Yank for Senate HQ (Victory Speech)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Speech in Charlotte, North Carolina

June 24th, 2011

Uno Mas? Si, Por Favor.


I hadn't planned on making this speech. I had planned the previous one in Marietta to be the last. When I got up this morning, I thought that I needed to touch on one last issue and touch base here in my home state. So I will address the recent attempt, by certain persons who shall remained un-mentioned, to disrupt the balance in the Atlasian Senate. I am, as you know and contrary to the false claims to contrary by certain individuals,  a defender and proponent of Regional Rights. I am also a big defender of a checks and balances. I have been of the belief that the divide of the Senate between 5 Regional seats and 5 At-Large seats serves as a balance between the desires of the Regions and those of the population as a whole, in a way similar to the divide between the RL Senate and House balances the states with the people. I think this is the best way to preserve a democracy in the form of a republic in such fashion that will curb momentary populist ambitions from destroying said democracy for temporary gain.

Therefore, I found it to be counterproductive with the "adoption proposal" whereby Regions could take advantage of a loophole in the Constitution to hijack an At-Large seat. Granted this would increase regional influence but it would have been at the expense of reducing the At-Large seats for the same and consistent reason that I opposed the attempt to remove the Regional seats in favor of 10 At-Large seats. Second such a move would have required all 5 regions to react in kind, thus removing the At-Large seats entirely. Such would thus require the creation of a second body elected to represent the people at-large, and possessing equal legislative power, to balance the equation. A chamber so constituted would be thoroughly impractical and at present impossible for the activity isn't there to sustain two chambers of that size.

I also found another attempt by these people, albeit it lacking in sincere support, to increase the representation of preferred regions while reducing that of others to be also in violation of ensuring regional rights. The reason for this is that one region's rights are just as important as another and all 5 should have an equal presence. As such it constituted a power grab by one political faction at the expense of the other and such violates the spirit of the balance of power, in favor of temporary partisan gain. Again, it is not my belief that this was a sincere attempt, however; I thought it necessary, that in case some didn’t realize why such would be a disaster if passed, to explain what its effects would be.

Thank you for your time and don’t forget to vote now!!!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Campaign Press Release -

The Yank for Senate Committee has required it's old HQ in Raleigh, NC. In order to do so it had to purchase complete ownership for $2.5 million dollars. A building which shall be in use for only three weeks. Anybody interesting in renting office space in November and December?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Campaign Press Release -

The Senator has aquired a brand new, "customized" campaign bus from a company based in Memphis, TN. He has assured us it is atleast 1/3 manufactured in the US. The price tag was $242,261.

"Okay, Bulletproof it!"

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Townhall Meeting in Savannah, Georgia

Ask Yankee Anything!!!

Begins: Now
Ends: Tomorrow at the same time

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

How many guns do you own? 

None, actually.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

How many guns do you own? 

None, actually.

What about rocket launchers?  RPGs?  Stingers?

No, but there are times when people make me wish I did.

Do you ever want to become PPT again or do you enjoy your relative freedom as an ordinary Senator?

After being PPT even once, it is hard not to prefer not being so.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Do you agree that the Argentines are up to something?

I am sure they most likely are. Would be kind of impossible to be up to nothing, but I guess anything is possible. The question is what exactly and I wouldn't speculate on that at this present time. Unless there is a specific area of concern you are interested in, regarding the Argentines.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Closing the townhall after an unusually short answer to the Argentinean question hummmmmm

I am afraid the ending was scheduled the night before. Prior to the posing of the question.

Also the location has been reserved starting tomorrow for a concert.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Senator, what is your opinion of grits?

There is worse out there to eat for sure. "But I's could be mistaken"

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Senator held a fundraiser in Tampa Florida, raising $332,415 for his reelection campaign.

The following excepts are from his address to this fabulously wealthy crowd of loyal "backers".

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Speech in Miami, Florida

October 12th, 2011

Citizens of Florida, we face mounting challenges in Atlasia. From a slow economic recovery which has had a devastating impact on many hardworking Atlasians, especially right here in South Florida, to an increasing apathy and lack of interest amongst its citizens in the political dialogue, and a growing personal bitterness the pushes our leaders apart, at a time when we should be working together to solve our common problems.

There won't be any easy answers, and certainly few unanimous votes in addressing these problems, but there must be a sense of cooperativeness and mutual respect. Anything less, will only serve to drive more into a state of apathy regarding the political process and thus making other domestic challanges like the economy and health care harder to address.

One of the most important issues facing Atlasia, that is especially important in this community, is health care and specifically the rising costs, and the hole in healthcare funding on the federal level. These problems are compromising our responsibilities to those most in need and putting at risk the promise of universal health care to all. There are deep divisions regarding the level of responsibility the government should have in healthcare and the extent of the commitment to universal coverage. I do fundamentally have disagreements with the current structure. However, these do not justify capitalizing on the situation to achive long term political goals. What it does not only justify, but strongly encourage is an effort to make necessary changes to stabilize and improve the program, and to ensure that it is properly funded. Some have suggested using the government's bargaining power to get better prices from healthacre providers, I would go once step further and work to dismantle monopolies which have formed around certain providers which in turn put upward pressure on prices. In some instances, this is unavoidable, but in others it represents an opporunity to make a needed change to bring down prices.

