Office of Chairman TNF: Red Army takes NM, UT, ID, AZ

[Gass3268]

Oh lordy, look at all those things you've been able to pass.

Now now, I seem to remember having quite a bit of help from a certain someone on a few of those bills.

It should be noted that 31 of those 37 acts had support from a member of the Federalist Party and/or Democratic-Republican Party. While 14 had unanimous support (not counting abstentions).

[Maxwell]

I'm sure at least one of them I tried to table right away

[TNF]

Obviously endorsed!

Thank you for your support, comrade! I'll never forget your stint as my running mate on the greatest Atlasian presidential ticket of all time (TM)

I'm sure at least one of them I tried to table right away

That I don't doubt, but nonetheless, I couldn't have gotten a few of those things passed without you.

[TNF]

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances (i.e. the good Senator from the Midwest finally getting his hands on a copy of Capital by Karl Marx), the speech concerning civil liberties is going to have to be moved to tomorrow. I apologize for the inconvenience and will update my calendar to reflect the changes made tomorrow.

[TNF]

I apologize for the lull in speechifying this weekend. I've been working 10 1/2 hour days! And you wonder why I'm a communist. Don't worry though, regular campaigning should resume on Monday. Until then, stay safe comrades and enjoy your three day weekend, courtesy of the Amendment to the Worker Productivity and Equalization Act of 2011, passed by yours truly of course.

[TNF]

The campaign shall resume tonight, but in the meantime, I'd like to just officially announce that I am seeking a second term as the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. In my tenure as President Pro Tempore, I have been nothing less than partial and have been active and response on requests for final votes and for voting on amendments. I understand that some of my actions have been controversial (especially concerning the certification of Tyrion as Vice President) but I shall continue to maintain that my actions are fully within the scope of my power as President Pro Tempore and I shall not relent in exercising that power to keep the Senate moving and active. We cannot slip into inactivity and let debate lull when there are so many issues facing Atlasia today that require us to engage in thoughtful and meaningful debate.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Nitpick: The Spanish killed off all the native people of Puerto Rico a few centuries ago.

[Simfan34]

Isn't Puerto Rico an Atlasian state?

[Fritz]

Maybe I'm blind, but I'm not understanding the references to Puerto Rico here...when/where did TNF mention the place?

[SWE]

Maybe I'm blind, but I'm not understanding the references to Puerto Rico here...when/where did TNF mention the place?

And, likewise, in our own country, we must recognize the right of all oppressed people to govern themselves. The native people of Hawaii, of Puerto Rico, and of all colonized areas, must be allowed the option to chart a course all their own, or be allowed to request autonomy from the federal and regional government

[TNF]

Updated Schedule of Events for the Week of September 7, 2014

Sunday, September 7
No events scheduled

Monday, September 8
Domestic policy speech on civil liberties "The Free Development of All" in Denver, Mirth

Tuesday, September 9
Domestic policy speech on farm policy "Land to the Landless" in Cedar Rapids, Moxie

Wednesday, September 10
Domestic policy speech on energy policy "Sustainable Socialism" in Fargo, Serenity

Thursday, September 11
Foreign policy speech on post-September 11th developments in Atlasian foreign policy "Imperialism in the 21st Century" in Tulsa, Bluster

Friday, September 12
Foreign policy speech on military structure and spending "Toward a democratic armed forces" in Sioux City, Vitality

Saturday, September 13
Domestic policy speech on policing "The People's Militia: An Alternative to the Police" in Cheyenne, Amity

[TNF]

Isn't Puerto Rico an Atlasian state?

Yes, it is, but it being part of the Republic is still the result of imperialism, and thus, should the indigenous people of that state wish to pursue a separate destiny, they should be allowed to do so. The same right should be allowed for of any oppressed group in this country, as I have repeatedly advocated.

[TNF]

THE FREE DEVELOPMENT OF ALL
Defending the Atlasian social revolution

Comrades!

I join you today from the great metropolis of Denver in the great state of Mirth. Mirth has a storied history, from the great labor wars of the last century and the century prior, to its role in helping spearhead what I like to describe as the 'Atlasian social revolution' in our present day. Mirth was, of course, one of the first states in real life to legalize Cannabis. Cannabis has of course been legal in Atlasia far longer, but the tolerance of its free use and open use has not been widely accepted until late, and there are yet attempts by many on the Atlasian right to undo the progress that we have made toward a more humane and progressive society.

