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[Maxwell]

The Porcupine Interview - Senator LumineVonReuental

Senator LumineVonReuental started his career in Atlasia as a Mideast Assemblyman. He had won in a massive upset due to a strong campaign and a pledge not to do PMing, and made strides to put into place speed limit laws. He lost his re-election bid, but after that he begun his career in the Midwest. First as Archduke, then as Governor, he garnered a reputation for respect among even his opponents. He ran a hard, dedicated campaign for Senate in the Midwest against incumbent TNF, who had a significant advantage due to Labor registration in the region. In spite of that, Lumine tied TNF and could’ve gone to a run-off. Instead, he conceded due to voters invalidating their own ballots, and ran for At-Large Senate. Since then, he’s been cultivating an image of foreign policy guru and game reform enthusiast. He’s certainly one of the rising stars of the game, and a friend of the author.

You were a previous Governor of the Midwest, what would you say about the recent controversy over the Hate Crimes legislation? Would you support a repeal of the bill, or merely amending it?

I have to be completely honest with you here, when that bill has being discussed I followed some parts of the discussion, and at the beginning I failed to notice the problems related to how constitutional the bill actually was, perhaps because it was based on actually good intentions. With hindsight, I probably should have reflected on Cris’s concerns and then offer some advice to the Althing, so in my condition of former Governor and former Archduke I feel slightly responsible for not doing anything at the time. And yes, we need to repeal that bill and replace it with something with the same goal but with a constitutional and more efficient method. Gov. Windjammer said something that I find somewhat worrying when he talked about the right to free speech being silly. I understand his frustration and the context of that specific remark, but free speech shouldn’t really be negotiable in bills like that.

What would you say are your biggest goals for your tenure in the Senate?

You might say I tried to overreach in my Midwest Senate race, and while I put a comprehensive and complex platform I ended up leaving domestic policy to focus on foreign policy, game reform and the environment. As a result, my goals from now to when my term ends in early September are to continue my efforts in those areas which I feel have been neglected (expect for Game Reform, in which Griffin and Bore have done some fascinating work). I wish to resume my efforts for green energy with some plans for the cities and urban renewal, to see how to contain our rivals in the world and to contribute as much as I can to achieve significant Game Reform. Sure, I could do what most people do and focus on domestic bills, but if there’s an area in which we are practically doing nothing, I wish to focus on that.

Do you have any thoughts on the federal budget, whether we should make any changes in the upcoming year?

Being as candid as I can, I am quite worried about the next budget. So far the Senate as a whole has had some interesting proposals that I find quite interesting and worth some expenses, but so far all we have done is to spend more and more money (my own bills often have that problem, requiring a good amount of money to work). The next budget will have the problem of having to face the combined spending of TNF’s economic proposals, some tax cuts, my expenditures in energy and foreign policy and the health care issue, and I fear we may very well be in debt already (which is why I hope Simfan does the calculations as quick as he can). Broadly speaking, next budget should deal with spending and try to reduce it in some way. I’m not an expert in the economy, everybody knows that, but we must discuss what we want to cut if we want to pay for all the ideas we have passed. I’m pragmatic in the sense I would favor a raise in certain taxes, but there’s a limit to that before we start damaging our economy and the people itself. So far, I would only advocate for an increase in military spending, as I feel Senator TNF (and Labor in general) have led us into having a military that spends too little in regards to what it needs to maintain global capabilities.

Follow-up - Is there any part of the budget you feel, definitively, needs to be cut and why?

Well, a quick review of the Nix budget shows that most of the expenses are reasonable (or hard to cut), but I guess the two areas that stand out are Health Care and Labor. Health Care by itself consumed like a third of the budget, so that's an area in which we can significantly reduce the expense by introducing free market elements as Shua and Yankee are trying to do. Labor figures seem reasonable within that same budget, but we have passed a good amount of expenses in that front thanks to TNF, and I wouldn't mind cutting some of that.

You've been a strong advocate for talking more about foreign policy. What would you say we need to do differently on foreign policy?

