The Office of Former President & Senator Polnut - Deregistration

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

PRESS RELEASE

The Pacific

I will be making an emergency visit to the Pacific region tomorrow to determine what steps the Federal Government may be required to undertake to get it working again.

I will meet with Pacific Government officials in San Francisco and make a recommendation to both my fellow Senators and the President.

[Adam Griffin]

1) Fire Simfan
2) Ban Potus2036's presence from all regions (he seems to be the common denominator in region death as of late)

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

PRESS RELEASE

The Pacific

I am preparing to leave San Francisco to return to Boston to officially launch my re-election campaign.

Let me say this, I have communicated my deep concern to the Governor and I hope he takes those concerns to heart.

The Pacific deserves an active Government, not one driven by stunts, but by good governance and good policy.

There are steps the Senate and the President can take to address these issues, however, I would urge the Government of the Pacific to act now, so we do not have to.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Kresge Auditorium - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA


My fellow Atlasians,

Only a short time ago, you gave me the tremendous honour of electing me to represent you in the Atlasian Senate. I stand here today to renew my contract with the Atlasian people.

I have worked during my time, so far, in the Senate to deliver solution-focused and evidence-based legislation. We have put in place a realistic response to our energy issues, directing more support to households who need help and want to play their role in increasing our energy-efficiency as well as ensuring that energy corporations know that much more is expected from them.

We have put in place a plan to ensure that the horror that is Islamic State is not able to generate or harbour financial resources in this country. We have sent in air-strikes, but I believe that strangling their resources and their ability to purchase weapons and the infrastructure of carnage does just as much harm to their evil mission.

Currently facing a final vote is a Bill I put forward to do all we can to support the regions to address their biodiversity challenges. Some have argued that unless there is a specific case by case approach, then it doesn't need to happen. It is an interesting position to take. This Bill, along with ensuring that those who profit or import products or by-products  of endangered species are punished at the Federal level, will make sure that regions have funds to address their identified bio-diversity challenges. This include better land stewardship, tacking invasive species and re-population of native species of flora and fauna.

There have been some difficult debates and some disappointments. I will be re-introducing a Bill shortly to increase the support to those who sacrifice their time and careers to care for friends and loved ones.

If I re-elected, I will continue to focus on real-world solutions, to real-world problems. We will do more to tackle our environmental challenges, will we do more to improve the educational standards and outcomes for our kids, we need to do more to ensure our good and strong public programs have a sound economic footing and we must do more to show ourselves to the world as a partner.

As we are here at MIT, I am pledging myself to putting a greater focus on getting more kids intereste in science, technology, engineering and maths or STEM. It is you here and the future students at institutions like this that will create the next creative technological wonder.

I ask for your help, from left and right and centre. My agenda has not been about wish-fulfilment, it has been about addressing real challenges with solutions based on best-evidence and not ideological void. I look forward to the race over the coming weeks and I hope to speak with many of soon.

So thank you, Dave bless and let's do this.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

It's my patriotic duty to endorse Polnut.

[windjammer]

It's my patriotic duty to endorse Polnut.

I didn't know you lived in Australia .

----------------
Best of luck polnut.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE

22 November
Richmond - Virginia Beach, VA

23 November
Raleigh, NC - Charleston, SC

24 November
Orlando - Miami, FL - Austin, TX

25 November
Denver - Boulder, CO - Lawrence, KS

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

POLICY ANNOUNCEMENT

Prisons

Senator Polnut, if re-elected will be committing to deliver serious reforms on our prisons.

"Turning prisoners into commodities is something that I have long felt is a repugnant and vile system. I understand the concerns of my fellow citizens about ensuring those who are threats to civil society are kept locked away.

However, our prisons are not filled with dangerous criminals. They are filled with people who have made personal mistakes, very often, those most directly affected by their actions are them.

We need to stop throwing people into prison, because it is the easier thing to do. These are still human beings and we all deserve the opportunity for a second chance. Now, obviously, some have committed crimes that mean they have waived their rights to citizenship and will and should remain behind bars. But this is not the growth in the prison populations.

There is such a strong desire to punish, that we ignore mercy. We see people as their crimes, not as people. We need to do much more to make sure that people who have committed small, often victim-less crimes are not placed into the prison industrial complex.

