Truman for Mideast Assembly (HUZZAH!)

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Tmth's reformist ideas are much of the reasons I came back to the assembly and regional politics. This is something we can do across party lines.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Tmth's reformist ideas are much of the reasons I came back to the assembly and regional politics. This is something we can do across party lines.

I agree that Constitutional Reform is something that can and should involve people of all ideologies. I look forward to working with you on this in the future!

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Tmth's reformist ideas are much of the reasons I came back to the assembly and regional politics. This is something we can do across party lines.

I agree that Constitutional Reform is something that can and should involve people of all ideologies. I look forward to working with you on this in the future!

I just wish Tmth would've stayed to help the process further along in a faster pace.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Fort Wayne, IN

Back in Indiana! After several long days on the rails, it is a welcome respite to be once more amongst my fellow Hoosiers as I continue this campaign across the Mideast.

I wish to make two proposals today, two new proposals, though the concerns that led to them will be familiar to all. The first of these addresses the need for Economic Renewal; the second the Mideast's role in promoting Energy Efficiency. In both cases, I have attempted to avoid vague statements and be as specific as possible, while leaving enough room to build consensus both with the people of the Mideast and the regional government. Both of these proposals seek to combine the need for economic growth with the welfare of our citizens and our environment.

It has become something of a cliche for politicians to sound off on the need to support small business. The trouble is that too often suggestions to help our nation's small businesses come with a very warped definition of "small". To hear some of the politicians in this country talk, Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods are little more than mom and pop grocery stores deserving of every bit of lenience and assistance we can muster.

What I propose today is a bill to help those businesses in the Mideast that actually need the help. These are the businesses without national or even regional reach; the companies started by individual citizens and run out of their basements; the kinds of institutions with fewer employees than business days. It is these businesses, and not the industrial giants whose names are plastered on every strip mall and shopping center, who need our help.

In the second half of the 19th Century, government stood by and allowed small competitors to the large national corporations to be pushed out of business. The result was an economic system where wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few, where the interests of the ordinary citizen were overlooked, where the working and middle classes were stripped of their last cent to fill the corporate coffers of the industrial tycoons. That cannot be allowed to happen again. Not only is such a system destructive to the welfare of the middle class; it is not, ultimately, sound fiscal policy. A healthy economy requires the constant circulation of wealth, which in turn requires competition and a strong middle class. One of the best ways of achieving both of these things is to support small business, and for that reason I propose the Small Business Tax Bill, which would lower the tax rate for businesses with fewer than three locations nationwide, or who serve a total area of less than 5,000 square miles. This seems to me to be a fairly logical proposal. After all, wealthy individuals pay a higher tax rate than the middle class; why should the same not be true for businesses? Furthermore, this policy would have the effect of making running and financing a small business more feasible, increasing competition and the spending power of the middle class.

I now turn my focus to a much broader issue: the future of renewable energy in the Mideast. We stand, as a nation and indeed as a planet, on the cusp of a potential environmental crisis. Centuries of pollution have made our current position untenable, and while some continue to deny the effects of climate change, we no longer have the luxury of ignoring this issue. We must act, and act now, or be responsible for the worst catastrophe mankind has ever weathered. At the same time, I understand those who warn against burning the roof over our heads. Hasty action that endangers the stability of our economy is merely trading one disaster for another. I therefore propose the Renewable Energy Promotion Act, which is designed both to promote the use of clean energy and to prevent the failure of existing energy sectors.

This proposal is divided into four parts. Part one provides tax incentives to new green energy companies seeking to establish themselves in the Mideast. Part two encourages energy companies to transition to greener methods of producing energy by allowing them to deduct a portion of the cost of that transition from their regional taxes. This section would apply both to companies who want to convert to new forms of energy production outright and to those who wish to reform their current methods to reduce their effect on the environment. Part three encourages individual citizens to adopt environmentally-friendly practices by making the purchase of solar panels and other green energy implements tax deductible. Part four raises the tax on non-green energy sources to provide an added incentive for these changes. By focussing on voluntary conversion to green energy on the part of our companies, we decrease the risk of economic fallout while still addressing the necessity of making these changes now.

