Freedom Party Convention in Honolulu, Hawai'i

[The Duke]

I, as Chairman of this party, declare our convention open.

I will now restate our Party's official endorsements, as determined by a vote of party members:

For President, we endorse KEmp/Alcon
For D1 Senate, we endorse Nation
For D2 Senate, we stay neutral
For D3 Senate, we stay neutral
For D4 Senate, we stay neutral
For D5 Senate, we endorse King
For Southeast Governor, we endorse Ernest
For Northeast Governor, we endorse MAS117

I'd also like to welcome the elected officials from the Freedom Party, Senator Supersoulty of Pennsylvania, Senator WMS of New Mexico, Secretary of State Gustaf of Minnesota, and Governor Wildcard of California.

[The Duke]

Freedom Party Platform

Social Issues[/b]

Abortion- The Party does not condone abortion.  There should be restrictions placed on access to abortion, like parental notification for a minor seeking an abortion, and a ban on third term abortions.  Any restriction must provide exceptions for rape, incest, and the life/physical health of the mother.  The AFP dos not, however, seek to ban all abortions.  We do seek to reduce the number of abortions through funding for maternity care to poor women and the loosening of adoption restrictions.

Gay Marriage- Gay Marriage is a settled issue in Atlasia.  It is legal, and the AFP does not seek to change this regardless of the feelings of individual members.

Affirmative Action- Affirmative Action is no longer necessary in a society where racial tolerance is becoming the norm.  It should be gotten rid of.

Crime and Punishment- The death penalty should not be imposed for civilian crimes.  It should be reserved for those who commit war crimes like terrorism or treason.  There is no civilian crime that requires any more than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.  Inmates in prisons should be put to use doing community service, training seeing eye dogs, and other activities that re-connect them with their community and humanity, this  will further their rehabilitation and further allow them to repay their debt to society.  We do not favor ending the drug war.  The flow of illegal narcotics into the US is trending downward because the drug war has been more successful than its critics can admit.  Chemical addiction is not a form of freedom, it is a form of slavery, and we oppose a policy that will lead to less freedom.

Education- Education is the foundation of the future.  We will work for a more efficient education system.  We spend more per pupil than nearly any other western nation, yet we have the worst results of any such nation.  We must ensure that money is spent wisely, that teachers are competent, and that parents are more involved in their kid’s education.

Economic Issues

Health Care- We will work to do two things in health care.  The first is to modernize the way health care is regulated and distributed in an effort to reduce the cost of care and the rate at which that cost increases.  We will also work to expand health coverage to children and the poor.  We will do both in an incremental fashion over time, since there is no instant big bang solution to this problem.

Social Security- Social Security is going bankrupt.  The best way to fix this problem is to make a long term transition to a system based on private accounts, similar to 401K plans, rather than the current pay-as-you-go system.  The government will not allow personal control of the assets in these accounts because we need to prevent citizens who aren’t savvy investors from losing out.  Instead, the personal accounts will be composed of market index funds and government bonds, ensuring a diverse portfolio with minimal management costs.  Poor seniors will also have access to the same anti-poverty programs available to non-seniors, in the hope that it will further minimize risk.

Spending- The government spends neither too much or too little, but too wastefully.  We have vast bureaucracies that waste money, programs designed by and for special interests that allocate public dollars for private designs, and antiquated organizations that badly need to be brought into the 21st Century.  Through reform and anti-corruption measures we can do more by spending less, and have a government that works for citizens, not the other way around.

Trade- Free trade makes the world safer and more prosperous.  Nations that trade rarely wage war against one another.  Atlasia should advance the cause of free trade through both multilateral and bilateral agreements.  In the process, we should also ask that nations with whom we trade make their economies more just with environmental and worker protections, and we should oppose hidden tariffs in the first world, like subsidies, and graft in the third world, like monopsonies.

Taxes- Taxes are too high.  They should be incrementally reduced over time to a lower rate, and loopholes should be eliminated making the code more simple and more efficient.  We endorse progressive taxation, those who ge tthe most out fo our system should give the most back.

