- 60 percent worry about paying too much in taxes.<br />
<br />
-- 79 percent of those over 50 worry about saving enough for retirement.<br />
<br />
Pollsters, a b-partisan team from North Star Opinion Research and Hart Research, found voters split evenly between Hagan and Tillis.<br />
<br />
But they also found only 39 percent like the job being done by President Barack Obama. that's still nearly five times the 8 percent approval of Congress.<br />
<br />
The poll reflects something else. It's why voters can expect to hear each candidate claim the other is a bigger threat to Social Security or Medicare.Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-84261533412095533802014-07-14T18:14:00.000-04:002014-07-14T18:21:22.188-04:00No joke: Did Pat McCrory give Jon Stewart too much credit?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigJfD5cXkfJ_woRSpyFE7az57g2SZuPZcZICAiA_VB7ysmjbQ9tH-xWJHGWfSiCTFCc430srfCJJxgtMCypJY9y-tElydmiCY4qNl_WMRyqKWA39MLBwE7mhH00PWRy1pTYRr/s1600/Jon+Stewart.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigJfD5cXkfJ_woRSpyFE7az57g2SZuPZcZICAiA_VB7ysmjbQ9tH-xWJHGWfSiCTFCc430srfCJJxgtMCypJY9y-tElydmiCY4qNl_WMRyqKWA39MLBwE7mhH00PWRy1pTYRr/s1600/Jon+Stewart.png" /></a>When Pat McCrory was the guest on Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins Monday morning, a caller asked him if there was any progress on the film credit issue.<br />
<br />
Film credits are under fire by lawmakers who want to change the system, which now give production companies a 25 percent credit up to $20
million on qualifying expenses. <br />
<br />
A Senate proposal would award grants totaling $20 million,
a third of the total of $61 million that the incentive program paid out last
year. The House budget contains a similar provision but leaves final amounts to be
negotiated with the Senate.<br />
<br />
<div class="loose">
McCrory wants a system of tax breaks more closely tied to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ORIGHIT_6"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="HIT_6"></a><span class="hit">film</span>-related jobs
and specific expenses. On Monday he said the Daily Show had received $400,000 in credits when it filmed in Charlotte during the 2012 Democratic National Convention.</div>
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</div>
<div class="loose">
But the state Film Office lists a different amount. Citing a report from the Department of Revenue, it shows that the Daily Show got a credit of $273,346.</div>
<div class="loose">
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<div class="loose">
The governor's office could not be reached.</div>
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</div>
<div class="loose">
Supporters say the industry provides 4,200 full-time and over 15,000 part-time jobs, with economic benefits in the millions.</div>
Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-16320257629126312942014-06-27T17:48:00.002-04:002014-06-28T09:57:57.406-04:00Hagan and Tillis dine together in Charlotte -- sort of<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9IS8CiG4WhF_CvMeZBipkPNR-ddCe_vBrGkCgcQrgw21CUqegfJ6Ky9iuN8wEPLvzXBBF2djQfmjTMoI9QrLDRRA477zW0BhMMS-cPGtxrgReV6mx0KIyOT5FYerIEgzaiuw5/s1600/Hagan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9IS8CiG4WhF_CvMeZBipkPNR-ddCe_vBrGkCgcQrgw21CUqegfJ6Ky9iuN8wEPLvzXBBF2djQfmjTMoI9QrLDRRA477zW0BhMMS-cPGtxrgReV6mx0KIyOT5FYerIEgzaiuw5/s1600/Hagan.jpg" /></a>Attorney Steve Hockfield had just arrived at the Charlotte City Club Friday for a fundraiser for Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan. When he got off the elevator, he was surprised to see people wearing name tags with the logo of her Republican opponent, Thom Tillis.<br />
<br />
Turns out both candidates were there for simultaneous fundraising luncheons.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnFihiXaZBKp5NEUEXZ9J1cCU4ONh7wzg02xbAL98eBwJUqsqISwmHSZHckeaarZsH2H-57q4XTb-6v_hM0z7EasNEg9hXFaCM_Jnw5_l0qig7qACEBeIalUvU0JBttOP1Go5/s1600/Tillis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnFihiXaZBKp5NEUEXZ9J1cCU4ONh7wzg02xbAL98eBwJUqsqISwmHSZHckeaarZsH2H-57q4XTb-6v_hM0z7EasNEg9hXFaCM_Jnw5_l0qig7qACEBeIalUvU0JBttOP1Go5/s1600/Tillis.jpg" /></a>Separated only by a floor, they greeted supporters and introduced special guests. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan was there for Hagan. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush stumped for Tillis.<br />
<br />
Neither of the candidates met in the hallway or the elevator.<br />
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<br />