This will sound awfully mischievous, but acknowledging that it exists might be a good step. You see, for most of the time I have been here all I hear about foreign policy Is related to Israel and Palestine, and right now SoEA Superique has managed to broker a peace deal in the Middle East, which means that soon we will be able to finally put that issue to rest. And then what? The issue here is that there are many challenges out there and many things we could and we should be doing, but most people here are exclusively devoted to the economy and domestic policy. China and Russia are expanding, and we need to act now and stand up for our allies (Japan in the South China Sea, Poland, Ukraine and so forth). Africa and South America are undergoing a crucial political process, and we have to be a part of that. I’m not advocating for military adventurism and scream “send the marines!” every time something happens in the world, but we must take stances and then act on them. If we can keep foreign policy in the public discourse then I am convinced the efforts will start coming, but we must start discussing foreign policy.

Follow-up - What can we do, if anything, about violations of intellectual property rights by China, who have a noted history of lawlessness in the area?

First of all, we need to send the message. It sounds obvious, but no administration so far has tried to confront China on this, and because of that nothing has stopped them from doing what they please. I have a firm belief in trade being a weapon on by itself, and if China has proved that they are quite willing to engage us aggresively by manipulating their currency, we might as well be willing to restrict trade and prove that nobody can do as they please in the world stage.

More to Come: Pacific Economy, Senate Approval, and will Lumine run for President?

[Maxwell]

The Porcupine Interview - Sentor LumineVonReuental Continued

The Pacific economy is returning, but still moving slowly. What reforms would you impose to speed up this economic growth if you were in charge?

First, I would honestly advice against any radical turn in economic policy for the region. The biggest problem the Pacific faces is more related to confidence than anything, and from a realistic point of view it’s hard to see most businessmen (from small or large business, it doesn’t matter) considering the Pacific an attractive place to go because of the issues related to governance. Tyrion, PJ and DemPGH have provided much needed stability and Oakvale’s efforts have managed to raise confidence and slowly reduce unemployment, so I think the recovery of the Pacific is something that will come slowly, perhaps over a year from now. What we could do is to experiment with the taxes in a creative way, an idea I drew from some of Riley’s proposals and some measures taken in the Midwest. If we could reduce some of the taxes that serve as a constraint to business to make the region competitive while we increase other taxes (I’m looking at the vice taxes here, as I feel an increase would actually have positive effects in reducing consume) to avoid a deficit, we could probably speed that recovery and growth. Of course this is just a theory; remember economic policy is not my area of expertise. In the issue of stimulus dollars, the Council has faced some issues when dealing with the PJ legacy of bills (which I view in a positive light, even if they are bills that should necessarily be a priority), but you can see them right now discussing what to make of the next stimulus (which comes in July-August), so I’m looking forward to see what they do.

Do you approve of the way the Senate has been doing its job, and if not, in what ways could the Senate do it better?

I would say I do. If we backtrack a little on to November and December, you had a Senate with a queue overloaded with bills and inactive Senators like Xahar and Napoleon, which I believe were nothing but a negative influence for the Senate. Our current Senate has some issues with inactivity (I’m inactive myself from time to time thanks to college and other issues), but so far it has done a great job and we are close to completing the queue (expect for the current group of TNF bills). Now, the credit for this obviously has to go to Yankee and Cincinnatus, as they have proved that they can manage the Senate more efficiently than anybody. I respect former VP Matt, but it has to be said that he was not efficient when it came to managing the Senate (and I understand that, it’s a tough and demanding job that I probably wouldn't like to do). Since I have started to let go of my proposal to recover the committees (perhaps the activity levels are not enough yet to bring them back), the only way the Senate can improve itself right now is by doing the personal effort to being more active, effort that all of us have to do.

And finally, the ambition question - Do you see yourself making another campaign for President, and do you support a Draft Riley movement, and if not, who do you think is a rising star in the Federalist Party, your new home?

