[a country that supports]

I don't think a country that supports universal health care, the AWB, abortion rights, and higher taxes while opposing cuts to Medicare and SS is "center-right".

Tell me, Alfred, how many Americans in the latest polling have agreed with the statement "I would like my taxes to be higher."?

Warren Buffett, at least. And higher taxes doesn't mean higher taxes on middle-class Americans; people want to raise taxes on the rich, and that counts.

One more day to get all your voting in!

[aside from America being a center-right country (it's actually center-left)]

Last time I checked, President Bush wasn't a bad president.  I'm a Democrat, but IMO, he was the better person to handle 9/11.  President Bush was also far from "dumb".  He is extremely intelligent (almost too much for his own good).  He wasn't a great president, but he wasn't a bad president, either.  I think history will smile on his administration overall.  Iraq was not a mistake, initially, it was IMPERATIVE to get Saddam Hussein out of there.  The problem lies in not being prepared for such a quick and decisive victory over the Saddam regime.  Al Gore would have been alright, but he's just not a likeable guy.  President Obama, OTOH, is very likeable and very intelligtent.  Al Gore needs to stay in the background, otherwise he will pretty much guarantee a Republican will be inaugurated on January 20, 2017.  Also, Hillary is far from a guarantee.  Even if she does run, she's not automatically going to win.  America is still a center-right country.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, can call George W. Bush dumb and be correct.

That's not an absurd, ignorant, or bad post because it's true, aside from America being a center-right country (it's actually center-left).

No, America defiantly a center-right country...

I don't think a country that supports universal health care, the AWB, abortion rights, and higher taxes while opposing cuts to Medicare and SS is "center-right".

I hope they continue to believe this.

Rubio wins easily either way, I'm just wondering how big it'll be. Edwards isn't nearly as good as Obama at assembling a coalition and doing all that good stuff, so he wouldn't fare well in a stagnant economy. If he was actively bad then it's a landslide.

How did McCain fare on the economy? Did he make it bad and Edwards just hasn't fixed it or did he make it good and Edwards ruined it?

[Hawaii]

Alaska Hawaii because cold hot > hot cold

Strongly approve of Scott, as always.

I agree with Nix!

Depends on what Edwards has been able to achieve. What's the economy like?

Hm...I do like saving money. However, I don't like tax evasion. Gun to my head, I'd vote Abstain, lean Nay.

Oh, hey, I didn't vote.

Aye.

FF, I guess.

The psychotherapist looks like he's hitting on me.

[that Americans shouldn't have our right to keep and bear arms]

There's no way to argue rationally with someone who seriously thinks that, in the 21st century, our sole defense against tyranny is represented by some random nutjob with his rifle that Americans shouldn't have our right to keep and bear arms. There's nothing to do but laugh (or cry, depending on the mood).

Sam, what Jbrase and many others have said is not simply that Americans have the right to own a gun. I think they should have that right. What Jbrase said is that privately owned guns protect Americans from tyranny, and that's not true. The government isn't waiting with bated breath for everyone to put down their guns so that it can send us all to death camps.

Approve of all.

Can the Labor Party grow up and stop spamming polls?

I'm not sure what we've done. I don't see any poll-spamming going on here.

I call for and grant an abridging of debate time. Voting will now begin. Voting will last 24 hours or until all Representatives have voted.

[Northeast No Tax Accounts Act]

Northeast No Tax Accounts Act

To encourage people to save and let them enjoy the fruits of their savings
Be it enacted by the Assembly of the Northeast region convened

Section 1. Title
1. This legislation may be titled: Northeast No Tax Accounts Act.

Section 2. Basic
1. No Tax Accounts can be offered by financial institutions operating in the region starting in March 2013.
2. All citizens aged 18 years old or older are eligible to open a No Tax Account.
 
Section 3. Contribution and Investment
1. Investments allowed in No Tax Accounts are cash, certificate of deposits, bonds, mutual funds and shares in companies listed on a stock exchange.
2. Income generated inside the account (interest, capital gain or dividend) is not taxed.
3. The maximum contribution allowed every fiscal period is $2,500 for everyone 18 years old or older.
4. The amount of contribution allowed in one period not used by a person is added to the contribution allowed of the following period.

Section 4. Withdrawal
1. A withdrawal from the account is considered non taxable income.
2. A withdrawal is allowed at any time (subject to the liquidity of the type of investment held) and a sum equal to the withdrawal can be put back in the account only in the next fiscal period and in addition to the regular contribution allowed in the period.
3. The death of an account holder is considered like a withdrawal.

