Senate Office of NC Yankee (Statement on Constitution)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Why do you think there is a lack of interest for the Internal Affairs Committee?

Are you referring to the performance in the 52nd Senate or the membership process for the 53rd?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Why do you think there is a lack of interest for the Internal Affairs Committee?

Are you referring to the performance in the 52nd Senate or the membership process for the 53rd?

The latter.

Probably because they prefer another committee and don't want a second one that would involve digging into the nuts and bolts of domestic policy, like the IA would, on top of that other one.

It is slightly amusing that the committee I most associate with "throwing money at problems" has only attracted the interest of Federalists.

Shhh!!! Don't spill the beans now you fool!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Bumping this because I missed being the pinata (special characters cost extra) of the press and public.

A project is currently in the works that will restore my computer and thus my normal operations on here, and it only cost me $25. The downside is that it might reduce my activity this weekend, somewhat. Hope it works! Otherwise, I will be forced to use my Windows Seven computer, potentially, which I despise. 

I haven't yet checked the Senate today (defined as running down the Noticeboard), but it is my desire to get the "corrected" version of the trial not turnout amendment moved off the floor and to the regions no later than tomorrow, preferably today.

Also of importance is the Labor Rights Act, which I want done, completed, gone by this weekend. SO VOTE MOTHERF@$KERS!!! (Preferably voting Aye! ).

Any questions?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Labor Rights Act is dragging out into next week, which is what I didn't want to happen. I think it is one vote short of being ended sooner.

The confirmation process will be coming to an end for the AG nominee, tomorrow afternoon. I didn't anticipate it to be this controversial, but it is apparently. It is also one vote short of being finished sooner.

I brought up the corrective to a small office typo in the Spurring Skilled Immigration Act. I was planning to bring this up in the PPT slot a week or two ago, but I didn't want to use that slot until I was sure it would not be needed for another bill, which seemed possible at one point.

The Committees need more participation, please contact your Senators and demand better of them in this regard. That also goes for the GET Act, which needs some intensive throught to successfully integrate my idea seeking to help with regards to the issues of defacto segregation and the achievement gap by placing working to place the best new teachers in the most challenged districts. It needs logistical and structural creativity to integrate successfully and these students both need and deserve the best teachers the most.

Any questions or comments?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Labor Rights Acts is finally done. Our long national nightmare is over.


I put both the Game Moderation Reform Amendment and the Military Retirement Reform Amendment to final vote. These are big and important changes, yet they have garnered so little interest, and that is the best way to check for mistakes, is to have 100 eyes on them. Both of which are very important and deserve all the attention possible.

I have contacted all the Senators expressing my deep anger at the lack of activity on the part of many Senators, including people we have come to expect far better from. This cannot be allowed to continue and I urge constituents to start demanding better, especially from those Senators who we have come to expect more from (glances towards the North and West symbolically )

We will now take questions from the Press and Public.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Party because our new President is a hyperactive busy body and partly because of leftover stuff from the last Semate, we have a rather large Senate queue. In order to ensure that this gets widdled down as fast as possible I have "developed" a "secret strategy" to get us out of the backlog.

Details will be forthcomming over the next few days.


I think this would be a great time to acknowledge the hard work of Vice President Duke. For the first time in several administrations, we have had a Senate shift occur, that wasn't disrupting to the point to cause a 50% or greater slowdown in activity and functionality. Now of course administration can only get us so far. We need to get the Committees back running and get a PPT elected (hopefully myself ). What we need most of all is for all the Senators to be dilligent, creative and productive as this is not a time to let up or slow down. We have to speed up for the confirmation hearings and for increased load of bills coming down the pike.

Any questions?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

We have seen the effectuation of part of my scheme and that has been to transfer the authority over three of the slots to regular management by the Vice President. Since Senate administration is primarily vested with the Vice President, this or any such division of authority requires only the VPs consent to occur. Hence it was so easy to do this experiment, for obvious reasons.

Speeking of my close working relationship with Duke, I have introduced the initial "non-text" of our joint Mental Health Care Reform bill. My hope is that by doing so will add some urgency to our work and set a timetable by which the beef if you will has to be completed by.

We have finished the TRICARE Act and have moved it to a final vote, which I hope to have over by tomorrow. This ended up looking far different then the origianl bill and I must say that I am very pleased once the bill had been shifted to a basic integration into the Fritzcare system, that Senator Nix took appreciated my concerns and together with our last two amendments we assured that this process has a structured framework to effect the integration. It is my hope that the Internal Affairs committee will monitor this, and that the responsible Secretaries will take note of their obligations in the bill and proceed accordingly.

On the matter of committees and Secretaries, the committees will likely be back in business early this coming week. It is my hope that they will move forward within their areas of responsbility, particulary the NSC and IA with the Secretaries of External Affairs and the Secretary of Internal Affairs respectively to ensure these Secretaries have plans for their offices going forward to meet the requirements that the Senate have placed on them and to make those public so that we can see in real time what stage each Secretary is it and what he does next. This will ensure that there will be less likilihood of them disappearing and their will be a clear understing of what that office needs to be doing.

