Office of Former President and Gov. DemPGH

[tmthforu94]

Congratulations and best of luck! I have no doubt that Atlasia will continue to move in the right direction under your leadership.

[DemPGH]

It looks like we made it, so let's get CRAZY IN THE NIGHT!!!

A speech will be forthcoming tomorrow, but I want to thank Labor for backing us literally 100% and also those Federalists and Others willing to cross party lines because they knew of my work, and Windjammer's, in the Pacific and Midwest respectively! I'm simply astonished and could never have done it without you!

I can't wait to get started, but right now let's pop a cork because we held the hill!!

I'm literally thrilled to follow Marokai Blue and Averroes Nix from the House of Labor. My door is always open, and you may always contact me.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

congratulations!!!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

You deserve it, man.

[Napoleon]

Congratulations. I don't mean to add any pressure,  but I see this administration positioned to be the best any of us active members can remember. I'm very excited for the future of the game right now and I think we will witness a qhick turn around.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Congratulations!

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Good job, folks. I hope you'll be able to bring us back to the days of actually working together cordially. Don't disappoint!

[DemPGH]

Thanks, everybody!!! I'm grateful, and congrats to all the winners! I'll be PMing as well.

Speech tomorrow, then cabinet, then review of the queue before we come in!

In the coming days Cranberry as Speaker will be taking over as Pacific Acting Governor, just FYI.

It was a hell of a run!!

-DemPGH

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Congratulations, buddy!   I knew you would get this someday!

[President Tyrion]

Congrats!

[Spamage]

Congratulations!!!!!!!

[sentinel]

Congrats on your win, DemPGH. Hopefully we can work together on game reform.

[DemPGH]

Dear Atlasia:

With relief and a measure of joy I can say that the campaign and the election are now over. I am your President-elect! Can we all collectively sigh? Now. . . What lies directly ahead for all of us is an exciting opportunity with nearly unparalleled potential! So many things fell into alignment going back to late April that allowed this campaign to even happen that I think we can do do some special things in the next four months, and I’m ever grateful for the opportunity and the support, particularly from those close to me, those several who have supported me since basically the beginning. Lesson #1: Find smart, experienced, trustworthy people, put them around you, and listen to them when you need an opinion.

I have spoken with Dallasfan, and I certainly appreciate his congratulations and conciliatory tone. Thankfully and refreshingly, our brief chat was more about music than politics or elections or Atlasia! I certainly want to commend him and SirNick for running a tough campaign, particularly down the stretch. I’m very glad we stayed above the pie fighting!

In the end, my campaign with the indefatigable Windjammer (you could not want a harder worker!) at my side held our party together nearly 100% and appealed to moderate people who took note of the level-headed work we were undertaking in our regions. You can expect the same of us as President and V.P.!

I’ll be resigning as Pacific Governor shortly. My focus on the cabinet follows. I will then, by the time I take office, set several goals that we must achieve in the near term. In time I will be reviewing the current lawsuit before the Court as well.

Congrats on your win, DemPGH. Hopefully we can work together on game reform.

Thanks, man. All the best, and I look forward to it!

@ All: Thanks so much, everyone, it will be fun. Couldn't have done it without you!

[DemPGH]

Also, I want to be clear that pursuant to V.1 of the 4th Pacific Constitution, Bacon King is re-appointed as justice. When we have needed him he has served us well and thoroughly. I have no reason to believe that that will not continue.

Now, I can resign.

[Incipimus iterum]

Congratulations on your victory

[DemPGH]

Wow, well when this all started I literally had no council in the Pacific and we lost PJ not long after. Look, I only hope I can live up to your expectations as President! My heart-felt thank you for selecting me as the 32nd President of Atlasia.

So let's keep a good thing going - this will be my general office thread. I'll have a business office for Windjammer and me over on the Government board, but I can disseminate information here, as well as take questions from the public. I'll also hire mercenaries and handle bribes here as well.

There was a rose that sprang in Washington
And spread thereafter in June to Nyman
I must implore you to listen, now, everyone:
To fight, make war, or to do evil I come not,
And so I hope ol’ DemPGH will never be forgot!

Tomorrow is a major holiday and a family outing, so I will be swearing in when I get back tomorrow evening or night forum time (which is my timezone). After tonight I'll be off until then. So let's get moving this weekend, there's much to accomplish between now and Halloween!

Get that Education bill done, for starters, and get me something I can sign! It's close.  

[DemPGH]

Week 1 Summary

I may not provide weekly summaries every week, but I want to say that we've gotten off to a fine start in the first week! Windjammer continues to impress with the tedious tasks of running the Senate and the cabinet officers thus far have had fine interviews and have passed their hearings with flying colors. I think there is unbridled potential here!

I've taken action on four statutes. I've signed the Public Means Public Act, which will greatly reduce the suffering of the homeless by giving money to each region for the expressed purposes of building constructing housing for said persons. I've also signed the Atlasian Calendar Act, which designates the RL calendar as the official calendar of Atlasia. I've vetoed the Sanity in F.P. Amendment because 1) I don't think Atlasians should be running guns in foreign countries and 2) I don't think we should establish bases to train mercenaries and foreign armies.

