Former Office of the Midwest Governor (Closed as of January 7th, 2015)

[LeBron]

Since I'm quoted as stating that I'm "highly considering" a run for Mideast Assembly, here is my office!



I'm free for any questions at all, but I will not have any answer for my decision on whether I will run for the Assembly or not until tomorrow. But, run or decline and win or lose, I will always stand  with the Labor Party in attempting to abolish economic inequality in the best ways possible by increasing funding to our schools and a number of social programs, decreasing military spending, and ensuring we have high income tax rates. As an LGBT member myself, I will also not tolerate any kind of oppression against minorities of any kind and will fight to make sure that the Sex Protection Act never goes into effect again as long as I'm either a citizen or a politician in the Mideast.

[LeBron]

What is your position on regional consolidation?

In the current state of things, we surely do need to consolidate some of these regions. The Pacific region is on its last legs with a lack of activity and needs to join with another region in order to survive while the Mideast itself does not have enough differentiating political ideology or diversity so that's definitely another region that needs to merge or be redistricted at least. I would support 4 or maybe even 3 regions in this issue and would foremost work to try and save the Pacific somehow from the disaster that they're currently in.

[LeBron]

What is your position on regional consolidation?

In the current state of things, we surely do need to consolidate some of these regions. The Pacific region is on its last legs with a lack of activity and needs to join with another region in order to survive while the Mideast itself does not have enough differentiating political ideology or diversity so that's definitely another region that needs to merge or be redistricted at least. I would support 4 or maybe even 3 regions in this issue and would foremost work to try and save the Pacific somehow from the disaster that they're currently in.

3 out of 5 members of the legislature are left of center...

True, but the point is that the Federalists have had control of the Mideast for I think years now. If the Mideast were redistricted to include say, Minnesota, then this could be a very competitive region for sure.

[LeBron]

what is that hideous cartoon-thing in your sig

The next Ohio Governor, Ed FitzGerald. It's my top 2014 race with polls showing him in such close distance of Kasich. FitzGerald was my former Mayor of Lakewood and he's my current Cuyahoga County Executive and as opposed to a lot of Democrats nowadays, he's pretty socially and economically liberal and may have to fend off a primary challenge to his fiscal right.

FitzGerald is very much a progressive and he's going after the Kasich Administration for all of its flaws against women's reproductive health, voters, the poor, his failure to create jobs, and perhaps most of all Kasich's attacks on unions from the controversial SB5 to the right-to-work bill which is currently in committee. He has a lot of the same views that I have and is certainly a politician of the people for going out to every county in Ohio, seeing what troubles them in this faltering Ohio economy, and what he'll do as Governor to fix it to make our citizens feel much better. And as the flag background on the FitzGerald banner shows, he does represent what Ohio should be.

[LeBron]

i mean that's great but the cartoon and its dead eyes are creeping me out.

I might change it soon anyways because I have had it in my sig for awhile.

[LeBron]

No relation to you, I assume (or you would have said so).

Unfortunately, no but he actually does belong to my church parish St. Luke's (even though I rarely ever attend mass anymore). I've just never liked a candidate as much as him ever since I've gotten into politics. Strickland was to pro-gun and had some socially conservative views since he wasn't even from Northern Ohio, but FitzGerald has a lot more liberal appeal than Strickland (or Portune) ever will. 

That sounds kind of catchy though! Fritz the Fitz   Maybe Fitz the Fritz?

[LeBron]

Thanks guys!

While I'm on this page to, I may as well update the current standings on those who have declared their candidacy for Mideast Assembly as of January 1st, 2014. Franzl (Also running for Governor), Inks, DC Al Fine, Njall, and me. They're all great and respectable opponents and I look forward to the strong competition we'll all bring.