As always, I would be more than willing to answer questions, take suggestions, or simply discuss the state of our economy with any citizen who wishes to. Otherwise, I will continue on to Louisville, Kentucky, where I will continue to lay out my plan for a new, vibrant Mideast.

Onward!

Harry S Truman, Candidate for Mideast Assembly

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Louisville, KY

As I continue traveling across the Mideast, I'm very happy to be able to make a stop here in Kentucky to talk to you about the issues facing our region. My grandmother was a Kentuckian, and I grew up listening to stories of her childhood here. One summer, I believe, she actually swam across the Ohio River to Cincinnati - though I must say, in this weather, I'm glad not to have arrived here in that particular fashion!

Over the past several days, I have set forward a variety of policies to foster growth and activity in our region. I have done this, not because I like to hear myself talk, but because I believe that the people deserve to know exactly what their representatives are going to do. You might not have liked everything you heard, but you at least know what you're getting yourselves into (or out of), and I thank your for your time, your patience, and your support.

Having made these specific proposals, I would now like to move into the abstract and address an issue that has been troubling me over the last few weeks: Partisanship. I am not speaking so much about relations between elected officials, which appear to be very good, but of the attitude that is today pervasive amongst the various "talking heads" of the country. Simply put, there is a certain bitterness in the way that candidates and strategists now address each other, and that seems to me to be an undesirable situation.

It is to be expected, perhaps even desirable, for there to be a degree of competitive discord within the political system. Were everyone in agreement on every issue, there would be little need to hold elections and this game would be pointedly boring. Yet the degree to which hostility, even disgust, has overtaken the public dialogue is simply uncalled for. To criticize your opponent's ideas and actions is one thing; but to call them "fascist", to state point-blank that you have no interest in finding common ground with them, to base your campaign on promises to obstruct their agenda is childish and unbecoming of a public servant. This is not an issue of abandoning one's principles or any of the other gobbledygook that politicians use to defile the idea of compromise; it is an issue of whether one's objective is to serve only a portion of their constituents, or the people of this country as a whole.

I am a member of The People's Party because I strongly believe in the principles of its platform and the rhetoric of its leaders. I do not expect to agree with everyone on every issue, not do I expect others to discard their own ideology on my account. Nevertheless, as your representative, I will never rule out the possibility of compromise, even with the unlikeliest of allies. My goal is not to decimate one party or to crown another, but to faithfully and diligently serve the people, and to that end I will remain ever willing to work with any and all Atlasians who share that commitment.

I realize that, in saying this, I risk appearing verbose and naive. Certainly, similar statements have been made by other politicians since the foundation of this Republic and before. My only defense is that I believe strongly every word I have said, and consider this as concrete a commitment as any that I have made over the course of this campaign.

As always, I would be happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have, either about what I have said today or in regards to any of the issues facing our region. Otherwise, I will see you again in a few days in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Onward!

Harry S Truman, Candidate for Mideast Assembly

[TDAS04]

Good luck on your Assembly race.  You will at least get my second preference.

[Blair]

A very good speech on partisanship, and the problems that it causes for our democracy.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Good luck on your Assembly race.  You will at least get my second preference.

Much appreciated, Governor!

A very good speech on partisanship, and the problems that it causes for our democracy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This isn't an issue that gets a lot of attention, but when you have six major parties competing for power, being able to work with people of different persuasions is a must.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Cincinnati, OH

It's been several years since I was last in Cincinnati, and I couldn't be happier to have found an excuse to come back. As I drove back across the Ohio River from the Kentucky side, the sun literally came out from behind the clouds. Whether that was because of the city or my speech, I won't say.