This is where I should make the typical statement of being a Senator first and having to think it over and such, but I guess it’s better to be blunt over something like this… Yes, I certainly see myself making another campaign for President, and I think I could do a much better job than in October 2013. Of obvious reasons I’m not running now, since I fully support SirNick and Dallasfan, and I don’t think I will run in October as well, but you can count on me running again at some point in the future, whenever I feel I’m ready and that it is the right time for me. When it comes to Draft Riley, you might say I have mixed feelings. Riley is a rising star, and I have supported most of his efforts since he entered the game (with some exceptions, of course). If I had no candidate as of now, I would support the Draft Riley movement, but I have pledged my support to SirNick and I believe in him as the best candidate to lead and to defeat Labor. When it comes to rising starts in the Federalist Party, I believe Devin and Cassius hold a lot of promise for the future, and in the Presidential level I have already pointed out that DC al Fine and Dereich would be interesting Presidential candidates if they decided to run.

Thank you for agreeing to this interview.

[Maxwell]

The Porcupine Interview - Senator TNF

Senator TNF and Senator Lumine, despite their combative ways, started in very much the same way. TNF ran for the Mideast legislature, and nearly won. Seeing a low potential for the future in the Mideast and the retirement of Senator Snowstalker, he decided to run for Senate in the Midwest. Since then, TNF has become the premier voice for The Labor Party, pushing policies of the far left consistently and adamantly. TNF has faced tough re-election bids in the Midwest, but has never wavered from his positions on the issues and has fought hard for his ideas.

You made your voice clear during the constitutional controversy over Hate Crimes legislation in the Midwest, and yet I didn't pick up your full views. Do you support making hate crime laws, and if so why?

At the present juncture, I do not support legislating hate crime laws at the federal level. I understand the support for such legislation and think that such legislation would ultimately be constitutional, given correct wording (and I think this extends to a ban on "Hate Speech", quite frankly), but I do not think that this is something that needs to be written into our legal code at the present time, nor would I vote in favor of such legislation if it were brought to the floor of the Senate in the near future.

You've stood strong against Senator Lumine's Ukraine aide legislation. What is your view of how Atlasia should interact in the world, and more particularly, in the situation with Russia?

I think that Atlasia should interact with the world on a peaceful basis, first and foremost. The situation in Crimea is volatile and quite frankly, I don't think we should be in the business of aiding or abetting either the Russian attempt at annexation or the new government in Kiev, which is composed entirely of elements hostile to democracy. And I have made myself clear to that effect, which is why I oppose Senator Lumine's efforts to aid this anti-democratic, right-wing government in Ukraine, while likewise supporting efforts to condemn the Russians for their imperial actions in the region. In stating that, I also understand that past Atlasian policy (specifically the expansion of NATO) has something to do with these developments, and I likewise condemn our own imperialist acts. The future of Ukraine should entirely be in the hands of the Ukrainian people, not of the armies of Russia or Atlasia.

Follow-Up - When, if ever, should Atlasia use force against another region?

I would say that Atlasia should only use force if force is first used against it.

Your record is full of legislative accomplishments, but your particular focus seems to be on Labor. What would you say the next step is for Atlasian Labor?

I think that the next step forward largely rests on challenging the hiring and investment prerogatives of Capital. That means, essentially, building up a strong cooperative sector and increasing direct control over production and investment decisions by workers themselves, acting through their trade unions. I think that every workplace that has a union ought to have a union hiring hall, and that the unions should be responsible (through an elected works council) for the day-to-day management of their workplace. I think that unions should be given seats on corporate boards (my most recent effort at this failed, but make no mistake, it will be revived and I do expect to see it passed before my retirement) and that gradually, workers should become the major shareholders in every industry, perhaps along the lines of what was ultimately unsuccessfully tried in Sweden in the 1970s.

Fundamentally I think that the next moves for Atlasian Labor are all those which put it in a revolutionary position. The time is ripe for the workers of this country to assume the management of the industries that they work in, and move us into a post-capitalist (if not necessarily post-market, at first) stage of development.

One big bill that you have supported fervently is the nationalization of energy. Why do you support this and what is your justification for such a large change in our handling of the situation?

I think that energy is a utility and should be treated as one. We don't let private fire brigades operate, we don't have private police, and so it's kind of ridiculous that we have a private energy sector, a sector that is, in and of itself, something that all other sectors feed off of. We saw what that lead to in the 1970s when the oil shocks hit and threw us for a loop; nationalizing energy means reclaiming control over our energy. It means being able to rationally plan out future production and phase out harmful carbon polluting energies derived from fossil fuels.