I've also rewritten and have signed the Demilitarization Act, which prescribes the manner in which military recruiters may interact with potential recruits, particularly high schoolers.

Looking into Week 2, I expect to make another push for the Duke-Scott Education bill!

[windjammer]

Considering you love  dolphins  so much DemPGH, you can only be a great president .

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Why should military recruiters be further restricted in their interactions with potential recruits? What if we have a war on your hands? Would you resort back to a draft when having an all voluntary military is working just fine?

[DemPGH]

Why should military recruiters be further restricted in their interactions with potential recruits? What if we have a war on your hands? Would you resort back to a draft when having an all voluntary military is working just fine?

Whoa there! The original proposal kicked recruiters off high school campuses altogether, but I did not want to do that. Instead, I took the opportunity to address recruiter shenanigans instead. It has broad bipartisan support.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Why should military recruiters be further restricted in their interactions with potential recruits? What if we have a war on your hands? Would you resort back to a draft when having an all voluntary military is working just fine?

Whoa there! The original proposal kicked recruiters off high school campuses altogether, but I did not want to do that. Instead, I took the opportunity to address recruiter shenanigans instead. It has broad bipartisan support.

Section one is ok but the other sections go too far. Denying the military finances to use television and other media in recruitment goes too far. I do understand the concerns about truth in recruiting and shouldn't the tv ads funded be allowed to show transparency regarding the risks of military service.

[DemPGH]

Not a great deal happened in week 2, although thus far in week 3 I have been able to sign off on a couple of statutes that I will update this weekend. As this week progresses, I look forward to hopefully signing the Fair Hiring Act and the Sweet Sixteen Act.

In week 2, though, I'm happy to report that my veto of the reckless and irresponsible Sanity in F.P. Amendment was sustained by a vote of 4-4.

Going forward, I'm skeptical of the Pay for Housework Act (expenditure plus I'm not sure who we'd actually be helping) and certainly the Ukrainian expenditure, although I fear that after defeating the Sanity in F.P. Amendment and seeing the Resolution to authorize force on Iraq withdrawn, we may be stuck with the Ukrainian expenditure. Kiss five billion dollars goodbye, meanwhile the Education bill continues to languish. That probably says something about priorities, but I'll comment more fully if and when I'm forced to make some kind of decision. 

[DemPGH]

I'd like to announce that my administration is looking into the degree to which Russia may be arming separatists with reference to the Ukrainian situation. Economic sanctions may be forthcoming, although we are looking for hard evidence with which to confront Russia - not hearsay. If there is to be a foreign policy review update, we may address Russia there. Passing the review last summer was quite difficult and would likely be even more so this summer, however, due to increased turmoil in the developing world and in the world generally.

Iraq continues to be a terrible quagmire. While I absolutely oppose ISIS and any notion of a caliphate anywhere, I fail to see how further intervention will help. We invite a regress if we say that because we have intervened and failed, we must continue to intervene. The truth is, Iraq worsens with each attempt at intervention. I keep, however, options open, and will not allow a direct threat to Atlasia to go unchecked.

I also would like to remark that I voted in favor of opening negotiations to merge the Pacific and the Midwest, although it may be difficult. Nevertheless, I think we have to try to do something to make the game more interesting and competitive. If this merger effort fails [again] we may also look into contracting or otherwise consolidating the Mideast.

I will update recently signed legislation in my Week 3 summary. I will offer a slight rewrite of the Ukrainian aid bill soon.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

What is it with the left wanting to make the Mideast go poof ? Consolidation or contraction is off the table and it must stay off the table. Dukes bicameral reform is a much better way to go to bolster the game.

[DemPGH]

In Week 3 I was able to sign a few important Pieces of legislation. I of course outline my reasons for supporting or not supporting statutes when I sign, veto, or redraft.

Important here is the Fair Hiring Act, IMO, which makes legal the existence of hiring halls - contingent upon consent between the company and the union. Hiring halls make it easier for management to find skilled, blue collar labor in the vast majority of instances. In any event, companies are not forced to have them, but they do play a significant role in the hiring process.

The End Sports Profiteering Act was changed to simply preclude federal money from building stadiums and enhancing team revenue. This is good. While I would like to see local cities own the teams that play in them, this will be very difficult to force.

The Sweet Sixteen Act

The Fair Hiring Act

End Sports Profiteering Act

The Let Us Have More Teachers Act

Going forward, I've offered a very minor redraft of the Ukrainian Aid Bill. The redraft aims to recover loaned money sooner and with the possibility of interest beyond five years.

I am happy to announce that the Duke-Scott Education Bill is now at final vote. If and when it passes and is implemented, we will expand and improve technology access and textbooks in our classrooms. If there is to be another one, I would like to target areas like STEM for support since this bill was broad and comprehensive.