Office of Former President and Gov. DemPGH

[windjammer]

As probably Governor elected from the Midwest, I will NEVER support 1+1+3. The speaker must be elected at large, I can compromise for the number of seats, but never for that.

[windjammer]

I have the feeling that I haven't been understood.

I will try to explain

Why 3-3-1 or 2-2-1?
When I say: "speaker elected at large", it's more like the Vice president, or the Archduke of the Althing who is the Lieutenant Governor. The Lieutenant Governor couldn't vote, but could just break the tie.
He will be definitely the most important elected officer (and not the most powerful). Why?
-He would be an acting governor if the Governor is absent or vacant.
-He would make the rules of the house, would preside the sessions.
-He would present the bills passed to the governor.
The Lieutenant Governor would be extremely important, more important than the Governor  and his only power would be to break the ties.
The Lieutenant Governor will of course be the likely next governor, and the fact he's de facto the facto "speaker" will help him to know the concerns, the bills actually debated!
An another thing, the Chamber would elect a President pro Tempore too, who shall act as Lieutenant governor when the Lieutenant Governor is absent/vacant/acts as Governor.
A person couldn't be both a member of the house and the governor, and this can be the case in your typical 5 seats elected when the governor is absent.
And an another thing, don't forget the Midwest and the Pacific would stay officially two regions. This would be more a confederation, and I like the idea of an equal number of representatives for the two parts, with a Lieutenant Governor elected at large breaking the ties.


Why 6 seats instead or 4 seats?
As the longest serving elected officer from the Midwest, I can assure than more representatives we have, more active is the House.
For example, GAworth, who was the most active member of the Althing, would have probably lost his seat because the Labor Party and the Fed party would have voted for his candidates.
See Sjoyce's defeat too, an active member but not a federalist= goodbye. (it's not an attack to the federalist party, the Labor party would have done the same thing).
In the Midwest, we have a lot of candidates, and if there is a problem in the Pacific, just allow them to seek a seat in the Pacific.
And the idea of 1-1-3 is AWFUL: yikes, this doesn't represent well the idea of a "confederation" and being elected in a region seat would be more difficult to be elected in an at large seat.


If you have concerns, feel free to ask, feel free to give us your mind.

[windjammer]

And I have forgotten.
The representatives would be elected for 2 months, but not at the same time: half of the Assembly would be up for reelection each month; this could be interesting.

[windjammer]

I've generally been of the opinion for some time now that the less offices the better, since it increases competition, but you do raise an interesting point in that partisanship might lead to inactive offficeholders being elected regardless. It's tricky.

Well, and if there is a problem, the number of seats can always be lowered. But I'm confident there won't a problem like that. The problem was that the Pacific had 5 representatives for 25 members. 3 seats were more appropriate. But with the confederation, we would have 56 seats, so I don't think there would be a problem if we let people from the Pacific run in the Midwest and vice versa.

And what do you think about the first part of my last post oakvale please? It interests me to have your opinion.

[windjammer]

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I disagree with you. I consider that the quality of the Assembly is much more important than the need of competitive elections.
Competitive elections should be for senate seats, governor/lieutenant governor seats, president/vice president seats. People should start their political career at the Assembly,this  is the best for showing the potential of Atlasians!
Quality is more important that competitivity according to me. And 6 seats wouldn't be too much, given how many members a  Midwest-Pacific region would have.
In order to improve competitivity, the best would be to incitate people to run for office, not to reduce the number of offices.
And the Midead elections are competitive after all. And they have 5 seats, one governor/ one lieutenant governor, whereas us, with my plan, would only have one governor/one lieutenant governor and 4 seats, despite the fact that the confederation would have more members than the Midwest.
Then, your 1-3-1: I agree with you that all seats shouldn't be held at the same time but the problem with your plan is that all seats wouldn't have the same difficulty for being elected, and that is a problem. And don't forget it's a confederation, not a merge, so the Assembly elections should represent this conception!

