Senate Protest and Analysis Thread

[Ebowed]

Hi,

The Energy Policy Reform Bill has become the Enviromental Policy Bill of 2007.  The bill can be accessed here.  As a result, the following bills have been withdrawn:
* Snowmobiles in Public Parks Bill
* Water Purity Bill
* Light Bulbs Bill

The Tax Reduction for College Tuitions Bill has become the Education Reform Bill of 2007.  It can be accessed here.  As a result the following bills have been withdrawn:
* School Vouchers Bill

The Removal of Discrimination in Blood Donation Bill has become the Equal Rights Bill of 2007.  It can be accessed here.  As a result the following bills have been withdrawn:
* Racial Profiling Bill

[Ebowed]

Science in the Classrooms Bill & Education Reform Bill of 2007 are withdrawn.

[Ebowed]

Well, first I'd like to note that the bill is intended to be pro-tobacco (in consistency with my position on drugs in general), but there is a difference between being pro-tobacco and pro-Big Tobacco.

My source was the following page: http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_health2.shtml

The site has a pro-cannabis bias, which I don't entirely agree with, but the section on radioactive material in corporate tobacco is relevant to the bill.

As to Section 4, I cannot clarify since I don't know anything about tobacco farming.  The bill will need to be fleshed out a little.

[Ebowed]

Oh, I'm not talking about the Pacific Hive Mind

It's not like the Pacific Region is the only one to have unanimous votes.

See: Northeast Progressive Primary, Mideast Ballot Verification Amendment, etc, etc

[Ebowed]

How do you plan to fund NPR?

Presumably through the National Endowment for the Humanities, which already receives federal funding.

[Ebowed]

I would like to thank all senators who voted against crippling the economy and small businesses with another minimum wage increase

Can we please stop feeding this myth that minimum wages cripple the economy?

[Ebowed]

I cannot say I am particuarly in favor of Sen. Ebowed's comprehensive drug reform.  It is too non-specific and does not say how we will regulate the sale of these drugs.  I hope it gets fixed up to the point where it is something to work with.  I am glad, however, that I have brought ending the War on Drugs to the forefront again

It's not finished, I just got bored of writing it.  I know there will have to be many more sections like regulation, taxation, and restrictions and so on.  I just posted that so I could finish it later.

[Ebowed]

I cannot say I am particuarly in favor of Sen. Ebowed's comprehensive drug reform.  It is too non-specific and does not say how we will regulate the sale of these drugs.  I hope it gets fixed up to the point where it is something to work with.  I am glad, however, that I have brought ending the War on Drugs to the forefront again

It's not finished, I just got bored of writing it.  I know there will have to be many more sections like regulation, taxation, and restrictions and so on.  I just posted that so I could finish it later.

Aren't you concerned though that the senate may cut out a long list of the drugs you mentioned?

I'd be curious to see what exactly the Senators know about each of the drugs mentioned.

BTW that list doesn't legalize everything which is currently illegal ('scheduled') in the US/Atlasian law.  But it covers the stuff that people shouldn't be in trouble for.

Even if they cut out some of the drugs in the list, I hope we can agree to end the practice of incarcerating someone whose sole violation is drug use.

[Ebowed]

How bout a bill that did nothing but end incarcerations for people found with drugs? 

Because we can seriously cut dangerous crime, and fatalities from drug overdoses, if we legalize hard drugs and I hope to convince the Senate of that.

[Ebowed]

Don't have the motivation to write out legislation for someone to copy & paste, but here are a few ideas that some of the more liberal Senators might be willing to take up:

1. Restoring the power to grant marriage licenses, which of course would be available to couples regardless of sexual orientation.  (I know I'm not the only person who is unhappy with the fact that the government essentially abolished the institution of marriage, which is not strictly religious.)
2. Remove the existing ban on gambling within D.C./federal territories.
3. Repeal the authorization of oil drilling in ANWR.
4. Repeal the ban on affirmative action in federal employment.
5. Mandate adequate public transportation systems in large cities
6. Remove the term limit on Presidents via constitutional amendment.
7. Restore the power to delegate foreign aid to the Senate (currently under the authority of the Secretary of External Affairs, a move done solely to slash foreign aid, which was in turn done to pass a budget)

Some of these will be unlikely to pass, but we need more debate around here, right?

[Ebowed]

Dude, your habit is unhealthy.

This is exactly the sort of post which would not elicit a response from Alexander Hamilton.

[Ebowed]

That might be a good idea for going forward, but how will we prevent the current bank failures?

Bailouts, I'm afraid to say.

[Ebowed]

Atlasia shouldn't reward a lack of success in business.

Well, it helps if we don't think of this as a 'reward', because it is not.

While I am terribly uncomfortable with the idea that a corporation is "too big to fail", the sort of global economic consequences that could arise from this sort of thing is a fairly disastrous gamble to be making...

Obviously the entire system needs to be reformed in such a way to prevent this from occurring once again: repealing all of the deregulation which allowed these bad loans to be made, and looking at strengthening our anti-trust laws.  And if we had a series of bailouts, clearly we would not be financing the massive CEO bonuses that were all too common in the U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program.

[Ebowed]

You should consider my previous proposal.

Well I agree with creating a national bank.

If we were to buy out the banks which are going under completely rather than bail them out, we do face the issue of not getting the money back (as banks are already beginning to pay back the U.S. government for TARP).

[Ebowed]

Does Atlasia have a federal abortion policy?

I think the Reproductive Rights Act is the standing legislation on the issue.

Though that law applies only to federal territories.  There is no such disclaimer in Senator RowanBrandon's proposal.

[Ebowed]

Just to get yelled at:

Troubled Asset Relief Program Bill

1. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is hereby established.
2. $600 billion will be available to failing banks and other corporations vital to the continued function of the Atlasian and global economies, and to be used by the Atlasian government to buy out liquidated assets at an inflated price.
3. $350 billion for this program will be available immediately upon the fulfillment of the drawing up of the next section's guidelines, while the second installment of $250 billion will be available no sooner than a month from the passage of this act and only with Senatorial approval.
4. Guidelines to determine eligibility for TARP will be established by the President, in his role as acting Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Internal Affairs, after consultation with the Game Moderator.

In theory, the mere introduction of this legislation will cause a temporary spike in the stock market.

[Ebowed]

If I may suggest an idea:

Private Prison Bill

1. No federal money may be distributed to any privately owned and operated prisons.

This should probably be part of a larger-scale prison reform package, though I don't know how much can be done at the federal level.

[Ebowed]

Thank you Senator.

[Ebowed]

I'm open to correction, but I was under the impression that the Attorney General's term was about to conclude and I was notified of the motion for impeachment (in passing, in IRC) shortly after the IDS lawsuit came into fruition.

Edit: I just had a look over the charges again and I'm more than a little confused.  If someone could provide me with an objective explanation as to what occurred, I would appreciate that and we can move from there.  You have to forgive me for not taking the charges seriously the first time I read them given the comical nature of trying someone on an online simulation for 'armed robbery.'