The Office of Former President & Senator Polnut - Deregistration

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Milwaukee Art Museum
Milwaukee, Wisconsin


Thank you all,

Now, before I start on what I planning to talk to you about tonight, let me just say something that I feel needs to be said.

This is a very difficult time for our country, we need to have a national conversation about the issues that we face as a nation. It is time for serious people, with serious solutions. I welcome everyone left, right, centrist, conservative, liberal or undecided to have this conversation. The problems we face are too large to allow for petty personal or personality differences.

Right…

As I was considering whether or not to seek this office, I sat down and thought about what I would actually offer to the Atlasian people. One area that seemed glaring to me is the current division of responsibility within the executive branch of the federal government.

I have long-been concerned that the Vice President has very few responsibilities outside of the Senate. I have heard options about making the Vice President automatic PPT of the Senate, or amending the constitution to have the Vice President elected separately. While I see some merit in those options what I am proposing is more practical, and more importantly will give the Vice President experience at the executive level, should it be necessary to for them to assume the highest office in our country.

If elected, I would create the Executive Domestic Policy Committee. The committee will consist of the Vice President as Chair, the Secretary of Internal Affairs and 2 other notable Atlasians will be appointed by the Chair, with the approval of the President. This will be where the domestic policy of a Polnut Administration would be developed. This will give the Vice President significant responsibility for domestic policy development, as well as their usual role as support and advisor to the President, and as the Administration’s legislative liaison. In order to ensure transparency, the Vice President will be required to present a progress report every month, to both the Senate and the President.

In relation to the Cabinet – I believe that there is indeed room for the Cabinet to be further refined and be reflective of their responsibility. I’ll go through each office.

-   Game Moderator: I believe that this position remains vital but needs to be more active in reporting information for the nation to respond to
-   Registrar General: I do not intend to make any changes
-   Secretary of Federal Election: Again, I feel does require any changes
-   However, when it comes to the Secretary of Internal Affairs, I do feel that some change is required. While I don’t see that it is required immediately, we should consider over time whether or not to divide responsibility between human services and the economy. I had initially considered an Undersecretary on the economy, but until a review has been completed, if elected I would appoint an economic advisor.
-   For the Secretary of External Affairs, I do not see major changes for this role. However, in the event of an Ambassador being appointed, that appointment will be made by the Secretary.

Moving to the issue of defense and national security. My preference would be to divide defense from diplomacy. Again, until a review is completed if elected I will undertake an interim process of having the SoIA being responsible for national security measures and the President will have responsibility for all defense matters. The issue of national security is incredibly high in my mind as I will be visiting St Louis tomorrow evening.

Now, I have made a few references to a review. I will undertake a review of the efficiency and appropriateness of the current Cabinet structure. While it will be done in a timely manner, it must not, however, be rushed.

I apologise for such a dry subject, but these things, however often they may be unexciting, are incredibly important to the functioning of our country. Because I am determined that this country works better and more effectively, we must look everywhere for options for improvement.

Thanks again for coming…

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The Polnut/Bacon King foreign policy platform will be announced at an event in Nashville tomorrow.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Centennial Park
Nashville, Tennessee

Good morning everyone!, thanks so much for coming.

Before I go on, I note that there has been some criticism of my reforms being not aggressive enough. I completely understand where that idea comes from. Reform does not, however, always need to be aggressive to be effective. Where it’s needed? Sure, but the areas I have identified reform options, I feel require smaller changes to assist in their better operation. I’ve never been about constant change for the sake of it, if change is required I’ll do it. But if you want someone who is about making constant reforms to keep myself busy, instead of putting in place policies to help the Atlasian people live better lives, you’ve picked the wrong horse.

I understand the desire of reform minded people, but sometimes you need to give the existing system a chance to work. As I said, I’m fully prepared to undertake reforms, but when I see evidence that they are needed, and not before. We have serious problems to solve, we cannot spend an entire term arguing about probably academic structural reforms while people are still out of work and risk losing their jobs. This is what kind of president I’d be – my first job is to help the Atlasian people.

One shortcoming of the current administration is a lack of action when it comes to the outside world. I should stress that the activity of Secretary Ben has been outstanding, and pleased that the role now has the ability to be active. But, the difference is that I will be a foreign policy president, as well as a domestic one. With what is going on in the world at the moment, many might like to pretend we live in a bubble, but we can do this no longer.

I will discuss our defense issues later in the campaign.

The foreign policy platform of a Polnut administration will be about active engagement in the wider world. We will take timely stances on issues, and work with friends around the world to construct real solutions.

