Mideast Governor's Debate

[ZuWo]

Thank you Assemblyman Gass for moderating this debate.

I am running for Governor of the Mideast with Lt. Governor candidate Cathcon because I believe that our ticket will have a positive impact on the region. If elected, Cathcon and I will focus on the Wiki and the budget and on keeping the Mideast an active and vibrant region by trying to find new channels of communication with our fellow citizens. Additionally, we will work closely with the Assembly on all bills and amendments.

While experience is not always tantamount to competence, we believe that our presidential campaigns, the numerous terms we served in the Assembly and the one term as Governor I had will be an asset for the Mideast. The Mideast is generally in good shape but there are various challenges with which we are confronted. I can assure all voters that Cathcon and I are aware of these challenges and are ready to act from day one.

Now I am looking forward to the debate and answering concrete questions.

[ZuWo]

Thank you candidates, now the first question!

You have been elected Governor and you just swore in, what would be the first piece of legislation that you would propose to the Assembly?

If elected Governor, I will concentrate on the budget right from the start. With the recently passed budget amendment, the budget has a superior status over all other pieces of legislation so this is where our main focus should be.

Apart from the budget, I will introduce several amendments to already existing statutes, such as the "Mideast Vital Civic Information Information Act" or the "Questioning the Power Act". Taking up shua's suggestion I would like the Mideast Civic Information Thread to contain a list of all passed pieces of legislation. Indeed, this goes hand in hand with the monthly guvernatorial newsletter which I wish to reintroduce. Additionally, Mideasterners should not only be able to ask the Governor questions but they should also get the opportunity to do the same with the Lt. Governor if they want to. Finally, since this issue came up in the debate of the "Keeping the Voting Booths Clean Act", I want to propose a constitutional amendment or bill to the Assembly which clarifies the status of English and other languages in the Mideast. I don't think that English should be declared the official language of the region, but it might be a good idea to debate language issues in general.

[ZuWo]

Okie dokie!

Question 2: If you were Governor during the Balanced Budget Amendment debate/votes, how would have you handled the situation?   

The entire budget amendment process was a tough nut to crack but I am glad we eventually managed to pass a compromise proposal.

In debates like these where more than a simple majority is needed to get something done it is of great importance to seek cooperation with as many people as possible at a very early stage. The more people feel left out when you try to pass an amendment, the higher the risk that there will be vocal opposition and your plans will fail. Thus, it will be one of my priorities as Governor to reach out to the right, the left and to the center on as many pieces of legislation as possible. I think I have demonstrated that I am able to find comon ground with people of different ideologies when I introduced the "2nd Amendment to the Mideast Abortion Statute" and everyone in the Assembly backed the final version of the bill. This way we managed to settle an issue which has been extremely divisive in the Mideast for several months.

[ZuWo]

This is a question PM'ed from the audience:

Would you support the return to the old system of voting the region had?

No, I wouldn't. I think the system we currently have is fair and represents the will of the electorate in the best way. I have nothing against Mideastern exceptionalism when it makes sense, but in this particular case I think it was a good decision to choose a system which has been tried and tested in other Atlasian regions.

[ZuWo]

I think that the way the Mideast ratifies federal amendments should be decided on the constitutional rather than the legislative level, just like most other procedural matters.
I am confident that we will eventually find common ground on this issue. As far as I see, a clause which would mandate that 2/3rds of the Mideast electorate must approve of a federal amendment for it to be ratified will not get majority support in our region. Thus, we will ultimately be compelled to settle on a proposal which only mandates a simple majority, which is essentially the status quo.

I admit that I have flip-flopped on this issue. While I initially supported the 2/3rds clause, I now believe that a simple-majority solution is better.