I will fight the attempt of reactionaries of all stripes to undo the great strides we on the left and on the right (especially my libertarian comrades) have made toward dismantling the coercive, judgmental aspects of state power on our personal lives. I am proud to say that I helped bring down the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have undone the progressive work toward Regional recognition of marriages, which has of course allowed for a lot of experimentation in this regard, especially in the Northeast. The fact that polyamory has been recognized as a legitimate mode of social organization in the Northeast is a step in the right direction. The state should butt out of our bedrooms and let us sleep with whom we want, when we want, and under the conditions that we mutually consent to. And yes, for those of you who think that such decision-making power should be limited or are uncomfortable with the idea, this means that we must allow consenting persons to engage in incestuous relations if they see fit to do so. It is none of your business, and it is certainly none of mine, to condemn these people for doing so. The state has much more important issues to worry about than policing the bedrooms of a nation of 300 million people.

But how do we square that belief with practical reality? It must be said that, in one form or another, the present state of affairs is an affinity toward and support for heterosexual, two parent households. Centuries of propaganda by the bourgeoisie, that is family unit was the be-all, end-all form of social organization, have certainly had the desired effect of not only producing homophobia, but also a sharp backlash against anyone who thinks or acts differently, be they independent women being slut-shamed or threatened with physical or sexual assault or persons who do not squarely fit into the repressive and regressive gender binary birthed by capitalist ideology. We have to end the preferences in our tax code and combat in our society all sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and heteronormative ideas.

We have made quite a few strides in the right direction, but there is yet more work to be done. Sexuality must be brought into the open and debated. The culture of prudery must be obliterated and Atlasians encouraged not to view sex as something to be ashamed of, but something to embrace and enjoy to the utmost. Sex positivity should replace the sex negativity exhibited by the kinds of sexual education most young people receive in schools. We must, in that vein, remove existing penalties for underage persons engaging in sexual activity with their peers; the 'age of consent' as it presently exists should be redefined so that all persons who are sexually mature (by biological standards) and who consent to sexual activity can do so without fear of reprisal from the authorities.

In liberalizing these laws, we must also bring to bear the question of sexual violence, which unfortunately is given far too much of a pass in society at large. I stand for equating sexual assault with first degree murder in our criminal code, sexual harassment with second degree murder, and no quarter for rapists in the court of public opinion. Rape should be treated as what it is: not a crime of passion, not a sexual crime, but an attack upon all women and furthermore, all free people, for the heinous act of sexual assault robs from the victim the right to bodily autonomy, dignity, and peace of mind. We must conduct a thorough propaganda campaign to combat rape culture and stamp out misogyny in every aspect of public life.

The right to do as one pleases obviously comes into conflict with the desire of all of us for a peaceful and harmonious order of things. We are told that in order to have order, we must restrict our desires and downplay our differences. I do not abide in this idea. Rather, I believe that a well ordered society is one in which everyone may express themselves in whichever manner they see fit, provided that they are doing so in a way that does not degrade or injure others. This is why I see no contradiction in an unwavering commitment to freedom of speech and banning hate speech and prosecuting it's purveyors, and I am not about to back down from that stance. Bigotry should not be considered protected speech, and I will continue to fight to make sure that in the future, it is not considered as such by the Republic of Atlasia.

Wherever assumptions exist about the nature of things, or about the best way to order our society, these should be re-examined and debated, not taken as mere fact. We do ourselves a disservice when we do not critically examine the structures behind existing law or existing custom. We feign for tradition instead of thought and instead of critical debate, when instead we should question all things and make changes where necessary to advance the cause of human freedom. My opponents may disagree, but I think that unless we throw off the muck of the past, we won't be able to build a future in which we may all live as equals. You might not agree with my conception of that future, but you will always know that I stand for that future, and will fight to the death to make it a reality.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

You have not brought down the Federal Marriage Amendment. It is very well alive.

[Mechaman]

You have not brought down the Federal Marriage Amendment. It is very well alive.

Why do you hate region rights?

