Office of Fmr. Governor Simfan34

[Simfan34]

I would like to thank the voters of our region for returning me to the Assembly for yet another term. I intend to actively put into place the legislative program I have outlined here in the weeks and months to come.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Congratulations!

[Simfan34]

Well I would would out of a job then right now, no?

[Goldwater]

Well I would would out of a job then right now, no?

You can run in more than one election at once.

[Simfan34]

Is that legal? Even if it is, it hardly exudes committment.

[Goldwater]

Is that legal? Even if it is, it hardly exudes committment.

I believe it's legal, since Yankee was running for both Vice-President & the IDS Regional Senate seat.

[Napoleon]

Is that legal? Even if it is, it hardly exudes committment.

It's commitment to competition.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Yankee did it, I did it, Joe Biden did it.  It's perfectly legal.

[Simfan34]

"Run for multiple offices and it shall not harm you in any way," the Liberals said.

[Goldwater]

"Run for multiple offices and it shall not harm you in any way," the Liberals said.

Are you calling me a Liberal?

[Simfan34]

All you D-SDs look the same, honestly. No idea it was you amongst the crowd.

[Goldwater]

All you D-SDs look the same, honestly. No idea it was you amongst the crowd.

Yeah, that's understandable. I bet my anti religious right signature doesn't help either.

[Simfan34]

A BIG announcement is coming soon!

[Simfan34]

A formal announcement is still coming forthwith, but I shall be running for Senate.

[Speed of Sound]

Good luck, Mr. Governor you fine Atlasian citizen ()! We have quite the race coming together for these two seats. It should be a very exciting few weeks.

[Simfan34]

Good luck, Mr. Governor! We have quite the race coming together for these two seats. It should be a very exciting few weeks.

I thank you- I think? Alas, I am not the governor of anywhere. Or, perhaps, I am the Governor of Nowhere.

[Speed of Sound]

Good luck, Mr. Governor! We have quite the race coming together for these two seats. It should be a very exciting few weeks.

I thank you- I think? Alas, I am not the governor of anywhere. Or, perhaps, I am the Governor of Nowhere.

Haha, nothing like starting off with a misstep. I admite that while I was quite sure I had seen that title with you, I can't actually pinpoint even where the mistake begins. At any rate, good luck!

[Simfan34]

Good luck, Mr. Governor! We have quite the race coming together for these two seats. It should be a very exciting few weeks.

I thank you- I think? Alas, I am not the governor of anywhere. Or, perhaps, I am the Governor of Nowhere.

Haha, nothing like starting off with a misstep. I admite that while I was quite sure I had seen that title with you, I can't actually pinpoint even where the mistake begins. At any rate, good luck!

In any case, I am flattered, so no harm done! Best of luck to you as well.

[Northeast Rep Snowball]

I shall be running for assembly if simfan34 succeeds in his senatorial race.

[Simfan34]

Point State Park, Downtown Pittsburgh

Good afternoon, fellow Atlasians. Today our nation stands at a crossroads. We have just seen the departure of not one, but two senators- one dropping out of political affairs, the other expelled- for the second time. Now, I hold no disdain for these two upstanding men, great Atlasians in their own right, but what does this say about the state of our nation? What does this say about us if Senators allow their seats to lapse out of their hold? Nothing good, my friends. We need renewal, revitalization.

That is why I shall be running for those very seats just vacated. We get things moving again. We need to get Atlasia on the right track. Now I know many of you may sigh with skepticism and roll your eyes at what you deem my empty plaudits, so for you, I shall explain what exactly I intend to do.

Education and innovation shall be my number one priority. These are the foundations for our future, what will keep this nation strong. Increasing access to education, and the quality thereof, is necessary to keep the next generation competitive. We live in a flat world, my fellow Atlasians, but we can not only survive, but thrive in this world if we rise to the challenge.  I have already taken the lead in education legislation here in the Northeast- and I shall do the same in the Senate.  I would like to see all Atlasians graduate from high school by 2020, and by 2025, all should undergo higher education, whether it be university, community college, or vocational training. I will work to make this a reality. We must maintain our lead in innovation, and I will introduce the STAR Act nationally to actualize that idea. We must invest in research and science- that we may own the future.

I shall work to facilitate social equity, reduce and eliminate the inequality of opportunity today prevalent in our society. I will work to instill a culture of progress in achievement in underperforming and impoverished communities, and take efforts to involve them in their own policing and give them a greater say in their local governance. I will take efforts to improve the quality of education offered in underperforming schools, and I will promote activities to keep children in them civically-minded and help those at-risk.