Said Tillis: "She apparently booked her fundraiser there after we did."<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><em></em></span><br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-69956854046691759002014-06-19T14:24:00.000-04:002014-06-19T14:37:05.571-04:00Debates are hot topic in Senate debateDebates over debates are a ritual in political campaigns. Who asks the questions? How long for rebuttals? How high the podium?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYb_XbzmBTZbdejXgGxn-EUNiZAbnjmlctKCC55Cedq_dQmseoil7t7gZJWyVCgybrbMjGp49OPZSens17ODzhcqp0oAMaTI9RFh_D0YzVVMOlnUPoJbiGsLvfZ4wtWaULcFVw/s1600/Tillis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYb_XbzmBTZbdejXgGxn-EUNiZAbnjmlctKCC55Cedq_dQmseoil7t7gZJWyVCgybrbMjGp49OPZSens17ODzhcqp0oAMaTI9RFh_D0YzVVMOlnUPoJbiGsLvfZ4wtWaULcFVw/s1600/Tillis.jpg" /></a>The debate in North Carolina's U.S. Senate race hasn't even gotten that far.<br />
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Negotiators for Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan and Republican House Speaker Thom Tillis have yet to get to the table themselves.<br />
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Hagan laid out her debate plan in a May 29 letter to Tillis. She proposed accepting a request for a televised debate from the N.C. Association of Broadcasters. <br />
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"Once this debate has been finalized," she wrote, "I look forward to setting a productive and mutually agreed upon public debate schedule with mainstream media and moderators with ties to North Carolina."<br />
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On Thursday Paul Shumaker, Tillis's debate point person, emailed his counterpart Jim Phillips proposing a meeting to establish a schedule of debates. At least a half dozen other groups have asked to host one.<br />
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"The Tillis Campaign sees this process as one that is much larger than just finalizing debate details with the N.C. Broadcasters Association," he wrote. "In fact I assumed that as a seasoned political veteran you would see the value of a planning process that finalized a complete debate schedule through an inclusive process with all the organizations rather than an exclusive process with just one."<br />
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Phillips responded Thursday afternoon.<br />
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"It's clear we all agree that we need a spirited and productive public debate schedule like we proposed in our initial letter... Based on my experience negotiating debates in the past, I believe we will have the most effective process if we sit down with the Broadcasters and come to an agreement on all the many details involved in setting and conducting a debate. The first step will make it easier to determine the rest of the public debate schedule."<br />
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Shumaker says voters deserve many chances to the differences between the candidates, especially in a pivotal election nationally. He thinks Hagan is trying to avoid that.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlxqb7iBgZsNwbDr-Ufu_5SeG4XfJh2m8v2zBzsaaDlLy7_4hTutqPNXroRubqL2A-rSdvEI7PGc1SBgSfN_QsNtG2IvaEA6qaO6uG3JIUl8BUFzSJum326eBaR3U0ESeNjQg/s1600/Hagan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlxqb7iBgZsNwbDr-Ufu_5SeG4XfJh2m8v2zBzsaaDlLy7_4hTutqPNXroRubqL2A-rSdvEI7PGc1SBgSfN_QsNtG2IvaEA6qaO6uG3JIUl8BUFzSJum326eBaR3U0ESeNjQg/s1600/Hagan.jpg" /></a><br />
"It appears this is about her trying to avoid multiple debates," he says. "We don't want an exclusive process where we're showing favoritism to one group over another."<br />
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There's no debate-ducking, according to Hagan spokeswoman Sadie Weiner.<br />
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"We're open to as many as it takes to make sure voters have the opportunity to see the contrast between her record of putting North Carolina voters first and Speaker Tillis's record of putting special interests first."<br />
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<br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-77192399758447494672014-06-18T18:19:00.000-04:002014-06-18T18:24:02.753-04:00Airport bill creates turbulence between colleagues<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-juPSdgkws8TfspUmAb3VW8BhnUc2UqcYhfmVk07Ekp1GUg_Xk0l6Q86DeZQepmttHgSF9998u0t_yVgQGxhFhWoQX9jhOJXIQuCp16hUjA5M4cO-w2E6O3KhQOdjX_H_gvQ/s1600/Jeff+Jackson.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-juPSdgkws8TfspUmAb3VW8BhnUc2UqcYhfmVk07Ekp1GUg_Xk0l6Q86DeZQepmttHgSF9998u0t_yVgQGxhFhWoQX9jhOJXIQuCp16hUjA5M4cO-w2E6O3KhQOdjX_H_gvQ/s1600/Jeff+Jackson.png" /></a>It didn't take long for Mecklenburg County's newest senator to get into a virtual shouting match with its senior senator.<br />
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It started when Sen. Jeff Jackson, a Charlotte Democrat, publicly criticized a bill involving Charlotte's airport earlier this month. He called the bill, which came as a surprise to city officials as well as most lawmakers, a "sneak attack." That didn't sit well with Sen. Bob Rucho, a Matthews Republican and a chief sponsor of the bill.<br />