[SWE]

You have not brought down the Federal Marriage Amendment. It is very well alive.

lol

[Gass3268]

Updated Schedule of Events for the Week of September 7, 2014

Sunday, September 7
No events scheduled

Monday, September 8
Domestic policy speech on civil liberties "The Free Development of All" in Denver, Mirth

Tuesday, September 9
Domestic policy speech on farm policy "Land to the Landless" in Cedar Rapids, Moxie

Wednesday, September 10
Domestic policy speech on energy policy "Sustainable Socialism" in Fargo, Serenity

Thursday, September 11
Foreign policy speech on post-September 11th developments in Atlasian foreign policy "Imperialism in the 21st Century" in Tulsa, Bluster

Friday, September 12
Foreign policy speech on military structure and spending "Toward a democratic armed forces" in Sioux City, Vitality

Saturday, September 13
Domestic policy speech on policing "The People's Militia: An Alternative to the Police" in Cheyenne, Amity

Are you planning on coming to the Canadian Provinces of the Midwest?

[TNF]

I will be making my rounds in the Canadian provinces next week, Gass3268.

[TNF]

LAND TO THE LANDLESS
Agricultural policy in the 21st Century


An aerial view of Cedar Rapids, Moxie, the city in which the President Pro Tempore will be presenting an outline of his policy on agriculture.

Comrades!

Today I join you from Cedar Rapids in the great farming state of Moxie. Farm policy may seen quaint to some of our comrades in other regions, but we of the Midwest know that without farmers, modern industry would effectively grind to a halt. The earth, after all, is one of the primary sources of all wealth, the second of which being labor, which of course would largely be impossible without the raw materials and other things provided to us by the earth itself. We must thus speak with an awe and a reverence not just for farmers and agricultural communities, but we must do so for every aspect of our natural world and tread lightly, so as not to disturb the delicate balance between human life and the natural environment. I will speak at-length on environmental issues tomorrow, but for now I would like to highlight a few issues specific to agriculture policy in the Republic.

One of my more far-ranging achievements while a member of the Senate has been the collaboration between myself and former Governor (and At-Large Senator) Maxwell on the phase-out of farm subsidies. Although we arrived at our position from different assumptions and different ideological convictions, the both of us came together and made the end of the senseless subsidization of agribusiness conglomerates a thing of the past. I would hope that, in the future, I can find the same kind of bipartisan support for the policies I am about to outline today.

The farmer and the worker are natural allies. Both are producers, both have an interest in allying with one another to help build a new and better society. The farmer, although they may not have a boss in the same way that the worker does, is exploited by the market forces which dominate and destroy their livelihood, which drive production to the lowest common denominator, and which ruin the soil below their feet. Agribusiness conglomerates may not be receiving federal subsidies, but they continue to dominate the agricultural economy by way of controlling the distribution of food, and all too often this becomes a means by which to starve out the working class in order to feed their insatiable drive for profit.

Atlasian farmers produce enough food to feed everyone in this fair Republic. It is time that we recognized that and made the eradication of hunger within a generation not just a dream for which to aspire, but a reality. It is time to take on the agribusiness conglomerates, to organize the unorganized, and to take back control of our food supply and our nutritional needs from the profiteers.

First and foremost, we must guarantee a living income for all working farmers. This does not mean that we should return to the failed subsidy policy of the past, rather, it means that every farmer gets a return from the sale of their produce that is enough for them to make ends meet. If a farmer cannot find a distributor whereby to sell their goods, those goods should be purchased at a fair rate by the federal government and distributed to those who lack access to food. We must demand nothing short of a social wage for farmers, denied to those agribusiness conglomerates which poison the earth and deny us control over our own food supply.

Secondly, we must enact legislation allowing for farmers to collectively bargain with food distributors and processors, along with new legislation that would allow for the greater utilization of (and democratization of) farmer cooperative organizations. If there's anywhere that the cooperative model has been proven to work, it is in agricultural operations. We must encourage the formation of agricultural cooperatives insofar as possible. The federal government should provide incentives for farmers to come together and build cooperative farming units that can and will outproduce the individualized farming units of the past, and that can provide a safe alternative to the sprawling, unhealthy corporate agribusiness alternative.

Third, we must improve the status of the farmer by establishing farmer training programs and improving general agricultural knowledge among the population. Every high school student should receive at least basic training in growing and maintaining a garden, and should be able to receive at least some higher level training if they seek to enter the agricultural field. Higher education programs should be set up by the federal government to encourage interest in and provide training for prospective farmers, and these should be taught by experienced, small-farmers or cooperative farmers themselves and hosted in farming communities.

Fourth, we must end restrictions currently placed upon urban farming operations. Not only will this provide city-dwellers with an opportunity to engage in their own farming operations, but it will also reduce strain on our transportation system and allow for a reduction in CO2 emissions. Every city rooftop should have a garden on it, and the tax code should encourage, not restrict, the growth and development of vertical farming operations.