We have other options beyond incarceration, where he have seen for generations, the radicalisation of young men. There's a reason why they call prisons Universities of Crime.

I want to open a national conversation about what we do about crime, about those who commit crimes and what we as a society do with them. This might be a difficult discussion for some, nor, will it be as easy as others think it is. But I believe, we need to do it."

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE

30 November
St Paul - Minneapolis, MN - Des Moines, IA

1 December
Springfield - Champaign - Chicago, IL

2 December
Indianapolis, IN - Cincinnati - Cleveland, OH

3 December
Detroit, MI - Pittsburgh - Philadelphia, PA

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The Liacouras Center, Temple University - Philadelphia, PA

Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm very happy to be here tonight at Temple Univeristy. This is a great school and produced so many fantastic  alumni who have enriched our country. It is a testament to the strength of public education, something I am both a product of and a passionate advocate for.

I wanted to take this opportunity tonight to talk about the upcoming At-large Senate election at what's at stake as well as what has been achieved during this last term.

One issue of interest is the Universal Education Bill, currently before the Senate. If signed, it will ensure that all Atlasian students, regardless of their family's financial background, will be able to attend college if they want to and qualify academically. If you're a public college, like here at Temple, you can borrow 100% of your tuition from the Federal Government. You will not be expected to start paying back the debt until you are earning $35,000 per year. The debt will not be considered credit, there is no time-limit. It will end the fear of the debt collectors and demand letters from the private loan industry.

We will also provide, in the next couple of years, a low-income educational support supplement. All students whose household income is $75,000 per year, or below, will be eligible to receive a supplement to cover the costs of books and supplies from $250 per year, up to $750 per year. This Bill is about ensuring we have the engineers, teachers, lawyers and doctors of the future. Talent and ability should not the victim of decades of debt or discouragement due to circumstances. This is not about forcing people into college if they don't want, it is about making sure all students with the ability and talent have access.

The other thing I want to talk to you about today, is the environment. One of the Bills I have presented to the Senate, and was passed, was to provide support to the regions to undertake activities to address biodiversity challenges. These include managing the impacts of invasive species, poor land-management and the re-introduction of native species. The Bill also ensures that anyone, who imports or sells the by-products of the illegal animal trade will be dealt with at the Federal level. We made a statement with this Bill. We aren't waiting for a crisis to act, we are dealing with these issues before that level comes. This is what I am in the Senate to do. While I do consider myself good in a crisis, if you look at the jobs I've had... you kind of need to be, I believe that looking to the future and putting contingences in place helps in the long-run.

While Margaret Thatcher is not someone I often quote, her comments about addressing climate change are important to all of us who are in the business of policy-making. She wasn't totally sure about the science and impacts. This was 25 years ago, long before the tremendous scientific consensus emerged. She was also not exactly an enemy of the market economy. But referred to actions to address this problem, even if the impacts weren't exactly as projected, as an insurance policy.

We spend too much time, focusing on the crisis, not the future. It is understandable.  It means taking a risk and taking a chance. I am here tonight to give you an idea what I wish to pursue, if given the great opportunity to serve you again in the Senate. It is about the future.

I want to work with the regions to put in place a plan to protect vulnerable coastal infrastructure from the impacts of climate change. It is much cheaper and easier to protect and re-enforce, than it is to rebuild.

I want to make sure that all young people, who want an education or training have access to it. We have taken a great first step with the Universal Education Bill, but we need to go further. We need to make sure that the training and support for kids who want to get into trades that are vital for our society, is there. Not everyone wants to go to college, and we shouldn't diminish the interests of those who want to get their hands dirty.

We need to have a serious discussion about our tax system, there are too many layers and too many traps for families. This isn't about tax cuts or tax rises, we need to streamline our national taxation system, particularly when it comes to the duplication of income taxation.