As for the issues and proposals, aside from working with the Federalist leadership on education and regional reforms, I myself would propose a number of pieces of comprehensive gun control legislation especially if the Labor Party does well in the next election. Now before I get any critics on this, I do support the right to bare arms with total regard. However, that does not give any gun rights activist the right to buy a gun without a full examination of any potential criminal background. Also guns in bars, playgrounds, restaurants, and especially in schools for teachers should never even be considered either as those are unfortunate tragedies just waiting to happen. We can prevent gun violence, but it will take a lot of work and bipartisanship. Perhaps most importantly though, we must enforce a permanent ban on high-capacity magazines as there is no reason for why any gun owner needs more than 10 rounds at a time. For all we know, if this law had been enforced before the Tuscon tragedy took place, there would not have been nearly as many victims. Lives vanquished from political stubbornness. Another piece of legislation we need is a ban on assault weapons including .50 caliber rifles. Destructive, military style weapons are not fit for a regular citizen and should be illegal to ensure the most lethal of weapons are not obtained by criminals or terrorists of any kind. Also I would propose a bill that would ban conceal carry. While some may object that it goes against self-defense, it is too dangerous as it risks the lives and well-being of the Atlasian people as even the smallest altercation could result in the worst possible outcome. We certainly can't have that and that's why if elected a Mideast Assemblyman, I will stand for Sandy Hook, Chardon, Columbine, Aurora, Virginia Tech, Tuscon, and so many others. In fact, I know somebody who went to Chardon High School. He wasn't involved in the altercation that took place in the cafeteria, but you still have to pray that some of the people who could have died are alive. And in the case that these laws are passed, the worrying will significantly decrease. I can promise you that.

Now with that being said, I will still enthusiastically endorse Senator TNF, a strong pro-gun activist, in his re-election bid because as I mentioned, I respect the Bill of Rights and therefore the right to own a gun.

[LeBron]

Hi everyone!

The elections are underway and for any Atlasians registered in the Mideast who have yet to vote, you still have only 1 hour left to vote here! I encourage you all to vote for who you think could best represent you in the Assembly, but of course I will give a shout-out to the Labor Party! As for the current standings (not counting possible carry-over votes):

Executive Election:
Siren/OAM - 11 votes
Spiral/TJ - 22 votes
Franzl/Sibboleth - 5 votes

Legislative Election:
Inks.LWC - 8 votes (Re-elected)
JohanusCalvinusLibertas - 5 votes
Adam C. Fitzgerald - 4 votes
Njall - 5 votes
outofbox6 - 1 vote
afleitch - 3 votes
DC al Fine - 5 votes
Franzl - 5 votes
hifly15 - 1 vote
Write-In: Siren - 1 vote

So for the Governor election, with a lead of 11 votes, it's projected that the Federalist candidates Senator Spiral/Lt. Governor TJ will hold onto the Governor's Chair beating out Laborites Siren/OAM and CMP's Franzl/Sibboleth. And in the legislative elections, the Speaker is going back with the rest just too close to call.

[LeBron]

With the election over and the results in, Federalists have regained control of the Mideast Assembly under Speaker Inks.LWC, DC al Fine, and JCL as well as Njall, a Laborite, and Franzl of the CMP giving the Feds a narrow 3-2 majority.

I'd like to congratulate all of them, but with a full Federalist lock on power in the Mideast now, I am highly considering leaving this region and put my future endeavors within the grasp of the Midwest. The Midwest itself has only 1/2 the members that the Mideast does and it's clear to me that the Mideast has become too big of a powerhouse. The Midwest region's doing okay on activity, but I firmly support consolidation of the Midwest-Pacific or some other form of compromise to help the Pacific gets back on its feet. Whichever region I'll be in by March though, I can promise you all that I will be running again because while I did lose, I did run an impressive campaign and nearly unseated Assemblyman DC al Fine coming in 6th out of 5 seats up for grabs.

Also, I would like to congratulate Spiral/TJ on their impressive 2:1 win in the gubernatorial election, but we certainly could have been a lot better off with Siren/OAM with the amount of time and effort they put into their outstanding campaign. Wherever outgoing Assemblywoman Siren and OAM go from here, I wish them good luck and thank them tremendously for their support and confidence in my Labor campaign for the Assembly.

I'm still going to hold true to my big government principles and will continue to fight against economic inequality and for something to be done about gun violence. Clearly, nothing will be done with it now in the Mideast as I was hoping, but there's always the next election cycle right around the corner. With that, it's been a pleasure running this month-long campaign and look forward to wherever the road takes me.

In the meantime, look at doge:

[LeBron]

People leaving regions because of the results of one election is one of the major problems with Atlasia.

He's "Scott Brown-ing."

You're really comparing me to that Tea Party whacko?

