The June 2015 Official Northeast Senate Debate

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

June 2015 Northeast Senate Debate

Senator Talleyrand vs. CJO R. Pryor

PRESENTED BY

Good Afternoon from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I'm Harry S Truman of the Mideast Record-Courier and I welcome you to the official debate of the June 2015 Northeast Senate election between Senator Talleyrand and Chief Judicial Officer R. Pryor.

The rules of the debate are fairly straight forward. The debate will consist of five rounds: at the beginning of each round, I will pose a question to the candidates, who will then have forty-eight hours to respond. The questions cover a variety of topics dealing with domestic, game, and foreign policy and have been determined prior to the commencement of the debate. As a reminder, only the two candidates and myself may ask or answer questions in this thread. This policy is to ensure that the debate progresses in a timely manner and to make it easier for voters to judge the positions of the candidates. Citizens are invited to discuss the content of the debate in the official Commentary Thread.

And now, without further ado, let the June 2015 Northeast Senate Debate begin!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Question 1: What is your view of the Protecting Vulnerable Infrastructure Bill drafted by Senator Polnut, which seeks to partner federal and regional officials to shore up regionally-controlled infrastructure against the effects of climate change?

[Talleyrand]

Question 1: What is your view of the Protecting Vulnerable Infrastructure Bill drafted by Senator Polnut, which seeks to partner federal and regional officials to shore up regionally-controlled infrastructure against the effects of climate change?

Thank you for hosting this debate, Harry.

I am entirely in favor of Senator Polnut's Protecting Vulnerable Infrastructure Bill, because I believe that updating any infrastructure or vital buildings in our regions to reflect ongoing changes in climate is an extremely important idea. We cannot stand by with outdated infrastructure amidst rising sea levels, irregular mass-storms, drought, and other fluctuations in weather resulting from global warming. Given time, this bill will save lives while in the immediate term it will allow us to provide jobs to Atlasians out of work as construction commences.

I feel like it's part of the overarching focus on environmental issues we're about to take on in this country, combined with my foreign (rather than domestic) affairs bill focusing on preserving international flora and fauna from threat.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Thank-you to Senator Talleyrand for your response. As 48 hours have elapsed, we now proceed to the second round; Mr. Pryor is free to answer the question from the first round should he wish to.

Question 2: Members of the Northeast Assembly recently considered legislation to vest greater control over domestic policy in the Regional government. To what extent to you support, or oppose, this effort?

[rpryor03]

Question 1: What is your view of the Protecting Vulnerable Infrastructure Bill drafted by Senator Polnut, which seeks to partner federal and regional officials to shore up regionally-controlled infrastructure against the effects of climate change?

Sorry about this, I've been busy with church the last few days. I support the bill offered by Senator Polnut, but I would work to make sure that this bill is able to work without harming our budget too much. Our budget needs to be balanced, keeping Atlasia able to operate.

Thank-you to Senator Talleyrand for your response. As 48 hours have elapsed, we now proceed to the second round; Mr. Pryor is free to answer the question from the first round should he wish to.

Question 2: Members of the Northeast Assembly recently considered legislation to vest greater control over domestic policy in the Regional government. To what extent to you support, or oppose, this effort?

I've always been a supporter of Federalism, and I support this in principle. If elected to the Senate, I will work with regional leadership and federal leadership to create a resolution that will work to strike a balance and satisfy all parties involved, and then extend it to the other regions as well.

[Talleyrand]

Question 2: Members of the Northeast Assembly recently considered legislation to vest greater control over domestic policy in the Regional government. To what extent to you support, or oppose, this effort?

I'm not inherently opposed to some form of the devolution, but the major issue at hand before we even consider where exactly to go in that direction is that it's pretty clearly unconstitutional at this point. If there is a concerted push for federalism in the Northeast government and regional Representatives can come up with a reasonable plan, I would definitely be willing to push that on their behalf in the Senate. That said, we have a long way to go before we can reach that point.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Question 3: Should the Senate play an assertive role in responding to international events, such as the troubles in Ukraine and the recent coup in Puerto Santos?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

As neither candidate has responded yet, this round will be extended by 24 hours.

[Talleyrand]

If I remember correctly, the Senate did play a fairly assertive role in responding with humanitarian force to the troubles in Ukraine, and I think wherever possible, we should be proactive in providing humanitarian aid to nations and peoples under threat. As for the Puertos Santos situation, it is my understanding that we currently have a military embargo in place (although not from the Senate) and that we are awaiting further updates on the situation. Overall, I don't think I can say any more than that I think the Senate should act on a case-by-case basis, although in general I am very very cautious about using direct military force, as evidenced by previous conflicts we've gotten ourselves embroiled in.

[rpryor03]

I am usually on the opposite end of the fence from Senator Talleyrand. I believe that we cannot be the world's police, and as your Senator, I will work on a case-by-case basis, as well, but unless we are attacked, we really shouldn't do it.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Thank-you both. Now, for the final question of this debate:

Question 4: In recent months, terrorist groups such as the PMA have carried out atrocities on Atlasian soil and threatened the rule of law. What action can the Senate take to prevent future insurgencies of this kind and to rebuild communities affected by these groups?

[Talleyrand]

I'm not sure what the Senate itself can do, but our national security agencies have generally been taking the correct steps to alleviating and ending these horrific situations. To rebuild the communities affected by these groups, I would support appropriating any funds necessary in cooperation with local and regional governments to restore any damaged infrastructure and the like. I think that the bill by Senator Polnut which is about to pass the Senate might actually assist in some of the scenarios.