The White House: The Bessell Administration

[Mike Thick]

The White House
Administration of Ted Bessell, 51st President of the Republic of Atlasia


Photo by Gage Skidmore. Sourced from Creative Commons.
Post Directory:
2/22/2021 - Inaugural Address
2/23/2021 - Nomination of FalterinArc for Deputy President of Congress
2/23/2021 - Nomination of Scott for Vice President
2/23/2021 - Exec. Orders on COVID Response
2/24/2021 - Exec. Order on Security Clearance
2/24/2021 - Exec. Orders on Torture, Surveillance, and Extraterrestrial Life
2/24/2021 - Exec. Order on COVID Medical Debt
2/24/2021 - Exec. Order on Military Recruitment
2/26/2021 - Exec. Order on the Creation of a National Mascot
2/26/2021 - Exec. Order on Inclusionary Housing Policies
2/27/2021 - Exec. Orders on Financial Regulation
2/27/2021 - Veto of the Housing Reform Act for Needy Atlasians
2/27/2021 - Exec. Order on Referring to Alcohol as "Demon Rum"
3/2/2021 - Exec. Order on Injecting Babies With Coronavirus
3/2/2021 - Exec. Orders Establishing Two National Monuments
3/2/2021 - Exec. Order Commuting Sentences of Executed Prisoners
3/2/2021 - Exec. Orders Establishing or Expanding Eleven National Monuments
3/3/2021 - Exec. Order Establishing the SCATPORN Initiative
3/3/2021 - Exec. Order Extending Medicare Eligibility to COVID Infectees in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Rhode Island
3/4/2021 - Exec. Order Declaring an Incestuous State of Emergency
3/4/2021 - Order of the Star of Atlasia Inductions
3/4/2021 - Exec. Orders on a High-Speed Ferry Network in Hawaii, Establishing Arsenio Billingham Recreational Area, and Making Justin Timberlake's Life a Living Hell
3/5/2021 - Farewell Address
3/5/31 - Exec. Order Establishing Charlie Peterson National Monument

[Mike Thick]

Inaugural Address

Hi, folks. I'm honored to have the chance to serve you as President of Atlasia.

I have to admit that this isn't totally unexpected: a few days ago, MB and I had talked about the possibility of him resigning. We're all wishing him the best in Congress, and we should be grateful for his service to the game over the past four months.

Obviously, the circumstances of all this are a little odd. However, in spite of everything, the bottom line here is pretty simple. In October, I was elected to serve as President if the President resigned. Now, the President has resigned, and I must serve. I'm not just going to sit back until the term is up: I am going to do the job, and make every one of these eleven days count.

To this end, I will issue several executive orders, and introduce several pieces of legislation with the help of my friends in Congress. Most of these will target Atlasia's COVID-19 response in some way, but not all -- overall, they will seek to achieve the goals of liberty, activity, and recovery that I set out in my Presidential campaign. Time is short, but the ongoing public health and economic crisis demands nothing less than a head-on attack. Here are some things I hope to accomplish:

 • Open federal properties, particularly in underserved rural areas, for use in administration of the COVID-19 vaccine.

 • Invoke the Defense Production Act to accelerate vaccine manufacturing.

 • Guarantee that no Atlasian faces the burden of COVID-19 related medical debt.

 • Continue reforming Atlasia's labor laws, and ensure greater democracy in the workplace.

I will not be making significant personnel decisions during my term. I think this would be stepping on the toes of the incoming administration, and I want to give them as much freedom as possible to appoint officials as they see fit. However, I will be appointing my replacement as Vice President, as well as a Deputy President of Congress, tomorrow. I hope to have them confirmed as quickly as possible.

I will also try not to wade into forum or Discord drama until I'm out of here, and ideally ever again.

Thanks for the faith you've all placed in me over the years. Let's get to work.

[Mike Thick]

Haters mad. What can I say?

[Mike Thick]

1. FalterinArc is hereby nominated for Deputy President of Congress.

Still waiting to finalize things with the veep nominee, but this should get the ball rolling adequately.

[Mike Thick]

1. FalterinArc is hereby nominated for Deputy President of Congress.

Still waiting to finalize things with the veep nominee, but this should get the ball rolling adequately.

This was joint session correct? It doesn't really specify in the amendment text.

Constitution requires confirmation by both Houses, doesn't explicitly say how that has to happen. I think Joint Session makes sense for this though

[Mike Thick]

1. Scott is hereby nominated for Vice President.

[Mike Thick]

1. The Atlasian Federal Government as a whole shall include the following among its goals as it formulates a strategy for the production, delivery, and administration of COVID-19 vaccines.

a. No Atlasian, regardless of where they live, should have to travel more than twenty (20) minutes to receive a vaccine from a public or private administration site.

