Pacific Regional Senate Debate from Las Vegas, Nevada

[The Duke]

Welcome to Las Vegas at the University of las Vegas for the Pacific Regional Senate Debate between Secretary TrueDemocrat of Montana and Mr. FuturePrez of Arizona.  I'm your moderator, Clark Kent.

My first question is this.  Secretary TrueDemocrat, what about your record as an officeholder do believe justifies voters sending you to the Senate?  FuturePrez, do you have any criticisms of the Secretary's record that should keep him out of the Senate?  How do you respond to charges of your own lack of experience?

[True Democrat]

My first question is this.  Secretary TrueDemocrat, what about your record as an officeholder do believe justifies voters sending you to the Senate?  FuturePrez, do you have any criticisms of the Secretary's record that should keep him out of the Senate?  How do you respond to charges of your own lack of experience?

I believe I am fully fit to serve as a Senator.  I have already served as a Senator for District 1 in light of IrishDem's resignation.  I believe I served effectively as I did not miss any votes and even proposed a piece of legislation even though I was only Senator for about two weeks.  I have also served as Lt. Governor of the Northeast.  The most important job I have served in is the Presidency.    I must admit that I did not serve the people to my full ability for many reasons.  First of all, I was not expecting to be President.  I was thrust into the Presidency after Lewis decided to try to hand the election to Al.  Second of all, school was really hard at that point, and I couldn't be on the forum as much.  These will not conflict with my Senate term as I will not be in school over the summer, and I know what job I am getting.  The final office I have served in is my current position as Secretary of Forum Affairs.  I have kept an up to date voter registration list and have maintained a general info thread.

[No more McShame]

Welcome to Las Vegas at the University of las Vegas for the Pacific Regional Senate Debate between Secretary TrueDemocrat of Montana and Mr. FuturePrez of Arizona.  I'm your moderator, Clark Kent.

My first question is this.  Secretary TrueDemocrat, what about your record as an officeholder do believe justifies voters sending you to the Senate?  FuturePrez, do you have any criticisms of the Secretary's record that should keep him out of the Senate?  How do you respond to charges of your own lack of experience?

First of all I would like to thank the University of Nevada at Las Vegas for hosting this debate.  Secretary TrueDemocrat, it's a pleasure to share the state with you again.  And Mr. Super... Kent, thank you very much for moderating.

I think TrueDemocrat has been an excellent Secretary of Forum Affairs.  In fact, as Senator I would be willing to advise and consent to his return if the next President will allow.  His short time as President is in the past and shouldn't be at issue here.  My main differences with him are over ideology.  The directions he would like to take Atlasia in is to the failed big government policies of the past.  I will be a voice in the Senate for a reduced role of government and for devolving many powers from the federal government to the regional level.  I will be a voice for lower taxes for all Atlasians.  The economy has been slumping as of late.  I will be a voice to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of Atlasia.  The secretary's policies will hinder economic growth and discourage innovation.  Government should serve only as referee not as a participant.

As for those who criticize my fairly recent entry into Atlasian politics, I do not intend on being a career politician.  Our founding fathers envisioned a land of citizen legislators.  I hope to live up to that ideal.  What I may lack in political experience I make up for in real world experience.  I will bring that perspective to the Senate and bring innovative ideas to the table that you will not find from someone who spends all their time in the Ivory Tower of Atlasian government.

[The Duke]

Does either of you wish to resond to what the other said?

[No more McShame]

Interesting that the bulk of the Secretary's political life has been in the Northeast region.  I have lived 85% of my life in the Pacific region.  I love the diversity of the region and know it's issues well.  Can the Secretary fully be a voice for the Pacific region if he brings a "Northeastern" mindset to his seat?

[True Democrat]

Interesting that the bulk of the Secretary's political life has been in the Northeast region.  I have lived 85% of my life in the Pacific region.  I love the diversity of the region and know it's issues well.  Can the Secretary fully be a voice for the Pacific region if he brings a "Northeastern" mindset to his seat?

I believe I have spent enough time in Atlasia to know the Pacific's wants and goals.  I have actually spent more active time in the Pacific than my opponent, but in the modified words of Ronald Reagan, "I am not going to make your inactiveness an issue."

[True Democrat]

My main differences with him are over ideology.  The directions he would like to take Atlasia in is to the failed big government policies of the past.  I will be a voice in the Senate for a reduced role of government and for devolving many powers from the federal government to the regional level.  I will be a voice for lower taxes for all Atlasians.  The economy has been slumping as of late.  I will be a voice to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of Atlasia.  The secretary's policies will hinder economic growth and discourage innovation.  Government should serve only as referee not as a participant.