[windjammer]

The 1-1-3 plan is just a bad arrangement, and I do think 7 is too many.  2-2-1 seems to be the best choice.

Don't forget the Confederation would have 57 members.

[windjammer]

The 1-1-3 plan is just a bad arrangement, and I do think 7 is too many.  2-2-1 seems to be the best choice.

Don't forget the Confederation would have 57 members.

One part of which is having extreme difficulty electing three members.

But the other part: no. So just let people run everywhere .

[windjammer]

The 1-1-3 plan is just a bad arrangement, and I do think 7 is too many.  2-2-1 seems to be the best choice.

Don't forget the Confederation would have 57 members.

One part of which is having extreme difficulty electing three members.

But the other part: no. So just let people run everywhere .

I thought you were advocating 2-2-1? 5 At-large seats is systematically different.

Ii was advocating 3-3-1. But people from the Midwest could seek a seat in the Pacific, and vice versa.

[windjammer]

I support five members for this joint legislature - how it is configured won't be a deal-breaker for me. The more at large seats there are the greater the flexibility; the fewer at large seats the more equilibrium. I think flexibility is the best for the long-term (like what Oakvale suggested).

There will have to be one functioning governor; it really couldn't work with two governors unless one of the governors became something else, like a Lt. Gov. who might operate the voting booths.

What's the simplest solution with regard to the constitutions and the magistrates? 

This won't be a merge, more a confederation. 3 at large seats won't work, as I pointed out:

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[windjammer]

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And with your plan, a Lieutenant Governor that would break the ties. That's exactly what I want to do, (speaker=president pro tempore). The only differerence would be the importance of the president pro tempore/speaker.

[windjammer]

You're a great governor DemPGH, I hope you will stay involved.

[windjammer]

As crisis manager I'm earmarking all funds necessary from the stimulus package for drought relief.

Oakvale, if one day, I declare a state of emergency in the Pacific. Will you be the crisis manager too? This position exists?

[windjammer]

Congrats!

[windjammer]

Obviously endorsed

[windjammer]

Windjammer for Vice-President

I want to thank DEMPGH for having chosen me. The VP office has always been the office I wanted to be one day elected? Why? Simply because I love being the speaker. I was 4 month ago the speaker of the Midwest legislature, so I think I have the experience for being the president of the senate. As Vice-President, I intend to clearly lead the debates, because that's the VP's main purpose!

Why voting for the demPGH/Windjammer ticket? Simply because we're both currently active in this game. DemPGH is the Pacific Governor, I'm the Midwest Governor. If we seek the presidency/vice presidency, this isn't for popularity. We haven't left Atlasia for a while and then decided to return because we would have seen an opportunity. No! We have been active, we are active, and we will be active!

That is obvious that DemPGH and myself aren't completely similar. DemPGH is much more the new progressive left like Brian Schatz,... Whereas me I'm much more an old-school democrat. But we're still ideologically close. We're both leftist pragmatic. Indeed, as Midwest Governor, I have signed some progressive legislation: the gay bill recently, fighting against homophobia and suicide among the LGBT community. I have sponsored  an important bill on education. Indeed, now, the Midwest Government is responsible 95% of the tuition of both in-region and out of region residents. But at the same time, I have cut the Midwest Corporate Tax by 20%. Indeed, while I have strongly believe that corporations, companies should be taxed, the Midwest was the only region to have a local tax. That's why I have chosen to cut this tax (and in exchange workers got addition pay day!). DemPGH, despite being a progressive leftist, has successfully shown his ability of leading a region which was in crisis and was praised by some people who weren't from the same party than him.

That's why if you vote for us, you will vote for a pragmatic leftist ticket. DemPGH and me will definitely work together. We're relatively close politically. We're not a coalition of a moderate democrat and a libertarian who are extremely different economically (you know: -3 and 5 for the political matrix score results, an important difference). A DemPGH/Windjammer will be a pro education ticket as well, we can assure you we will always try to improve education  (as Governors, we have both been pro education) and not by destroying the educational system (  like signing this bill.)