1. All properties managed by the General Services Administration (GSA) shall be made available to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for use in the delivery and administration of COVID-19 vaccines.

a. The GSA shall coordinate with regional governments, state governors, FEMA, and other federal agencies as needed, to determine where GSA properties can most effectively assist in filling local vaccination needs.

1. The Department of Defense (DoD) shall establish and staff one hundred (100) COVID-19 Vaccination Teams for the purpose of delivering and administering COVID-19 vaccines to Atlasian civilians.

a. No less than ten thousand (10,000) troops, and no more than nineteen thousand (19,000) troops, shall be used to staff these teams.

b. The DoD shall coordinate with regional governments, state governors, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other federal agencies as needed, to determine where federal troops can most effectively assist in filling local vaccination needs.

1. By the authority vested in me by the Defense Production Act of 1950, and in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as shortages in key medical and vaccine manufacturing equipment, I hereby order the following:

a. The Attorney General shall compel the devotion of additional private-sector productive capacity to the following goods, and guarantee federal demand for the same:

i. Filling pumps

ii. Tangential flow filtration skid unit components

iii. Low dead-space needles and syringes

iv. Any other goods necessary to maintain and expand COVID-19 vaccine productive capacity.

b. The Attorney General shall coordinate with all necessary private companies, including vaccine manufacturers and manufacturers of the items listed herein; federal agencies, regional and state governments, and other entities as needed; to determine the additional productive capacity necessary to mount an aggressive expansion of COVID-19 vaccine production.

2. Nothing in this order shall be construed to require, nor prohibit, action by non-NPC officials towards this order's fulfillment.

1. The Office of the Surgeon General (OSG) shall coordinate a campaign of Public Service Announcements (PSAs) encouraging Atlasians to get COVID-19 vaccines once they are eligible to do so.

a. The OSG shall solicit public figures over the age of seventy-five (75) to participate in this PSA campaign.

i. "Public figure" shall be defined as any Atlasian well-known throughout the country, or a part of the country.

b. This campaign shall consist of advertisements in print, on television, on social media and the internet, on radio, and any other media as the OSG sees fit.

1. The Attorney General shall amend Order DOJ-36.2.005 to read as follows:

Vaccination will be mandatory without a doctor's exemption for a valid medical reason.

For rollout, from highest to lowest priority:

1. Healthcare, education, and service workers
2. School-age minors aged twelve (12) years and older, people with learning disabilities aged twelve (12) years and older, and senior citizens
3. Everyone else

[Mike Thick]

1. I hereby grant TOP SECRET! security clearance to the following individuals.
a. President-elect windjammer
b. Vice President-elect jk2020
c. Actor Val Kilmer

[Mike Thick]

1. The Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program, and all annexes and supplementary documents thereof, shall be immediately declassified in their entirety.

1. The directive signed by President George W. Bush on September 17th, 2001; pertaining to the detainment and interrogation of prisoners by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), shall be immediately declassified in its entirety.

1. All annexes of the Article 15-6 Investigation of the 800th Military Police Brigade, or "The Taguba Report," shall be immediately declassified in their entirety.

1. No Atlasian intelligence agency shall collect the phone records, email records, or metadata of any Atlasian citizen without obtaining a search warrant.

1. All information gathered by the Atlasian Government pertaining to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) of extraterrestrial origin, as well as all other information gathered about the existence and nature of extraterrestrial life, shall be immediately declassified in its entirety.
a. Information about the specific mechanics of extraterrestrial technology shall be exempt from this order.

[Mike Thick]

1. I note that millions of Americans have been infected with COVID-19, many Atlasians remain uninsured in spite of our strong healthcare system, the cost of treating acute cases of COVID-19 is high, and large-scale accretion of medical debt will likely do severe damage to Atlasia's economy if it is not addressed through legislation.

2. I hereby declare a state of national emergency due to COVID-19-related medical debt.

[Mike Thick]

1. All recruiters for all branches of the Atlasian Armed Forces shall keep a record of every contact they make, or attempt to make, with a person under the age of 18 (a minor), or a person enrolled in a K-12 school (a student) for recruiting purposes.
a. All recruiters for the Atlasian Armed Forces shall record all requests from minors and students to cease contact with them.
b. Should a minor or student request cessation of contact, no recruiter for the Atlasian Armed Forces may contact them for recruiting purposes again, unless the minor or student affirmatively tells a recruiter that they have reconsidered this request.

[Mike Thick]

1. The Poet Laureate shall be tasked with designing a national mascot to represent Atlasia at international sporting events.
a. The national mascot shall represent the time-honored Atlasian virtues of freedom, persistence, community, consumption of popular culture, and moral girth.