Brown lost by 7 points to Warren in 2012 and I narrowly lost which means I have potential whether I become a carpetbagger or not. I might decide to stay in the Mideast, but the surplus of people in this region is outrageous and simply have to have options. If you look at the statistics, there's 53 registered people in the Mideast with 9 people who ran for 5 seats and only 26 registered in the Midwest. It doesn't add up, but I'm still in the deciding process like I said.

[LeBron]

People leaving regions because of the results of one election is one of the major problems with Atlasia.

There's a permanent right-wing majority in the Mideast. That's not likely to change anytime soon.

Certainly not if left-wingers keep fleeing the region in protest.

It's not like it really matters that much. The latest PJ poll shows the Mideast would rather have JCL as the next Mideast Senator rather than Snowstalker which shows this region is doomed. Adam Griffin said it himself a few weeks ago that the Labor force that once existed in this part of Atlasia is no longer present.

The Feds have the IDS and the Mideast while Labor has the Midwest and Pacific, and it's going to be really hard for any of that to change. Simple as that.

[LeBron]

Despite Federalist opposition to it, I won't be a procrastinator like Todd Portune as I've made a decision on my intentions. I WILL be moving to the Midwest very soon and it's for a number of contributing reasons:

1) With rising stars like Riley and the Labor influence in the Mideast disappearing (e.g. X and Gass), this region is pretty much going to be a Federalist stronghold for awhile and it's practically useless staying here. Meanwhile, we have an Assembly who's taking these long, unnecessary breaks as if they're Congress and even when they're in session, all recent bills brought up usually either fail or are vetoed (with the exception of the important protection of water bill). On the other hand, you see the Midwest Archduke Windjammer working day and night to help pass some vitally important bills to the region. Also, smaller regions need to begin to expand while the Mideast desperately needs to be shrunken in size and I'll be happy to join in doing that.

2) Another reason for this decision is because I will be actively joining the cause to re-elect TNF as Regional Senator and Windjammer as the Midwest Governor to guarantee a full Labor majority in the region. (Pile on the hate).

3) Along with that though, if Windjammer is elected Governor of the Midwest in February, this would pretty much guarantee the Labor agenda can be passed with ease and that's exactly what we need to see happen and the larger number of Laborites in the region, the better. I will not publicly announce if I will or will not be running for the Althing in March just yet though.

Now I won't be moving until I decide on what state in the region I'll be moving to, but like I said, it will be very soon. I wish Spiral/TJ the best in their executive power up in Peter's Park and especially hope for the best in your own Regional Senate election by electing Snowstalker to succeed Spiral. As for Inks, it's clear he really is a Speaker because he's just unbeatable himself for his own seat, but I really do hope they change the direction that they're going in for the better of a more prosperous region.

And for those who live in Ohio, you'll know what I mean in this closing quote directed at the Mideast: "You’re going to be really sorry that you messed with women in time.”

[LeBron]

How is the direction that we are going down one that is not prosperous for the region?  We have a balanced budget, AAA credit rating, and the lowest unemployment in the nation, which has been decreasing.

It doesn't necessarily have to do with that. I covered this in the first point. When you think of success, you're not going to think of a "Do-Nothing" "Pass-Nothing" Assembly. Use Ohio for an example. Kasich and our GOP legislature want to go off about how they're creating all of these jobs and lowering unemployment, yet this stable economic growth can only last for so long before it goes downhill. The only thing Ohio's govt is even known for in actuality right now is these voting laws attempting to disenfranchise voters, abortion restrictions or Stand Your Ground which do nothing to help the economy. Same thing with the Mideast Assembly, only different, unnecessary bills being proposed most of which can't even get passed through or signed. 

[LeBron]

And for those who live in Ohio, you'll know what I mean in this closing quote directed at the Mideast: "You’re going to be really sorry that you messed with women in time.”

Are you insinuating I had an affair?

It's actually a recent Sharen Neuhardt quote directed at women hating Governor John Kasich. It fit perfectly since, you know, you guys passed the Abortion Sex Protection Act and like SB5 (the collective bargaining law), it flopped big time.

And as of 2:28 PM EST today, I have officially left the Mideast and am now a citizen of the Midwestern state of Joy (Minnesota). That's all I'll say at this time, but my political career here in Atlasia is nowhere far from over and plan to continue to stand for the principles of the Labor Party.