Follow-Up - You pointed to the 70s as evidence for the case for nationalization. The opposition to this argument points to price controls as the reason  for the harsh time in our energy history. Would you agree with that assessment? Or is your evaluation of history different.

It is commonly argued that price controls cause shortages by reducing the incentive of the capitalist to invest and expand production or even maintain existing production. The difference between a price control and nationalization is of course that price controls retain private production of a given commodity, and thus given an incentive for the capitalist to act in a way contrary to the public interest. Nationalization, on the other hand, removes the capitalist from the equation, allowing for regulated production of a given item in addition to allowing for lower prices. The problem with price controls is that they do too little, not too much; the real way forward in guaranteeing affordable production is the elimination of capitalist ownership and management of industry.

Ambition - You ran for President last cycle, and you did a lot better than people expected. Could you see another run in your future? Or was that stand the last one?

You never want to rule anything out, but for the time being I am content with my position in the Senate. I am quite happy with our (presumptive) nominee, Governor DemPGH, and would be delighted to be able to work with both he and Governor Windjammer in Nyman come July.

[Maxwell]

The Porcupine Interview - Former Senator Ben

Benconstine maybe one of the most experienced politicians in all of Atlasia. A former Governor, Senator, Secretary of External Affairs, Ambassador, Attorney General, and Mideast Assemblyman, he's served Atlasia in just about every capacity. It's no secret in the past that he's had Presidential ambitions, and even ran for President once against Oakvale and Tmth. His overall views are known to most Atlasians - On domestic issues he's a genuine Atlasian centrist, while on foreign policy is one of the nation's premier hawks. These views put him somewhat out of step of the country (which is left leaning) and his region (which is increasingly moving to the right), and yet, he won many competitive races in the Mideast. Now he's running for Senate again on the same things he's been pushing for since the beginning.

You've had a long career in Atlasian politics. What position would you say you accomplished the most in and what were your accomplishments in that position?

I served in the Senate for over a year, representing the Mideast.  During my tenure I instituted the committee system, made foreign policy a priority, introduced legislation legalizing online poker, and limited the ability of CEOs to commit crimes and keep their pensions.

Follow-Up - Would you say the committee system was a success or a failure? Would you try to re-institute the committee system?

I think, ultimately, people just weren't committed to the system.  I wouldn't try to bring it back, simply because I don't think enough people would want to be actively involved.

One position you've held rather prominently is SoEA. Could you give readers not so familiar with your record a glimpse into how you view Atlasia should behave in the scope of the world?

I believe that Atlasia needs to utilize its position in the world to help spread democracy, and to help our allies.  I am a firm believer in a strong military, and that we cannot be afraid to use that military when the situation calls for it.

Follow-Up - How do we handle violations of intellectual property rights by China?

After a while, we have to start applying actual sanctions on China.  I'm not an expert on the appropriate type of sanction, but we have to protect intellectual property rights.

The last position you held at a federal level was Attorney General, and you were impeached for inactivity in one of the major roles of the job. How can voters be reassured that you will not become inactive if elected Senator?

I was stupid.  I took the position of AG not expecting to need to devote time to the wiki.  Even while I was failing in that regard, I was never inactive overall.  This won't be a problem with the Senate.

Follow-Up - You didn't answer the full question, how can you reassure voters that you will be an active Senator?

At a certain point, all I can do is give my word.

What is your position on reducing tax rates in Atlasia, and do you agree with the Duke plan, or do you think we should take a different route?

I think we need tax cuts, but that they should be focused towards those least able to pay.  I think the Duke cuts lean too much towards the rich, and I'd seek to correct that.

Finally, the demographics of the Mideast have changed dramatically. Can you see yourself winning this race, and how would you do it?

I can.  I plan to run as a moderate, tied to neither extreme.  That's how I've run my races in the Mideast before, and I don't see why it won't work now.