•   Israel-Palestine: Israel needs to stop and scale back the settlements, Palestinians must show they want peace, and acceptance that a two-state solution is impossible while they politically endorse terror. But the two-state solution is the only option.
•   Popular uprisings in the Arab world-North Africa: Any time where Government rules the people, instead of serving it, and governs without legitimate consent then I support movements to install real democracy. Equally I condemn any attempt by military forces to suppress those movements with violence and forces of protest that use violence to meet their political ends
•   Foreign Aid: Many consider this a luxury that we cannot afford at a difficult time. I understand that sensation, but this view is not reflected in reality. Our contribution to the wider world is a microscopic one in the grand view of things. Through this program we help reduce the impact of communicable diseases, assist in the provision of clean drinking water and help bring education to vulnerable people around the world. If it’s a case of costs and benefits – the money we give has an incredible impact, and I will not reduce our contributions.
•   North Korea: We will work with Japan, South Korea and the People’s Republic of China and Russia to place greater pressure on North Korea to end its nuclear program and allow international inspections.

This is a small idea of the political dialogue you can expect from any Administration I lead.

So I urge you all who are yet to determine your vote to consider who will actually bring positive, constructive and pragmatic change to Atlasia, through needed reforms and creative policy solutions? Who has the experience of building consensus across parties? Who is ready to govern from day one?

Thank you all for coming out on a Saturday morning... by the way, it seems the end has not come... repeat, the end has not come.

[Lambsbread]

I have a question for Bacon King...

Will you command the Bacon Army to destroy everyone who votes against you and Polnut?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

WEEK 3 Campaign Schedule

Monday 23 May
- New York City, NY - Albany, NY

Tuesday 24 May
- Harrisburg, PA - Philadelphia, PA

Wednesday 25 May
- Hartford, CT - New Haven, CT - Providence, RI

Thursday 26 May
- Boston, MA

Friday 27 May
- Burlington, VT - Concord, NH

-- As the campaign stops will be in the Northeast region this week, an endorsement will be made for the Northeast Regional Senate race.

[Bacon King]

Okay, I have computer access again so expect more substantive posts in the near future.

I have a question for Bacon King...

Will you command the Bacon Army to destroy everyone who votes against you and Polnut?

The Bacon Army does not exist. Officially.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Okay, I have computer access again so expect more substantive posts in the near future.

I have a question for Bacon King...

Will you command the Bacon Army to destroy everyone who votes against you and Polnut?

The Bacon Army does not exist. Officially.

Here, here: keyword!

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I would like to dispense with any suggestion that the Army of Pure Retribution exists let alone being marshaled in Wyoming....

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Speaker Polnut will be making an important announcement in Hartford, Connecticut tomorrow morning and will make a speech on the Polnut/Bacon King economic package in Providence, Rhode Island tomorrow night.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

A statement will be made from Hartford, Connecticut in approximately 60 mins from now.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

State Capitol
Hartford, Connecticut


Good morning Hartford!!

It’s a pleasure to speak to you on this pretty damn great morning... I am reliably informed it’s a pleasant 66 degrees. 

As the former Speaker of this region’s assembly, a former Gubernatorial candidate, and more importantly, a former citizen of this region, I have given a lot of thought as to whom I will endorse to be the next Senator for the Northeast region.

If you look at my previous vote, what matters to me is what they want to do for the region from that position in the Senate. This does not always equal political similarities. This time I had to make a choice between the two candidates I feel have the best ability to serve in the Senate.  This region needs active representation which is about you and your needs.

I respect former Vice President Marokai a great deal, he is an intelligent and politically talented Atlasian. However, my choice is based upon who can best serve the interests of the region in the Senate. Speaker Napoleon has shown himself to be committed to the betterment of the Northeast, he has shown this through his aggressive but selective and pragmatic reform agenda in the Northeast Assembly. I believe he can bring that drive to the Senate and be a representative who will put the interests of the region first.

Therefore, I am officially endorsing Speaker Napoleon for the Northeast regional Senate seat.

Thank you all so much from coming by this morning, there's still a long time to this election... I don't take anything for granted. I'm out there every single day talking to you about your problems, what support you need. Because in the end, the role of president is about having the ultimate honour and responsibility of being the ultimate public servant.

I am presenting pragmatic policies to help Atlasia work better, my reforms are those which I believe are needed right at this second. The issues we face as a nation are to too important and too great to allow ourselves to get distracted by busywork which has no result other than keeping people busy, with no appreciable effect. We need action and results from day one. I will work with the Senate, the regional Governors and anyone else who wants to work to bring about positive and beneficial change for all our fellow citizens...

I need your help and your vote, thank you all again so much.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Comments from Speaker Polnut on arrival at Providence, Rhode Island.

In response to the Northeast Assembly crisis:

Look, I have made myself aware of these issues. I'm not going to make any kind of legal comment as it's still in a very delicate phase. I felt the action was ethically questionable in the first instance. As the former Speaker of the Assembly I take it's work seriously, and I certainly don't like it when it's used as a plaything, as I believe it was and has been.

