The Atlasian Sentinel Presidental Debate, October '09

[Associate Justice PiT]

     First, I would like to thank Governor Vepres for hosting this debate. Second, I would like to thank everyone who is watching this debate for supporting the democratic process here.

     With that said, I will admit that President Lief has discharged his duties as President quite well. Atlasia has come quite far. While I would have probably acted differently in his place, he has implemented his agenda decisively and effectively. While there is still a significant number of zombies taking part in Atlasia, activity has progressed considerably.

     With that said, you may be wondering why you should vote for me instead of him, or instead of Senator Franzl, or instead of former President Al. After all, I was the last to enter the race, only having declared my candidacy several days ago at the urging of supporters of former Senator MasterJedi, who dropped out of the race due to real world concerns.

     Well, I have spent the 3 ½ months since the last Presidential election extremely active in Atlasia, yet on the outside of the federal government. This inspired me to take a close look at what else was happening in Atlasia. What I saw was a growth of interest on the regional level. The Northeast created a legislature of its own, even though many people had doubted that it could achieve the majority of all Northeasterners voting aye needed for it to pass. I also proposed a legislature in the Dirty South. While it was not successfully enacted, the proposal of it and subsequent votes on it spurred a great deal of debate and interest in a region where activity had been anemic following the dramatic events of August 2008.

     At this point, with the gradual groundswell of interest in regional activity, I believe that we should act to encourage regions to legislate in certain areas. In doing so, I hope to allow regions the chance to, not only decide whether or not they wish to enact certain policies, but to also decide the scope of policies. Through cooperation between the federal and regional governments, I hope to contribute to continuing the growth in interest in regional governance, definitively legitimizing them beyond the role some have proposed for them as a newbie training ground, as well as leading to a greater variety in laws and programs throughout this great nation.

     With that said, I intend to focus on three main points of advancing Atlasia, both on the regional and federal levels. First, I would like to protect Atlasia from another credit collapse through a few small reforms. Second, I would like to improve the lives of poor and middle-class Atlasians by helping eliminate a large money sink that troubles them, promoting saving, and promoting energy modernization and research. Third, I would like to improve Atlasia’s ability to continue to excel in the future by promoting more options in education throughout life, streamlining military spending, and promoting work in the sciences.

     I look forward to an illuminating debate that will help the voters make informed decisions. Once again, many thanks to everyone viewing this debate for being active participants in the democratic process, as well as the moderator and all the other candidates for making this event possible.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     The problem is something of an after-effect of the credit collapse. I largely agree with what Senator Franzl has said about the issue, and believe that the economy will return to its former glory soon.

     However, we must remember that much of what happens in the economy is based on consumer confidence. So, we need to take a few steps that will bolster consumer confidence.

     I have already outlined some steps, such as allowing a separate agency the power to safely collapse failed banks (a power that is currently held by the President). Hopefully this move will reassure the consumers that there will be no more bailouts & no more catastrophes caused by bank failures.

     Likewise, my plans for leverage limits and taking action against credit default swaps will send the message that we are helping to ensure the same problem does not threaten the economy in the future.

     Once these steps are taken, I have faith that the consumers and businesses can guide the market back to its former glory, as long as the government acts in ways suggesting that we deserve their trust and confidence.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I must say that it is hard to reproach President Lief for his activity. I also intend to participate in Senate debates & make my position on each bill known.

     Furthermore, if elected, I intend to post my positions on bills in the White House thread, much like some Senators do in their office threads. I would also like to post a similar thread on the regular Atlas Fantasy Elections board, so voters can be in touch with what their President thinks about the major issues facing Atlasia. A major problem I have seen over time in Atlasia is a fundamental disconnect between the voters & their government.

     While this act will by no means be enough to fully connect the voters with the people they elect, I believe that it is an important step for the people to understand what the President is thinking on the major Senate matters of the day.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I am something of an anti-interventionist on foreign policy. I oppose us getting involved in things that do not directly concern us. On the other hand, I would not call myself an isolationist. Dealing with other nations is a duty whose importance cannot be denied.