[LeBron]

I'm back Atlasia!

Ever since I made one of the best decisions ever in moving to the Midwest away from the Federalist-controlled Mideast, I am happy to inform all of you that our new, wonderful Labor Governor, windjammer, has appointed me to fill the vacant Most Serene Representative seat vacated by the now incumbent MW Archduke Arturo Belano, so congrats to them both!

My main goals that I will seek on achieving are more government involvement in the economy not only for the better good of those who will benefit, but there are plenty of injustices yet to be solved and I have a few bills that I will likely propose later today that will simultaneously help in ending those and bring in revenue. Unemployment stands at 7.1% in the region, so jobs are still very much an issue, but meanwhile still need to maintain the rights of high and equal wages for equal work and protect the rights to unionize and collectively bargain.

Also, I will address what appears to be a controversial bill and that's the MW Extraterrestrial Life Act. Now I will say I am in full support of this bill and believe we need to adjust how we respond to a potential alien invasion. There are those who argue there are more pressing issues to attend to, however, as I've said before, there are billions of galaxies and we're merely one of them and if we don't respond accordingly, it could lead to hazard. After reading this bill, it's clear that there will deservingly be divided, but equal areas for both humans and aliens to inhabit each side of and we're best off not encountering them. I encourage Representatives Brewer and Cris to reconsider their opinions on it when it comes up for a vote again!

During my term, we are also likely to see expanded relations with the Pacific and while I am opposed to a merge, I'm willing to provide as much aid as possible to their low populated, but optimistic region and support an agreement that both sides could come together on if the Pacific is still not functioning well after the aid package sent to them.

Also, although there will not be a special election for this seat, the Midwest Alping election is right around the corner with just less than 3 weeks away! Unless something comes up, I am expecting to run for re-election to a full term as Midwest Representative.

[LeBron]

Congratulations and welcome to the Althing!

Can't wait to get working with you.

Thanks! And likewise, to both of you.

[LeBron]

Congrats, Representative FitzGerald! I wish you all the best, and I look forward to working with you in the Alþing.

Thanks Archduke Arturo! Congrats to you as well on your appointment. I know you'll fill Gov. windjammer's shoes well.

[LeBron]

Congrats on your appointment!

If you ever have any questions or wish to have a piece of legislation introduced at the federal level on your behalf, feel free to PM me.

Thanks!

Also, the special election for MW Archduke is today, so before the polls open, I'm going to give my endorsement out to incumbent Archduke and Laborite Arturo Belano! So far, he's done a good job as leader of the Althing and will be great to continue to work with.

[LeBron]

Just so everyone is aware, I will be running for a full term in the Midwest Althing election. I plan to give a formal declaration at some point or other. As a friendly reminder, the link to the polling place next week will be in my signature!

[LeBron]

Endorsed

Thanks...

And unfortunately, I just got a phone call from my dad and he said that my sister-in-law died. She died shortly after surgery of a blood clot at the age of 38, and now my older brother who's only 26 is a widow who has two wins (a boy and a girl) that are 2 and a girl that was just born a few weeks ago. My mom was up in Columbus with the kids and my brother when it happened since he needed help with the kids, but now, we're unsure what will happen. My mom will likely stay down there longer than expected and his wife's parents will likely come in as well to help with the kids temporarily. The funeral services will likely be scheduled for next week, and again we're unsure of what will happen. My brother has a high-paying job down there so it would really hurt having to leave his job there and come back up here to live with my mom and dad, so if I were to guess, he might hire a babysitter during the day, but that's simply a guess at this point. I was stunned when I heard about it because I knew she was in surgery, but she was just so young. She helped advise me with my major and we had a lot of great talks whether they were political, funny convos, and just miscellaneous. I never even got the chance to tell her that I was gay. I feel the worst for the kids though who won't be able to grow up with their mom. RIP.

As for Atlasia, I still plan to continue my duties as MW Rep and will still be running for a full term, but I'm obviously sad now and will be taking a few days off from the game.