There are several things I'd like to talk about with you today, some planned and some unplanned. First, I'd like to address my vote in the At-Large Senate election that began today. This isn't a matter that I had planned to discuss, but after several inquiries from members of my party, I think it's best to get everything out in the open so as to avoid any misunderstandings.

A few hours ago, I cast my vote for former Senator Adam Griffin. This may come as a surprise to some, as I am a member of The People's Party and Mr. Griffin is one of the most vocal members of the Labor Party. The reason for my vote is simple: I do not believe that the candidate of my party, Mr. Foucaulf, represents the ideas that drew me to TPP. As I said a few days ago in Louisville, I am a firm believer in the importance of compromise and moderation. Mr. Foucaulf exhibits neither. His campaign has been little more than a two-week rant against the Labor Party and its leaders; he actually announced that he would not work with two of his potential colleagues under any circumstances; and on the rare occasion when he did speak about policy, his proposals ranged from radical to ludicrous. While Mr. Griffin has been vulnerable to these same criticisms in the past, his most recent campaign has struck a much more moderate and reasonable tone, and while I still have some qualms about his candidacy, I feel he is the best of the four candidates seeking the office.

But the real reason I came here today is not to discuss federal politics, but to speak on what is arguably the most pressing issue of our age: Education. I need not tell anyone that our schools, and the very idea of public education itself, are in crisis. Yet for all the arguments, debates, and 'reforms' of the last several decades, no-one - not the Atlasian government, not the regions, and not the Union that came before them - have done anything that approaches the scale of change that is necessary if we are to revitalize our schools and our country.

The problem is well-known to all. Though we pile on more tests, more homework, more time in the lecture hall every year, the educated and enthusiastic child that we seek remains elusive. As things currently stand, students are divided into two groups: those who have surrendered to the rising tide of apathy, and those whose perfectionism has transformed them into harried, frantic human beings. True understanding of the material our teachers present each year remains dismally low; interest in their schooling vanishes in most children before third grade. The love of learning that drove Abraham Lincoln to walk several miles through the snow to school is seemingly dead, and all our leaders can suggest is more testing, more drills - in short, more of the same.

This is a state of affairs than cannot be remedied overnight, or indeed in a single two-month term in the Assembly. What we can do is take action to curb the excessive emphasis of our schools on standardized tests. Heralded in the days before this Republic as a fair, impartial, universal way of observing our students' progress, these tests have instead become a roadblock to any but the most trivial reforms. Our students are overwhelmed by them; our teachers resent them; our parents wonder how their child sinking into depression can possibly be helping their chances of getting into college. In the classroom, test prep has annexed huge swaths of time once dedicated to instruction, meaning that not only is the quality of education decreasing, there is also less of it. At home, students stay up into the long hours of the night, week after week, furiously attempting to memorize equations, dates, and paragraphs that they and their teachers know will vanish from their minds come Summer vacation. And for what? By this point, there is enough evidence to state that standardized tests are not helping our students learn, and in many cases are preventing them from doing so. Surely there must be a way to assess our students' progress without submitting them to a stressful, mind-numbing experience that, in any case, is entirely ineffective.

I propose an Education Reform Bill designed to replace these standardized tests with a more effective and thorough method of measuring students' progress. This bill would replace the government-mandated exams that are currently used to determine whether our children have, in fact, learned anything over the past year with "End-Of-Year Projects" designed to measure the depth and breadth of their knowledge. The way in which this program would work is straight forward: at the end of the school year, each student would prepare a cumulative "report" for every subject studied during that year. This report could take the form of a written paper, an oral report, a practical demonstration (such as a science experiment), or any other acceptable medium assigned by the teacher. For grades 1-5, the project's format would be assigned by the teacher; students in grades 6-12, meanwhile, would design their own reports. In this way, we ensure that high academic standards are maintained without resorting to the behemoth of government-mandated tests.

