Office of Former President and Gov. DemPGH

[Oakvale]

I have a Pacific-related question, Gov. - is the Council going to debating PJ bills in perpetuity? Just how many did he introduce before leaving?

I actually didn't count them - but I know there were days when he submitted like a dozen of those, and to put this into context for people who don't follow the Pacific, there was a bill that made it illegal to broadcast a false emergency signal. One was a stab at campaign financing, which we decided was not applicable based upon its wording. And others.

I think Cranberry and I could get together and just bypass bills that are not applicable or which don't seem to address any real issues. After all, we don't have to carry over bills; we are allowed to, though. All he would need to do is shoot me a PM to say, "What do you think of these?" Nah, let's skip those. And it's done. I'm sure he would do that.

Ah, okay, I was just worried that we'd end up in a situation like we occasionally did in the Senate where some spams the bill introduction thread, disappears, and leaves people to work through the backlog for months to come. Good to know there's an option of bypassing them.

[Cranberry]

 

I have a Pacific-related question, Gov. - is the Council going to debating PJ bills in perpetuity? Just how many did he introduce before leaving?

I actually didn't count them - but I know there were days when he submitted like a dozen of those, and to put this into context for people who don't follow the Pacific, there was a bill that made it illegal to broadcast a false emergency signal. One was a stab at campaign financing, which we decided was not applicable based upon its wording. And others.

I think Cranberry and I could get together and just bypass bills that are not applicable or which don't seem to address any real issues. After all, we don't have to carry over bills; we are allowed to, though. All he would need to do is shoot me a PM to say, "What do you think of these?" Nah, let's skip those. And it's done. I'm sure he would do that.

Ah, okay, I was just worried that we'd end up in a situation like we occasionally did in the Senate where some spams the bill introduction thread, disappears, and leaves people to work through the backlog for months to come. Good to know there's an option of bypassing them.

I already sorted out a few I found totally unnecessary. There are 6 left now, but I could sort these out as well, of you want.

[DemPGH]

I have a Pacific-related question, Gov. - is the Council going to debating PJ bills in perpetuity? Just how many did he introduce before leaving?

I actually didn't count them - but I know there were days when he submitted like a dozen of those, and to put this into context for people who don't follow the Pacific, there was a bill that made it illegal to broadcast a false emergency signal. One was a stab at campaign financing, which we decided was not applicable based upon its wording. And others.

I think Cranberry and I could get together and just bypass bills that are not applicable or which don't seem to address any real issues. After all, we don't have to carry over bills; we are allowed to, though. All he would need to do is shoot me a PM to say, "What do you think of these?" Nah, let's skip those. And it's done. I'm sure he would do that.

Ah, okay, I was just worried that we'd end up in a situation like we occasionally did in the Senate where some spams the bill introduction thread, disappears, and leaves people to work through the backlog for months to come. Good to know there's an option of bypassing them.

I already sorted out a few I found totally unnecessary. There are 6 left now, but I could sort these out as well, of you want.

Very good! Excellent. If you want to chat about any of those 6, just PM me.

[Oakvale]

I'm an elder statesman, Windjammer. Besides, I have an old soul.

[Sol]

I endorse y'all, by the way.

[DemPGH]

Endorsed. 

Meant to thank you, Fritz! Always great to get a thumbs-up from an Atlasian veteran.

I endorse y'all, by the way.

Much appreciated, Sol!

[DemPGH]

Dear Atlasia:

I would like to announce today that as your President I would like to follow through on some successful ventures we’ve undertaken in the Pacific. We are upgrading our science textbooks, offering start up scientific companies funding and support, and offering means and support for individuals with degrees to pursue further education in science and engineering.

As President, I will prioritize Education and Science advancement. I would very much like to work with the Senate and with my SoIA to develop a much needed science policy. We are at the frontier of many exciting discoveries, like the ability to harness resources from asteroids and other objects.

As we speak, chemical, medicinal, dynamics, robotics, and engineering companies are moving science forward, and if there is anywhere that the private sector can help us, it is with science advancement. I believe the Government should develop a science policy, inclusive of green technology, that will move us forward.

My focus on Education will be to:

1)   Improve old and decaying school buildings.
2)   Promote manageable classroom sizes.
3)   Support physical education with clear guidelines and expectations that able-bodied children
        receive thirty minutes of actual physical training each day.
4)   Establish clear science guidelines that affirm the scientific method, as we did in the Pacific.
5)   Support STEM by improving access to new books and materials.
6)   Re-imagine teacher training to incorporate more content and less method.
7)   Make it much easier for scholars and content specialists to become teachers by entering an apprentice style program.