[Mike Thick]

1. By the power vested me by Titles VIII-IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, I hereby order the following:
a. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shall require municipalities to extend special scrutiny to exclusionary zoning and land use policies, such as single-family zoning, lot size requirements, parking requirements, height maximums, septic limits, and historical preservation; in complying with the Affirmatively Favoring Fair Housing (AFFH) rule promulgated in 2015.

[Mike Thick]

1. Section 619 of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, popularly known as the "Volcker Rule," shall be reimplemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as originally enacted.

1. By the authority vested in the Government of Atlasia by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, Titles VIII-IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975; all financial supervisory agencies of the Government of Atlasia shall establish and staff dedicated teams of regulators for the purpose of documenting and combating lending discrimination.

[Mike Thick]

I share the concerns Blair and Yankee raised in the Senate thread regarding work requirements for “needy” people. Because of this, I veto The Housing Reform Act for Needy Atlasians.

[Mike Thick]

1. In all government documents, when used to signify a controlled substance, the word "alcohol" shall be replaced with the phrase "demon rum."

[Mike Thick]

1. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shall not prohibit the administration of COVID-19 vaccine trials in which volunteer participants are purposefully infected with the virus SARS-CoV-2, and in which those participants are minors or pregnant women.
a. The FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) shall allocate an appropriate amount of money to provide grants to pharmaceutical companies and research institutes for the purpose of conducting such trials.
i. The funding for these grants shall be drawn from the funds allocated in the Coronavirus Containment and Emergency Response Act of 2020.
ii. The Government of Atlasia shall assume no liability for adverse outcomes of such trials.

2. This Executive Order and the programs created thereof may be cited as the “Inject Babies With Coronavirus Initiative.”

[Mike Thick]

1. The federally owned lands in Nevada located South of the South McCullough Wilderness and West of Avi Kwa' Ame, also known as Spirit Mountain, are hereby declared a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be known as "Avi Kwa' Ame National Monument."
b. The exact boundaries of the monument shall conform to those outlined in this map, excluding land not owned by the federal government.

1. The federally owned lands in Arizona located immediately South and North of the Grand Canyon are hereby declared a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be known as "Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument."
b. The exact boundaries of the monument shall conform to those outlined in this map, excluding land not owned by the federal government.

[Mike Thick]

1. I hereby commute the sentence of James Aldermon to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
2. I hereby commute the sentence of Carl Panzram to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
3. I hereby commute the sentence of George Barrett to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
4. I hereby commute the sentence of Arthur Gooch to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
5. I hereby commute the sentence of Earl Gardner to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
6. I hereby commute the sentence of Anthony Chebatoris to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
7. I hereby commute the sentence of Henry Seadlund to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
8. I hereby commute the sentence of Robert Suhay to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
9. I hereby commute the sentence of Glenn Applegate to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
10. I hereby commute the sentence of James Dalhover to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
11. I hereby commute the sentence of Nelson Charles to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
12. I hereby commute the sentence of Herbert Haput to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
13. I hereby commute the sentence of Henrich Heinck to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
14. I hereby commute the sentence of Herman Neubauer to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
15. I hereby commute the sentence of Richard Quirin to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
16. I hereby commute the sentence of Werner Thiel to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
17. I hereby commute the sentence of Clyde Arwood to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
18. I hereby commute the sentence of Henry Ruhl to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
19. I hereby commute the sentence of Austin Nelson to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
20. I hereby commute the sentence of David Joseph Watson to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
21. I hereby commute the sentence of Samuel Richard Shockley to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
22. I hereby commute the sentence of Miran Edgar Thompson to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
23. I hereby commute the sentence of Carlos Romero Ochoa to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
24. I hereby commute the sentence of Eugene LaMoore to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
25. I hereby commute the sentence of Julius Rosenberg to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
26. I hereby commute the sentence of Ethel Rosenberg to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
27. I hereby commute the sentence of Carl Austin Hall to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
28. I hereby commute the sentence of Bonnie Brown Heady to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
29. I hereby commute the sentence of Gerhard A. Puff to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
30. I hereby commute the sentence of Arthur Ross Brown to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
31. I hereby commute the sentence of George Krull to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
32. I hereby commute the sentence of Michael Krull to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
33. I hereby commute the sentence of Victor Feguer to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
34. I hereby commute the sentence of James Aldermon to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
35. I hereby commute the sentence of Timothy McVeigh to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
36. I hereby commute the sentence of Juan Raul Garza to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
37. I hereby commute the sentence of Louis Jones to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
38. I hereby commute the sentence of all people ever sentenced to death and executed by the Government of the United States or the Government of the Republic of Atlasia to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[Mike Thick]

1. The federal lands comprising the Bodie Hills, as defined by the Atlasian Department of the Interior, are hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "Bodie Hills National Monument."