I agree that government should only serve as a referee, but your policies do not encourage this.  Government must make the playing field fair and stop monopolies from occurring.  On economic issues, I would consider myself to be moderate.  Although I believe unionized labor has its place in raising working standards and pay, sometimes businesses are right.  The government must encourage economic growth by providing small businesses with the tax reductions needed.  I have always favored lowering taxes on small businesses, as they are the true backbone of our eocnomy.  As for personal taxes, I believe taxes should be increased slightly for the upper class, including a repeal of the tax cuts.  The lower and middle classes should not have their taxes increased and even decreased in the future as the government's deficit becomes more stable.

[True Democrat]

Mr. Clark Kent, could we please have another question?  I realize you are very busy in Metropolis with. . .other things .

[The Duke]

I wanted to make sure FuturePrez had a chance to respond to your last comments if he wished, it appears he does not, so we'll move on.

Next question, what would each of you do for the Pacific Region specifically over the next four months if elected to the Senate?  Do you think a Senator has any special responsibility to the District or Region, or should they just look out for the country as a whole?

[No more McShame]

I wanted to make sure FuturePrez had a chance to respond to your last comments if he wished, it appears he does not, so we'll move on.

I apologize Mr. Kent I didn't know I was being given a chance to respond to the Secretary's last comments.  I believe that we should have flat tax rates.  Progressive taxation discourages success and ensures that we have less of it as a society.  That's a bad thing.  When rates are raised on the wealthiest, they are encouraged to find new tax shelters that are not necessairly condusive to the economy.

As for the current question, I believe it is my role as a Senator to act as the voice of the Pacific in Nyman.  Specific legislation will deal with national issues.  It is not the role of a regions Senators to create pork barrell spending to the citizens of the region.  My role as Senator will be to lower federal taxes and give regions more of a say in their own affiars.

[True Democrat]

I believe that as a Senator from the Pacific, I would have to weigh my duty to Atlasia and the Pacific.  I feel on foreign policy matters, the federal government should have total control as they already do.  I must also agree with my opponent that Senators should not use "pork barrelling" to increase revenue for their region.  However, if the Pacific were to receive a blatant lack of funding compared to other regions, then I would step up and get more federal funding for the Pacific.  One area where I would respond directly to the citizens of the Pacific is interregion trade.  I would repect the wishes of the people in this respect.

[True Democrat]

Mr. Kent, can you provide with a new question please?

[The Duke]

I'd like to get the views of both candidates on the issue of immigration.  That is both immigration from foreign nations, which disproportionately affects our Region, and immigration from other states, whihc disproportionately affects our Region.  The fastest growing cities, Phoenix, Riverside, Las Vegas, are here in the Pacific.  The education, transportation, and health care facilities required to support these people, the rise in housing costs associated with their arrival, the environmental impact of the sprawl they generate, the security impact of the relatively open border, are all important issues.  I'd like the candidates to try to address this in as comprehensive a way as they can.

[No more McShame]

Wow, what a question, where to start?

Let me say this, being a free and open society.  We can not and must not restrict interregional movement.  I got sick of Oregon and Minnesota winters so now I reside in Arizona.

As far as foreign immigration, I am a strong supporter of streamlining the legal immigration process so it does not take years to get here legally.  Technology can be a big help here. 

For security reasons we must curtail illegal immigration.  The majority of migrants that illegally cross our borders are here to work hard and improve their lives.  However, that small percentage of those who illegally cross to harm Atlasia must be stopped.  We also cannot discount the enviornmental impact illegal immigration has upon the desert.  Previously pristine desert regions have been literally trashed.  I have three proposals to make this happen.  First, increase funding and support for the border patrol.  I do not support projects such as the Minutemen, but they did prove that increasing manpower along the border will help curtail illegal crossings.  Secondly, a comprehensive guest worker program that does not lead to amnesty.  Those here illegally must return to their home country to apply.  This will put willing employers with willing employees.  There are so many manual labor jobs that need to be filled in those fast growing cities that could use this now.  Third, we need to crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegals.  They are part of the problem and must be dealt with through stiffer penalties and fines.

This immigration has put a lot of strain upon local governments in Phoenix, Riverside, and here in Las Vegas.  As far as hiring new teachers, health care professionals, etc that are needed in these areas incentives must be provided.  I will leave it up to the local governments how to proceed, but higher pay and moving incentives seem like a good place to start.  I am proud that Phoenix has been proactive in creating a world-class freeway system to move all of our new residents.  This is another example where local foresight and ingenuity have occured despite the best efforts of the national government and another reason we need more local control.  As one of the beneficiaries of the booming Phoenix housing market , we must remember that housing follows the laws of supply and demand.  There are still plenty of good real estate deals to be found in both Phoenix and Las Vegas.  Any effort to control prices will cause a shortage of supply.  The market works well here, we shall not mess with it.