If you have questions feel free to ask!

Our platform will soon be available!

[windjammer]

It's unfortunate to see that the Atlasian Senate has rejected the last TNF version of this bill. This bill was reasonable!

I guess you get your answer

[windjammer]

Economic plan :

-Health care
We support replacing Fritzcare with a simple, straight forward single payer system. I personally live in a country where there is single-payer, and I believe this is the best system. Few weeks ago, I faced a surgery, nothing important, but this surgery was expensive and the treatment after this surgery was expensive too. Without single payer, I wouldn't have been able to pay for this surgery or I would have been in debt because of that.


-Unions
We're both strong union supporters. We believe every worker shall have the right to unionize without interference and we are definitely hostile to the misnamed « right to work » legislation. We support the development of Workers's cooperative and we believe workers should play a more important rôle in the companies.

Small Business and Business Expansion
We would offer tax incentives to start-up companies, assistance to technology and science companies, as is happening in the Pacific, and we would support co-ops.


-Jobs
As all of you probably know, compared with the other generations, unemployment is extremely high among the youngest generation. The Midwest legislature is currently debating a bill helping companies (public and private) and association to hire young people (between 18 and 25 years old), by paying some of the job costs.

We believe the senate should pass this kind of legislation as well. The Midwest bill has been by the law « Emplois Jeunes » made by the Jospin government at the end of the 20th century. The results of this bill weren't only job creation for young people, but an improvement of their skills in the long term. Most of them found a job after the end of the contract, a big victory for people who previously struggled to find a job.


-Taxation 
 We believe we should raise slightly the current Federal Estate tax.
Here are the current brackets :

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While we believe every parent should have the rights to let something for their children after their death (that's why we strongly oppose the first TNF bill, taxing all inheritance to a 100% tax), we seriously believe the current brackets are too low and if elected, we would raise these brackets.

Indeed, a low federal estate tax is definitely a threat for Atlasia's unity. I don't deny the fact that there will always be rich and poors, this is the state's duty to reduce the inequalities. If a man earns 100 more than an another citizen, how can he believe he's living in the same world than him ? For Alexis de Tocqueville, in his book « De la démocratie en Amérique » (in English : Democracy in America), he strongly admirated the United States of America because a son of rich people could become poor, and a son of poor people could become rich. That is no longer the case anymore.

By raising the estate tax, we're not saying this will solve the problems, but we believe it will improve the curent situation.

Education 
Investing in education is a sure way to see a return. We will emphasize STEM support and Business education.

DemPGH and I are really pro education and we believe this is one of the most important issues we differ with the Sirnick/Dallasfan ticket. Indeed, as Midwest Governor, I have sponsored and signed a bill that has reduced the tuition fee for students in Midwest Public Universities by 95% (without reducing any revenue of the Midwest public universities). I have voted, sponsored during my long career some bills increasing funding for education, especially for places,suffering from a poor academic performance. DemPGH has himself voted and signed bills improving education, raising funds,...  Sirnick record for education, this is signing this bill destroying what Scott had made for the Northeast. Oh, and his VP, Dallasfan, has signed this bill, repealing Bilingual education act for instance. Now in the Northeast, more and more students won't be able to speak a foreign language. This is terrible, especially in a world that is more and more globalized and where students will be probably more forced to move to an another country than before.  The Sirnick/Dallasfan ticket has a terrible record in term of education and that is probably on the few things they share economically.

If elected, we plan to extend the Midwest tuition bill nationally. No student should have to pay for a long time their tuition fee because their University asked more than 10,000 a year. We plan to increase education spending as well, especially for schools suffering from a poor academic performance.

[windjammer]

And I want to thank my friend Scott for having endorsed our ticket!!

[windjammer]

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Link: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=191167.msg4135997#msg4135997


Hey Windjammer, I'm glad you stood with me when I stood up for sanity in housing regulations. I appreciate you calling me the voice of reason in the Northeast. Its nice to see that both you and DemPGH are supporters of mine.