Quick Update on what I posted here Monday: The funeral will be on Saturday in Portsmouth, Ohio which is where her parents live (right near the border of Kentucky). My family and I are just trying to forget what happened and the funeral will be kind of casual from what I'm hearing, so I won't be on all that much this weekend, but besides that, I'll be fine and active.

[LeBron]

#FitzyforMidwestAlthing
#Fitzingforthe"G"andtheWin!

With the polls opening in just hours from now and having already declared my candidacy here and in the Candidate Declaration Thread, I am officially announcing my intentions to run for a full term to the Midwest Althing!

In my short, few weeks in the Althing, I've helped in a collaborative effort to pass a variety of bills which includes abolishing life imprisonment to a max of 45 years for criminals to allow for a forgiving government even in the most heinous crimes, extending more benefits and contracts to union-friendly businesses, have increased the number of paid vacation days and paid parental days to better assist workers' and their families especially those with children, valorized the Midwest, further protecting the right for workers to unionize, and am fighting for equal rights for aliens as we speak.

I also have proposed a bill so far that would make hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender and disability illegal in the region, increasing funding to schools who hire counselors and institute LGBT programs and clubs among other things. Another bill I plan to propose will give college athletes the right to unionize, nationalize sports leagues, prohibit any racial/gay slurs on the field and offensive team names and prohibit physical attacks on and off the field. Other bills I'm currently crafting would better keep our streets safe mainly through funding for pothole removers and regulating the streets as cars only roads, protecting animal rights, provide foreign aid to the Ukraine, work on drug and gun safety reform, increase voting and candidate opportunities, and making sure the pipeline is not inflicted on the good citizens of the Midwest.

I wish fellow Reps. Brewer and Cris the best of luck and with no actual opposition in this race except from maybe a few write-in votes, it will be great to continue working with you guys these next 2 months! *hug hug hug*

[LeBron]

The Fitzer is back after a small, three day hiatus! I was down in Portsmouth this weekend for my sister-in-law's funeral (Friday was the wake, Saturday was the funeral) and overall, it was pretty casual, loquacious, and saddening. Some of us went up there to talk about her during the ceremony expressing some funny moments and how much we miss her. The city itself though was pretty....depressing to say the least. Terrible Internet connection up in our hotel (though I managed to get on for a little bit on Friday night) and seeing as how close we were to Kentucky, it was a very rural, farming area with downtown Portsmouth looking barren itself. The funeral would have been in Columbus, but she was born and grew up in Portsmouth and some of her relatives lived in nearby Wheelersburg, so it had to be there. I'm just so glad to finally be back up in Cuyahoga County.

With that said, let's get to the election results!!!

In the Mideast, the projected winners and going to the Assembly are Speaker Inks.LWC (again), JCL, Cassius, TheRileyKeaton, and Ben giving the Feds a 4-1 majority in the Assembly and officially no Laborites (since Rep. Njall never filed). All I can say is, God save the Mideast.

Inks.IWC (F) - 6
JohanusCalvinusLibertas (F) - 4
Cassius (F) - 4
TheRileyKeaton (F) - 2
outofbox6 (F) - 1
hifly15 (F) - 0 for the Oxford graduate
Write-In: Benconstine (TPP) - 2

Mideast Vote on Constitutional Amendment to Article V - 180 Day Restriction on State Registration
Too close to call
2 Aye's
6 Nay's



In the IDS, Scott and Jbrase are expected to hold onto their seats and Oak Hills is elected without quota and will be the only Independent legislator. The legislature stays tied 2-2 under Federalist (Scott and Jack)/Democratic-Republican (Small L and Jbrase) control with Scott presiding as Speaker.

Scott (F) - 5
Jbrase (D-R) - 4
Write-In: Oak Hills (Independent) - 1

IDS Vote on Constitutional Amendment to Article V - 180 Day Restriction on State Registration
Projected to Pass
7 Aye's
2 Nay's
1 Abstention



In the Midwest, my home region stays under Labor control as myself, Brewer, and Cris are all projected to go back to the Althing. The recent poll had Rep. and Pres. Pro Tem Cris's approval rating at 70%, Rep. FitzGerald's approval rating at 45%, Rep. Brewer's at 70%, and Archduke Arturo's approval at 80%.

