shua for Mideast Senator!

[shua]

Greetings!

I really enjoyed my time as an At-Large Senator. It was great to be able to represent all of Atlasia. However, I have for a while often wished for a particular constituency to represent - not in terms of a party or ideology, but a community - a region. And what better place to represent than the region I have called home in Atlasia from the beginning? Therefore I am announcing my candidacy to be the Senator for the Mideast Region in the October election.

I know that citizens from across Atlasia, of various regions and parties, have approached me about running for the Senate vacancy which is bound to open soon with homelycooking's absence. To you, I say, I deeply appreciate your support. I just find for the moment, having lost reelection, it is good to have the opportunity to take a breath, to tend my goats and my vegetable garden, to reconnect with the people of my region, and to formulate new ideas.  If I am successful in my bid to represent the Mideast region in the Senate, I will be refreshed and ready to return to the Senate.

Fellow Mideasterners, I believe we can have an active Senator, who takes an interest in the needs of our region, who will defend our region's self-determination, who looks for solutions and works with other Senators to achieve them, who will represent all Mideasterners regardless of party or ideology.
I've done good work in the Mideast Assembly and in the Senate, and so I hope you will consider supporting me.

Thank you!

[Jbrase]

You sir, have the endorsement of the IDS Imperial House of Jbrase

[shua]

Thank you Jbrase!
both for your endorsement and for making this thread so much more awesome with the posting of your heraldry 

[ZuWo]

I will have to see the entire field of candidates first, but I can say today that I am likely to vote for you.

[They Played The Wardrum Out Of Time]

Endorsed!

[shua]

Fellow Mideasterners,

At this time in our region, with important issues facing us, I believe it is crucial that voters are given a choice when it comes to who will be their Governor. I have been considering this for some time, and having been approached by citizens who would like to see me as Governor, I have decided to present myself as a candidate for this office. Yes I have been engaged in a race for Senate, but I am ready and willing to serve as Governor and I have found I have a vision for what we can accomplish together as a region. Whether I can best serve right now in Peter's Park, or in campaigning to represent our region in Nyman, I will leave to the voters of the Mideast to decide.
I am sure afleitch would do a fine job as Governor, but too much is at stake right now to have an uncontested election. I believe I can lead our region through our current economic and social challenges, to find common ground and finally tackle the budget. If you agree, please write-in "shua" for Governor!

Here is a brief platform of things I would hope to accomplish and stand for:

• update and improve the wiki. categorize statutes by subject.
• protect freedom for family farms, small businesses and non-profits from over-regulation
• prevent cruel treatment of animals. protect our wetlands, rivers, wildlife, and human environment from pollution.
• stop basing teacher pay on test scores. allow flexibility to local schools and encourage innovation by teachers.
• support regional autonomy on social issues
• keep marijuana legal
• seek a nuanced and effective approach to protecting the lives of the unborn
• fix our budget mess. figure out our spending and revenues. balance the budget and implement low but progressive taxes.

[TJ in Wisco]

Endorsed

[ZuWo]

Heartily endorsed! Shua for Governor!

You have demonstrated during the last session of the Assembly when you occasionally participated in Assembly debates that you are willing and able to give constructive and valuable input. This and the way you presented yourself in the Senate shows me most clearly that you are a perfect choice for Governor.

[Cincinnatus]

Wow.  Two great choices for Mideast Governor.  Your region would be lucky to have either one of you.

[CathKhan]

Endorsed!!!!!!

[Senator Kalwejt]

While I think Senate needs you more (sorry ME ), you're endorsed anyway, no matter how useless my endorsement is for Mideastern voters

[shua]

I'd like to congratulate afleitch on his Gubernatorial win. While I disagree with some of the stances he has been taking, overall the platform he presented in his campaign is a good one, and he will be a competent and active Governor.

I'd like to thank all those who voted for me for Governor.  Four party-crossing votes for a write-in campaign isn't bad I think  Thanks especially to those who encouraged me to run. I am glad we were able to give our Region a competitive election.

It looks as though the majority has spoken - and they are too excited about my Senate campaign to make me Governor

[Senator Napoleon]

Ah shua, you ran a great campaign and I'd have liked to see you win.

Wow can't believe I forgot. Endorsed!

[shua]

Ah shua, you ran a great campaign and I'd have liked to see you win.

Thanks! Yeah I would have liked to see me win too -
but hopefully now we will work again together in the Senate.

[ZuWo]

Thanks for having made the gubernatorial election more exciting! Good luck in your senate run.