Foreign Affairs

Globalization- Globalization is a positive process that breeds peace and prosperity.  Nations that trade together rarely wage war together.  By advancing the process of globalization, we can make America and the world safer. more prosperous, and more free.

Africa- Africa is poor not because of western exploitation, but because of corrupt governance.  Only by supporting emerging democracies like those in Kenya and Botswana and opposing dictators like those in Zimbabwe and Sudan can we end this cycle of suppression of political freedom and economic opportunity.  Foreign aid to Africa needs to be increased through the USAID program.  For only $15 billion a year, according to studies by the UN, we could provide basic nutrition and medical care to every child in the third world.  We can and should do this.

Latin America- The first priority here should be to prepare for the inevitable demise of Fidel Castro and advance the cause of the opposition to Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.  Our second goal should be the globalize Latin America through advocating the FTAA.

Europe- America's alliances with the nations of Europe are among our most important parternships in the world.  We should build on our partnerships within NATO and welcome the nations of Eastern Europe into the Atlantic Alliance.  However, a European Superstate dominated by France and Germany is not in America's interests.  Nor is it in Europe's interests.  An economically integrated Europe that favors no one nation, but rather opens European markets to international commerce should be the goal.  European protectionism hurts American businesses and the third world, and it should be ended.  If Europe continues its unfair trade practices, we will work through the WTO to bring about an end to this practice.  The Peace Process in the Balkans has been effective, but we need a more vigorous effort to locate and bring to justice the war criminals like Radko Mladic and Radovan Karazic.

India- India, the world’s largest democracy, is a potential long term US ally. We ought to pursue expanded trade relations and military cooperation.  They understand the threat of radical Islam and the power of democracy.  They are a natural friend to America, and we should stop treating them like a second tier nation in terms of their importance to us.

Russia- Russia has become the arms dealer to the world.  We need to oppose Russian attempts to exert its influence over Eastern Europe, including their audacious moves in Ukraine and Georgia.  We should continue the Nunn-Lugar program to safeguard Russian nuclear materials.  We need to prepare our own military to deal with hostile nations that will arm themselves with top end Russian weapons and treat Vladimir Putin as someone not to be trusted.

China- China has become the single most hostile nation on Earth outside the Middle East.  We ought to begin holding them accountable for their illegal occupations of Tibet, their belligerence towards Taiwan, and there support for fascist governments in North Korea and Burma.  They are not a free nation, we are.  We must oppose their anti-freedom agenda as we contained a similar agenda when espoused by the USSR.

continued on next post...

[The Duke]

...continued

War on Terrorism

The Enemy- The enemy is not the tactic of terrorism, but its practitioners and their ideology.  The name "War on Terrorism" is a misnomer.  We are fighting the ideology of Jihadism.  Our enemy is groups that kill in the name of Islam and their state sponsors in Iran, Syria, Sudan, and elsewhere.  Both the terrorist groups and their state sponsors must be confronted if we are to prevail.  Our enemy is not the one billion plus Muslims around the world, and the millions right here in Atlasia, who want the same thing we do: Peace and Freedom.

Our Allies- Our allies are many.  We are joined in this fight by the braver nations of Europe who have chosen to stand up for free men and women and those who desire to be.  They have made a difficult choice, and they should be rewarded for their bravery with an America that stands by them as they stand by us.  We are joined by nations like Israel, India, Australia, and Japan who have suffered terrorist attacks in recent years and understand our struggle.  Our most important allies however are the moderates in the Muslim world.  They understand that life for Muslims will be better if we succeed, and they risk their lives everyday to stand up to the fanatics.

The Strategy- We will use military action to topple terrorist sponsoring states, denying terrorist groups that ability to operate from those states and cutting them off from a major source of funding.  We will seize their financial assets wherever possible, further cutting them off from their money.  We will use covert action to seek out and defeat terrorists around the world before they can strike us.  We will support reformers in their efforts to transform their own societies with whatever they need to prevail.  We will minimize relations with nations that pretend to be our friends, but aid our enemies while our back is turned.  We will end foreign aid to nations that do not democratize, even if that is inconvenient for us.  We will urge friendly Arab nations to reform themselves.  We will open our trade policies to reward nations that reform on their own.  We will increase foreign aid to nations that democratize and we will spend more to build prosperous societies in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We will win this war not only by defeating the Jihadists, but by transcending them.  We will be their moral superiors, giving our nation's all to spread freedom over fascism in Arabia and creating civil societies that have consensual governments, tolerant cultures, and open economies.

