The Office of Senator Adam Griffin (SEN. GRIFFIN ANNOUNCES SOMETHING)

[Adam Griffin]

GRIFFIN FOR AT-LARGE SENATE - CAMPAIGN HQ



I've waited until now to open my headquarters, since we had a regularly-scheduled election in progress. I look forward to adding information and answering any and all questions over the next few days, and I will try to maintain a balance that is informative yet doesn't make people's eyes glaze over from too much banter.

It's good to be back. As someone who's been in the game for almost two years now, I've seen a lot for someone who is still so "new". Friends come and go, as do enemies; parties rise and fall; entire movements shift, crumble and emerge. The more things change, however, the more they stay the same.

It seems like Atlasia is now more competitive than I can remember at any point since joining shortly after dissolution. We currently have a Labor-friendly Federalist President, and a Senate that was completely divided until this most recent vacancy. Because of this, it is hard to accomplish anything of substance that has even an iota of controversy attached to it these days. Don't the people of Atlasia deserve better?

This Senate election may very well be the most important election since dissolution, and certainly will be the most important one since July of last year. The person holding this seat will determine whether we will have continued gridlock or a governing majority that matches our progressive, socialist, leftist and moderate hero constituencies.

To kick off this campaign, I introduce my first three policy concerns that I'd like to address if elected to the Senate:

IMPLEMENTING ALL OF THE A-CCM

Last year, President Marokai, Vice President Duke, the Senate and myself as GM worked hard to pass the Atlasian-Canadian Common Market Agreement. As you know, this cemented an increased amount of economic and cultural connectivity for our two countries going into the future, but some loose ends remain in the amendment. The past two Registrars General have refused to acknowledge the most exciting part of this amendment - the part that allows Canadian and Atlasian residents who are Atlasian citizens to vote in our elections. If elected to the Senate, I will aggressively push for the necessary amendments and/or statutes to ensure that we can all have fun in Canada.

RESPECTING REGIONAL RIGHTS

I have always supported regional rights, especially when it was to my benefit. Way back when, my Five Region Strategy was successful in bolstering activity through all regional governments, and I wish that the strategy would have been continued. It is no secret that the Midwest and Pacific have had informal talks about merging their two regions. I am not sure of the exact count, but it would appear that a majority of residents in each region support this measure. Frankly, without a sixth progressive, leftist and/or Labor Senator, this will never occur.

The Senate has the power with a simple majority to address this issue. Unfortunately, progress has been thwarted because some are worried about an imbalance being created that cannot be solved via constitutional amendment. I reject this notion, and will work tirelessly to ensure these regions are allowed to pursue the pathway that is best for them. I will elaborate further on remedies to solve the resulting imbalance that would be present with one "missing" Senator in the coming days.

NATIONALIZING ELECTRICITY

I have always stood for regionalizing key utilities at the regional level, and have supported similar intents federally, too. Energy is not a job-dense industry; energy companies can essentially drain dry all the natural resources in this great country without creating anywhere near the number of jobs that we'd expect in other industries for similar profits to be made. The result is very little competition, higher prices, accumulation of liquidity and in some cases, increased income inequality - all of which lead to a volatile, unnecessarily expensive scenario in which potential economic growth is ignored in the idea of the "free market", something of which does not exist in the slightest in the energy sector.

By eliminating the concept of profit from the equation - and only breaking even on labor/operating costs - we free up anywhere from 1-2% of GDP for direct injection by consumers into other aspects of the economy - where profit actually equates job growth. Such a move over the long-term would provide an additional ladder for millions with which they can climb out of poverty and be a part of a thriving, healthy economic engine. It also will reduce energy costs for businesses of all sizes.


This is all - for now. I look forward to any questions you may have (so long as they're not catty).

[Adam Griffin]

RESPECTING REGIONAL RIGHTS

I have always supported regional rights, especially when it was to my benefit. Way back when, my Five Region Strategy was successful in bolstering activity through all regional governments, and I wish that the strategy would have been continued. It is no secret that the Midwest and Pacific have had informal talks about merging their two regions. I am not sure of the exact count, but it would appear that a majority of residents in each region support this measure. Frankly, without a sixth progressive, leftist and/or Labor Senator, this will never occur.

