Pacific Regional Senate Debate from Las Vegas, Nevada

[No more McShame]

Welcome to Las Vegas at the University of las Vegas for the Pacific Regional Senate Debate between Secretary TrueDemocrat of Montana and Mr. FuturePrez of Arizona.  I'm your moderator, Clark Kent.

My first question is this.  Secretary TrueDemocrat, what about your record as an officeholder do believe justifies voters sending you to the Senate?  FuturePrez, do you have any criticisms of the Secretary's record that should keep him out of the Senate?  How do you respond to charges of your own lack of experience?

First of all I would like to thank the University of Nevada at Las Vegas for hosting this debate.  Secretary TrueDemocrat, it's a pleasure to share the state with you again.  And Mr. Super... Kent, thank you very much for moderating.

I think TrueDemocrat has been an excellent Secretary of Forum Affairs.  In fact, as Senator I would be willing to advise and consent to his return if the next President will allow.  His short time as President is in the past and shouldn't be at issue here.  My main differences with him are over ideology.  The directions he would like to take Atlasia in is to the failed big government policies of the past.  I will be a voice in the Senate for a reduced role of government and for devolving many powers from the federal government to the regional level.  I will be a voice for lower taxes for all Atlasians.  The economy has been slumping as of late.  I will be a voice to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of Atlasia.  The secretary's policies will hinder economic growth and discourage innovation.  Government should serve only as referee not as a participant.

As for those who criticize my fairly recent entry into Atlasian politics, I do not intend on being a career politician.  Our founding fathers envisioned a land of citizen legislators.  I hope to live up to that ideal.  What I may lack in political experience I make up for in real world experience.  I will bring that perspective to the Senate and bring innovative ideas to the table that you will not find from someone who spends all their time in the Ivory Tower of Atlasian government.

[No more McShame]

Interesting that the bulk of the Secretary's political life has been in the Northeast region.  I have lived 85% of my life in the Pacific region.  I love the diversity of the region and know it's issues well.  Can the Secretary fully be a voice for the Pacific region if he brings a "Northeastern" mindset to his seat?

[No more McShame]

I wanted to make sure FuturePrez had a chance to respond to your last comments if he wished, it appears he does not, so we'll move on.

I apologize Mr. Kent I didn't know I was being given a chance to respond to the Secretary's last comments.  I believe that we should have flat tax rates.  Progressive taxation discourages success and ensures that we have less of it as a society.  That's a bad thing.  When rates are raised on the wealthiest, they are encouraged to find new tax shelters that are not necessairly condusive to the economy.

As for the current question, I believe it is my role as a Senator to act as the voice of the Pacific in Nyman.  Specific legislation will deal with national issues.  It is not the role of a regions Senators to create pork barrell spending to the citizens of the region.  My role as Senator will be to lower federal taxes and give regions more of a say in their own affiars.

[No more McShame]

Wow, what a question, where to start?

Let me say this, being a free and open society.  We can not and must not restrict interregional movement.  I got sick of Oregon and Minnesota winters so now I reside in Arizona.

As far as foreign immigration, I am a strong supporter of streamlining the legal immigration process so it does not take years to get here legally.  Technology can be a big help here. 

For security reasons we must curtail illegal immigration.  The majority of migrants that illegally cross our borders are here to work hard and improve their lives.  However, that small percentage of those who illegally cross to harm Atlasia must be stopped.  We also cannot discount the enviornmental impact illegal immigration has upon the desert.  Previously pristine desert regions have been literally trashed.  I have three proposals to make this happen.  First, increase funding and support for the border patrol.  I do not support projects such as the Minutemen, but they did prove that increasing manpower along the border will help curtail illegal crossings.  Secondly, a comprehensive guest worker program that does not lead to amnesty.  Those here illegally must return to their home country to apply.  This will put willing employers with willing employees.  There are so many manual labor jobs that need to be filled in those fast growing cities that could use this now.  Third, we need to crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegals.  They are part of the problem and must be dealt with through stiffer penalties and fines.

This immigration has put a lot of strain upon local governments in Phoenix, Riverside, and here in Las Vegas.  As far as hiring new teachers, health care professionals, etc that are needed in these areas incentives must be provided.  I will leave it up to the local governments how to proceed, but higher pay and moving incentives seem like a good place to start.  I am proud that Phoenix has been proactive in creating a world-class freeway system to move all of our new residents.  This is another example where local foresight and ingenuity have occured despite the best efforts of the national government and another reason we need more local control.  As one of the beneficiaries of the booming Phoenix housing market , we must remember that housing follows the laws of supply and demand.  There are still plenty of good real estate deals to be found in both Phoenix and Las Vegas.  Any effort to control prices will cause a shortage of supply.  The market works well here, we shall not mess with it.

One major issue not addressed in your question is water.  We're in a desert here .  We must work with the midwest region to make sure the Colorado River will continue to serve as the lifeline for the southwestern part of the region.  As a senator who understands the unique needs of the west I can help broker this deal.

I hope that's comprehensive enough.

[No more McShame]

Before we move on, I would like to address what the Secretary said.

The distillation plants I think are a wonderful idea.  I believe that reduced taxes for businesses would free up more money for private enterprise to research and develop ways to make this technology more feasible.

As to drivers licences, I am glad the Secretary brought this up.  Due to security reasons, I believe it is wrong for regions to hand out drivers licences to those who are here illegally.  This is because of them being the chief form of ID.  For those legally working here under my guest worker program, they would have already been screened and determined not to be a security threat and therefore, I would not have a problem with those guest workers receiving driver's licences.

The current practice of the border patrol releasing "OTM" (other than Mexican) illegals and giving them a date to appear in court is a complete joke.  Let me detail how this works for you.  Illegal Mexicans are flown from Tucson to Mexico City.  Fine.  Illegals from countries other than Mexico including those from hostile nations like Iran or Syria are released in Atlasia and given a date to appear in court for a deportation hearing.  They might show up... of course pigs might fly too.  Statisticly, I would think OTMs would pose a greater security risk.  I propose detaining them pending a deportation hearing.  Glad you brought that up.