[Maxwell]

The Porcupine Interview - Former Everything Tmth

Today the Porcupine is blessed with perhaps the most experienced person in Atlasia - Former Senator, Governor, Vice President, and President Tmthforu94. Say what you will about him, and many have, his record of election victory and accomplishment is nearly unmatched in Atlasia history. He was the first President of Atlasia's right-wing in years when elected, and even after a prominent scandal, many voters were willing to put him back in office for another term. He recently left his post in the Senate after winning his re-election bid confidently, and ran for President for a short while. He is still someone who people are wondering what is next for, and that is not too common among Atlasian Presidents.

On the budget, President Duke has been pushing for a tax cut. Do you think the tax cut the President has proposed is the right one, and if not, what kind of tax cut, if any, would you propose?

I am supportive of the President's attempt to bring taxes in Atlasia down to reasonable levels. This is a game and I understand that the easy approach is to raise revenue that many see is by raising taxes. Once you take into account what our taxes are, especially income and corporate, at both the federal and regional level, I don't find them to be practical at all, and if this were reality, our economy would be in the tanks as a result.

Follow-Up: Is there any area you think we are spending too much money on?

Without going through the budget, one area I know that we write a huge check on is education between the federal and regional governments.


Senator Lumine has made a push for more conversation on foreign policy. Do you have any observations from your years of experience that you think we have done wrong in the world sphere, and how would you correct wrong doing?

I applaud Senator Lumine for trying to make foreign affairs more relevant. While I have never considered myself an expert on foreign policy, I have been apart of several attempts to create interest, but the facts are that most people don't really care - domestic issues will always take precedence.

In terms of what we have done wrong, we have increasingly had a diminished presence worldwide - Presidents rarely take foreign trips or comment on global issues. Similar to our tax policy, if this were RL, our foreign policy would also be in the tanks.

You ran for President for a short while, but dropped out and endorsed Winfield. With Winfield gone and only left Sirnick and DemPGH, what are your views on the race, and would you endorse either candidate for President?

Sirnick and DemPGH both strike me as pretty capable individuals, but I am disappointed that the center-right faction, particularly the Federalists and D-Rs, have been unable to come together and run their own ticket. We need a real contrast in policies in this election - it's what keeps the game going. At this point in time, I don't see myself endorsing, and even if I did, I doubt it would make much of a difference.

Follow-up - What do you think is the biggest issue the next President is going to have to face in the upcoming year?

Keeping people involved in the game over a long period of time.

Finally, ambition. As said before, you had announced a run for President, only shortly after to withdraw. Are you planning a comeback of sorts into the game, or are you still relaxing at your Presidential beach house?

I am enjoying my time away - I wanted to test the waters several weeks ago, only to withdraw after feeling confident in Winfield's abilities to lead the center-right. I was sad to see him depart. I am sad that I had to leave the game so abruptly back in February, but I do feel that it was the right decision for me. Never say never - I have come back from retirement before. But I am pretty comfortable in the position I am in now.

Thank you for speaking with us Tmth!

[Maxwell]

Supreme Court strikes down Hate Crimes Legislation

June 11th, 2014 - Supreme Court Justice Oakvale announced the decision today to strike down the Midwest Hate Crimes Legislation, ruling in favor of Snowstalker in the case of Snowstalker v. The Midwest. A large part of Oakvale's opinion seemed to point at the poorly written nature of the bill, citing it as a reason that the bill would be completely unenforceable, and therefore, unconstitutional. In a more obvious arguement though, Oakvale cited the freedom of speech as a reason to strike down both the Hate Crimes part of the bill and Verbal Abuse part.

Oakvale's opinion can be seen here and here. More opinions from the other justices to come.

[Maxwell]

Glorious news!

Indeed comrade!

[Maxwell]

Federalist Endorsement Vote - Nick in the Lead

June 15th, 2014 -- While we can not predict the result yet, we have a strong number, and we can make a statement about the current results within the Federalist Endorsement vote. After a long period of NOTA winning, the Former GM and Northeast Governor Sirnick has taken a lead over Pacific Governor and Former Vice President DemPGH and NOTA. Still, it's a wonder if he will take a majority - It's up to the discretion of Federalist Chairman Yankee to decide if he will pick the winner by plurality or by majority, and he may just leave the race endorsement-less through that decision. The results are as follows at this point in time -

Federalist Endorsement Results (As of 9:23 PM)
Former GM and NE Governor Sirnick - 48%
PA Governor and Former VP DemPGH - 22%
NOTA - 30%

We will continue to follow the votes as they come in.