[shua]

Statement from the candidate

In spite of my vote in confirmation, Marokai has proven himself an able and active GM, and I am sorry to see him step down.

[shua]

I wish all the best to Tmth on his departure from the race. He was a most formidable opponent and the campaign up against him would have been interesting. I hope we can all move ahead from some of the problems of the past, and that Tmth will be able to continue to serve successfully as GTO ambassador and/or whatever role he has ahead of him.
While now I have a much better chance of success in my campaign, it is likely there will be another candidate, and so I will look forward to a spirited and civil contest. I will do my best to earn the confidence of our region's voters.

[shua]

There are some would say they support significantly lower tax rates, but when the opportunity comes, they do not. "Wait," They say "Wait until times are better." Why wait?   Don't they realize that our complicated and burdensome tax code is one of the things holding us back? 
We could wait years and years for business to pick up again, or we could give people more freedom now to use their money in the way that they believe will give them the best opportunities. We need to reform our tax code, lower tax rates and eliminate many tax expenditures (deductions), for a simpler, fairer, pro-growth tax code for all Atlasians, and we need to do it now.

[ZuWo]

There are some would say they support significantly lower tax rates, but when the opportunity comes, they do not. "Wait," They say "Wait until times are better." Why wait?   Don't they realize that our complicated and burdensome tax code is one of the things holding us back? 
We could wait years and years for business to pick up again, or we could give people more freedom now to use their money in the way that they believe will give them the best opportunities. We need to reform our tax code, lower tax rates and eliminate many tax expenditures (deductions), for a simpler, fairer, pro-growth tax code for all Atlasians, and we need to do it now.

I subscribe to this statement of yours. This is essentially what I believe in regarding fiscal policy (as well as probably many in my party, for the record). I just couldn't formulate my view as eloquently as you.

[shua]

During my campaign, I will be making statements regarding some of the issues and bill before the Senate:

Corn Syrup

There is some evidence that high fructose corn syrup may be more harmful to health than other types of sugar. However, this is evidence is inconclusive. It doesn't make sense to single out this sweetener for a health warning. All substances have risks, and we can't have a warning for all of them.  Food manufacturers may take away the hfcs and substitute other things such as sugar alcohol or artificial sweeteners that some people have sensitivity to.  The right course of action is to educate people about nutrition, and communicate that for most people,  for most of the time, the emphasis needs to be on moderation rather than on making successive ingredients into supreme villains.  Meanwhile, we ought to look at our farm subsidies to make sure we are not encouraging the use of cropland for less nutritious food.

[Senator Napoleon]

Would you be willing to remove other warning labels such as on cigarettes?

[Prez Duke]

Glad to see we see eye to eye on a tax plan!

[shua]

Would you be willing to remove other warning labels such as on cigarettes?

The detrimental health effects of cigarettes are well established by decades of research, confirmed in countless ways. I am not absolutely against health warnings, but they need to stick to the facts and not overhype, and only used when the evidence is incontrovertible. In this case, the evidence to the health problems related to smoking are so well established, I'm not sure these warnings do any good as people would know the risks without them - and yet smoke them anyway.  Also, a warning should not be selective in the sense of making one substance seem much more harmless than it is by comparison.  If someone eats 5 grams of sugar instead of 3 grams of hfcs, the evidence suggests he is not helping his health, but the warning implies otherwise.

If a cigarette warning says "Smoking may increase your risk of lung cancer" that is undeniable. That is not at all the type of warning in the current bill, which is left vague but ominous.

[shua]

Glad to see we see eye to eye on a tax plan!

In one sense we do, but I think we disagree here:

JBrase's amendment would have to be complimented with a massive decrease in federal spending which, in turn, would have a detrimental effect on the economy in the short term. Like I said in the past, I am in favor of closing out loopholes and deductions and lowering overall rates, but that's only once the economy is on a firm footing and the budget is in check. Things like that much be done over time, not all at once.

I believe smart tax reform can put our economy on that better footing, and help us improve our budget, and so we shouldn't wait.

[Prez Duke]

In the plan before the senate, I do not think it addresses deductions and other loopholes, hence my opposition to JBrase's amendment lowering the rates to where they are. If the bill was truly a tax reform bill as opposed to basic reduction, I would be singing a different tune. What I want to avoid is creating a large deficit in leu of the tax reductions. I think reforming the code by cutting out all the loopholes will not cause strain on the budget because it will broaden the overall tax base, especially if we do the same with corporations, and we will not see much of an effect in tax revenue. It is likely we would see an increase in revenue.