     With that said, I would not take action to end our support for Colombia and Israel. While I do think we have put ourselves at some risk by supporting them, we need to prove ourselves to be honest and trustworthy allies. Part of that is backing up the people who we have agreed to back up. Of course, we do need to show discretion in what we back them up in. I am not advocating that we invade Iran should Israel wish to do so.

     Otherwise, I think that we need to continue working with the world's other nuclear powers to continue scaling back our arsenals and dissuade other nations from gaining nuclear arsenals, so that we may put the fear of nuclear weapons behind us. I would also be interested in establishing free trade agreements with any allies of ours who we don't have an FTA with yet, though I would also make sure there existed sufficient support for it to pass, so that I do not waste the Senate's time in doing so.

     As for a SoEA, I want someone who considers among their highest priorities the continued safety of the Atlasian people. Towards this end, my ideal SoEA is someone who would avoid war unless necessary, aggressively search out peaceful solutions, & not choose courses of actions for personal reasons. As long as we are not talking about someone who is outright belligerent, I am rather flexible as far as potential SoEAs go.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I am something of an anti-interventionist on foreign policy. I oppose us getting involved in things that do not directly concern us. On the other hand, I would not call myself an isolationist. Dealing with other nations is a duty whose importance cannot be denied.

     With that said, I would not take action to end our support for Colombia and Israel. While I do think we have put ourselves at some risk by supporting them, we need to prove ourselves to be honest and trustworthy allies. Part of that is backing up the people who we have agreed to back up. Of course, we do need to show discretion in what we back them up in. I am not advocating that we invade Iran should Israel wish to do so.

     Otherwise, I think that we need to continue working with the world's other nuclear powers to continue scaling back our arsenals and dissuade other nations from gaining nuclear arsenals, so that we may put the fear of nuclear weapons behind us. I would also be interested in establishing free trade agreements with any allies of ours who we don't have an FTA with yet, though I would also make sure there existed sufficient support for it to pass, so that I do not waste the Senate's time in doing so.

     As for a SoEA, I want someone who considers among their highest priorities the continued safety of the Atlasian people. Towards this end, my ideal SoEA is someone who would avoid war unless necessary, aggressively search out peaceful solutions, & not choose courses of actions for personal reasons. As long as we are not talking about someone who is outright belligerent, I am rather flexible as far as potential SoEAs go.

What about human rights abuses in foreign countries that don't directly harm Atlasia?

     I think we should work with other countries to put pressure on them to end their abuses. I don't think we should attack them or put ourselves in a position where being obligated to attack them is likely.

     I did not make it too clear at first, but when I said we should not get involved in things that do not directly concern us, I primarily meant that we should avoid being the world police and that we should also try to avoid getting into wars on the behalf of our allies. I am fine with being involved in world affairs as long as we do not attempt to use our military might as leverage.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     ProCon, I must say that I like many of my colleagues there, and I would like to give thanks to Devilman, tmth, Duke, and anyone else who has helped push to make the party more democratic over the course of this convention. Positive overall.

     JCP, I must admit that I do not really have a close working relationship with most of its members. However, I have worked with some of its members to help achieve some common goals in the past. I've found dealing with them in those instances to be rather pleasant, though the nature of partisanship in Atlasia ensures that I'm at odds with them most of the time. I view them fairly negatively, though that has much to do with my issues with many of their less active members.

     DA, I worked with them much more extensively in the past than now. I'm ambivalent towards them, though I do remain on very good terms with many of their members. I was upset about the MasterJedi/Franzl ticket falling through, but I also admired how they stood up for their members. I'd say my view of them is fairly positive.

     LNF, I find looniness to be a very refreshing ideology here in Atlasia. Their posts are also very enjoyable to read. I would prefer being able to work with them more, but they do accomplish their goal of making Atlasia a loonier place. Rather positive.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     For one thing, I agree with the Strategic Registration Amendment and hope that it passes.

     However, as I have said in the past, that just solves one-half of the problem. The other half exists because of newbies being able to register wherever. This would be much harder to legislate against, but I think that that may now be unnecessary. The only major proponent of strategic registration within the ProCon has now left the party, leaving two major recruiters who support having newbies register in their own state.

     That is not to say that the ProCon is the only party that has engaged in strategic registration. However, my hope is that the combination of this amendment and the loss of its popularity within the ProCon will go a long way towards ending this tactic.