[Maxwell]

Great interview Flo!

[Maxwell]

Tomorrow we will have an interview and our first update of results, so get ready!

[Maxwell]

Porcupine's First Results Update

As of TNF

Presidential Race
DemPGH/Windjammer - 63%
Sirnick/Dallasfan65 - 37%

Too early to call a prediction, but in terms of the figures, things don't look good for Sirnick.

Pacific
Flo - 75%
Tyrion - 13%
Superique - 13%

One of two very shocking results, Flo not only leads, but leads big. If he holds this even a little, it looks like he would be headed toward a Senate seat. Still, not enough numbers to give this a solid call.

Northeast
Bore - 56%
Deus Naturae - 44%

As expected, Bore holds a narrow lead over Deus. The left-leaning nature of the Northeast allows Bore to survive consistent competitive elections, and I suspect that will happen again. Still, turn out is high in this election, so I would keep an eye on this race and see if Deus can't turn this thing around.

IDS
N.C. Yankee - 50%
Maxwell - 40%
Abstain - 10%

Yankee holds a narrow lead, but later voters look to lean Yankee, so we'll see.

Midwest
RR1997 - 58%
TNF - 42%

RR1997 still holds a lead, but TNF looks to be creeping up on RR1997 slowly but surely.

Mideast
DC Al Fine - 67%
Madman Motley - 25%
Benconstine - 8%

Running an active campaign, DC Al Fine is looking like he will win his re-election in a walk. He faced two challengers, Madman Motley, and Former Attorney General Benconstine, and as expected, did not face much of a challenge. We will see how these results play out later.

[Maxwell]

Porcupine Interview - SOEA and Senate Candidate Superique

The current Secretary of External Affairs, Superique has a history in the Pacific. He was one of the last members of the Liberal Party, and tried to lift activity in the region as the Pacific speaker. His efforts, unfortunately, failed, and he was recalled. This was during the darkest period of the Pacific, during Operation Rimjob. Since then, Superique tried to restore trust in his ability, and since his appointment as SoIA, he has proven to be one of the strongest cabinet members in Atlasia history. He's been known for his policy chops, and now he's running for Senate, challenging Senator Tyrion on his activity. As a member of TPP, his stances seem to be nuanced, centrist, and pragmatic.

You've been a Pacifican since the beginning. How do you feel about the current Pacific Legislature, and is there anything more they can do about their economic situation?

I’m quite pleased with the current Pacific Legislature. All of them, Cranberry, Devin and Flo, are doing an outstanding job and I’m quite happy that they are being able to bring economic recovery and balancing the budget. Obviously, that is something that doesn’t involve just the councilmen and I might say that President Duke, Governor DemPGH and Crisis Manager Oakvale participation were extremely crucial for the success of the current Pacific Recovery.

Now, regarding to other options to bring more economic recovery, I must say that in the regional level we are bringing the right balance of actions: low or zero deficits may arrive in the next budget, low tax rates (based on the previous levels) and thousands of investment on development and growth.  During Duke’s Administration, there were some similar movements to attract investments on the federal level, such as tax cuts and even a package of aid for the Pacific Region. Even so, I believe that we can do more: I would consider revising some of our current Labor legislation and some of our regulatory mechanisms to see if we can bring more flexibility when hiring people and bring more investments to the nation. After all, we have Nixcome and this minimum income allow us to bring more flexibility to labor laws without harming The People of this nation.

You're running for Senator of the Pacific. Do you have any specific criticisms of Senator Tyrion, and what would you bring to the Senate that is different from what Tyrion has brought?

I don’t think that Tyrion is a bad senator and I don’t believe that he is being that inactive but, if you compare his second term to his first, you can see that he could have been doing more. I applaud his efforts on Game Reform and I would like not to abandon that. However, I think that this nation is being far complacent with TNF bulk of regulatory laws and the Senate needs someone to bring more opposition to those bills. 