Fifth, conditions for farmworkers must be improved in accordance with conditions for workers across the whole of the economy. We have enacted a lot of progressive labor law thus far, but more is still needed in order to ensure that workers are able to have a voice on the job, and this includes farmworkers. Especially in this field (no pun intended), where a lot of migrant labor is employed, we must make changes to our immigration system that include an end to ICE raids and recognize the right of all people to free movement across borders.

Sixth, we must recognize that the Earth is the property of no man or woman, but the property of all of humankind and the species which inhabit it. As such, we must reject the claim of any to the ownership of land in favor of titles of stewardship which will allow individuals to maintain a specific plot of land for a specific period of time so long as they meet the conditions outlined in said title. Those who use public land for private profit should be taxed and the resulting dividend for such use distributed to the whole of society. A tax on land value must be levied in order to help build a better society, free from the exploitation of the landlords and the capitalists.

Seventh, we should encourage local farm product procurement by requiring that a percentage of all agricultural products purchased by government agencies are from local farms. Again, this will reduce strain on our transportation system, reduce CO2 emissions, and keep funds in the locality in which they originate, as well as build a network of solidarity between the farmer and their community.

Eighth, we should seize all warehouses and distribution centers housing food and place them under democratic control. The control of food distribution will allow the working public to feed those without food and to prioritize the kinds of foods being produced in the first place. It will help put us on a path toward the development of healthier forms of agriculture, and will help stamp out the poisonous 'food product' peddled to us by the agribusiness conglomerates.

Ninth, we must take a hardline in favor of public health and against private profit in food production. Those products which pose a definite danger to human health should be restricted in the regular food supply insofar as possible. The federal government should invest in and take seriously the testing of food products and issue recalls with teeth and fines for violators, if not a retraction in business licenses for frequent or repeat offenders.

Finally, we must re-evaluate our relationship with GM food production and act accordingly. I understand the basic framework by which genetically modified food production has been engaged in in the past few decades and I understand that in most instances, such modification is harmless or poses no real threat to human beings. However, I do not think that food processors have the best interest of the public in mind when it comes to food policy, and as such, I support enacting legislation requiring the labeling of all genetically modified foodstuffs. Consumers have a right to know what it is they are putting into their bodies, whether or not GM food production is harmful. If it is not, what do the GM food producers have to worry about? The consumer can make an informed decision and choose whichever foodstuff they wish, but I firmly believe that, in order to do so, we need to label those food products and at some level begin a re-evaluation of the science behind the genetic modification of food, even if only to confirm the science that is already out there.

[Gass3268]

I will be making my rounds in the Canadian provinces next week, Gass3268.

We look forward to your visit up in Fidelity!

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

You have not brought down the Federal Marriage Amendment. It is very well alive.

Why do you hate region rights?

I'm pro-regional rights. I just want Cassius's amendment to get an up or down vote. I've got something down the pike that you just may like regarding senatorial powers regarding this very subject.

[TNF]

SUSTAINABLE SOCIALISM
We must go 'Green' by going 'Red'


The President Pro Tempore joins us today from the city of Fargo in the state of Serenity.

Comrades!

Today I would like to make a few remarks concerning my policy proposals concerning the environment. Before I begin, I would like to hail the passage of the Oil Pipeline Funding Expungement Act, which passed fairly easily in the Senate with the aid of both members of the Labor Party and other statesmen who stepped across the aisle to do the right thing and end federal subsidization of fossil fuel production and distribution, at least as far as petroleum is concerned. I would just like to thank all of those who helped get this bill re-written in a way that it could pass with such overwhelming support, as well as the support the bill was given by the President and the feedback from noted authorities on environmental policy like our brilliant Secretary of International Affairs, Averroes Nix.

I would like to see the Oil Pipeline Funding Expungement Act as a stepping stone toward a series of legislative acts concerning ecology, and I think that's something that, regardless of what party label we choose, we should all be able to come together and agree on. Of course, I am under no allusions that all of us collaborating on such legislation have the same end point in mind: unlike most of my colleagues, I am a proud socialist and, to add to that, an ecosocialist, and I am intimately concerned about the future of our planet, which I understand as in grave danger so long as the capitalist epoch continues.