Adam C. FitzGerald (L) - 3
Brewer (L) - 6
Cris (F) - 4

Midwest Valorization Amendment (Failed; Not an Amendment)
1 Aye
10 Nay's
1 Abstention

Midwest Vote on Constitutional Amendment to Article V - 180 Day Restriction on State Registration
Projected to Fail
2 Aye's
10 Nay's



Pacific Vote on Constitutional Amendment to Article V - 180 Day Restriction on State Registration
Projected to Fail
2 Aye's
5 Nay's



Northeast Vote on Constitutional Amendment to Article V - 180 Day Restriction on State Registration
Too close to call
9 Aye's
8 Nay's

The MW hasn't started voting yet has started voting on the Amendment and in the ME and NE, it's still too close to call with it projected to pass in the IDS and fail in the Pacific. I'll be giving my victory speech later!

[LeBron]

Congrats on your election, and I'm glad someone else is keeping track of these results.

Thanks and it's up to date again as of 6:45 pm EST today. The Mideast and Northeast votes on the Amendment to Article V are still too close to call, but everything else is called.

Adam, I just noticed the photo of you with Marcy Kaptur.  Congratulations on meeting her and all, but how on earth did they let you in without a suit on?

It was a sort of casual event put together by the local Lakewood Democratic Club to honor most of the prominent female candidates running this year in Ohio - Marcy Kaptur, Marcia Fudge, Nina Turner, Connie Pillich, Sharen Neuhardt, Nickie Antonio, and Shannon Gallagher (the first time Turner, Pillich and Neuhardt all were together in the same room to, interestingly enough). There was a small fee though and I guess the fact that a lot of other guys there liked Joe Biden for President went better than expected for what I was wearing. Plus Kaptur had seen Biden a few days before that to talking about Ukraine.

You know, the election isn't over .

Now it is.

[LeBron]

Hello again, fellow Midwesterners!

I just want to thank you guys for recently re-electing me to a 2nd term to the Althing a few weeks back alongside Reps. Sol and Spamage, but we're not done yet! Our Governor whose put so much time and energy into the Midwest is running for Vice President on a great ticket with Pac. Governor DemPGH. They've made strong commitments to improving our education system to providing much-needed aid to our friends in Ukraine, protecting the rights of LGBT or fighting against animal abuse. They have the support of Laborites, TPP, and Federalists alike and I encourage everyone to support them next week in the Presidential election.

That aside, my last approval rating from March had me under water at 42% approve, 58% disapprove, so I'm going to begin to be more transparent with all of you! And I'll start by doing that by showing my voting record on every bill since entering the Althing back in February. You'll notice that I have yet to vote NAY on any bill yet, and that's because we've had several great debates and laws passed and signed and I'm very open-minded when its come to these bills over the months. For example, I oppose legalizing prostitution, but I did not let that get in the way of making our citizens happy and bringing in government revenue at the same time!

Here's the bill, followed by what I voted on it, followed by what the bill does, followed by whether it passed, failed, was withdrawn etc., followed by the final vote on it, followed by the date it was passed/failed/withdrawn etc.

Midwest Compassionate Contractors Act - AYE, Government contractors must be from unionized companies (Passed 2-0-1; March 1st, 2014).
 
Electing a New President Pro Tempore - X for Cris, Bipartisanly and unanimously elected former Rep. Cris (F) Pres. Pro Tempore to succeed then appointee-Archduke Arturo Belano (Elected 3-0; March 1st, 2014).

Midwest Pro Workers and Pro Growth Act - AYE, Increases the number of paid days for employees, increases the number of paid parental leave days, and amends the corporate tax rate (Passed 3-0; March 8th, 2014).

Midwest Life Imprisonment Abolition Act - AYE, Abolishes cruel sentences that would be considered lifespans, sets imprisonment at a 45 year max sentence, and abolishes solitary confinement (Passed 2-1; March 6th, 2014).

Midwest Valorization Amendment - AYE, Provides government subsidies to initiatives in order to help enhance the price and sale of commodities (Passed 3-0; March 11th, 2014).

Midwest Cris Valorization Act - AYE, Reforms the Midwest Valorization Amendment to become the Midwest Cris Valorization Act (Passed 3-0; April 19th, 2014).