The Senate has the power with a simple majority to address this issue. Unfortunately, progress has been thwarted because some are worried about an imbalance being created that cannot be solved via constitutional amendment. I reject this notion, and will work tirelessly to ensure these regions are allowed to pursue the pathway that is best for them. I will elaborate further on remedies to solve the resulting imbalance that would be present with one "missing" Senator in the coming days.

     Ah, the Five Region Strategy. While I didn't like the way you went about it, I do miss the days of the IDS's population not declining.

Yes, it is truly a shame to see it so deflated. I weep for my homeland, but at least I can see North Carolina from my house.

[Adam Griffin]

Are you willing to serve as GM in the event you are elected to the Senate if the President is able to pull some strings to make it happen? If not, are you prepared to deal with the consequences?

If all of that were to play out and no one qualified were able to fill the position, absolutely. You know I love to serve this country in as many ways as possible, and you even more so

[Adam Griffin]

The past two Registrars General have refused to acknowledge the most exciting part of this amendment - the part that allows Canadian and Atlasian residents who are Atlasian citizens to vote in our elections.

What exactly have I "refused to acknowledge"?  Is there a law I don't know about, permitting registrations in Canada?  If so, why have I not been sued?

Perhaps I'm mistaken in your case (and I'd love to be), but I definitely recall being told that you would not enforce the provision below. I left about two weeks before you became RG, so maybe something got lost in translation? At any rate, I would think that someone would have moved to Canada by now under other circumstances. I know that homely refused to acknowledge Article V Section 5 of the Atlasian-Canadian Common Market Agreement as RG due to a lack of clarification, which states:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I'm guessing no one sued because of laziness?

[Adam Griffin]

Forgive me, but I had no idea that existed.  Seeing it now, I am inclined to permit Canadian registrations.

Could you post a link, please?

Here's the Wiki link and the original debate:

https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Atlasian-Canadian_Common_Market_Agreement
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=174563.0

[Adam Griffin]

TOWN HALL - ELECTIONS AND WHATNOT

With so much buzz in the air about various electoral and constitutional issues, let's talk about them! I hope y'all have some questions. I've been thinking about three items in particular today that relate to this topic, so I thought I'd express them and see what the public also thinks about these issues.


Between the recently vetoed deregistration rights that would eliminate deregistration, the issue of invalidated ballots in close elections and the discussion of who exactly should be in charge of operating voting booths for constitutional amendments, there's a lot to discuss.

First of all, I support the status quo when it comes to deregistration. It should be an option, and I have the experience to say that it should only be used in dire situations. We have mechanisms in place to prevent the most likely impulsive deregistrations from occurring (to my knowledge, the 24 hour rule has caught no fewer than five people since it was adopted). People should be able to leave the game completely if they choose.

As far as the process of constitutional referendums go, I tend to agree with my opponent that the federal government should adopt an expanded presence in their administration. This is not an issue on which I'm blinded by hyper-partisanship; I'd be inclined to support the current system if the current system produced consistent handling of the process. Unfortunately, however, the ongoing flaws of the regional system exacerbate this problem and make it an issue. Perhaps if the underlying regional issues had been addressed sooner, I'd feel differently. Since that hasn't been something that a super-majority of regions has decided to deal with just yet, I lean the way I do for the time being.

Finally, what can said about invalidated ballots? The most recent brou-ha-ha exposes weaknesses in our voting system, but no clear solution to the problem is apparent (to me, anyway). I'm not so sure that this is an issue that can, will or even should be addressed given the (presumably) large amount of effort it'd take to enforce the countermeasures. What do you think?

[Adam Griffin]

Finally, what can said about invalidated ballots? The most recent brou-ha-ha exposes weaknesses in our voting system, but no clear solution to the problem is apparent (to me, anyway). I'm not so sure that this is an issue that can, will or even should be addressed given the (presumably) large amount of effort it'd take to enforce the countermeasures. What do you think?