Forum Issues

The Constitution- The current constitution has what are now universally recognized as major flaws.  We should hold a new constitutional convention to write a new, improved, constitution.  As our founders did after the Articles of Confederation failed, we should learn from our mistakes while keeping our founding principles intact.  The new Constitution should keep certain institutions like the Senate and Preisdency and Supreme Court intact, but should be altered in certain areas to clarify the various powers.

Forum Government- The lack of capable people to fill government positions is becoming noticeable.  New positions should not be created at any point inn the near future.  Fewer positions will mean better government.

The Budget- The government must establish a budget.  It must account for its spending every four months, with the new President submitting a budget to the Senate as his first official act.  The budget may not be subject to referendum because Senators should be able to amend it.  It will be, in the beginning, based on the actual US Federal Budget but obviously over time it will diverge from that beginning.

GM Reform- The GM should be reactive not proactive.  There are enough real-world crises like North Korea and Iraq to keep us all busy.  He ought to replace his duty as scenario generator with one as the arbiter of the outcomes of government action.  He will also add an economic component to his job.  He will, on a monthly basis, generate based on government policy a GDP growth rate, an unemployment rate, and an inflation rate so the government may determine the state of the economy and make policy based on this.  In the beginning, this will be based on the actual numbers from real life, but will change according to government policy.

[The Duke]

I now open the floor to anyone who has a motion they wish nthis convntion to conisder.

[12th Doctor]

(I walk on stage.  The Remedy plays in background.)


Ever since the collapse of the first party system, I had dreamed of a party that would promote the values that are so important to Atlasia.

This party, by its nature, holds Freedom as our highest value.  But this Freedom that we speak of is not the traditional, narrow minded view of Freedom.  Our Freedom comes with a belief in the value of every human being and with an understanding that we who are fortunate enough to enjoy the bounty and goodness of Freedom have a responsibility to do what is in our power to share that bounty with our fellow man.

Chief among the beliefs of the Freedom Party is our believe that government is not an evil or even a necessary evil but rather, responsive and responsible government can do a lot of good for its citizens so long as those citizens are ever mindful of its benefits.

We believe in taking an active role in spreading and defending liberty all over the world.  We do not approach this subject in an arrogant way that believes that nations need to adopt all Atlasian values, or that our brand of Democracy is a one size fits all proposition, but rather, with an understanding that all human souls yearn for freedom and that the people of any nation have the right to define those freedoms as they so chose, provided that they do not trample on the  right of others to do the same.

We believe that, while the individual is to be respected and cherished, the community is at least as important and at least as worthy of preservation.  This means that we must work to insure that the basic need of those around us are served and that while people should learn from their mistakes and answer for them in their own way, we need not castigate them.  We must understand that we are all humans, and that all life is precious, regardless of its condition.

We believe that all people must be given an opportunity to fulfill the Atlasian dream.  We must have tolerance and respect for all people, regardless of race, creed, economic background or sexual orientation.  We must open the doors to prosperity by supporting better funding for our public schools and opening university doors to more of Atlasia’s citizens.  Education is the avenue to our future and we must do what we can to support it.

Finally, the Freedom Party has deep belief in and commitment to the goodness of the human spirit.  People, by their nature, care for others and for their fellow man.  Evil, greed, avarice… these evils are not the norm of the human experience and our policies should not reflect the idea that they are.  But, so there is no mistake, we must understand that there are those few individuals who, either through bitterness, desperation or simply in the sprite of evil, seek to harm others.  They must be fought with the greatest vigor, they must be stopped.

Freedom is not just a word.  It is a value and a way of life.  We must show the word that we mean it when we make that solemn oath… “Liberty and Justice for all”.


Thank You and God Bless.

[Josh/Devilman88]

Very well said!

[Gustaf]

Didn't we support progressive taxes once upon a time?

And good speech.