The benefits of this proposal are threefold. First, it eliminates the need for standardized tests while preserving a means of assessing student progress. Second, such projects require a much more thorough understanding of the subject at hand than filling in a bubble on an exam sheet. One of the many vices of the standardized test is that is cannot differentiate between surface-level knowledge and in-depth understanding of a topic. As such, it is quite easy for a student who knows very little about World History to pass a World History exam simply by being able to recognize familiar phrases and names. Yet even the cleverest student would be hard-pressed to craft a written paper on World History without a thorough understanding of the subject, for it is easy to tell the difference between the writing of a knowledgable student and that of a pretender. Third, it encourages students to develop their own ideas in a way that standardized tests cannot. When answering a multiple-choice question, a student has little opportunity to analyze the subject from a different perspective; indeed, the very format of the exam discourages it. By allowing students to devise their own means of displaying their knowledge, we encourage them to challenge existing conclusions and, to borrow a cliche, "think outside the box", a skill that is of the upmost importance as they progress beyond their primary schooling and enter college.

This is not a final proposal, and I am eager to here what my future colleagues in the Assembly have to say on the matter. One issue I will not back down on, however, is the necessity of enacting real changes in our schools. Public education is not dead, but it is in desperate need of re-conception if it is to survive in a world where creativity and individuality pay more than rote memorization.

Onward!

Harry S Truman, Candidate for Mideast Assembly

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

As a Labor member I hope you get elected, with me among those voting for you.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

As a Labor member I hope you get elected, with me among those voting for you.

Thank-you very much! I look forward to representing you in the Assembly.

Welcome to the Mideast, by the way!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Baltimore, MD

What an incredible three weeks this has been! From Independence to Chicago, Fort Wayne, Louisville, Cincinnati, and now Baltimore, I have had the chance to meet with many extraordinary men and women, to hear their concerns, and to lay out my plan to revitalize our region. I have been more than a little long-winded and not always tactful, but you all have been immensely understanding and supportive and, for that, I thank you.

This will be the last time I address you before the polls open tomorrow afternoon. In the weeks gone by, I have outlined my position on a variety of issues affecting our region: issues as broad as Partisanship and Constitutional Reform, as ambitious as Green Energy, and as essential as Economic Renewal and Education. I have set forth proposals to address each and every one of these issues, not only because to ignore them would be recklessness bordering on the criminal, but because the health and strength of our nation depends on a strong, active Mideast. If we truly want to reform Nyman, if we truly want to breathe new life into Atlasia, then we must start in the regions, for it is in the regions where new ideas come into existence and the regions where they can most easily be put into action.

Of all the candidates running in this election, I alone have taken my case directly to the people.  I have refused to rely solely on personal messaging or turnout schemes to fuel my candidacy because I believe in the importance of an engaging public dialogue to kindle activity. If we are to see an Atlasian Renaissance in the months, it will have much more to do with the energy and activity with which our leaders insert themselves in the public dialogue than with any bill passed by the Senate. I therefore ask citizens of all persuasions to vote for the candidate that they think most likely to foster activity and interest in the regional government. If that is the standard against which all candidates are measured, I have no doubt that we will have an exemplary Assembly for the next two months, regardless of partisan divisions.

In closing, I would like to thank New Canadaland, EarlAW, JCL, Shua, and Nagas (if he is still running) for making this race competitive: they have been worthy opponents. As always, I would be happy to respond to any questions or concerns from my fellow Mideasterners, either in this thread or by PM.

Onward!

Harry S Truman, Candidate for Mideast Assembly

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Indianapolis, IN

The polls are now open! I urge all Mideasterners, whether you will vote for me or not, to go to the polls and cast your ballot in this important election. Filling out a ballot takes less than a minute, and in doing so you help continue the democratic traditions of our county. Voting ends at exactly 1:19:00 PM on Sunday, so make sure you get yourself to the polls before that time.