It should be clarified with respect to higher education: I would not support defunding or cutting subsidies to universities in order to improve education - you simply cannot do it. Universities require subsidies to function because universities employ a lot of people who provide a lot of services. if that were to happen, the university would need to enact a host of fees and / or raise tuition through the ceiling, so in the long run we would not save money by cutting subsidies to higher education.

How do I know this? Experience working at a university!

If we want to send people to college for free, we have to raise taxes to pay for it, plain and simple.

With respect to private schools, I think that if they pass muster on national requirements and national standards, they should certainly exist. Charter schools may or may not be legitimate - the issue needs to be national standards for tests, content, and material. Private schools and academies offer an alternative that frankly should be legal. I'm not saying we should fund them, but they should be legal.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Endorsed

[DemPGH]

We'd like to introduce some thoughts on our social justice platform at this time.

Social Platform and Social Justice

Gay rights
     We feel strongly that LGBT Atlasians should enjoy the same rights and expect the same treatment as heterosexuals, and also to be free from harassment and discrimination, workplace or otherwise. I support the Midwest’s LGBT Equality act, and will speak about it at another time.

Gay Suicide Prevention
     Suicide among LGBT teens is remarkably high. To combat this, we would support bills that increase both research and support as well as the availability of emotional support through schools for our LGBT teens.

Animal Rights
     We will support basic, rudimentary animal rights legislation at the federal level. It is extremely important to remember that animals are defenseless and often entirely vulnerable. Ideally, I would like a basic framework of animal rights that regions may work within, but basic animal rights at the federal level is needed.

Dolphin and Whale Protection
     I was a little disappointed to see such an effort made by some Senators to water down the dolphin protection bill. Dolphins are marine mammals very much like humans with an emotional range and high intelligence. In fact, they reach the “mirror stage” of cognitive development while nearly still infants! They also have a history of working with humans to catch fish and they show empathy. They deserve our utmost!

Minority Issues
     We oppose all forms of racial intolerance and discrimination, workplace, institutional, or otherwise.

Death Penalty / Life Sentences
     We oppose the death penalty and life sentences without the possibility of a parole. More serious crimes should obviously have more distant parole possibilities.

[Fed. Pac. Chairman Devin]

Sorry im late on this, but endorsed!

[DemPGH]

Thanks, Devin! Been great working with you.

Next we'll deal with foreign policy and the environment, and sans a few lingering issues, that should about cover the bases. I'll do a review in which we put all this together in one or two posts. My idea is that a campaign should unfold and concern relevant issues. My approach really isn't to sit down and write a manifesto first; that approach works extremely well for some people, but I like to sort of roll with things so it keeps everything fresh and hopefully people engaged.

Any questions about anything not covered, fire away!

[Arturo Belano]

ENDORSED!

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

what do you plan on doing to advance trans* rights?

[DemPGH]

Thanks, Butafly, and btw welcome to Labor! To answer,

We have the Transgender Rights Act of 2013 (bill 58-13), which makes the process of a sex change readily available and establishes 16 as the age at which one can have an operation.

We can also more generally protect transsexuals from discrimination and harassment.

Gender dysphoria is currently classified as a disorder and is directly related to transsexuality. We need to do a couple things:

1.   Better understand the psychology of the issue at hand before we attempt things like treatments and so forth. Thus, opposition to "gay conversion therapy" is essential as it's not scientific.
2.   Protect transsexuals from workplace discrimination and harassment.
3.   Teens may be specifically at risk, and I would like to see improved emotional and psychological support through schools and also easy access to such support in the medical field.
4.   Consider protecting transsexuals from hate-inspired crimes.

Senator TNF has proposed an omnibus civil rights bill, and I will add that I would be delighted to assist in working on that.

[DemPGH]

While we prepare foreign policy and environmental statements, I would like to announce that we'll take questions on the ever important issue of game reform.

To begin with, I'm rather dismayed at the logic used to oppose the idea that the SoFE should be in charge of administering constitutional amendment votes. Aside from whose job it is and so on, it is at its core something that will streamline and improve the game. The major candidates are for it and many people have spoken out for it, so I am all for the centralization of voting.