Also, we could perhaps make a new decision on the D4 race now that things have changed there?

[jokerman]

Didn't we support progressive taxes once upon a time?

And good speech.

Also, we could perhaps make a new decision on the D4 race now that things have changed there?

I second that

[King]

Didn't we support progressive taxes once upon a time?

And good speech.

Also, we could perhaps make a new decision on the D4 race now that things have changed there?

And Nation has dropped out, so maybe a change for D1.

[WMS]

Excellent speech, Senator Supersoulty! And another look at the *Senate* races would be a good idea.

[The Duke]

Didn't we support progressive taxes once upon a time?

And good speech.

Also, we could perhaps make a new decision on the D4 race now that things have changed there?

We still do support progressive taxation, though we actually don't state it explicitly.  Perhaps we should.

Three motions then.

Motion one, shall we explicitly endorse progressive taxation in our platform?  Yes or no.

Motion two, should we endorse a candidate in the D4 election now that new candidates are in?  Yes or no, and name your preferred candidate.

motion three, should we endorse a new candidate in D1?  Yes or no, and name your preferred candidate.

Voting ends at midnight Eastern US time.

Motion one, aye.

Motion two, nay.

Motion three, yea and ColinW.

[12th Doctor]

Motion 1: Yes

Motion 2: No

Motion 3: Yes, ColinW

[jokerman]

Motion 1: Yea

Motion 2: Nay

Motion 3: Nay

[TheWildCard]

Yay
Nay
Yay Colin

[The Duke]

Voting over.

We will add an explicit endorsement of progressive taxation to the platform.

We will not endorse a candidate in D4.

We will endorse a candidate from D1, and it is Colin Wixted.

Last call for speeches.

[WMS]

Some of us have lives, ya know.

Not that it matters, but...

Yea
Nay
Nay

[12th Doctor]

Come on.  Make a speech.  Show the country how great our party is and how much we love it.

Spontaneously breaks into song

United we stand, divided we fall,
and if our backs should ever be against the wall,
we'll be together together you and I

[The Duke]

Some of us have lives, ya know.

Not that it matters, but...

Yea
Nay
Nay

I know, but I actually let people vote well beyond the established time limit.  Even with your votes coutned, the outcome is the same.

[WMS]

Some of us have lives, ya know.

Not that it matters, but...

Yea
Nay
Nay

I know, but I actually let people vote well beyond the established time limit.  Even with your votes coutned, the outcome is the same.

Eh, true enough, but there was no way I could get here in time to vote...

OK Super, how about a slogan:
The Freedom Party, representing the forgotten voters of Atlasia!

[12th Doctor]

Some of us have lives, ya know.

Not that it matters, but...

Yea
Nay
Nay

I know, but I actually let people vote well beyond the established time limit.  Even with your votes coutned, the outcome is the same.

Eh, true enough, but there was no way I could get here in time to vote...

OK Super, how about a slogan:
The Freedom Party, representing the forgotten voters of Atlasia!

I will admit that our numbers are not large, but the Freedom Party is a party supported by the high stature of its individual members.  I am comfortable with that for now.  Of course, if a lot of people suddenly realize that we are right and want to join, I'm comfortable with that too.

[The Duke]

Our big problem is that the Union Party has a lot of members who should be with us, but they started up before we did, and there are independents who just don't want a part in the party system anymore.

We keep winning stuff anyway, though.

[12th Doctor]

Our big problem is that the Union Party has a lot of members who should be with us, but they started up before we did, and there are independents who just don't want a part in the party system anymore.

We keep winning stuff anyway, though.

We only have 7-8 people, but we are currently tied for most Senate repressentation.  Not bad.  The key to our success thus far has been to run candidates that most people can vote for.  Not the worst idea, given the preferential voting system.

[12th Doctor]

Though, you are right, we should have a lot more members than we do.

[King]

Though, you are right, we should have a lot more members than we do.

More people on Peter's test had Union higher than Freedom. WE SHOULD BE DOMINANT!

[12th Doctor]

Though, you are right, we should have a lot more members than we do.

More people on Peter's test had Union higher than Freedom. WE SHOULD BE DOMINANT!

I suspect the test was wieghted.