Another important issue where compromise can be found, is on education. In order to ensure we have  a strong economy, we have to make sure that we have the best education system. A lot of progress has been made on this, but more remains to be done. In higher education, we have got to het inflation under control or no amount of aid or loans could possibly cope with the high cost of tuition. We need to make getting a good education as accessbile to as many people as possible.

While we face many important challanges in Atlasai, I am confident that none is too great to be successfully dealt with, if the political system is up to the challenge of dealing with those issues. I would think that a responsible government, should owe its citizens nothing less.

Thanks and Dave Bless!!!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Townhall Meeting in Baton Rouge, LA

Ask Yankee Anything!!!

Begins: Now
Ends: Tomorrow at the same time

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Easy crowd there in Baton Rouge.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

insert line from Chris Christie

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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"Sometimes, I wonder if the people who sell this sh**t aren't taking me for a ride."

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Speech in Biloxi, Mississippi

October 19th, 2011

Distinguished citizens of Biloxi. I come here today to talk of the importance of economic development and innovation. Historically, Mississippi has been at the back of the pack economically and thus the state has lagged the rest of the country. However some things are beginning to change. Investments in energy production off the coast, strong tourism and a resilience displayed after many a storm have created a dynamic and thriving coastal economy for the state of Mississippi.

In the interior of the state, low operating costs, and taxes have made it an attractive site for foreign manufacturers seeking to locate into Atlasia. In order to maintain this attractiveness going forward, MS has to adapt it's workforce to fit the jobs of the future, otherwise the jobs will not be incentivized enough by all the other advantages to locate somewhere, with no qualified employees. We need changes made to ensure that the failing schools in the deep south start to make great strides, we need to provide support for educating low income children into productive fields, both those requiring college education, and those that are skilled trades. This situation is not unique to just Misssissippi. High poverty areas around the country are often found in places where the schools are under performing. This can be both a cause and an effect, as poorer areas have less revenues to provide to school districts.

The K-12 system needs a massive reform that pursues changes based on what results they will have, rather than what political group or special interest group decides to champion it. At the university level, reforms need to be made to reduce the high rate of tuition increases while still ensuring that a quality education is provided. Most of the reforms, should be championed at the regional level as far as a practical.

Fixing the education system, alone, will not end poverty, but it will reduce the level of improverisheness in many a state.  It also provides the basis for an economy which is more solid and thus less proned to crashing again.

Thanks and Dave Bless!!!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The following statement was typed up but fell under a filing cabinet and thus wasn't released till it got pull out of a clogged vaccuum hose.

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I am not familiar with that lingo, so I wouldn't be able to say.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Yank for Senate Committee is offically back up and running.
Campaign Declaration - Jacksonville Manifesto

COH: $21,041,132
Money Raised in January: $3,141,414
Money Spent in January: $1,424,924

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Press Release -

After Announcing his reelection bid in Jacksonsville, Senator Yankee moved on to Tampa and Orlando where he headlined fundraisers for his campaign. The Senator raised $824,624 at the Tampa event and $572,045 at the Orlando event. The Senator expects to raise $8 to $12 million in the next eleven days.

Beau Silsby,
Yankee's 5th Campaign Spokesperson (atleast we think, we lost count ).

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Townhall Meeting in Miami, Florida

Ask Yankee Anything!!!

Begins: Now
Ends: Tomorrow at the same time

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Yank for Senate Committee is offically back up and running.


COH: $21,041,132
Money Raising in January $3,141,414
Money Spent in January $1,424,924

are you seriously running again?

Wasn't planning on it. Then I was listening to a song yesterday and got thinking what the loss of the RPP would really mean for Atlasian politics and the implications of losing it.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Speech in Fort Myers, Florida

February 1, 2011

Applause

With all that energy, you might get the impression that someone important come to town, maybe I will ask around later and see who is performing tonight?

Laughter and more Applause

It's funny that we should be talking about enthusiastic crowds, because that is just what I want to focus on tonight. Energy! No not the energy you heat your home with or run your car on, though; that is important too. I want to talk about another kind of energy. I want to talk about the energy exhibited in our campaigns and the enthusiasm it generates. These days, it just seems like there is so little of interest happening and that their is little to be excited about. There is in fact a great deal to get excited about, even without this ridiculous stunt to change the lables on the desk chairs.

Crowd cheers

One of the reasons I think we have such a problem is too often we stretch out the campaign cycle to long in a backwards attempt to solve our activity problems. We have campaigns stretching two months or more for President, with the obvious exception being the current one. Part of that is necessity of putting together a team and an organization to win. But we make a mistake to thing it is good for activity.