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There are also two Constitutional ballot measures up for a vote today. The first is an amendment to the regional Constitution that would allow the Lt. Governor to break ties in the Assembly under certain circumstances. While I wish the amendment had gone further and given the Lt. Governor universal tie-breaking power, this is nevertheless an improvement from the status quo, and I urge all Mideasterners to vote for it here. The second is an amendment to the federal Constitution that would change the way Constitutional amendments are ratified in the future. While this amendment has its merits, particularly the section allowing the SoFE to administer future referendums, I am concerned by provisions that require the vote on federal Constitutional amendments to be held immediately, which would prevent any public debate around the merit of the amendment before it comes to a vote. I am also concerned that this proposal allows the regions to hold successive votes to ratify future amendments without placing any time limit on these efforts. This would create a situation where, once passed by the Senate, the regional governments could keep holding votes on any proposed amendment for years on end. I have therefore voted against this amendment; however, regardless of your opinion of it, I urge all Mideasterners to vote in this referendum here.

Happy voting!

Harry S Truman, Candidate for Mideast Assembly

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I must say I applaud your use of Harry Truman. I find the use of historical figures to be much more traditionally in turn with Atlasia then this 2012/2013 use of state shapes superimposed over faces to serve as images of Atlasians. It looked ugly every time and I am glad it is dying finally.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I am proud to say that I have voted for you.  I hope you get elected to the Mideast Assembly.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I am proud to say that I have voted for you.  I hope you get elected to the Mideast Assembly.

Thank-you very much! I hope so too.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I like your Ideas about a State of the Region address and your proposal to increase the power of the Lt Gov.  Your reform ideas will help Atlasia.

[solarstorm]

Endorsed.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Indianapolis, IN

The polls have now been open for a little over 24 hours. Current counts show me with about 21% of first preference votes and a health number of second and third preferences, so I am feeling cautiously optimistic about our chances. I urge every Mideast citizen, regardless of party affiliation, to go to the polls and make yourself heard in this election.

Onward!

Harry S Truman, Candidate for Mideast Assembly

Endorsed.

Thank-you very much!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Indianapolis, IN

There are now just over 24 hours left in the voting period. I urge all citizens who have not yet cast a ballot in the ongoing Mideast Assembly election to do so immediately. Turnout is currently hovering at 41%, and while the competitiveness of this race has been a marked decrease from January's campaign, it is still important that as many citizens as possible go to the polls and vote.

Onward!

Harry S Truman, Candidate for Mideast Assembly

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Indianapolis, IN

MY FELLOW CITIZENS:

You have done me a tremendous honor by electing me to represent you in the Assembly this day. You have also placed on me a great responsibility to the people, and I intend to meet that responsibility with every ounce of diligence and dedication I can muster.

I do not forget, in taking office as your representative, that the power I exercise belongs to the people of the Mideast. I have merely been chosen as their instrument, to use that power wisely and sparingly, employing it to advance the welfare of the common man and to defend those natural liberties outlined by the likes of Jefferson, Adams, and Madison so many years ago.

We must, all of us, dedicate ourselves to the task of revitalizing our region and our Republic. The onus for inactivity rests just as much with the electorate as with its elected officials. I will do my part to foster attentiveness and engagement in the Mideast, and I trust that you will do yours as well.

I extend my congratulations to New Canadaland, EarlAW, Shua, and JCL, with whom I will attempt to rebuild the Mideast over the next two months. I likewise extend my thanks to Senator Windjammer, Speaker New Canadaland, Governor TDAS04, and the legions of Atlasians of all persuasions who supported my campaign. Special thanks goes to Governor Flo of the South, who extended his support and encouragement across regional borders before I had written so much as a letter in the candidate declaration thread.

Long Live the People!

Harry S Truman, Assemblyman-elect

[Flake]

Obviously great news

[Blair]

Congrats Mr Assemblyman-elect, that's a pretty long title for now haha. But really man-congrats

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Congrats. Welcome to the assembly.

[Oakvale]

Congratulations!