We have had a few days of silence and that is how it always starts. The Committees must ensure that Snowguy doesn't become Morgieb and that Polnut doesn't become Dr. Cynic on us. There are responsibilities and obligations that these Secretaries have to fullfill and the purpose of the committees should be at least to ensure that the outset that such is in motion. This kind of close cooperation and interaction is merely the tip of the ice berg in terms of what the goverment should be doing as it pertains to these two offices, but this interaction is what will ensure that the other interactions are going right and getting done.

It would have been my preference that not only had these committees been going sooner, but also that there would be a sitting Game Moderator to work with them and get things moving in terms of the Game Moderation team. That is another interaction that will keep these people from going away and lord knows the last thing the President needs is to have to find yet another cabinet member he didn't plan on. If you bring people together as a team, set out a clear plan and then work tirelessly to get that plan enacted you not only give a sense of purpose, but you give thme a reason to come on a do "SoIA work" or "SoEA Work" or whatever. It is the same if it is the game moderation team working together, or the committees working with the chairman of responsibility. Or the AG and his deputy, plus a wiki commission and/or the GOR working together.

I don't blame either the President for the lack of a GM at this point or the VP for the slow start to the Committees, I don't care about credit nor blame. I care about getting the damn job and both the President and Vice President  have an important role in the process of ensuring these things function and I ask they proceed in a time manner. I say its time we have a Game Moderator, find someone, appoint them and lets them him confirmed and on the job. This administration has been off to a rough start and I don't envy their position, nor do I desire to add preasure to their situation (though technically I did help scuttle their primary legislative reform item, though I must say the VP is finding out how just how much he doesn't ever have responsibilities, everytime he doesn't come onto ten new IMs demanding he get something done. Oh wait... ), but at a certain point a line has to be drawn, priorities re-evaluated and if necessary, a change so that the job gets done.

On a personal note, I do intend to respond to the Foreign Policy questionaire posed to all the Senators and have composed responses to 90% of the questions. Once that is completed, I will send it in so that it can be posted with the others. I know you are all looking forward to that.

I will now take any questions you may have. 

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Presser Time People Because we have losts to talk about.


Oh, and before I get started, I want to congratulate Polnut on his election to the Senate and wish him the best of luck as he complete Kalwejt's term in the Senate. He will probably need it.

So, any questions?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Have you considered joining me when I voluntarily commit myself to one of our new psychiatric wards if we pass that bill of ours in the senate?

The bill will be passed.


I can say that days like yesterday most definitely make me want to have my staff look into the option.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Do you think those Pacific hearings have been at all productive?

Not at the present time, no.

The intent was to provide a clear environment to bring ideas forward. Part of the problem was we were doing too many things at once and that contributed to confusion, but there was a desire to address those issues and therefore they were included at the beginning, theorizing that people would cooperate and still be respectfull and civil enough to make it happen. Unfortunately, that did not come to pass. I had feared such would be the case and an attempt was made to split the discussions and have the Judiciary take the more legalist aspects and so forth, but that failed in spite of what I thought was a settled game plan.

We also had a lot of non-members who weren't called who came in and rather then contribute to the substance, really just added more to the problems we were facing. It was my intent to get the President to state what he did yesterday back on Saturday, that seemed to backfire by Monday in such a way as to then motivate the President to finally say something on the matter, ironically. Aside from the timing, I think I generally agree with his remarks.

Generally, I think the results so far are emblematic of a larger problem and one that cannot be legislated or reformed. To the extent that the NM-AM sees Rimjob as a success for having motivated discussion of activity, I think that I can likewise view this hearing as a success in that it highlighted one phenomenon that we have to be carefull about with the return of the two party system, and that is the impact on activity and achievable results when partisanship, but especially rhetoric, goes to far. This only discourages people from participating and exacerbates our activity problems.

I also think that beyond the rhetoric, there are wide areas of agreement and there has been for some time. But I think a lot of people are focusing too much attention on a loosely related issue and insisting that a specific and very controversial action be taken on that first before anything else can be done. I think this is a counterproductive approach that prevents compromise and has the effect of hampering things getting done. It was my hope that we could find a way to acheive some sort of compromise that addresses those problems we can address (those that can even be legislated or reformed) while minimizing areas of controversy, and the first goal of the committees was to hear out the NM-AM and see how willing they were to compromise. Hopefully, we can still do that at least.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Time for Ole Time Legislative Highlight:

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This was a piece of legislation that my homies wrote and got passed back in 2010, mainly to torture the other Regional Senators.  

Of course if ya'lls suddeners
You don't need to worry about no petition.
Just shoot me your PM with the desired legislation.
Cause thats the way its been
Since Obamacare was still just a bill to be seen.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Decided to remove the joke referencing another joke that probably no one would get, and distract from the overall message.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Hauls out the old axe and starts sharpening it


I'm gonna bring the hammer...er... axe down on several powerful Senators soon for gross neglect of their responsibilities. There will be no exceptions and no one is safe.

