Liberal Party Platform Committee [PLATFORMING]

[Napoleon]

Order of operations:

1. Select a Committee Chairman

2. Rough draft

3. Committee vote

4. Final draft

5. Party vote

Members please sign in.

X Napoleon

[Freshly-touched grass]

X Scott

[Sbane]

X Sbane

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

x shua

[Napoleon]

Cool, now we only need Spenstar, who is away for the weekend.

Who wants to Chair the Committee?

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I nominate Napoleon, seeing as how he started the thread.

[Napoleon]

Fine. Let's get started then, and Spenstar has posted a leave of absence type thing so we will be patient with him for the next week or so, which shouldn't be a problem.

Chair

[ ] Napoleon
[ ] Write in

[Freshly-touched grass]

Chair

[X] Napoleon
[ ] Write in

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Chair

[X] Napoleon
[ ] Write in

[Napoleon]

Chair

[X] Napoleon
[ ] Write in

[Sbane]

Chair

• Napoleon

[Sec. of State Superique]

x Superique ?

[Blackacre]

Completely forgot about this. It's too late but I'd like to say I fully support Napoleon.

[Freshly-touched grass]

Just for the hell of it, here were my (rejected) proposals:

1. A more populist message.  Not "socially conservative/fiscally liberal," but a more "we the people" or a "for the common man" message; a message that speaks of putting the last in first, kind of like Jimmy Carter's brand of populism.

2. A call for renewal and forgiveness and an end to "Atlas drama."

3. Emphasis on issues that we all agree on, such as minimum wage.

[Old Man Svensson]

x Wyodon

So, where are we overall with regards to progress? And for what it's worth, I am in favor of all of Scott's proposals, unless someone is already completely doing the first option.

[Napoleon]

I am not in favor of moving in a populist direction. I find populist rhetoric annoying at best and when its been used here it hasn't been cute, funny or appealing so I would be hesitant to move in that direction.

I am strongly supportive of suggestion 2. In fact, I think our party and platform should be defined by cooperation on economic, social, international and even personal levels. We have a platform, I think we should use what's there as a foundation- change where change is needed, keep and expand upon the good stuff and overall modernize the party as we seem intent to do with all other aspects of our party including leadership. The Liberal Party of today is not the same party we were when our platform was adopted but I think we are much better and stronger now and our platform ought to reflect that.

I want to start with economic policy. Obviously we support free trade, but with what stipulations or exemptions if any? What about balanced budgets? We have a constitutionally mandated balanced budget in the Northeast and it has worked fine but I have opposed the Mideast proposals and I know that our membership was divided on that vote. What stance should we take as a party?

[Napoleon]

x Wyodon

So, where are we overall with regards to progress? And for what it's worth, I am in favor of all of Scott's proposals, unless someone is already completely doing the first option.

Hey

Just FYI, we had an election to fill five spots (before you joined), but since one of our members is MIA, feel free to take his seat until he comes back!

So far, we haven't achieved much. Do you have any ideas?

There is nothing more beneficial to the Committee than discussion and contributions from the party at large. Our job is to find a way to incorporate and define Liberal ideas using our best judgment, not impose our will upon the party. I would be very happy if even more Liberals get involved, including you Mr. Chair!

[Freshly-touched grass]

I'm not really in favor of moving in the direction of a Constitutionally required balanced budget at a national level, if that's what you're getting at.  Though I certainly think we should try to pursue them when economic conditions permit.  I also think regions should balance their budgets as much as possible.

[Old Man Svensson]

No worries, Wolfen. I appreciate both of your welcomes. Now, as to actual policy:

I want to start with economic policy. Obviously we support free trade, but with what stipulations or exemptions if any? What about balanced budgets? We have a constitutionally mandated balanced budget in the Northeast and it has worked fine but I have opposed the Mideast proposals and I know that our membership was divided on that vote. What stance should we take as a party?

I'll admit, I'm not exactly the party expert when it comes to economics - social policy is more my strong suit. But I do know enough to know that, even if we weren't to mandate them, balanced budgets should be encouraged. As well, I would suggest emphasis on progressive taxation and closing whatever loopholes we have, to keep money flowing fairly.

Off the topic, and just out of interest, where would agricultural issues fall in terms of category? Because I know a good bit about those as well, what with living in a farm-and-ranch state.

[Freshly-touched grass]

I think agriculture policy would fall under economics.  We passed agriculture reform in the Northeast not too long ago.

[Old Man Svensson]

I think agriculture policy would fall under economics.  We passed agriculture reform in the Northeast not too long ago.

What did that entail, out of interest?

[Freshly-touched grass]

I think agriculture policy would fall under economics.  We passed agriculture reform in the Northeast not too long ago.

What did that entail, out of interest?

You can see the law here.

[Old Man Svensson]

I think agriculture policy would fall under economics.  We passed agriculture reform in the Northeast not too long ago.

What did that entail, out of interest?

You can see the law here.

Interesting. It's a good start, but I've some ideas of my own, namely along the lines of promoting organic growth and limiting the power that massive agribusiness conglomerates have over food. Another project for another time, though - I'll save my ag ramblings for later so we can focus on the basics.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Just for the hell of it, here were my (rejected) proposals:

1. A more populist message.  Not "socially conservative/fiscally liberal," but a more "we the people" or a "for the common man" message; a message that speaks of putting the last in first, kind of like Jimmy Carter's brand of populism.

2. A call for renewal and forgiveness and an end to "Atlas drama."

3. Emphasis on issues that we all agree on, such as minimum wage.

1.  I'd be in favor of a populism in the sense of more widespread opportunity, decentralization of power, etc.  I'm very much against anything approaching class warfare or the politics of resentment.

2. Yes, absolutely.  I'm not anti-drama, but in terms of stupid rivalries and recriminations, it has to go.

3. I think you underestimate the diversity of our party on some issues

There's a lot of emphasis in Atlasian politics on balanced budgets. While it is something we should be striving for, by itself it doesn't set our message apart.  Maybe an emphasis on sustainable economic growth.

[Napoleon]

The Liberal Party stands in support of free trade agreements. We believe that international cooperation in the marketplace can lead to peace and prosperity at home and abroad. We understand that Atlasia has a critical role in the global economy. We believe that trade agreements can improve labor and environmental standards abroad. Atlasia's trade policy should benefit consumers and workers, not just the largest multinational corporations.

Thoughts?