If we had a secret ballot (like every other democracy) this wouldn't be a problem. Just saying.

Yes, that is the one thing that came to mind while typing that out. It can be done and I thought of a way it could be handled pretty well many months ago, but it'd be quite a time-consuming process in how the ballots would need to be generated and/or handled in order to provide public verification (people would still vote publicly, but no one save for election administrator and a supervisor would know for whom they voted). Overall, the effort would be complex to handle legislatively and probably equally so once in practice, and we know how discussions about complex things always go around here. Did you have a specific plan considered? I'd love to see if there's another way to do it that I've not considered.

[Adam Griffin]

If elected, will you sponsor a bill to allow Traffic-based Corporal Punishment?

While that almost sounds hot, I am not entirely convinced a) that there will be significant support for such a measure in the Senate and b) that we should be encouraging our men and women in uniform to beat on people even more so than they do already. This would be a more-apt way to address the problem, I feel.

[Adam Griffin]

FREEDOM TO TRAVEL

One of the first issues I brought up a couple of days ago relates to the Atlasian-Canadian Common Market Agreement. We have initially had difficulties with bringing to fruition all of its components, naming the one relating to limited jurisdictional authority (being able to move to Canada). Since then, the RG has investigated this issue and we appear to be on the verge of resolving this issue! I'm very excited that we may very well be able to address one of my initial policy concerns before the election even begins.

But what is the future for Atlasia and how we interact with our neighbors? Trade and relations with Latin America present an array of opportunities for us to broaden our country's clout and improve the lives and working conditions of (potentially) hundreds of millions of people who do not reside within our country or within its aura of limited jurisdictional authority.

Mexico is obviously the biggest and most prime example of where a future expansion of such policies could take us. We need assessments from our SoEA and discussion throughout the country on this important possibility, and so I'd like to begin the discussion of how or if we should embark upon such an agreement with Mexico like we did with Canada.

[Adam Griffin]

Uh oh. This is what I get for posting in the Federalist convention.

It seems like Atlasia is now more competitive than I can remember at any point since joining shortly after dissolution. We currently have a Labor-friendly Federalist President, and a Senate that was completely divided until this most recent vacancy. Because of this, it is hard to accomplish anything of substance that has even an iota of controversy attached to it these days. Don't the people of Atlasia deserve better?

I would hate to think that the 30 plus bills and record setting 91 amendments to legislation were all just so much trash. At the very least those who worked hard on passing them would consider them to have been of substance.

A large number of amendments is indicative of a divided Senate, with each side trying to water down the other side's bills. That's a natural process, but let's not brag about the overall number like it's some type of accomplishment. Maybe you also have ready the counts on what percentage of those 30 bills were introduced by the same one or two people? A quick glance suggests that TNF & X have introduced around half of the bills since January.

This Senate election may very well be the most important election since dissolution, and certainly will be the most important one since July of last year. The person holding this seat will determine whether we will have continued gridlock or a governing majority that matches our progressive, socialist, leftist and moderate hero constituencies.

How is record setting numbers of legislation in spite of a record number of amendments and redrafts to be considered gridlock? And the percentage of failed bills is about the same as previous Senates, around 20%-25% or so. Just because nationalization and so forth is rejected, doesn't mean we have gridlock, even from a Progressive standpoint.

See above for the first part. Thankfully, we have a reasonable Vice-President, who recently faced criticism over his tendency to not do exactly what most in his party would want him to do. Not all bills are controversial, so of course those are going to slide on through.
 

RESPECTING REGIONAL RIGHTS

I have always supported regional rights, especially when it was to my benefit. Way back when, my Five Region Strategy was successful in bolstering activity through all regional governments, and I wish that the strategy would have been continued. It is no secret that the Midwest and Pacific have had informal talks about merging their two regions. I am not sure of the exact count, but it would appear that a majority of residents in each region support this measure. Frankly, without a sixth progressive, leftist and/or Labor Senator, this will never occur.

