Office of Game Moderator - Part Deux - PLEASE READ THINGS

[Adam Griffin]

Harper sticking his neck out; finding his foes are his friends

March 31, 2013
Ottawa, CA

Prime Minister Stephen Harper appears ready to cement his legacy as an economic reformer with the Atlasian-Canadian Common Market – but what does everyone else think about such a change?

Surprise, surprise: it's a mixed bag.

At another press conference on March 31, Prime Minister Harper made clear that the initial proposals outlined will undergo “serious consideration” by his administration. “We have the chance to enact permanent free trade solutions across the vast majority of North America. One in three Canadian jobs is reliant on export, and we owe it to our citizens to increase the economic bonds between our largest trading partners”, Harper proclaimed.

Large majorities of NDP & Liberal Mps have come around the broader idea of economic cooperation in recent days, while Harper's Conservative Party remains heavily divided on the issue. Many Conservatives view the potential common market as a way to guarantee free trade and freedom of movement, while others believe a silent coup d'etat will occur if Canada is no longer completely autonomous in its economic decision-making.

Even stranger, several BQ MPs and Quebecois separatists have announced their tentative support for this idea – given that certain guarantees are met, with one being that Quebec is assured “cultural and economic security”. It has been suggested that many Quebecois would welcome certain measures as a way to further reduce the Canadian government's influence in Quebec's affairs.

Further details outlining a specific Atlasian proposal are expected in the coming days from the Marokai Blue Administration, which will most likely cause a new flurry of discussion among MPs and citizens alike.

While it appears in broader discussion, there could be significant support for such a measure, Prime Minister Harper must choose between cementing his economic legacy, or confronting the primary obstacle standing in his path: his own party.

[Dereich]

At the request of a member of our legislature, would you redo the cost estimate for our nuclear bill? The number of nuclear plants has been reduced to 5.

[Adam Griffin]

At the request of a member of our legislature, would you redo the cost estimate for our nuclear bill? The number of nuclear plants has been reduced to 5.

IDS Clean Power Act - (5) 1200-MW water-pressurized reactors

Construction Costs: $11.941 billion
5-Year Operational Costs*: $4.209 billion

Total 5-Year Cost: $16.150 billion

*(Fuel, Maintenance, Staff, Decommissioning; $0.02/kWh)

[Poirot]

Is the Atlasian-Canadian common market storyline and the reaction of Canadian political parties meant to be fictional or based on probable reality ?

If it's founded on reality I think the Conservatives would be for it and the other two would be against. They would say harper wants Canada to be just like Atlasia.

In the 1988 election which had the Canada-USA free trade deal as an issue, the Liberals and NDP ran against the deal supported by the progressive-conservative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKQPw9vmG04

[MaxQue]

NDP is now pro-free trade and voted in favor of all (or most) free trade treaties in the current legislature. Probably not foreign to the fact than Quebec is mostly pro-free trade (for economical reasons, as they is no significant manufacturing industry left, economy is focused on techs and ressources).

As for Liberals, they were great proponents of free trade while they were in power. They mostly ran against free trade in 1988 because free trade was the subject of the election and wanted to differentiate themselves from PC and weren't willing to leave the anti free trade vote to the NDP. If they would have taken a pro-free trade position, they would probably have finished 3rd, stuck between pro-free trade PC and anti-free trade NDP.

As for the conservative opposition, you're quite aware there is a vocal part of the party which boasts about canadian independance and which would probably view such plans as the first step of creating American Union and randoms ramblings about Amero. Think of the eurosceptic wing of UK Consevatives. But, yes, most Conservatives would back it.

[Adam Griffin]

Current as of 4/7/13

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Goddamn Pacific, get your act together!

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why did unemployment in the Mideast rise?

[Adam Griffin]

Why did unemployment in the Mideast rise?

The single biggest contributor was brinkmanship politics regarding the budget amendment process - instability over budget issues always leads to a crisis of confidence in those who are or would be hiring. Similarly, the lack of a budget in the Pacific has kept many businesses and investors from making any large investments as of late.

[Supersonic]

Current as of 4/7/13

Wow, the IDS is a success story and a half. Funny it's the region with the most Federalists.

[Adam Griffin]

Current as of 4/7/13

Wow, the IDS is a success story and a half. Funny it's the region with the most Federalists.

Population growth in regions is also now taken into account when calculating unemployment, and the IDS has been steadily growing for the past 9 months or so. If a region grows too fast or too slow, however, that has a negative impact on employment. The IDS also is on par with the NE in being consistently proactive in determining budgets, which as mentioned above, also has positive connotations. 

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Current as of 4/7/13

Wow, the IDS is a success story and a half. Funny it's the region with the most Federalists.

Funny it's the region with the third-highest unemployment rate out of five.

[Donerail]

Current as of 4/7/13

Wow, the IDS is a success story and a half. Funny it's the region with the most Federalists.

Funny it's the region with the third-highest unemployment rate out of five.