Midwest Anti-Union Companies Suck Act - AYE, Reaffirms the right of workers to join unions and collectively bargain under the Anti-Right-to-Work Amendment of the MW's 4th Constitution, reforms companies subject to the law, and enforces penalties against companies who violate the law (Passed 3-0; March 17th, 2014).

Midwest Extraterrestrial Life Act - Withdrawn , Grants equal, but segregated rights to aliens in case of invasion and allows police to encounter in case of a deadly encounter

Midwest Canadian Provinces Renaming Act - AYE, Renames Canadian provinces in relation to the Atlasian-Canadian Common Market Agreement and recognizes Canadians in the renamed Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and The Northwest Territories as eligible voters in the Midwest (Passed 2-0-1; March 30th, 2014).

Midwest Prostitution Act - AYE, Regulates, restricts to an extent and taxes prostitution (Passed 2-0; April 2nd, 2014).

Midwest LGBT Equality, Hate Crimes and Suicide Prevention Act - AYE, Prohibits businesses and schools from denying LGBT people the same equal rights as others when evidently proven, prohibits forms of hate crimes against people based on their sexual orientation, gender or disability when evidently proven, establishes programs in schools to prevent suicides among LGBT youth, and recognizes Matthew Shepard as a national hero by the Midwest (Failed 1-2; April 4th, 2014).

Midwest FitzGerald-Cris-Sol Compromise, LGBT Equality, Hate Crimes and Suicide Prevention Act - AYE, Prohibits businesses and schools from denying LGBT people the same equal rights as others when evidently proven, prohibits forms of hate crimes against people based on their sexual orientation, gender or disability when evidently proven, authorizes regional agencies to further pursue hate crimes if necessary, establishes programs in schools to prevent suicides among LGBT youth, expands gender identity opportunities, and recognizes Matthew Shepard as a national hero by the Midwest (Passed 2-1; May 15th, 2014 - Currently before the Atlasian Supreme Court).

Midwest Redraft Amendment - AYE, Permits the Midwest Governor to redraft a bill and send it back to the Althing whereby the sponsor of the bill can approve the redraft and pass it by a simple majority in the Althing or reject the proposal (Passed 3-0; April 8th, 2014).

Midwest Immigration and Integration Act - AYE, Establishes English as the official language of the Midwest with public documents also in Spanish, French and Native American languages, grants voting, political and education rights to legal immigrants, prohibits segregation and employment and police discrimination against legal immigrants, grants certain, unalienable rights to illegal immigrants including the right to obtain a job or freedom of speech, allocates subsidies to housing and academically suffering schools, subjects fines to racist acts of violence based on race, color, or religion, and encourages the Atlasian government to provide amnesty to illegal immigrants. (Passed 3-0; April 25th, 2014).

New Cooperative Development Act - AYE, Establishes the Regional Cooperative Development Program which, in turn, creates the Local Cooperative Development Centers which set their priorities, are transparent to the public, offer training courses and loans to cooperatives, and allocates $50M per year to the RCDP (Passed 2-0; May 2nd, 2014).

Midwest Prohibition of Private Prisons Act - AYE, Brings privately-owned prisons and correctional facilities under the control of the Midwest government and prohibits contracting and transferring ownership to private contractors. (Passed 3-0; May 2nd, 2014).

Electing a New President Pro Tempore - X for Adam C. FitzGerald, Bipartisanly and unanimously elected Rep. Adam C. FitzGerald (L) Pres. Pro Tempore to succeed outgoing Rep. Cris (Elected 3-0; June 3rd, 2014).

Midwest Stop Nuclear Power Plant Building Act - AYE, Prohibits any new nuclear power plants from being built in the Midwest in order to find other sources of renewable energy and limit toxic waste (Failed 1-1 (Archduke Arturo Belano voted nay in the tiebreaker - 1-2); June 9th, 2014).

Midwest Youth Employment Plan - AYE, Establishes collective agreements with companies to implement vocational training for young peers 18-26 whereby the MW government will pay 50% of the costs, the jobs will have to pay no higher than the $18.00 per hour minimum wage and are exempt from the MW Corporate Tax, limits the contracts to 50 months with a 35-50 work week, and permits the employee to terminate the contract under certain conditions (Passed 2-0; June 8th, 2014).