Wanna watch? (Insert the most sadistic, horror film grin you can think of here).

You have been warned.

This is in red because it will soon be the only color one can distinguish.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

There is always August.


Me: You must run in August, then you will live happily ever after!
Duke: Happily ever after
Me: Happily ever after, Dukie!!

Background instrumental from Halloween plays in the background

Unavoidable YGSZA reference here.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

PRESS CONFERENCE!!!

Members of the Press and Public -

It is my view that the Government has no greater purpose then to protect and defend its people. I have always been more open to thus to utilizing government in some ways that some might find distasteful on the right. I have supported minimum wages, stimulus and a variety of government programs thus. Whenever they have come about I have always considered the adverse impact on business, sought to ensure that our objectives were always balanced with the appropriate amount of understanding of unintended consequences and subsequently tried to mitigate those issues.

When it comes to protecting the unborn, I take a similar approach. I do support reasonable exceptions based on reason and common sense, but I am Pro-Life and desire to protect life wherever practical and possible, not because I relish in denying women their right to privacy or freedom to make medical decisions, but becuase I believe firmly that one own freedom ends when another's is thusly put in jeopardy. Much of this debate centers around philosophical and religious arguments regarding whether life begins at conception or not. Presently before the Senate however is a not a debate grounded in religious beliefs, but science. It is about whether or not we as a society should condone the extermination of viable life, or chose to utilize our vast wealth of knowledge, science and technology to preserve life that in some cases has just as much chances of a survival as a newly born baby. The answer is obvious to me which path should be taken and thus it is my desire to see to it that the ban on late term abortion is maintained. A ban I should say, which was passed last year as part of a reasoned compromise that boosted support for policies to reduce unwanted pregnancies and thus avoid the need for many to have abortions.

We can craft a policy that reduces the number of unwanted pregancies and we already have strong provisions on the books to do just that and I will gladly work with my collegues to further enhance and strengthen these provisions, but we should not be condoning the destruction of life at this late stage. Some are arguing that "It will happen anyway and this way we can at least be regulating it", I for one don't buy that argument that a government so powefull and so capable of doing so much, can be so helpless as to not have any choice but to utilize the same approach for the destruction viable unborn as that used for drugs and alcohol.

I will now take any questions that you may have.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

How would you make the case for a ban on third trimester abortions to someone who does not assign any moral value to the unborn? If you assume that you cannot change their opinion on that premise, can it be done?

Well I don't presume that, but changing such an approach is probably the realm of someone with far more ability than myself. Assuming I do lack such ability, then yes I still think it is possible to make the case.

I would start off by emphasing the randomness of the exact point of birth and the fact that our technology can allow us to save someone born much earlier if that situation were to happen, as a means of articulating why the emphasis on that point in time is misguided. One doesn't necessarily have to get into the realm of moral value to think that banning abortions at such point is a reasonable approach to take.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I meant to include this in the previous post starting the Press Conference, but I decided to just focus it on the abortion thing.

I am working on a plan to consolidate the committee structure, reduce by at least half the present number of committee spots, change the way the chairmans are selected, replace the pre-Trial Impeachment process with a more practical and functional approach, and establish a more targetted forcus within a wider range of issues/areas of concern for those sub organizations that remain. It is my hope to have it ready by the time the Committee Abolition Resolution Hits the floor so as to offer it as an amendment to that.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Outline of basic points

-  1 Committee of four members, or 2 of three
-  Rotating Chairmanship
-  If two, one legislative formation and the other investigative or one foreign and one domestic.
-  Replace the Judiciary Committee with temporary hearings on legal issues as they arise, the formation of which will be streamlined and expedited to a three day process.
-  Possible trial experiment a partisan committee structure, one from each party, with the two then selecting the third member. 

- Non Committee Changes:
   - Removing the Amendment exclusion from Slots 4 and 5
   -  Slot five will be freed of "in-order" requirements and transfered over to the VP's administration (only the first half requires OSPR change).
   - Loosening the Anti-Clogging Rule for the VP's slots, but keeping it overall.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Is there any reason why this wouldn't be sufficient to govern the debate/adoption of amendments to legislation:

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The current procedures on this is like three paragraphs long. This is basically the same exact thing, minus the anti-clogging rule, which serves no practical purpose in this area (unlike in legislation).

Edit: Removed the "etc" from clause 1 and finished it with the clarity standards, which are a combination of pre-existing rules and my own additions in 2011.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

WE ARE NOW TAKING QUESTIONS!!!

Senate Legislation. Reform Ideas. Recent IDS Constroversy. Something Else Entirely. Feel Free to opine, inquire or complain!



Yes, I realize people haven't shown much interest in this format, but we'll see what happens.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Man you people are boring.