The Senate has the power with a simple majority to address this issue. Unfortunately, progress has been thwarted because some are worried about an imbalance being created that cannot be solved via constitutional amendment. I reject this notion, and will work tirelessly to ensure these regions are allowed to pursue the pathway that is best for them. I will elaborate further on remedies to solve the resulting imbalance that would be present with one "missing" Senator in the coming days.

Anything can be solved via a Constitutional Amendment as far as I know. Also, I am pretty sure the Senate approved merging the governments of the Midwest and the Pacific by a wide margin. There is a reluctance understandably to wade into "Senate Altering" measures that could easily lead to what would otherwise indeed be passed by a simple majority, to instead end up failing miserably when the region was in crises and there was a sense of urgency.

I still view the current measure as a patchwork solution rather than one worthy of our efforts. Sure, it may work (and thankfully the SC did not grant certiorari for that case against it), but ultimately it will still be a case of two regions acting as one but acting as two. Like I told you prior: I'm not a Federalist, so I don't worry about there not being a perfect balance of representation in the Senate between the regions and at-large; that's not the biggest issue we face or would face with respect to the issue. If anything, as supporters of the Duke Plan, you and I could agree that a reduction of Senators is a prerequisite for a lower chamber given the consistent concerns vis a vis activity and the number of offices in the game.

NATIONALIZING ELECTRICITY

I have always stood for regionalizing key utilities at the regional level, and have supported similar intents federally, too. Energy is not a job-dense industry; energy companies can essentially drain dry all the natural resources in this great country without creating anywhere near the number of jobs that we'd expect in other industries for similar profits to be made. The result is very little competition, higher prices, accumulation of liquidity and in some cases, increased income inequality - all of which lead to a volatile, unnecessarily expensive scenario in which potential economic growth is ignored in the idea of the "free market", something of which does not exist in the slightest in the energy sector.

By eliminating the concept of profit from the equation - and only breaking even on labor/operating costs - we free up anywhere from 1-2% of GDP for direct injection by consumers into other aspects of the economy - where profit actually equates job growth. Such a move over the long-term would provide an additional ladder for millions with which they can climb out of poverty and be a part of a thriving, healthy economic engine. It also will reduce energy costs for businesses of all sizes.

My preference would be to break up the monopolies with regionalized or even localized electrical co-opts that don't just buy from and resell, but can even somehow compete directly with the power monpolies. I doubt the ability of a federally nationalzied system to reduce costs to the consumer and businesses, if for no other reason then the risk for politically motivated decision making and the lack of a more localized community focus. In fact there was a meeting here in NC just today or yesterday between an Environmentalist group and the Libertarian Conservative John Locke Foundation to dicuss just how Duke Energy could be reigned in.

As long as we take the notion of unreasonable profit out of the equation and the industry away from private interests, I'm open to a variety of solutions.

[Adam Griffin]

'CAUSE THINGS

With the departure of our good friend Cincinnatus at the last moment, this race takes on a new dynamic.

I never thought this race was going to be easy and even though that was the case, I'm running because I know that my dedication and experience make me the best choice in this race.

With just a few hours left before the polls open, I encourage you to ask any questions you may have and get the word out about this important election.

[Adam Griffin]

G*ddamnit motherf**ker I can't believe cinci left the race. What will I do now??

RIP CINCI
RIP ME
I'll probably c u soon*

[Adam Griffin]

Lumine 68 (49.28%)
Griffin 67 (48.55%)
Exhausted 3 (1.17%)

First of all, a preliminary congratulations to Lumine, our likely next Senator and one hell of an opponent! I've contacted him privately but I believe he was already asleep by the time I had done so. This election was the most competitive, surprising and epic election contest I've ever ran in or helped with - seriously, this was probably the most emotional, exciting and hardest-fought one. We set record turnout for the game in several respects: amazing. I can't even be mad about the likely outcome.

This by all accounts appears to be the final result. However, due to the fact that the actual SoFE was on leave, the margin, and the sheer number of ballots, I won't be formally conceding until after certification by homelycooking.