Another major focus of mine shall be working to improve our infrastructure. Now I have been a strong proponent of roads, rails, etc, but I also want to focus on our digital infrastructure. I will put forth legislation to facilitate the installation of gigabit ethernet connections in every city over 100,000 people. I will work to replace outdated electric and telephone connections. The private sector, of course, will play a major role in these efforts.

As for energy, we too can look to the future. We can double our hydroelectric output without building a single dam- I shall work to make this a reality. We were once the leader in wind power, and we can be so again. We also need to research new sources- geothermal, microwave, and nuclear fusion.

These are many ideas, and I hope to make these realities. To prove this to you, I say this: I shall not give great speeches. I shall speak, of course, but instead of major platforms I shall issue the texts of the bills I plan to introduce. You shall know exactly what I propose.  You will know precisely where I stand and what I stand for.  You will know me. And in knowing me, you shall know that I know what to do and when to do it- which is now.

Thank you, and Dave bless you.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Wait a second... Sim's Black?

Lol.

I think acting surprised at Simfan being black has become a meme, by now.

[Simfan34]

I would like to condemn this libellous article, which seems to have gotten my name and position. That quote from Fanton is especially revolting.

http://www.ligali.org/article.php?id=2060

Also, ask questions!

[CLARENCE 2015!]

It will be difficult to choose between you and Pingvin for #1... but I will endorse you both! Good luck...

[Simfan34]

Many thanks, Clarence!

[Simfan34]

Thank you, Senator Nix (that'll take some time getting used to!), for your kind endorsement! I look forwards to campaigning with you on the trail.

Now, I am about to retire, but let me give you the text of a bill I plan to introduce, which isn't all that exciting because I've introduced it before.


Simfan34 introduced his first bill at a cocktail reception for early supporters at the The Westin Princeton on Thursday evening.

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This is partially meant as a response to the Medical Research Act. Atlasia has seen a marked drop in basic science research spending in recent years, and many of our vaunted private institutions that conducted such research such as Bell Labs, Sarnoff Corporation, or XEROX PARC, have either dropped out of basic research for projects that are lucrative in the short term or folded entirely. Indeed, in these days of fierce competition and dwindling profit margins it makes little sense to invest in research in the fundamentals or theory with little connection to daily operations.  As was written in Bloomberg BusinessWeek:

With the increasing focus on shareholder value that began in the 1990s as global competition heated up, Fortune 500 companies could no longer justify open-ended research that might not directly impact their bottom line. Today, corporate research is almost exclusively engineering R&D, tending more toward applied research with a 3- to 5-year time horizon (or shorter).

This was a luxury the monopolies or conglomerates of yesteryear had, but today’s corporations do not. But it is not a luxury, but indeed a necessity.

The many inventions of today- the tablet computer, the smartphone, the LCD television- were made possible by the innovations of decades prior- the transistor, the graphical user interface, and so forth, and those were backed up by simple scientific discoveries from even further beyond. This is something that Governor Nix noted in the past. But a link has been broken in that chain of discovery- the same science.  We are not engaging in basic science research, and thus cannot expect further innovation if we do not invest in the foundations of that innovation- such is common sense.

We today have seen manufacturing leave our shores, and whilst I would hope our government may one day take pains to see its return that is not the issue at hand today. We have placed our hopes for the time being in a “service economy”, but that, in the vein of thought of a Missourian expatriate I am loathe to find myself agreeing with, has given a few of us jobs in the finance sector whilst this “service economy” has meant, for the most of us, a job servicing customers at a fast food restaurant or clerking a checkout counter at a supermarket. Our rate of personal debt has soared, whilst growth in the economy is funneled to a select few. This is not their doing; it is instead that of the general business climate.

But we have a chance to rectify this. By investing in basic research we lay the seeds for another burst of innovation and the invention of the next generation, the chance to funnel their benefits into millions of well-paying jobs. But we need this soon, and indeed we need this now. Thus it is imperative that we conduct these efforts on a wide scale to achieve a “critical mass” of basic science research to accelerate innovation and bring their benefits to market sooner rather than later. That is also why we need to involve, and indeed make central, the private sector. The government may be good at conducting basic research, but it does so in a vacuum, where its only use is for paper writing and further experimentation. The private sector can bring these goods to market; make the experimental into the practical.

But this is a cycle, and it is only if we keep it rotating we can bring gain fruit from it indefinitely. I would like to see this bill replicated federally someday, and perhaps replace subsidization with tax credits, but until that day I think we can create millions of new jobs, and spur medical innovation to boot, with this legislation.

With tax credits, however, I think we reduce the expense dramatically and the governmental risk involved. Many other proposals made by think-tanks along these lines involved credits as opposed to subsidies and I think those work better. Otherwise I see this bill as being good federally.