I didn’t want to be controversial but it seems to me that the current leadership of the Labor Party is taking more radical decisions than on previous years. The Labor Party has a strong and gradual plan; they were able to make Atlasia a Social Democracy in many ways and I’m not opposed to that but now they are following to a more Socialist plan which I cannot agree and cope with. I believe that gradually giving control of our companies to unions and moving forward with nationalizations are dangerous for the progress of the very some workers that Labor intend to support. Those new measures, that are part of a program of “Empowerment”, may leave some unintended consequences on our economy. 

I have a more pragmatic view and I see that those new measures that clearly have a Socialist base are not going to be good to our people.  Is distributing wealth important? Sure, but creating wealth is also crucial.  When you start with a bunch of new regulations, new nationalizations and more taxation, you end up harming growth and in the end you may very well harm your redistribution efforts.  Moreover, we’ve got to take a look at our budgets, we are spending on Foreign Aid, Tax Cuts and social programs but we don’t know where the money is coming.  It’s time to create a Budgetary Commission and, on day 1 as Senator, I will propose legislation that creates a Senate Commission to calculate our current debt and start proposing measures to reduce it.

On the healthcare conversation, what, if anything, do you view as wrong with our current healthcare system, and what would you change?

The idea behind Fritzcare is a good one but the system is so confusing that is even hard to make a good diagnosis of its situation. There are concerns if providers are being paid properly, there are concerns over its financing and there is a concern if it’s a single-payer system or if it’s a public option in a market system. I think that we must answer those doubts and make a system that is first of all understandable and sustainable.

I’m currently enjoying the changes proposed by Shua and Yankee and I would probably support them. If private insurers are able to provide better care than the public insurer, why then should we prohibit them? Having Fritzcare as a public option competing against private insurers is totally fine to me and, in the end, I believe that Fritzcare will prevail against the others, but if it doesn’t, it’s not a problem either because that would mean that workers had found out better options for them. Nonetheless, I’m concerned with ideas such as reforming our healthcare system to become a Singapore Style one and I’m also worried about attempts to end with the Fritzcare Board that help to reduce inefficiency and abuse.

What are your views on the Iraq situation, and why should we intervene?

First of all, there are many libertarian and some communist citizens of Atlasia that are worried about Iraq and which actions we are going to make. I just want to stress that we are not planning a full-scale war there and it’s not mines and President Duke’s desire to put ground troops on the region.  Now, stressing that, we can talk more calmly about Iraq.

The things is that we played a very important role on this country’s instability and now it’s time to help their government with these insurgency that is coming up.  The Iraqi Government is asking for our help and we shall help them. The ISIS is extremely dangerous; it’s a radical Sunni group that is promoting massive killings over Iraq and promoting sectarianism, moreover, they have strong ties with terrorist groups. If ISIS is able to take power in Iraq, then we are going to face more instabilities in the Middle East and a wide spread of terrorism across the globe and that’s something that we don’t need to see if we make a pragmatic support to the Iraqi Armed Forces.

The White House and I want a very “clinical” intervention with multilateral aspects.  We are sending drones and intelligence agents for them and we are considering aerial support for their actions but this is not a unilateral move. I’m having talks with NATO Nations and we are approaching Turkey and Iran. There’s not a single parallel with the 2003 Iraqi War and we are going to be very careful. I don’t want an imperialistic Atlasia but we need to know that if we don’t do anything in Iraq and let them fight, we will probably help to foster more instability in the region, giving more incentives to the Sunni and Shiite conflict, raising oil prices and dismantling part of the confidence that we were able to bring to the region with the Israel-Palestine Deal and that’s something that not a single Atlasian want.


Finally ambition - You ran for Vice President on a ticket with LumineVonReuental, do you think you could run for President in the future?

Yes, I would love to be President but I’m not thinking of running anytime soon, maybe next year. I have been SoIA, I’m SoEA, and The People know what I can offer to them. I just hope I can elect to another post before trying to run for President. I’m not that good when it comes to votes so I hope I can revert that trend first xD