I just wanted to thank you for your support in this race, and show that more often than we think, one vote really does matter. We set a number of records, including:

• the most ballots cast in any election (138)
• the most first and final count preferences cast ever for any candidate (Lumine; 68)
• the second most final count preferences cast ever for any candidate (me; 67)

Incredible.

I never expected to do as well as I did, but you guys really came through for me and helped prevent what I sincerely thought would be a much bigger loss throughout most of the campaign and election.

Thank you all and Nate bless!

[Adam Griffin]

Wow, congratulations Adam to your campaign!

Although it was extremely close, you ran a hell of a campaign, and I hope you'll go for the Senate again soon.

Thanks!

[Adam Griffin]

GRIFFIN FOR AT-LARGE SENATE - CAMPAIGN HQ

Hey, y'all! It is with much consideration that I have decided to seek the office of Senator in the upcoming at-large elections.

I have struggled with this decision in many respects, especially considering that not too long ago, I accepted President Duke's nomination to be GM once again. Truth be told, I have become increasingly disillusioned with the office of Game Moderator, for a number of reasons. I feel as if people don't put much thought into legislation that has financial components to it, nor do many people seem to have a legitimate interest in reforming the office (based on the feedback I received in the ROBME thread).

In addition to this, the legitimacy of the office (or at the very least, my legitimacy) was substantially compromised by the public denial and mood of my extraterrestrial story-line, which I simply abandoned rather than trying to continue. There is still a lot of potential to go from where I ended, but it's a bit difficult to maintain the motivation to do so when the only tangible power that a GM has is subject to a trial of public opinion (and my first real attempt to shape game dynamics since assuming the role again). While it was initiated on a whim, I did work out a fairly interesting an elaborate story-line that would have potentially provided months of interesting possibilities for legislatures and executives alike. It genuinely had nothing to do with partisanship

I can't really remember a time in the game in which there has been such a level of inactivity across all aspects of Atlasia. While the registration numbers, election turnout figures and regional populations give the impression that the game is healthy, there is not much in the way of anything else. Being a guy who's always been a bit obsessed with Atlasia's raw numbers, I think I assessed the situation improperly when I first returned to the game, and thought that conditions were different. I really don't recall a time in which there was such little activity on the FE board, such a large percentage of legislation coming from such a small group of people in the Senate, such inactivity in places that traditionally have been active (the Mideast Assembly is the most notable example), and such a zombie-like level of involvement from the rest of the players.

As GM, I've observed that there appears to be less interest in the role than there was when I held the position last year. As I said above, while I really want to reform the office and make it a more valuable entity, I have felt relatively powerless to accomplish much in this regard. I will certainly continue to provide my relatively-decent level of expertise with the job to help improve its prospects in the future in whatever way possible, but being just a budget-calculator is not my best skill-set. Since the GM is the only cabinet position that cannot be held alongside elected office, I will have to resign my post if elected to the Senate.

At this point, I think the best thing I can do for and in the game is to take on a role in which I have the ability to be more active and stimulate more activity. It's a bit weird to think that someone like me - who has had as decent of an amount of influence in the game as virtually anyone could reasonably expect - has never been a Senator. For the most part, my two runs were done because I thought it was strategically wise to do so in those cases (there's something about special at-large Senate races in February that I just can't get enough of). This time is different.


I'll be elaborating in the days ahead about old and new ideas alike, but my number one economic desire for-like-freaking-ever and always a center of my campaign must be plugged.

NATIONALIZING ELECTRICITY

I have always stood for regionalizing key utilities at the regional level, and have supported similar intents federally, too. Energy is not a job-dense industry; energy companies can essentially drain dry all the natural resources in this great country without creating anywhere near the number of jobs that we'd expect in other industries for similar profits to be made. The result is very little competition, higher prices, accumulation of liquidity and in some cases, increased income inequality - all of which lead to a volatile, unnecessarily expensive scenario in which potential economic growth is ignored in the idea of the "free market", something of which does not exist in the slightest in the energy sector.