Midwest Child Allowance Act - Currently being debated on, Provides a $100 allowance per month to Midwesterners 21 and under as long as they are legally emancipated

[LeBron]

I'd like to take a moment to address the big issue in Atlasia now and that's the strikedown of what used to be the Midwest FitzGerald-Cris-Sol Compromise, LGBT Equality, Hate Crimes and Suicide Prevention Act. To start, Justice Oakvale claims the bill is poorly written, but in reality, there are plenty of bills in Atlasia that are poorly written and vague. Why pick up this innocent bill out of a number of other poorly written ones such as Gov. Dallasfan's "The FitzGerald Act" (a bill about marijuana testing) which is vague enough to poke fun at me as a person and is libel. His defense is that it stands for "Frances FitzGerald" even though the only person with that name is a little-known journalist who has nothing to do with marijuana. That's vague, but unlike Snowstalker, I won't waste the Midwest's or the Supreme Court's time and I'll leave that bill alone.

Oakvale goes on to say that the language is vague enough to allow lawsuits for firing or denying a gay person's entry to a school, but common sense would state that it has to be evidently proven with defensible, accurate causes or reasons for the termination in order for such "fines and lawsuits" to take place. The intent is not to fine everyone who fires gay people. An LGBT person can be a lazy worker, get fired and that would be a legit reason for his termination. An LGBT person can have D's and F's and that can be reason's for his termination. Heck, I've gotten some bad grades before, but I don't blame the teachers or schools for "homophobia against me." Again, I note that it states nobody can deny LGBT "the same rights as others" which is okay in itself because straight people should not have superior rights and nor should LGBT. He then states that we never defined "LGBT" even though common sense would also state what it means: lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender.

Oakvale seems to be very repetitive throughout his first opinion of the court post repeating it's vagueness. As for the "permitting bullying by peers" phrase, this obviously implies that an adult who works for the university whether it be a teacher or administrator is present to see the bullying and doesn't attempt to stop it in any way whether it be through calling 911 or directly interfering. If the incident happens on the school grounds, then they are technically liable for anything that might happen.

As for the hate crimes part about the "verbal abuse," it was intended for this phrase to face outside action from jail time, fines etc. if there was imminent danger involved that could lead to a violation of personal space and seeming threatful enough that it could lead to pushing or brutality. I don't believe this violates free speech and unless there are witnesses or proof (such as bruises) that the LGBT person was called derogatory words and it seemed like they were in imminent danger, the potential verbal abuse charge we intended to not go further than that. I do support freedom of speech, but you need to go beyond the definition of the phrase to understand what its intent is and "verbal abuse" does have a lot of meanings and interpretations, but it's not the interpretation a lot of people are assuming as just a leisurely, homophobic slur because I will admit there are surely people who make mistakes in something they say that they soon regret (ex. I recently saw Jonah Hill's heartfelt apology for using a slur). It does extend beyond that if the confrontation gets serious enough that there are motives and intent for the confrontation.

Regarding this violating freedom of expression, we did initially have a clause that banned picketing of gay funerals, but we did away with that because we realized it's violation to expression. I think anyone would agree that people do have freedom of expression, but to an extent. If a Catholic Church is protesting with signs that "God hates gays" on the sidewalks, so be it. If someone yells "f*****s" from across the road where he sees two guys kissing, so be it, but you shouldn't have that right when someone is up in your face calling you gay slurs which would assume a form of provocation. Gays are by no means their own special class, but they're still very much a discriminated minority (essentially to replace blacks/biracial couples who most people have accepted by now), and it's the job of the government to protect them until they get full acceptance. Normal, "straight-on-straight" crimes don't have the same type of significance and bigotry that "straight-on-gay" hate crimes do. Normal crimes are just your regular robberies, beat downs etc. without any care while gays will tend to be more targeted. There have been clubs down in Cleveland where gangs have specifically targeted gay men and stole their money. The fact that this kind of things can be found unconstitutional is just sickening.

Obviously, this law being struck down in it's entirety and finding hate crimes unconstitutional is shameful! Many laws are vague and this bill had great intent. The Supreme Court should be ashamed of themselves especially when 2 of the 3 Justices as Oakvale notes are gay. We will make sure this bill sees the light of day again in the Midwest, no doubt, but for now, we have other, present and important matters to attend to in the Midwest, thank you very much.