Next time you want to play ball, you should actually come to the ball park.

Hello Sirnich, I'm glad I stood with you as well for sanity in housing regulations. And I don't regret at all calling you "the voice of reason in the Northeast" for your opposition to the crazy housing regulations' bill.

But I have a question? Why do you speak about that? I mean, I have spoken about your education record, and I fail to see the link with housing regulations...

The fact you have been extremely good for your opposition to the crazy bill doesn't mean you have been good for the other issues. I give an example: Jan Brewer, I seriously believe she was reasonable by rejecting the gay apartheid bill, or by implementing the medicaid expansion. Does I beleive she a strong record?? Of couse not, she has passed disgusting bills, like the immigration bill and I would have loved to see her being defeated.

And of course, you're not Jan Brewer, but I have used this example to show that your argument "you call me the voice of reason for housing regulations" is really an argument that you could use for defending your record on education.

And caring of my balls, thanks, they're fine! I don't understand why you're interested with them? I mean, what I have said about education and your record, for both of you and Dallasfan, is true (I have even used the quotes). I could have said that having no balls is more by trying to avoid to defend your anti education record,... But I won't say that, I'm not at the elementary school anymore "OH MY OPPONENT IS BAD, HE HAS NO BALLS", sorry, I believe Atlasia should have better debated than that.

What I will say:
Sirnick, I know that running on an anti-education record( you know, this bill ) in Atlasia is as difficult as running in Arkansas with an pro-Obamacare (and just to be clear, I would have voter for Obamacare, I even support a more progressive version: the single payer), you can do better than trying to avoid of speaking about that by caring about my balls or quoting something I have said about you for your opposition to a crazy bill that has definitely NO LINK witn education.

Best,
Windjammer

[windjammer]

I want to thank former President Averroës and RG Fritz for their support .

But I have a question for our dear former president, who is the man on the picture? A politician, an actor? I don't recognize him .

[windjammer]

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Link: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=191167.msg4135997#msg4135997


Hey Windjammer, I'm glad you stood with me when I stood up for sanity in housing regulations. I appreciate you calling me the voice of reason in the Northeast. Its nice to see that both you and DemPGH are supporters of mine.

Next time you want to play ball, you should actually come to the ball park.

Hello Sirnich, I'm glad I stood with you as well for sanity in housing regulations. And I don't regret at all calling you "the voice of reason in the Northeast" for your opposition to the crazy housing regulations' bill.

But I have a question? Why do you speak about that? I mean, I have spoken about your education record, and I fail to see the link with housing regulations...

The fact you have been extremely good for your opposition to the crazy bill doesn't mean you have been good for the other issues. I give an example: Jan Brewer, I seriously believe she was reasonable by rejecting the gay apartheid bill, or by implementing the medicaid expansion. Does I beleive she a strong record?? Of couse not, she has passed disgusting bills, like the immigration bill and I would have loved to see her being defeated.

And of course, you're not Jan Brewer, but I have used this example to show that your argument "you call me the voice of reason for housing regulations" is really an argument that you could use for defending your record on education.

And caring of my balls, thanks, they're fine! I don't understand why you're interested with them? I mean, what I have said about education and your record, for both of you and Dallasfan, is true (I have even used the quotes). I could have said that having no balls is more by trying to avoid to defend your anti education record,... But I won't say that, I'm not at the elementary school anymore "OH MY OPPONENT IS BAD, HE HAS NO BALLS", sorry, I believe Atlasia should have better debated than that.

What I will say:
Sirnick, I know that running on an anti-education record( you know, this bill ) in Atlasia is as difficult as running in Arkansas with an pro-Obamacare (and just to be clear, I would have voter for Obamacare, I even support a more progressive version: the single payer), you can do better than trying to avoid of speaking about that by caring about my balls or quoting something I have said about you for your opposition to a crazy bill that has definitely NO LINK witn education.