By eliminating the concept of profit from the equation - and only breaking even on labor/operating costs - we free up anywhere from 1-2% of GDP for direct injection by consumers into other aspects of the economy - where profit actually equates job growth. Such a move over the long-term would provide an additional ladder for millions with which they can climb out of poverty and be a part of a thriving, healthy economic engine. It also will reduce energy costs for businesses of all sizes.

To be honest,

[Adam Griffin]

Thanks, everyone!

[Adam Griffin]

The election booth is open, so please be sure to vote!

I hope you'll cast a ballot either for my good friend Alfred Jones or myself.

[Adam Griffin]

MORE TO COME...

[Adam Griffin]

A VICTORY FOR ME IS A VICTORY FOR LABOR IS A VICTORY FOR ATLASIA

Thank you, everyone, for your support and selecting me as your next (and most preferred) Senator! I look forward to joining the body in a couple of weeks.

THE GAME

Now, let's cut to the case: this game is in an awful place right now. As of late, I've noticed activity levels drop to levels unseen in my time playing this game. At first, I thought spring break or a fluke was behind it, but for more than a month, a majority of days have passed on the main FE board where fewer than 5 posts have been made. The government boards haven't been much better. I don't know what the hell is going on, but we've got to fix this.

If there's one thing I've always been good at, it is getting people's attention. As your next Senator, I intend to use my power to revive this game through my tried and true tradition of stirring shit up, if need be. Hopefully, everyone will just start returning to the game before then so that I can focus more on legislation.

THE PARTY

I'm so happy with our current delegation, and with the end of this at-large election, I truly believe Labor will now have the purest and most active delegation that it ever has. Over the past year, I've watched us increase our numbers in the Senate - but often at the expense of ideology. As of late, however, we've slowly rectified this and now enjoy the most concentrated and largest bloc of power in the Senate that we ever have. It's a beautiful thing, and I love y'all so much.

THE POLICIES

I look forward to working on two major proposals in the coming weeks.

The first is legislation that will nationalize electricity and further enhance provisions of the Omnibus Green Energy Policy Act.

The second is a revival of discussions in regards to regional reform and new ways in which we can bring excitement back to the game - even for older players.


Please stay tuned to my office for more updates in the future, and thank you again for your support!

[Adam Griffin]

Thank you!

[Adam Griffin]

SENATOR GRIFFIN ANNOUNCES SOMETHING

Coming to the end of my first term as Senator, I can look back on it and realize the new perspective I've gained from serving in such a body. It is a slow and deliberative ordeal, and obviously activity plays a key role in how quickly most things can be done. The past four months have been - in my opinion - lacking in that regard, and I have certainly (toward the end, anyway) played a role in that.

I am happy that we were able to get through my proposal for correcting the lame-duck/appointment process of Senators, which we know refer to as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment. I'm also excited that we've had quite lengthy discussions on various elements of game reform, including my proposal for a bicameral legislature, which would be birthed once we approve consolidation. Despite the fact that such proposals will probably emerge from the Senate in such a chimeric fashion that it won't be anything like what I intended, I'm glad this discussion is ongoing and will continue. I'm glad to see reasoned progress on the bill I introduced to nationalize/regionalize our fuel and power, too. This is sorely needed.

Despite the fact that the Vice-President's activity figures suggest that I haven't been the least active Senator of the cycle when factoring in time off and bills missed, it still kind of feels that way to me. I'll be honest in saying that I had to be persuaded to run in April, but I still wanted to serve in the Senate and do it justice. I started out pretty strongly because I had the extra time to give. As some of you know, I'm quite invested with local/state political affairs and well...my state has apparently become a battleground state. So yeah, I've been very busy the past month or so and I don't foresee it getting any better for me until after the elections.

Because of this, I will not be seeking a second term to the Senate. This office deserves to be filled by someone who will be active. Despite the fact that I could totally rack up the votes and probably come in first place just for show (), it just doesn't seem right. So as it stands, I encourage my supporters to instead support Alfred, Dr. Cynic and whomever the most leftist candidate outside of our party is who can win.

I'll also have an additional important announcement to make within the next week, so stay tuned.

Godspeed and all that,
Griff