Southern Senate Debate by the Porcupine

[OneJ]

The Porcupine Est. 2010

The Voice of Liberty

[/b]

The Porcupine's thread

Good evening everybody!

I'm OneJ, current representative, and will be your host today for the two shining stars of the South, Senator Leinad vs. Sjoyce! Both competitors have had extensive experience such as being speaker of the legislature, holding the presidency/vice presidency, etc.

Candidates I'll ask questions for both of you and either one of you may go first. You could also rebut one another. I believe that's all I have to say at this point.

At this moment, we will now begin!

Candidates, you may introduce yourselves to the audience.

[OneJ]

The Porcupine Est. 2010

The Voice of Liberty

The Porcupine's thread

Good evening everybody!

I'm OneJ, current representative, and will be your host today for the two shining stars of the South, Senator Leinad vs. Sjoyce! Both competitors have had extensive experience such as being speaker of the legislature, holding the presidency/vice presidency, etc.

Candidates I'll ask questions for both of you and either one of you may go first. You could also rebut one another. I believe that's all I have to say at this point.

At this moment, we will now begin!

Candidates, you may introduce yourselves to the audience.

[Donerail]

Good evening, y’all! I’m SJoyce, and I’ve been involved in Atlasian politics, in some form or another, since roughly five years ago. In that time, I’ve been Speaker of what was then the Southern Legislature, I’ve been Governor of this great region, and it was my honor to serve as Atlasia’s 40th Vice President. I’ve been out of government for a while, but recent events have pulled me back into political life.

I believe Atlasia is a nation that currently sits at a turning point, with the decisions we make now having vast consequences (both good and ill) for our nation’s future many years down the line. This is a nation of great opportunity, where anyone can achieve their dream. But we are also a nation facing great challenges. If we are to effectively guarantee a better future for Atlasia, we must take action now to reform our economy and our political system to meet the challenges of tomorrow. I believe in an Atlasia that is the global leader in the fight for economic justice, environmental protection, and global peace. As your Senator, I hope to do my part, however much I can do, to build a new Atlasia that promises a better future for each and every one of us.

[OneJ]

Ok Leinad's trying to formulate his response so I'll go ahead and place the first question up.

This question is from Delegate JustinTimeCuber.

What is your view on internet privacy, from the government, but also from ISPs and corporations?

[Donerail]

I am a firm believer in internet privacy. Your information should belong to you, the consumer, and not to the corporation providing you access to the internet. I do not believe that ISPs should have any ability to track their customers, much less sell their personal information, without the consent of the consumer. In the same vein, I believe the NSA far oversteps its mission in its broad collection of personal information. I believe that intelligence and law enforcement agencies should have to establish some reasonable suspicion of guilt to claim the legal authority to surveil a specific individual, and I am absolutely opposed to broad, indiscriminate collection of that type of information.

[OneJ]

Next question!

According to the Atlasian Standard, North Korea recently fired a missile (which crashed into the sea of Japan 11 miles from land). If a missile actually strikes Atlasia, how would you advise the President in handling the situation?

[Donerail]

A foreign power launching a military attack on Atlasian soil would be an act of aggression not seen from another nation since World War II. I am as dovish as they come, but it would be difficult for even I to suggest the President refrain from armed retaliation under those circumstances.

[OneJ]

I'll make this the final question of the night since so much time has passed already.

Let's do it!

There has been talk about how Atlasians should be taxed. Briefly explain what and why the plan you choose will work best for the people of Atlasia.

[Donerail]

I've crafted a tax plan that I believe, on the whole, will adjust our existing tax system in a way that makes sure everyone pays their fair share. It's not about raising taxes to raise taxes, it's not even really about generating the revenues for other programs—it's about correcting some truly egregious exemptions and flaws in our current tax code.

Companies, for instance, can avoid Atlasian taxes just by renting a PO box in the Caymans, or by purchasing a foreign company and then claiming that foreign company actually bought them, so they're technically not an Atlasian corporation. This has resulted in some really genuinely ludicrious scenarios, and all I want the tax code to do here is reflect reality. Atlasian companies, whether technically "Atlasian" or not, should pay taxes in Atlasia and not be able to get out of it through a clever scam. We all can see what's going on—it's time for our tax code to do the same.

Other provisions are just about making the standard the same for everyone. Every Atlasian pays a sales tax on pretty much everything they buy, for instance. For some reason, that tax doesn't extent to stocks and bonds, where you can speculate as much as you want without any tax. Similarly, if you make your money from working, you pay a normal rate of income tax, but if you make your money from the stock market you pay a lower rate. The average Atlasian making a salary of $50K pays FICA on every dime they earn, but a millionaire only pays on the first $120K.

Those are the types of injustices I plan to tackle in my plan for tax reform. The tax code we have is rigged overwhelmingly in favor of the wealthy - special exemptions, special rates, that kind of thing. You can make millions and end up paying less than the average Atlasian. I am no radical socialist here—I'm just calling for some element of basic fairness.

[Leinad]

Hello, hello, everyone. I'm Leinad, professional procrastinator, artisan of apathy, master of making up a third alliterative phrase because he likes things in threes (yes, like Bonnie Kelly ).

I am holding in my hand a letter. A letter from one of my constituents, that really touched my heart. He tells me I had a nice tie in a speech I made once. This is wh--wait...ah crap, wrong letter! I meant to get one from some child that beat cancer. Damn. Well this is why you should double check these things!

Anyway, I look forward to a fun debate where we can discuss various topics about Atlasia!

*refreshes*

Oh I see you put the questions up already wow I'm slow...

What is your view on internet privacy, from the government, but also from ISPs and corporations?

I'm obviously a fan of internet privacy, as someone who uses the internet so much I would hate the idea of someone reading what I do on it. I doubt that is an uncommon sentiment. That being said, I'm a bit skeptical of government--an entity that we know spies on people and really has no incentive not to take all our information that they can--being able to adequately protect our right to internet privacy. Whenever I hear of a new law or regulation regarding the internet, I simultaneously think "it's a trap!" and "boy, this would be good if it works!"

While we're on the subject, I found some related reading material here.

According to the Atlasian Standard, North Korea recently fired a missile (which crashed into the sea of Japan 11 miles from land). If a missile actually strikes Atlasia, how would you advise the President in handling the situation?

If they intentionally strike us, that's obviously an act of war, so unfortunately we would have to take some action. Regarding general foreign policy tactics, I like how the current President (dfw in case low information voters think I would dare praise Trump) is talking with all sorts of foreign governments we don't normally talk to, even bad ones that we haven't decided should be our "allies," and having an approach centered on avoiding war. If we do that and no supernatural force decides it's time to wipe us out, hopefully we'll be fine.

There has been talk about how Atlasians should be taxed. Briefly explain what and why the plan you choose will work best for the people of Atlasia.

I could go into lots of depth about the philosophical ramifications and the role of government and whatnot, but I'll give you the TL;DR: taxation is a necessary evil.

As far as tax policy, I think we need to simplify the tax code and remove loopholes. Big businesses gain an unfair competitive advantage by using their resources to minimize the tax burden to an extent that smaller businesses cannot. Closing the loopholes and lowering the marginal tax rate would increase revenue while helping small business growth--which helps everyone.