Although my colleagues might disagree, I believe that it is clearer than ever that we cannot allow capitalism to continue dictating our interaction with the natural world, with energy policy, and with the use of resources. This is why I favor the nationalization of the energy sector and the transportation sector, as well as all sectors tied intimately to the ravaging of nature for private profit. We must have democratic control and management of the industries most responsible for the present crisis, or else we risk allowing the 1 percent to wipe the lot of mankind out in the pursuit of profit.

We have begun to make baby steps in this direction. The Fracking Limitation and Safer Energy Act (F.L. 60-3) slapped regulations on the fracking industry that, I think, are a bold step in the right direction. We have seen the effects of fracking on the water supply and on regional and local ecology, and we have acted. The logical next step in the fight against fracking is its further restriction, and, of course, the enactment of a bill prohibiting other forms of dangerous resource extraction which endanger the health of our communities and the natural world.

Another bold piece of legislation from the past we can and should build upon is the Omnibus Green Energy Policy Act, which has of course set Atlasia on a path toward energy independence and increased reliance upon renewable power. We must expand the scope of this Act and put a death grip on dirty fuel production by removing private energy companies from the market and distributing energy on the basis of need, not on the basis of greed. But we must do so in a way that is fair an efficient; we must eliminate unemployment and we must eliminate privation via what I would like to call the Second Reconstruction program, and I would like to outline that below.

The Second Reconstruction plan would pick up where the first left off, but it would of course be precipitated upon a successful defeat of the Atlasian right at the polls. With a left-wing majority restored in Nyman and left-wing control of the Presidency, a true rebuilding of Atlasian society, from the bottom up, could be at hand. Hence the term 'Second Reconstruction' and hence the following policy proposals:

1. End unemployment completely by hiring the unemployed and the underemployed at union wages to completely retrofit and rebuild Atlasian energy infrastructure. We cannot wait for the capitalists to figure out that not investing in solar or wind power will mean the extinction of human beings; we must act, and we must act quickly. A large number of Atlasians are out of work or are underemployed: these underemployed or unemployed persons should be directly hired by the federal government to do the work necessary to convert Atlasia to a wholly renewables-based society by 2030.

2. Public ownership and worker control of major industry, especially the energy and transportation sectors. With the control of industry under workers themselves, decisionmaking will circumvent the normal channels of capitalist rule and allow for the quick building up of an alternative transportation and energy infrastructure that can deliver affordable energy to all Atlasians using sources that do not destroy our planet or our civilization. Transport shall be reorganized under public ownership so as to promote the proliferation of trams, buses, and subways for cities, light rail lines connecting suburbia to the cities and to the surrounding towns, and massive new high speed rail infrastructure across the country.

3. Seize all abandoned factories and place them under the control of communities so as to jumpstart 'green' production. Capital controls must be enacted that allow for the seizure of factories should capitalists decide to relocate production elsewhere; in the meantime, all abandoned worksites should be seized without compensation and should be converted into centers for green production and for the hiring of the unemployed. These must be managed and run collectively by the workers of these plants themselves.

This may not be the end for the Second Reconstruction program, or even just a part of it, but it is, at present, the best formulation that I can work out for the wholescale restructuring of society along an ecological basis.

[TNF]

You are too kind.

Please keep up your valient fight against rules illiteracy in the Senate.

Thank you for your kind words, Comrade Secretary.

Today's speech might be delayed until tomorrow on account of me having to close at work tonight, or it might not, just depends on how long it takes us to clean up and get out of there. I apologize for any inconvenience, but I would like to take a moment to express my condolences for the lives lost on both of the tragic September 11th anniversaries we commemorate today, namely the attack upon the World Trade Center in 2001 and the overthrow of the socialist government of Chile in 1973. So long as I am in the Senate, I will fight against the ideologues that make these kinds of tragedy inevitable in the pursuit of an imperial foreign policy. I will have more commentary on this issue in my forthcoming address.

I would also like to officially unveil the theme song for the TNF for Senate campaign: Working Man by Rush. I decided to go with Working Man because that's what I am, that's who I care about (and that goes without saying that I'm not limiting that to men, either. I am a friend of workers of all gender expressions, be they male, female, genderqueer, or any other gender) and that is who I will continue to advocate on behalf of while in the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia.

[Barnes]

You, obviously, have my support!  You've been an outstandingly active and engaged senator, and your commitment to your values is commendable.

[Cranberry]

I cannot believe I have not yet endorsed you. Endorsed, Comrade Senator, it is the purest pleasure to work with you in the Senate!