The people of the Northeast deserve a Government that works for their interests. I do believe that this question needs to be settled one way or another, and I hope the wheels of justice will move swiftly to end this mess, and that the Assembly makes sure that this loophole is closed, sealed and bricked up.

The 'reform debate': I think people who think that I'm not interested in reform, are really missing my point. I am, first and foremost, a pragmatist. The kind of elaborate reforms that people like the former Vice President are offering need to be assessed. I'm not promising the same kind of reforms at this point because I know that whoever is elected next month will need to hit the ground running and get this country moving again.

I don't believe that grand structural reforms, so soon after the most recent constitution was enacted, will actually make much difference. Those things take time and a lot of work, but we need to prioritise. I've said I am fully prepared to take up reforms if I see a compelling reason to do so. The reforms I've offered so far are about practical applications, making the Vice President central in domestic policy making. I don't agree with the blend of legislative and executive powers, so that reform is one I have serious issues with. I've said I will undertake a personal investigation of possible reforms.


Speaker Polnut's speech on the economy has been delayed until Monday 30 May, somewhere in the Midwest region. The Speaker will be on a family break this weekend and the week's schedule will be released on Sunday afternoon.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

WEEK 4 Campaign Schedule

Monday 30 May
- Minneapolis, MN - St Paul, MN* - Duluth, MN

Tuesday 31 May
- Des Moines, IA - Davenport, IA

Wednesday 1 June
- Wichita, KS - Topeka, KS

Thursday 2 June
- Lincoln, NE - Omaha, NE

Friday 3 May
- Pierre, SD - Sioux Falls, SD*

Saturday 4 May
- Bismark, ND - Fargo, ND - Billings, MT

* = Speech

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The Capitol
St Paul, Minnesota


Good evening everyone, it’s a huge pleasure to be back in the Midwest.

I’m sorry for being late, there was a plane issue that held me up in Boston this morning, so you’ll have to forgive me…

But since we’re all here now, let’s take this opportunity to talk about what we are all doing here. I entered this campaign to re-start the economy, build-up jobs for the future and put in place practical reforms to help the country work better.

I’ve been out there, nearly every day since I announced my candidacy, talking with you about your problems, because, in the end, my role is to serve you. So far what you’ve been telling me is that you want action. You want an economy that works, you want your jobs secured for the future, you want to make sure that people who are in positions of authority are able to exercise it properly.

Today, I want to speak with you about the economy.

The global financial crisis hit this country hard, and while many other developed economies are emerging from this crisis, Atlasia continues to languish. Our unemployment rate is too high, our debt is too high, our deficit is too high.

As someone who believes that direct government stimulation of the economy is a good thing, I was disappointed that the stimulus packages failed to deliver, as they have elsewhere around the world. However, the answer is not to simply gut spending to make ends meet.

Cuts need to be made, and under my administration they will, but we need to approach this with the utmost strategy. Economists will tell you that in a depressed economy, the one thing you can do to bring-on a double-dip recession is to pull state funding out of the system. The government is the only body that can inject funds into the economy because it needs to be there. The cuts I call for today will be difficult for some, for others, not difficult enough. But at a time like this, there is a balancing act to perform.

If elected, I will call for:

•   Non-frontline, non-military services to find reductions of 20% in their operating Budgets over the next 2 years. Any reduction in staffing must be through natural attrition, not redundancies, as it would only place additional pressures on social services.

•   I will ask military chiefs to find savings, going forward, of 25%, this includes a draw-down of military presences abroad and a consolidation of internal military capacity

•   However, front-line services in health, education and emergency services will not, and cannot be affected.

We also need to address the efficacy of giving subsidies to industries that allow them to pay no taxes, and direct taxpayer’s money into their profit margins, giving their executives bonus payments in the millions, while so many Atlasians can’t make ends meet. I will look hard at every single subsidy program the federal government administers. If they are not delivering results, or are using them as padding for their bottom-line, they will go.

But cutting will only get us half-way. In order to look at these issues pragmatically, we need to look at the revenue side of the button. This, obviously, is the discussion that no-one really wants to have.

I will develop legislation to close loopholes to ensure that corporations and very high-income individuals pay their fair share of tax.

It is not ‘socialist’ to advocate for a progressive and fair tax-system. My belief is that the taxation burden should not be shouldered by people who are already struggling. I am a person who believes in representative taxation, and it is with that spirit that I will enter these discussions.

Under my administration, there will be a re-assessment of how revenue should be collected by the federal government. There will be no significant increases in taxation for people, some, may in fact get a tax cut. Small changes can make all the difference, my changes will probably not be radical enough for some, but as someone with a background in economics, I can tell you that history shows us that small tweaks often make more of an impact than massive changes.