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Neither did Jackson's subsequent fundraising appeal.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWPZA3Vx2ENq8OZ1TC56_i0mFFxKwYxI65Lcj3L216kOXC2RZQmkuOKITU_8R_R-Dw1oBPlKUrQ1_idhQ1pt-S0v89M1SST-B2ioaijYxTYELXc6DQ6UgKdrdivfNMafcotVY/s1600/Rucho2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWPZA3Vx2ENq8OZ1TC56_i0mFFxKwYxI65Lcj3L216kOXC2RZQmkuOKITU_8R_R-Dw1oBPlKUrQ1_idhQ1pt-S0v89M1SST-B2ioaijYxTYELXc6DQ6UgKdrdivfNMafcotVY/s1600/Rucho2.jpg" /></a><br />
"Moments ago, Senator Rucho and the Republican majority slammed a bill through session that could strip Charlotte of its airport," he wrote in an email to supporters. "Right now the court is settling the matter. Apparently Senator Rucho has run out of patience. We all know this isn't about policy -- it's about control."<br />
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That prompted the following exchange between the two senators.<br />
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-- "Senator Jackson, we need leaders to tell the truth," he emailed back. "The
court and the FAA are at an impasse and need clarification of the law. Shame on you for politicizing this most important economic
issue for our community. The people of <st1:place w:st="on">Mecklenburg</st1:place>
county deserve better."<br />
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-- "Sen. Rucho, Our concerns about this bill were completely appropriate. 1) There was zero consultation with any of the stakeholders. 2) The bill was plainly substantive and not technical. </div>
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3) The whole thing just smelled awful. I’m genuinely ready to work with you on this and any piece
of legislation that impacts our county.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think you’d find that I’m a flexible and reasonable person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there’s ever anything you’d like to
collaborate on, my door is always open."</div>
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-- "Your political exploitation of an important economic issue
and your fund raising letter is what smells," Rucho responded this week. "You apparently speak before you know the facts especially
since you were not engaged in the original debate. You can't ignore the pay to
play actions of the former mayor and the on going investigation by the FBI.
There is already a pay to play connection with the airport taxi service and
there is no telling who else will be implicated.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"It is all about insulating the airport from pay to play
politics and cronyism but maybe that does not concern you."<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p><br /></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-89269349298017140972014-06-10T15:05:00.000-04:002014-06-10T17:12:21.418-04:00Did Mayor Clodfelter part ways with law firm? <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMi0Xg6Udknas-qtyTEWvImQcNEiTECm_GniFa_kYv6qqoixYE4HXH0ix6f2uySSUpkHUV4lZb60DP4mUmYTX2X4YRA65QNSvxgtvLwjdEWFKiutEsL3WJdDwCj0VhWbwpB0n/s1600/Clodfelter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMi0Xg6Udknas-qtyTEWvImQcNEiTECm_GniFa_kYv6qqoixYE4HXH0ix6f2uySSUpkHUV4lZb60DP4mUmYTX2X4YRA65QNSvxgtvLwjdEWFKiutEsL3WJdDwCj0VhWbwpB0n/s1600/Clodfelter.png" /></a>Dan Clodfelter has worked for Moore & Van Allen since 1978, long before he was elected to the Charlotte City Council, the state Senate and most recently as mayor.<br />
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But it now appears Clodfelter is no longer with the firm. <br />
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His name is not listed among the professionals on the firm's web site. <br />
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Google Clodfelter and the firm and one result that pops up is a Moore & Van Allen press release that touts his 2013 recognition by a legal magazine as a "Leader in Law." Click on the link and you get this: "The link you followed .... does not correspond to a valid address on this web site."<br />
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Through a spokeswoman, Clodfelter has repeatedly declined to talk about his relationship with the firm. <br />
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Ernie Reigel, chairman of the firm's management committee, did not return repeated calls.<br />
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As a lawyer with the firm, Clodfelter was scrupulous about avoiding potential conflicts involving his or his firm's clients.<br />
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Now, according to the city attorney, he doesn't have to disclose his employment until the next disclosure forms are due in January.<br />
<br />Jim Morrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01736614477965058875noreply@blogger.com5