Finally, we need to be frank and honest about our prisons. We have too many people in prison for petty, stupid and victimless reasons. We need to end the cycle and end the role of the for-profit prison. As long as prisoners are seen as commodities, we will increase our prison population for no societal benefit. Locking people up is easy, but they're also part of our communities. They're also parents and the systemic problems this creates are well known and it needs to stop. Out of all of the ideas I have for the future, this, is probably the most difficult - but we need to face this and other challenges head on. We need to address our challenges LONG before they become crises. If I can count on your support at the election, I promise you, I am committed, as I said during the August campaign to work for all Atlasians. We need to focus on the future, to address challenges, but also to find opportunities for innovation and creativity. I urge you all, to have a read of the debates going on in the Senate right now, it might give some interesting insights.

Thank you all, good night and Dave bless!

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE

4 December
Seattle, WA - Portland, OR

6 December
San Francisco - Palo Alto - Los Angeles, CA

7 December
Las Vegas, NV - Kansas City - St Louis, MO

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Oregon Convention Centre - Portland, OR

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for coming out this afternoon to have chat about what kind of country we want for the future. Yesterday, in Philadelphia, I outlined a series of challenges that I was giving myself and the Senate to confront going forward.

My point is clear, too much of our governing is based on jumping from one immediate crisis to another or, more recently, being up to our necks in personal -interest legislation that has no hope of passing.

I believe that those of us in the Senate, regardless of political or ideological stripe, have been placed there to serve the interests of all Atlasians. Therefore, those who have the time and inclination to wander through the Senate threads would see that recently, I have taken on the role of trying to get unworkable  or non-viable legislation in a state where it can gain majority support. We need people like this in the Senate to conciliate the warring parties and get something that works. I've always said that moderation is not a dirty word, and I hope recently, I've shown that isn't a dark deed.

I want quickly touch on a bit of a flame-heavy issue before the Senate right now. My colleague Senator TNF, has presented a massive Bill, he refers to as a civil rights bill. I have seen the passionate support on both sides of this issue. I admit having a hard time putting together my own thoughts on this highly emotive concept. As a progressive and liberal, the belief in individual rights and liberties are paramount to me, but they must also be considered through the frame of being a member of a society. Unlike some people on the other side of politics to me, I believe that society does exist and that we all have both a stake in and a responsibility to our neighbours.

I do not support the Bill as it currently stands. I believe that all citizens have the right to express views that might not fit what others views as correct or accurate. People have the right to think differently. The element I most object to in this Bill is the idea that tolerance and understanding of others needs to be enforced by law or fear of punishment. Of course if someone acts in a criminal manner towards someone due to their race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality or any other superficial human difference, then we should punish them. But when you get into the idea of trying to criminalise thought, it is a dangerous place to be.

I do disagree with Senator JCL that 'religious freedom' entitles people to preach negative views towards gay and lesbian people (or practices as he argues, I think someone needs to inform him that there are straight people who have had sex with someone of the same sex and gay people who have sex with people of the opposite gender) or those who exercise their constitutional right to bodily autonomy.  I am committed to defending your rights, but being mindful that no one right, trumps another, especially when it comes to thought and speech. If your speech puts the rights of others in jeopardy, then your right has reached it limit.

At the same time the Bill does speak to promoting diversity and social inclusion. This is an issue I have been a passionate advocate for, for many years. During my presidency, I put forward a Bill to increase education among children to reduce the level of bullying. There is much more we can do to craft this Bill into something that reflect the positive benefits of increased diversity and social inclusion. When someone feels a part of a community, they have both a desire and an incentive to help it to thrive.

This is why I need your help and support to be re-elected to the Senate. I have worked to put together common-sense solutions to the challenges we face. They have no always trodden an ideologically pure path, I make no apologies for that. But we have challenges and issues whose answers cannot be found in an economics textbook, a political pamphlet or a blog post. We need creative people who genuinely want to find answers.

Thank you all and good evening! 

[Maxwell]

Polnut, you have a strong endorsement for me for Senate. You've been a voice of sanity in what has been at times an insane body, and I appreciate your efforts.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

FINAL CAMPAIGN STOPS

11 December
Atlanta - Savannah, GA

12 December
Newark - Trenton, NJ - New York City, NY

13 December
Providence, RI - New Haven, CT

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The polls have opened and it's time to send a message. We want and need a Senate that is focused on solving problems, not creating new ones.