One major issue not addressed in your question is water.  We're in a desert here .  We must work with the midwest region to make sure the Colorado River will continue to serve as the lifeline for the southwestern part of the region.  As a senator who understands the unique needs of the west I can help broker this deal.

I hope that's comprehensive enough.

[True Democrat]

On the issue of interregional immigration, we must not stop citizens from other regions from moving to the Pacific.  To deal with the overpopulation problems that could occur from this, I would propose that the Pacific government use its power to invite more businesses to move to the Pacific to create more jobs. 

My opponent mentioned the issue of water, which I believe applies to both international and interregional immigration.  I agree again with my opponent that we should work with the Midwest to use more water from the Colorado River, but there is only so much water.  I believe it should be the duty of the Pacific government to put away a little bit of money each quarter in hopes of building desnalization plants for cities along the Pacific coast.  That way, growing inland states, such as Arizona and Nevada, could use more water from the Colorado River instead of California cities, like Los Angeles, taking the water.

Overall on the issue of illegal immigration, I must again pretty much agree with FuturePrez.  I also believe that we should stop illegal immigration.  The main reason we should stop illegal immigration is to stop terrorists and others who plan to hurt Atlasia from coming through our borders.  To ensure, I would propose an increase of border police to stop illegal immigrants from sneaking over.  However, I do not support using National Guard troops to do this job.  They have not been trained to handle illegal immigrants for subjects such as speaking Spanish and could actually escalate the problem.  This is kind of repetitive, but I, like FuturePrez, do not support the "Minute Men" as it undermines the government's job and again could escalate the problemb because of the poor training.

One area that I must disagree with my opponent on is the his guest worker plan.  I do support a guest worker plan, but I believe it should lead to Amnesty down the road.  If an illegal immigrant works in Atlasia for so many years in legal jobs, then they should be allowed to apply for Amnesty.

Two areas that my opponent did not mention were drivers' licenses and the court system.  Many states have already passed laws that give illegal immigrants drivers' licesnses.  I realize that many illegal aliens need these to get to work.  However, if the guest worker program that I support is put into action, these drivers' licenses can be given out legally.

With respect to the courts, this is the issue that deals with the fact that many courts summon illegal immigrants for trial to send them home, and the illegal aliens either do not show up or show up to the first court appearance as they are taken from jail, but do not show up again.  I believe with more border police, which I have already recommended, this problem would not be an issue.

For how to deal with employers who hire illegal immigrants, I agree stricter fines and penalties should be put on the employers, but also the government should make visits to the employers for a certain amount of time to ensure that the employer is not hiring any more illegal immigrants.

On the problem of overpopulation for illegal immigrants, I believe, like my opponent, that we should provide incentives for young people to become medical profressionals, teachers, and other jobs that are needed for increasing populations.  I also believe that we should leave the housing market alone as it usually never fails to support itself.  If the market does crash and it effects the entire region drastically, only then should the government get involved, but this rarely ever happens. 

[True Democrat]

As we mostly agree on things, I believe we could have a new question.

[No more McShame]

Before we move on, I would like to address what the Secretary said.

The distillation plants I think are a wonderful idea.  I believe that reduced taxes for businesses would free up more money for private enterprise to research and develop ways to make this technology more feasible.

As to drivers licences, I am glad the Secretary brought this up.  Due to security reasons, I believe it is wrong for regions to hand out drivers licences to those who are here illegally.  This is because of them being the chief form of ID.  For those legally working here under my guest worker program, they would have already been screened and determined not to be a security threat and therefore, I would not have a problem with those guest workers receiving driver's licences.

The current practice of the border patrol releasing "OTM" (other than Mexican) illegals and giving them a date to appear in court is a complete joke.  Let me detail how this works for you.  Illegal Mexicans are flown from Tucson to Mexico City.  Fine.  Illegals from countries other than Mexico including those from hostile nations like Iran or Syria are released in Atlasia and given a date to appear in court for a deportation hearing.  They might show up... of course pigs might fly too.  Statisticly, I would think OTMs would pose a greater security risk.  I propose detaining them pending a deportation hearing.  Glad you brought that up.

[The Duke]

Now would be the time for a closing statement, thank you both for attending.

[The Duke]

Thank you all for attending, and best of luck.  This debate is adjourned.