I remember when we used to have arguements about whether this should be an elections sim or a government sim and I would respond with frustration at this "either, or" mentallity. Saying we should be either an elections or a government sim is like saying we should have either a right or a left wing attached to the airplane you are getting ready to fly back to Fort Myers in after visiting the relatives in New York or Chicago. I don't know about them, but I kind of prefer to have both of those wings firmly attached to the fusilage, with fully functioning jet engines in both, wouldn't you? I can ensure you I plan to make sure the plane I take, to a location I am not yet ready to disclouse, tonight will have such.

Applause and cheers

We need six weeks of hard governing and then two weeks of heavy campaigning. Now if it's 5 and 3, or whatever on some occasions, I highly doubt there will be revolutionaries waiting for the candidate's head on silver plate. We need both, we need to strengthen and improve both. We can't sacrifice one for the other and say we are gaining ground or advancing. WE AREN'T MOVING FORWARD, WE ARE DIVING INTO THE GROUND, WHEN WE DO THAT!!!

By consolidating all the speeches and interviews, townhalls and fundraisers, conventions and election polls into the last 15 to 20 days before the election will give the feel of a campaign season. Such an environment will cause people, particulary non-office holding citizens, to become more active during those periods.  We need far more of all those things then we have right now, and preferably condensed into that short period of time. We need to see if we can make activity as contagious and innactivity.

As for the other six weeks, we have the regional elections and approval polling, but the primary focus on the national stage should be policy. We need active and engaged Senators who not only vote but actually offer discussion on a wide variety of topics, not just those that are their pet issues. The more input, the faster bills will get done, the easier the job of the PPT and the better the quality of the legislation that will get done. Ten Senators, should mean a 10 people strong brain trust, and a 10 person review panel engaged in proofreading other people's bills. In this past Senate we had a preoposal for the creation of committees, but the bill was left in its original and unworkable form and it failed. I have reintroduced this legislation through a different method and I plan to ensure it is passed in some form either as trial or the real thing.

The committees would re-post and discuss relevant items from GM/SoIA/SoEA posts and then discuss the issues brought up and look for legislation to fix those issues. This will lead to increased demands for activity on the cabinet as well as the Senators, while ensuring higher quality legislation dictated by relevant issues as revealed by the mentioned officials. This will create an opening to bring in more "non-office holding citizens" who are engaged in policy activism through third party pressure groups, think tanks, heaven forbid PACs, and media organizations. These people would be interoga err "questioned" at the hearings. There testimony can then play a role in crafting legislation and be reported on by the media.

No one person can do this. It will take a group effort to bring this all together and a committ and a realization that the only to acheive an improved game isn't through tweeking or changing the systems in place. It is through fighting for what you beleive, advocating for the issues that are important to you and making damn sure someone is listening. If someone, or something isn't to your liking, you shouldn't try and change the system for the sake of improving gameplay, unless it is so demanding and innefficient that it is a clear hinderance to the game. You should fight it through the normal processes. If you do think that there is a problem with Regional Senate seats, don't try to couch it in reforming the game to improve activity, say what you really think about. And I will be sure to tell you just where you take that idea and put it. Together we can have a nice old fashion debate. You can't do that if you just give up or if you kill the other side with the previously mentioned revolutionaries. It's takes two to tangle and you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't have a debate when you have wiped out the other side to get what you want and you can't have a debate if you quit at the first sign of defeat. If you don't like the parties, create a new one. If you don't succeed, then toughen up and try again and again until you break in. Learn some political skills, find a weakpoint in the existing structure and smash through it with an axe.

You can't legislate a new dynamic, you must cultivate it from the soil. It must effervesce like head the of your nice cold beer on a Saturday night. It's time we stop the absolute boycott on those who advocate issues that aren't in line with ours and encrouage them to puruse them at all costs. It's time we encourage politics to occur whether it is politically correct or not and remember that this is a sim and not RL. Nobody is really going to get stoned to death if JCL got elected to something. I am not saying you should vote against what you beleive, but I am saying this exclusivity should be stopped now. We should denegrate people we have disagreements with to the point that they leave. We can't control if people get driven off the forum atlarge on either side of the aisle, but we can here in this board and we can demand better.

If someone tells you they can legislate a way to activity, they are lying and you should turn the other direction and run as fast as you can. To drive home this message, experiement, and investigate the situation more for everyone's benefit, I plan to hold a series of "Wide Awakes" across the IDS and if successfull, across the nation. They will include all kinds of things, but the primary focus will be getting people, hopefully people who typically aren't involved in the process to respond and see what is on their minds. Illicit stimulants will be provided courtesy of Individual Freedom Party. We also asked the Populares if they wanted to pitch in, but they declined for lack of supply and capital to acquire it. And if the effort fails, I will still have successfully padded my post count through a legitmate campaign and a noble effort to save Atlasia.

I hope to see you at these events and my regular campaign stops and appearences.


Thanks and Dave Bless Atlasia!!!

The Crowd gives a resounding round of applause. The Senator get's down in the crowd for about 30 minutes before leaving the premises and heading for his next campaign event. The Senator leaves no indication where he is going, but he is heading to an airport with only one flight out and that is heading to Philadelphia, PA.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Time to redo the two speeches I lost in the past week.

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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