I want an economy that all Atlasians can be a part of, and one in which all have opportunities to succeed. There are some difficult choices to make going forward, and some difficult times, but if we put plans in place now, these times will end and we will move forward.

Thank you all so much for coming…

[Fuzzybigfoot]

WOOT! 

[Yelnoc]

For the record, anyone who thinks taxes = socialism is a fool, plain and simple.

[Bacon King]

Polnut and I stand eye to eye on economic and fiscal issues; I agree entirely with the Governor's remarks.

In order to ensure Atlasia's economic strength any sensible administration should use every tool at its disposal; every possible option should be considered in order to help our nation recover from this continuing economic crisis. Large conglomerates should definitely stop receiving government subsidies they don't need. Also, our military could stand to trim some fat as well- the Cold War has been over for twenty years. We don't need to fund the military like we're still in the middle of an arms race. These savings can instead be used to fund projects that actually benefit Atlasians.

A pragmatic and efficient government simply works better for everyone. That's what Polnut and I believe in, and that's why I hope we'll have your support in June.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

REQUEST

I want to hear from you... since this is what this campaign is inevitably about... you.

If there are any issues you want me to speak on, go ahead. If there's anything you want to know my views on (Kal, my pro-Guinea Pig view is on the record, so we don't need to re-visit that)... again, please ask.

ADDITIONALLY, I am asking for someone to please moderate a debate between myself and my opponent, who seems to have gone quiet.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I'm biased as all hell, I'm sure, but I'd actually be totally down for hosting a debate between Teddy and yourself. I think I can promise to be tough on both of you.

[Bacon King]

I'd be down for a VP debate if there's any interest in that.

[Barnes]

You have my endorsement, friend!

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Thanks for your support, indeed for all the support that people have shown so far.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The Capitol
Bismark, North Dakota

Good morning Bismark!!!

Thank you all so much for coming out this morning, it's a cold Saturday morning, but it means so much that you came out today.

We are here in the wild plains of our country, a place where pioneers lived and create a nation, and a place where proud native Atlasians lived for generations, in touch with their land and their spirits.

I thought this would be a great opportunity to speak with you about my views about faith, and the role of it in our society.

Many in my particular side of politics look on faith or religion as something to be dismissed, either because of position of other people of faith, or because of faith itself.

My view has always been that faith, whether based on organised religion or not, is deeply personal. I don't believe that any of this is wrong. Faith is something that gives people great strength and has been a practical support for many others through charity and other good works. As long as faith is not about the denegration of others, then I believe its influence is positive.

To me, organised religion does not equal faith, and faith does not equal organised religion.

But, that's just me... but that's the thing, it's all about what you feel and how you relate to your world.

I will always defend the rights of people to believe in whatever brings them peace and comfort.

I want people in Atlasia to know that their president is about defending all religions, faiths and philosophies. Diversity in faith, like diversity in community, it only builds strength.

I will fight against prejudice and bigotry, wherever is comes from.



I've been out there this week in the Midwest, it's been a huge honour speaking with so many of you who have entrusted your stories and concerns to me. I want you all to know that I have taken all of our discussions to heart, and if I'm elected President in two weeks time I will do my utmost to bring the goals of this campaign to life.

But none of this happens without your vote. I am taking nothing for granted. There is a lot of time, and I have a lot of convincing to do. I am here for every Atlasian, therefore, I invite all Atlasians to this contest. I have wanted a positive contest of ideas. So far, I'm waiting for it. My opponent and his running-mate are good people, and good Atlasians. And, I hope, as election-day draws closer, that they will engage in that positive debate of ideas, as the people of Atlasia deserve nothing less.

Thank you all so much.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

WEEK 5 Campaign Schedule

Monday 6 June
- San Francisco, CA - Los Angeles, CA*

Tuesday 7 June
- San Diego, CA - New Orleans, LA

Wednesday 8 June
- Memphis, TN - Louisville, KY - Huntington, WV

Thursday 9 June
- Indianapolis, IN - Champaign-Urbana, IL* - Springfield, IL

Friday 10 May
- Little Rock, AR - Mobile, AL - Miami, FL

* = Speech

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Comments from Speaker Polnut on arrival at San Francisco, California.

On the forthcoming debate:

There is a huge need for the Atlasian people to know that their president is here working for them. This is an opportunity for the two of us to have that discussion about where we want this nation to go.

Hopefully, this will actually be a discussion about policy AND reform options. I have outlined many policy areas already, and there are more areas that I will touch on in the closing days of this campaign. I've also made clear my current reform proposals, but equally, made clear my desire to see options for more reforms. Just because they're not mine, doesn't mean I won't support them.  Again, to say that I'm not reform-minded is utterly ridiculous, I just want to ensure that it's done right and well.