[Badger]

You REALLY need to include a link to the polls.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

You REALLY need to include a link to the polls.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=204043.50

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Thanks everyone for the support so far. This election will be decided by a very small number of votes and every single vote will make a difference!

[angus]

I voted for you, but if you ever find yourself running for real office, reconsider ideas like this:

As we are here at MIT, I am pledging myself to putting a greater focus on getting more kids intereste in science, technology, engineering and maths or STEM. It is you here and the future students at institutions like this that will create the next creative technological wonder.

Leaving aside for the moment that STEM is a really corny acronym and many scientists bristle at it, it's just a bad idea.  There are, of course, students who are interested in science and engineering.  This is a good thing, because the world needs scientists and engineers, but the Kool-Aid party that politicians and school administrators are pushing right now is not only unhelpful, it's damaging.  We end up with a third or more of the seats in freshman science courses being filled with people who not only don't want to be there but who flunk out.  Failure early on diminishes their chances of success, not only because of poor transcript grades but because of the psychological effects of failure early on.  Also, because of funding cuts to state universities, seats are severely limited and it's first-come, first-served, with deserving and interested students left on waiting lists to make room for those pushed into "stem" fields by their high school counselors.

University science faculty are drafted into entertaining groups of high school students.  They come in two varieties.  One type of group is small.  Their parents have paid 50 dollars or more for the privilege of working on a project with a real scientist at a university.  Often this group consists of people of Indian or East Asian descent.  This group represents students who are genuinely interested in science.  They don't need anyone to invent silly acronyms and they don't need to be pressured into taking science courses.  They spend a day or so at a summer Science Camp, where they build bridges, make electrical circuits, perform chemical reactions, analyze local water for lead or other heavy metals, perform genetics studies, or otherwise engage their scientific interests.  They are competitive and university faculty generally find it pleasurable to work with them.

The other type of group is larger.  It consists of entire classes of 11th- or 12th-grade students being corralled through the university's facilities.  They are led by teachers looking to score points with their school principals.  The principals are looking to score points with their school board members.  The board members are looking to score points with the voters, who have been convinced by politicians that this is a good idea.  These students are clearly very bored.  Few of these are genuinely interested in science.  They will miss a day of instruction for this field trip.  School days are limited, and these students will learn nothing on this school day.  They will be subjected to demonstrations and speeches.  They will be encouraged to ask questions by the unfortunate university faculty members pressured to host them.  They will not want to ask questions, but eventually questions will be extracted from them.  They will be such enlightened questions as "How can you stand the smell?" or "Hey, can we use this stuff to get high?"

The polls have opened and it's time to send a message. We want and need a Senate that is focused on solving problems, not creating new ones.

Indeed.

I strongly discourage you from jumping aboard this "get students interested in stem" bandwagon.  I know that it is politically and morally fashionable at the moment, but this philosophy is wasting resources and causing more problems than it solves, if it solves any.  Should you find yourself in any real elected office in the future, recognize that not all new ideas are good ideas.

Best of luck,
angus

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Thanks angus, not only for your vote, but for your comments.

I am aware that you have familiarity with this issue. I have said from the get-go, that I go on best-evidence and so I will absolutely considering this as policy is developed.

I should say that my support for those more 'technical subjects' is not meant to be to the detriment of other subjects. I am a big proponent of the arts and studying the humanities. I believe in education, that is giving people as broad and as wide a set of understanding and knowledge as possible. I don't believe that students without a basic interest or aptitude for studying these subjects, being 'forced' or 'coerced' into these subjects (because of beneficial treatment for the sake of admission or additional support) will benefit anyone, especially the bored students who are there for the wrong reasons and the students who want to be there who aren't getting their teacher's full attention. I can attest as someone who was a natural humanities student...

Thank you again for your input and it will be taken very much into consideration.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

We are pushing through, but we need every single vote we can- I also ask people to consider my colleague and friend Senator BaconKing who has made a strong, and if you look at his work on the Civil Rights Bill especially, substantive and thoughtful contribution to the Senate.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Like all of us involved in a close race, I will be awaiting the results.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

PRESS RELEASE

Election outcome


While provisional results have been released, Senator Polnut will not make an official comment until the results are official.

[Simfan34]

But will Senator Polnut?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

But will Senator Polnut?

Him too.