I'm much less warm about simply wiping every statute off the books; if we're going to do that, we may as well go the rest of the way toward the "reboot" and consider a parliamentary system or the previously proposed bicameral system. Now I'm not naive; while I would support these suggestions, I'm skeptical that they can be achieved at the present. However, with a slightly different ideological composition in the Senate, we could at least "test the water."

I absolutely support a new Con-Con as a roadmap to a reboot or any reinvention of the game. As such, it would probably be required anyway. I also support a Con-Con to clean up the current text.

[DemPGH]

Environmental statement is next, but Cranberry and I wrote the the Pacific stimulus act below (over a couple weeks!), which I titled "The First" because there's another one coming. I think this got the Pacific moving, thanks to Duke's advocation of it, and I want to say that I will authorize the second stimulus set to arrive later this summer if I am elected President so long as it's needed.

We emphasized education, infrastructure, and science in this one, and in the second it would be great to emphasize environment and business in the second.

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[DemPGH]

Pacificans, two voting booths are open.

The first only has a few days left and concerns executive departments again. The purpose is to define and limit the Senate's authority to rename departments and to assign duties.

The second shortens the lame duck period after federal elections.

[DemPGH]

Back in March I signed the Green Pacific Act, which emphasized renewable energy sources and clean utilities. Our goal is to reach 40% renewable electricity relatively soon, but we have to realize that electricity is only part of the problem. Industrial processes, coal, and overall carbon emission also present us with obstacles. I would like to see legislation aimed at supporting or developing green and clean energy without punishing our current economy.

I would also support an expansion in the use of solar power; solar PV units are now cheap enough so as to be competitive, and logically, what is appealing about solar energy is that it is at its peak when demand is highest. I realize that it would not be efficient in every part of the country, but it would in many parts. Solar collection devices should be explored, especially in sun-drenched states.

I think we should also consider the inefficiency of many rental units and provide reasonable incentives for landlords or tenants to upgrade those units.

We should also think and act preventively: Much damage is done, so coastal areas in the N.E. and IDS are specifically at risk, as well as in the Pacific. Preparedness against flooding and increased storm intensity should be discussed.

So long that it is safe, nuclear energy represents incredible potential!

We also must remember the importance of the health of the oceans; with water representing nearly 71% of Earth’s surface, just a little over 96% of that is oceanic. Ocean acidification and reef health are essential to environmental equilibrium, and I would enthusiastically support any bill whose aim was at ocean health and stability.

[DC Al Fine]

After much thought, I have decided to endorse DemPGH/Windjammer for President.

With no pro-life ticket to endorse, I had to make my decision based on other criteria. Unfortunately, the pro-pornography stance of SirNick's VP nominee rules him out. That leaves elder statesman and fellow economic moderate DemPGH as the best candidate for the presidency. With a reasonable moderate for President and a close friend in Windjammer for VP, I am happy to cross the aisle and endorse a Labor candidacy.

[DemPGH]

Much appreciated, Mr. DC! Very happy to see that and hopefully I will get a chance to work with you.

[Adam Griffin]

Endorsed!

[DemPGH]

Ever my thanks, Adam! Team DemPGH is gonna give it all we got.

Also, the final platform on foreign policy will be coming soon. For those still reading, I'd then like to do a recap of everything by outline or brief synopsis. 

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Quick question I kind of wanted to ask both candidates because I am interested in it right now - what kind of plans do you have, if any, for our healthcare system? Currently, we are dealing with bankruptcies and closures of hospitals and it's clear something needs to be done. I am studying both the Singapore system and now the French system, but I'm not sure I will be able to accomplish anything in the 15 or so days before the election, but it's possible. If I do leave office before we fix anything, do you intend to tackle the issue? If yes, how?

[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? )

[DemPGH]

I would like to get us as close as we can to a single payer system, but I would be willing to support programs that broaden the availability of care while keeping it as inexpensive to the patient as possible. I realize there will be a lot of ideological and financial opposition to a single payer system, so we may not be able to get one.

I would like to see a mixture of private and government management and delivery of health care, but the funding of it should be as centralized as possible, which I think would cut down on administration and bureaucracy. I also would allow regions to develop ways to fund it locally and I would accept "high risk" lifestyles (smoking, fast food, overweight) incurring some additional out-of-pocket costs. I also think we need flexible price controls, depending.

Contributions from all salaries and all walks of life based on ability to pay, taxes and government contributions, and small out-of-pocket costs would be a reasonable way to approach it.

The French system I like, what I've read of it anyway, and the Singapore system seems too complicated. I'm just not sure how it would work in Atlasia.