1. The federally owned lands comprising the Cranberry Wilderness and surrounding it in the Cranberry Glades, the Falls of Hills Creek, the Tea Creek Backcountry, the Gauley and Elk River Headwaters, the Turkey Mountain Backcountry, opposite the Highland Scenic Highway, and surrounding Summit Lake; is hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "Birthplace of Rivers National Monument."

1. All federally owned land located in New Mexico and Texas and included in the Atlasian Fish and Wildlife Service's Estimated Occupied Range of the Lesser Prairie Chicken; is hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "George Walker Bush (is a) Lesser Prairie Chicken Preserve National Monument."

1. All federally owned land located in Montana included in the Bureau of Land Management's definition of the Bitter Creek and Montana Glaciated Plains Grasslands is hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "Great Northern Prairie National Monument."

1. All federally owned land located in Arizona in the Sonoran Desert and Northwest of the extent of the Sonoran Desert National Monument is hereby designated a part of the Sonoran Desert National Monument.

1. The federally owned land comprising Otero Mesa is hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "Otero Mesa National Monument."

1. The federally owned land comprising the Owyhee River Wilderness, as well as all federally owned land within the Owyhee Desert is hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "Owyhee National Monument"

1. The federally owned land comprising the Sierra National Forest is hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "Range of Light National Monument."

1. The federally owned land comprising the San Rafael Recreational Area, and all adjacent wilderness areas, are hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "San Rafael National Monument."

1. The federally owned land contained within the Modoc National Forest and situated between the Medicine Lake Highlands and the Warner Mountains is hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "Modoc Plateau National Monument."

1. The federally owned land contained within Routt County, Colorado; Moffat County, Colorado; and Rio Blanco County, Colorado; and considered by the Bureau of Land Management to be a part of the Vermillion Basin, is hereby designated a national monument.
a. This national monument shall be the "Vermillion Basin National Monument."

[Mike Thick]

1. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) shall establish a program for widespread wastewater sampling to test for SARS-CoV-2 viral fragments.
a. The NIAID shall coordinate with regional, state, municipal, and tribal authorities to formulate a wastewater sampling strategy best suited to meet Atlasia’s public health needs.
b. The funding for this program shall be drawn from the funds allocated in the Coronavirus Containment and Emergency Response Act of 2020.

2. This program shall be named the Stop Coronavirus, Ascertain The Prevalence of Offshed RNA Now Initiative.
a. The program may also be cited as the “SCATPORN Initiative.”

[Mike Thick]

1. I hereby grant HCP a full and unconditional pardon for any offenses against the Republic of Atlasia which he may have committed, may commit in the future, or may be committing right now.

[Mike Thick]

For whoever ends up scoring this order: it covers the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Rhode Island.

1. To respond to the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States, the Social Security Administration (SSA) shall establish a Pilot Program for Individuals Residing in Emergency Declaration Areas under Section 1881A of the Social Security Act (SSA).
a. As specified in Section 1881A of the SSA, individuals who enroll in the pilot program may receive Medicare Part A benefits from the date of enrollment, as well as Medicare Part B benefits following one (1) month of enrollment, and other benefits as specified in this section of the SSA.

2. People who resided in a state with high COVID-19 prevalence for six months or more between March 1st, 2020; and March 1st, 2021; and who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during that time, shall be eligible to enroll in this pilot program.
a. A "state with high COVID-19 prevalence" shall be defined as a state in which more than 12,000 residents per 100,000 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between March 1st, 2020; and March 1st, 2021.

[Mike Thick]

1. The Hoover Dam shall be renamed “Rivers Cuomo Biographical Museum and Hydroelectric Dam.”
a. The Bureau of Reclamation shall use available funding to establish a museum dedicated to the life and accomplishments of Rivers Cuomo, located in or adjacent to the dam.

[Mike Thick]

My fellow Atlasians,

This country is in crisis. Sexual relationships within families are on the rise. Not only does this activity risk bringing a developmentally disabled child into the world — it creates an environment ripe for sexual abuse. This cannot go on.

Make no mistake — this is a federal issue. Sex between siblings and cousins, because of its detrimental public health impact, has a clear effect on interstate commerce. We cannot kick the can to the regions. We must act, and act now.

I am declaring a nationwide state of emergency due to the ongoing Incest Crisis. I will introduce measures into Congress to address this problem shortly.

1. I hereby declare a nationwide state of emergency due to the ongoing Incest Crisis.