Best,
Windjammer

Jan Brewer? Obamacare? What are these things? We live in Atlasia, not in some fictional country with a President named Obama and a Governor name Brewer. What silly things you speak of.

As for my record on education, I will give an in-depth response soon enough. As for the link with housing? I just wanted to highlight your kind words of me. Who wouldn't?

And once again, you have deviated. That just shows you have nothing to answer to defend your anti education record. And I don't regret having said these kind words you know . You were totally right on housing, but that's not the issue.


I think I have clearly said why I have used the examples, and as I know you're someone who is intelligent, I'm sure you have understood. You just want to deviate.


---------------------

I want to thank former President Averroës and RG Fritz for their support .

But I have a question for our dear former president, who is the man on the picture? A politician, an actor? I don't recognize him .

It's me, of course.*

*As played by Stephen Dillane.

Oh please, he seems to be a bit old .

[windjammer]

Duke,
We support the Single payer system, we believe Single payer would be the best system to improve the current Fritzcare system!

(Have I correctly understood your question? )

[windjammer]

Here we go for Foreign Policy! Sorry for being long, but it really took me a lot of time for writing that.
If you have questions, feel free to ask .

[size=20pt]Foreign Policy[/size]

Ukraine
While we are saddened by the participation of a neo Nazi party in the current Ukrainian government, the current Ukrainian resistance isn’t Nazi. We believe that Atlasia should help the current Ukrainian government. Even if we don’t plan to intervene militarily in Ukraine, we believe that Atlasia should help the Ukraine government to improve (financial help and help against corruption) and  take economic sanctions against Russia.


Reforming UNO
We believe as well that the current UNO system is FLAWED and too archaic. That’s why, if elected, we will try to reform the current system:
-   Expand the current National Security council. Germany, India, Japan, Brazil should get a permanent seat.
-   Abolish the system of vetos. We believe that no nation should be able to block any UNO decision. That’s why the system of veto should be replaced by  a 2/3 majority.
We know exactly that abolishing the system of vetos is currently impossible because of China and Russia. But if we never put on the table this measure, it will really never pass. The other measure is, we believe, possible!

We believe that reforming UNO is a necessity if we want to promote peace in the world.




Expand cybersecurity
While Atlasia isn’t threatened anymore by a military invasion, we recognize however that the world is evolving and that cyberattacks will happen more and more frequently. That’s why Atlasia should develop programs, with the other members of NATO, that would focus on preventing any cyberattack.
The Internet is more and more important for Atlasia and a successful cyberattack would be disastrous for our country.



Implementation of a Tobin Tax
We believe Atlasia should advocate for an international Tobin Tax. The Tobin Tax would tax financial transactions between  financial institutions by 0.1%  for shares and bonds  ….. and by 0.01 across derivative contracts.

The introduction of a tax Tobin is  really debated in the European Union and is currently supported by such conservative figures like Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy.  That’s why we believe the Tobin Tax will be beneficial.

If Atlasia is willing to support an international Tobin Tax, we expect the  European Union and most of the other countries to back this proposal as well. We read recently some articles saying China was considering introducing a such tax. The developing countries would back a such tax well because they would benefit a lot from that.

Only implemented In the Europe Union, this Tobin Tax would have granted €55,000,000,000 ($70B).  So it would grant much more if it is adopted internationally (approximately $166B). The amount raised by this Tax Tobin would be used mostly to fund international programs fighting against starvation, poverty.

In 2009, Aggregate official development assistance reached a record high of $119 billion. A such Tobin Tax would more than double the Aggregate official development assistance.

The Tobin Tax would improve our current capitalist system, by reducing market volatility, and speculation which was the origin of the Subprime Crisis, and the 1929 Great Depression as well.

[windjammer]

Glad you've endorsed a fleshed down version of my Game Engine Team proposal

Glad to see we agree on something .

[windjammer]

Considering you love  dolphins  so much DemPGH, you can only be a great president .