Sponsor: Poirot

Speak, Poirot, you have 24 hours. Debate time will last 72 hours total.

Mr. Governor, the Agriculture Reinvestment Act of 2013 has passed the Assembly and awaits your signature or veto.

With three ayes and one abstention, the bill passes.

Franken for President!

Hollis (normal).

Currently, if I'm not mistaken, polling shows La Follette with 32%, Roosevelt and Underwood tied with 26%, and Debs trailing with 16%, rounded to the nearest percentage point.

Also, Tedmentum!

Hopefully gone in 2016.

[Hackish List, according to Goldwater's Rules]

Hackish List, according to Goldwater's Rules
I'll do every election, just for fun. A number of the early ones will be the same, but let's do this anyway.

1. George Washington (I-VA)/John Adams (F-MA) 1789-1797
2. John Adams (F-MA)/Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (F-SC) 1797-1801
3. Thomas Jefferson (DR-VA)/George Clinton (DR-NY) 1801-1809
4. George Clinton (DR-NY)/James Madison (DR-VA) 1809-1812
5. James Madison (DR-VA)/vacant, Elbridge Gerry (DR-MA), vacant 1812-1817
6. John Quincy Adams (DR/-MA)/James Monroe (DR-VA), 1817-1825
7. William H. Crawford (DR/D-GA)/Nathaniel Macon (DR-GA) 1825-1829
8. Martin Van Buren (D-NY)/Andrew Jackson (D-TN) 1829-1837
9. James K. Polk (D-TN)/William L. Marcy (D-NY) 1837-1841
10. William Henry Harrison (W-OH)/Daniel Webster (W-MA) 1841
11. Daniel Webster (W-MA)/vacant 1841-1845
12. James K. Polk (D-TN)/Lewis Cass (D-MI) 1845-1849
13. Zachary Taylor (W-LA)/Millard Fillmore (W-NY) 1849-1853
14. Lewis Cass (D-MI)/Franklin Pierce (D-NH) 1853-1861
15. Abraham Lincoln (R-IL)/William H. Seward (R-NY) 1861-1869
16. Ulysses S. Grant (R-IL)/Schuyler Cofax (R-IN) 1869-1877
17. John H. Hartranft (R-PA)/Rutherford B. Hayes (R-OH) 1877-1881
18. John Sherman (R-OH)/Chester Alan Arthur (R-NY) 1881-1885
19. S. Grover Cleveland (D-NY)/Thomas Hendricks (D-IN), vacant 1885-1889
20. John Sherman (R-OH)/Levi P. Morton (R-NY) 1889-1893
21. S. Grover Cleveland (D-NY)/Adlai E. Stevenson I (D-IL) 1893-1897
22. William McKinley (R-OH)/Theodore Roosevelt (R-NY) 1897-1905
23. Theodore Roosevelt (R-NY)/Charles W. Fairbanks (R-IN) 1905-1909
24. Charles W. Fairbanks (R-IN)/Joseph B. Foraker (R-OH) 1909-1913
25. Carter Glass (D-VA)/Thomas R. Marshall (D-IN) 1913-1921
26. Warren G. Harding (R-OH)/J. Calvin Coolidge (R-MA) 1921-1923
27. J. Calvin Coolidge (R-MA)/vacant, Herbert C. Hoover (R-CA) 1923-1933
28. Herbert C. Hoover (R-CA)/vacant 1933
29. Alfred E. Smith (D-NY)/John Nance Garner (D-TX) 1933-1941
30. Cordell Hull (D-TN)/Harry S. Truman (D-MO) 1941-1945
31. Harry S. Truman (D-MO)/Alben W. Barkely (D-KY) 1945-1953
32. Dwight D. Eisenhower (R-KS)/Richard M. Nixon (R-CA) 1953-1961
33. John F. Kennedy (D-MA)/Stuart Symington (D-MO) 1961-1963
34. Stuart Symington (D-MO)/vacant, George Smathers (D-FL) 1963-1969
35. Barry M. Goldwater (R-AZ)/John G. Tower (R-TX) 1969-1977
36. Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson (D-WA)/James Earl Carter (D-GA) 1977-1981
37. Ronald W. Reagan (R-CA)/George H.W. Bush (R-TX) 1981-1989
38. George H.W. Bush (R-TX)/Jack F. Kemp (R-NY) 1989-1993
39. Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown (D-CA)/Paul Tsongas (D-MA), vacant, William J. Clinton (D-AR) 1993-2001
40. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)/John Ellis Bush (R-FL) 2001-2009
41. James Webb (D-VA)/Joseph R. Biden (D-DE) 2009-Present

What, may I ask, are Goldwater's rules?