Home 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.

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.

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.

Democratic Sen. Joel Ford of Charlotte tried to remove it from the bill, and leave state law conform to federal law.
   

"We should provide the same tax relief to North Carolina taxpayers and put more money in pockets," he said. "Not conforming to the federal law on this amounts to kicking a person when they're down.”

 

For procedural reasons, Ford's proposed amendment never came up for a vote.

 

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.

 

The Senate tentatively passed the bill 36-14 along part lines. Final approval is expected Thursday before it would head to the House.

 

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.    

 

Poll: GOP has best chance since '94 to win N.C. House and Senate

A new survey by Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling shows Republicans in their best position in years to take over one or even both chambers in the N.C. General Assembly next year.

The poll by the Democratic-leaning company shows voters evenly split when asked whether they'll vote for a Republican or Democrat next year.

"Two major themes continue to present themselves in our legislative polling,"
wrote PPP's Tom Jensen, "which are that GOP voters are more unified than Democrats and that independents are leaning slightly toward the Republicans for next year. 88% of Republicans say they will support their party in 2010 to 76% of Democrats who say they will. Independents express a Republican intent by a margin of 34-32."

For now, Jensen wrote, Republicans "probably do have their best chance since 1994 of grabbing control of both houses of the General Assembly. Of course a lot could change between now and November- it would have been hard last December to imagine things looking as dreary for Democrats as they do right now."

Democrats have seen a former governor under investigation for corruption, a top Senate Democrat accused of insider trading, a current governor with approval ratings in the 20s and a big tax increase to cope with the deepest budget shortfall in memory.

Still, not all Democrats are worried. House Speaker Joe Hackney of Chapel Hill expects to pick up seats in the House.

Rankings, rasslin' and a survey

New effectiveness rankings for N.C. legislators are giving ammunition to at least one Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

Greg Dority says he'll use rival Robert Pittenger's ranking against him. Pittenger was ranked 49th in the 50-member Senate by the non-partisan N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, which bases its rankings on surveys of lawmakers, lobbyists and reporters.

"If a guy can't hack it in the state senate, what makes him think he is qualified to be Lieutenant Governor?," Dority said in a statement.

The rankings are skewed to Democrats, who control the General Assembly. Only four Republicans, for example, cracked the top 25 most effective senators.

"95 percent of all legislation passed is by democrats," Pittenger wrote in an email. "They don't allow republicans to passed their legislation. Condidering the (partisanship), I was very effective."

Here's how Charlotte-area lawmakers ranked:

SENATE (50 members)
3. David Hoyle, D-Gaston
4. Dan Clodfelter, D-Mecklenburg
6. Walter Dalton, D-Rutherford
9. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus
18. Charlie Dannelly, D-Mecklenburg
37. Jim Forrester, R-Gaston
42. Eddie Goodall, R-Union
43. Malcolm Graham, D-Mecklenburg
45. Austin Allran, R-Catawba
49. Robet Pittenger, R-Mecklenburg

HOUSE (120 members)
17. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg
20. Drew Saunders, D-Mecklenburg
24. Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg
37. Joe Kiser, R-Lincoln
41. Jeff Barnhart, R-Cabarrus
48. Debbie Clary, R-Cleveland
53. Beverly Earle, D-Mecklenburg
56. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland
61. Karen Ray, R-Iredell
62. Linda Johnson, R-Cabarrus
75. Pete Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg
85. Tricia Cotham, D-Mecklenburg
89. Mitchell Setzer, R-Catawba
92. Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg
95. Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg
101. Bill Current, R-Gaston
103. Mark Hilton, R-Catawba
107. Wil Neumann, R-Gaston
109. Ric Killian, R-Mecklenburg
115. Jacob Blackwood, R-Union
117. Jim Gulley, R-Mecklenburg

------ 'WOOOO!' Myrick

U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick got up in Congress recently and talked about wrestler Ric Flair and his "dreaded Figure Four Leglock." She also tried his trademark yell. Check it out.

----- NYU Survey

New York University student Matthew Schottland asked for help on a survey aimed at "understanding voting behavior from a psychological perspective." It's funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

To take the survey, click this link.

Caught in a crossfire (a real one)

East Los Angeles is a long way from east Charlotte, but that's where Democrat Lloyd Scher went as part of his campaign for the N.C. House.

A former Mecklenburg County commissioner, Scher is running against Rep. Tricia Cotham in the Democratic primary. She's made anti-gang legislation a top priority in Raleigh. Scher says he would too.

Two weeks ago, his research took him to East L.A. There, he says, he drove through a gang-infested neighborhood with an L.A. cop. They sped to a call where a member of the Avenues gang had been shooting at police with an AK-47. When they got there, another jumped up and started firing a handgun. A third gang member took hostages.

The first gunman was killed by police. The second one was shot and arrested. While Scher waited in a mobile command post, the third was arrested after a 7 1/2-hour hostage ordeal.

"It was scary, I will tell you that," said Scher. "But I'm glad it was because it showed me how dangerous the gang situation is. And if we don't do something now, we could be facing this in Charlotte."

He said he's also visited with police in New York and Chicago. He and Cotham are running in District 100 that covers east Charlotte and Matthews.

Saunders fires first shot at Mackey

State Rep. Drew Saunders has come out swinging in his Democratic primary against Nick Mackey.

"I have no desire to be a Policeman, Judge or Sheriff," Saunders wrote in a news release. "I am running for this office to represent the people of the district, not because I am mad that I cannot be Sheriff.

"My opponent has been held in contempt of court because he would not represent one person in the court room. If he did not represent one person in the heart of Charlotte, how can we expect him to represent 67,000 people while working out of the State Capitol in Raleigh?"

Mackey filed in Saunders' House District 99 Friday. In December he won a party election to fill a vacancy for sheriff, only to have the vote overturned after the state party found rules had been broken. In 2006, he ran unsuccessfully for district court judge.

In January, Mackey, a lawyer, was convicted of contempt of court after failing to show up for the client's December trial.

Mackey declined to respond to Saunders.

"I don't stoop to that kind of mudslinging so I don't have any comment," he said today. "I’m not going to be baited into some back-and-forth mudslinging with him. We’ll debate the issues and that's that."

Saunders, a six-term legislator, has never had a primary. He said today that he'll run an aggressive campaign.

"I need for (Mackey) to know that it’s going to be a race," he said. "I can’t lay down and give him my seat just because he’s disappointed he didn't get the sheriff’s race."

The winner faces Republican Dempsey Miller.

With help like this....

Give Alan Teitleman credit. At least he's subtle.

Teitleman is a young Republican from Mint Hill who this week announced that he'll challenge GOP Rep. Jim Gulley in next year's primary. Gulley, 68, is from Matthews. So along with his announcement, Teitleman sent some pictures of Gulley.

"I've been told that you may be missing some recent photos of Jim," he said in an email. "Feel free to use at your pleasure."

The pictures weren't all unflattering. They didn't all look like the one above.

Teitleman also has edited Gulley's Wikipedia entry to include a paragraph about his own campaign as well as a link to his Web site. Gulley says he's gone in there and erased Teitleman's additions several times, only to see them added back the next day.

Says Gulley: "It's so early. Why are we starting now? They’re still running the municipal elections."

*****************

And get ready for more wild and crazy legislative races.

Former Mecklenburg County commissioner Lloyd Scher launched a Web site this week in his bid to take on state Rep. Tricia Cotham in next year's District 100 Democratic primary.

And on the Republican side, former state Sen. Bob Rucho said he's leaning toward a race against incumbent Sen. Robert Pittenger in their southeast Mecklenburg district.