Let's see. Over the past year: Mideast has dropped 0.2 points NE has dropped 0.1 points. Pacific has dropped 0.2 points. Midwest has stayed flat. We've dropped 1.4 points. That's pretty damn good.

[Supersonic]

Current as of 4/7/13

Wow, the IDS is a success story and a half. Funny it's the region with the most Federalists.

Funny it's the region with the third-highest unemployment rate out of five.

Let's see. Over the past year: Mideast has dropped 0.2 points NE has dropped 0.1 points. Pacific has dropped 0.2 points. Midwest has stayed flat. We've dropped 1.4 points. That's pretty damn good.

This.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Pleased to see fourteen months of center-left governance has kept the Northeast economy prosperous and its tri-annual budget balanced.

[Adam Griffin]

Pleased to see fourteen months of center-left governance has kept the Northeast economy prosperous and its tri-annual budget balanced.

To be fair, though, the drop in unemployment would probably be more substantial if the effective regional tax rate wasn't higher than that of the federal government. That certainly - at least in regards to unemployment numbers - has kept the NE in a holding pattern (although that pattern is markedly better than the national average).

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Pleased to see fourteen months of center-left governance has kept the Northeast economy prosperous and its tri-annual budget balanced.

To be fair, though, the drop in unemployment would probably be more substantial if the effective regional tax rate wasn't higher than that of the federal government. That certainly - at least in regards to unemployment numbers - has kept the NE in a holding pattern (although that pattern is markedly better than the national average).

Hm.  If I showed you a plan to reduce regional taxes, would it be any trouble for you to tell me how it would affect our surplus?

[Adam Griffin]

Pleased to see fourteen months of center-left governance has kept the Northeast economy prosperous and its tri-annual budget balanced.

To be fair, though, the drop in unemployment would probably be more substantial if the effective regional tax rate wasn't higher than that of the federal government. That certainly - at least in regards to unemployment numbers - has kept the NE in a holding pattern (although that pattern is markedly better than the national average).

Hm.  If I showed you a plan to reduce regional taxes, would it be any trouble for you to tell me how it would affect our surplus?

This is what I'm here for.

[Zanas]

Is is too soon to have a first idea on whether disabled people are being a bit more hired down South after the Incentive we annexed to our budget in that prospect ? I guess it may be a little too soon but maybe a rough idea ?

[Maxwell]

Although the Midwest can't look at things too positively, we are on our third straight month of job growth, and not to mention we are back where we started after months of growing unemployment, so there is some progress, and I am hoping more comes of it.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Thanks!

Here's my proposal:

PROPOSED TAXES

Income tax
0.0%    $0 - $24,999
1.0% 0.5%   $25,000 - $49,9999
2.0% 1.0%    $50,000 - $99,999
4.0% 3.0%   $100,000 - $249,999
6.5% 5.0%  $250,000 - $999,999
9.0% 7.0%   $1,000,000 +

Rates remain the same for married couples filing jointly, but brackets are doubled.

Sales tax
4.5% 3.0% [excludes groceries, clothing, and footwear]

Property tax
$35 $30 per mil on assessed value of unimproved land

Excise Taxes
Gas: 68 60 cents per gallon
Diesel: 85 80 cents per gallon
New automobile purchase tax (by curb weight): $500 $475 per thousand kilograms
Tanning: 33 and 1/3 cents per minute [tax already exists per Northeast Healthy Skin Act]


Our surplus is currently $60.5 billion.

Also, if you get a chance, would you tell us how much this legislation would cost?

[Donerail]

Could you run the numbers on projected revenues generated from and the expense of running a 10-cent (containers 24 fl oz or less) and 15-cent (larger) container deposit program covering beer/malt/ale/soft drinks/water (including flavored, mineral, and soda)/wine/coffee/tea/juice, but not dairy products, covering glass, plastic, or metal containers smaller than 4 liters?

[Adam Griffin]

Just reporting that I've received all requests and will be reviewing them shortly.

[Adam Griffin]

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Is is too soon to have a first idea on whether disabled people are being a bit more hired down South after the Incentive we annexed to our budget in that prospect ? I guess it may be a little too soon but maybe a rough idea ?

We'll need to wait a bit to observe the effects. Come see me in June.

Could you run the numbers on projected revenues generated from and the expense of running a 10-cent (containers 24 fl oz or less) and 15-cent (larger) container deposit program covering beer/malt/ale/soft drinks/water (including flavored, mineral, and soda)/wine/coffee/tea/juice, but not dairy products, covering glass, plastic, or metal containers smaller than 4 liters?

I assumed initially you meant regional, but then I thought maybe no?

[Donerail]

Could you run the numbers on projected revenues generated from and the expense of running a 10-cent (containers 24 fl oz or less) and 15-cent (larger) container deposit program covering beer/malt/ale/soft drinks/water (including flavored, mineral, and soda)/wine/coffee/tea/juice, but not dairy products, covering glass, plastic, or metal containers smaller than 4 liters?

I assumed initially you meant regional, but then I thought maybe no?

I'm not planning a Senate/Presidential run It's regional.