PiT/HappyWarrior for President June '09

[HappyWarrior]

I'll probably support this in the Senate, though I am not totally decided yet.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I'll probably support this in the Senate, though I am not totally decided yet.

     I appreciate it. I think we can both agree that this sort of social engineering is the worst kind of protectionism. If you need to prop up some domestic industry, a tariff will at least make the government some money in the process.

[The Populist]

I oppose any attempt to reapal that legislation, unless a tariff is substituted for it.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I oppose any attempt to reapal that legislation, unless a tariff is substituted for it.

     I would be fine with doing that. It maintains the status quo & makes money for the government. It would also be virtually guaranteed to pass with a tariff to replace the current tax cut.

[The Populist]

     I would be fine with doing that. It maintains the status quo & makes money for the government. It would also be virtually guaranteed to pass.

I could accept that.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I would be fine with doing that. It maintains the status quo & makes money for the government. It would also be virtually guaranteed to pass.

I could accept that.

     There, I edited the bill to include a tariff of 5% on foreign imports of these items.

[HappyWarrior]

     I would be fine with doing that. It maintains the status quo & makes money for the government. It would also be virtually guaranteed to pass.

I could accept that.

     There, I edited the bill to include a tariff of 5% on foreign imports of these items.

Now I can fully support this measure absolutely.

[Smid]

     I was looking through the statute & I noticed this bill:

F.L. 10-2: Protection Act (Textiles, Clothing, Footwear & Steel)

1. Companies, co-operatives or self-employed individuals in the textiles, clothing, footwear and iron & steel industries shall receive a 5% cut in all corporate income tax and capital gains tax that that company, co-operative or individual pays.

2. Companies in the retail sector that only stock textiles, textile products and clothing made in Atlasia shall receive the same tax cut of 5%.

     I'm thinking about introducing a bill to repeal it, but I wanted to hear from the constituents first.

There is another problem with Section 2 of the Act.

As the Act currently stands, a company in the retail sector shall only receive the tax break if it only stocks textiles, textile products and clothing made in Atlasia, as opposed to companies that stock textiles, textile products and clothing made only in Atlasia.

There is a difference, and as the Act stands, a retail store that stocks widgets, textiles, textile products and clothing, all of which were made in Atlasia would not be eligible to receive the tax break, as they stock products other than textiles, textile products and clothing. This effectively creates a tax incentive for a retail store to remove all nontextile products from their shelves if the after-tax revenue they receive on those additional products is less than the reduction in tax they receive on the revenue earned on all textiles, textile products and clothing lines stocked. It would almost certainly also create a disincentive for a retail outlet to stock additional products. This may have the unintended consequence of costing Atlasians their jobs in the retail sector.

Indeed, it creates the interesting circumstance, whereby a retail company stocking sewing machines, textiles, textile products and clothing all made in Atlasia is treated, for the purposes of taxation, exactly the same as a company which stocks all those same classes of products, none of which however were manufactured in Atlasia. The mere fact the first company stocks sewing machines makes it ineligible to receive the tax break, even on income derived from textiles, textile products and clothing - and even if all such items have been exclusivly made in Atlasia.

It is understandable that income derived by a retail company from the sale of goods other than textiles, textile products and clothing should not be granted a tax benefit under this Act: one would not expect to see a car yard stocking a single spool of Atlasian thread qualifying for a tax break, however there is no reason a retail store that stocks, among other things, textiles, textile products and clothing, receiving a tax break on revenue earned through the sale of their textiles, textile products and clothing, so long as all textiles, textile products and clothing stocked by that particular retil company are made in Atlasia.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The meaning of "only" in the context of that section is actually quite clear, although I would have written it differently if I were writing the legislation today to stop little games like that.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Well, reading the NWA reminded me that it's that time again, & I'm running for re-election. If my constituents have any suggestions, or if anyone wants to leave hate mail, here's the place I guess.

[Countess Anya of the North Parish]

PiT what has compelled you to run for re-election?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I want to continue serving my constituents & let them know how much I've enjoyed being their Senator.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

You have my full support Senator.

What is your position on the Secret ballot Amendment? Please be detailed and don;t just give me how you voted(I already know). I voted against it in the Dirty South booth b/c I still have concerns about honesty with a secret system.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I support it because I think that eliminating that method of "(barely) legal fraud" would make for a funner game. The potential to throw a race by exploiting a flaw in STV kind of detracts from the fun factor.

     Furthermore, as Lewis said, election tracking will only be based on partial returns & exit polls, which will add a degree of uncertainty to the live tracking of voting.

     As for honesty, if the SoFA tries something dirty, the voters will be able to complain. Such an action would be dangerous for that reason.

[Јas]

As for honesty, if the SoFA tries something dirty, the voters will be able to complain. Such an action would be dangerous for that reason.

I'd note also that any successful fraud would require the complicity of the voter himself, the SoFA and the Attorney General all together.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

As for honesty, if the SoFA tries something dirty, the voters will be able to complain. Such an action would be dangerous for that reason.

I'd note also that any successful fraud would require the complicity of the voter himself, the SoFA and the Attorney General all together.

I'm just a little leary of it considering recent events.

[DownWithTheLeft]

My concerns about the Secret Ballot Amendment have nothing to do with security and fraud issues.  My concern is that will decrease interest in elections, which, let's face it is the most interesting thing around here.  And also failing it made Jas angry

[Associate Justice PiT]

     It appears that I have drawn an opponent in the race for regional Senator of the Southeast. I will admit that I was secretly hoping that this would happen, since more contested races is better than fewer contested races. Also, I am happy that the citizens of the Southeast have an alternative should any number of them be displeased with my job performance.

     Anyway, I would like to wish my opponent, Preston Caldwell, the best & express my hope for a clean campaign in the few days that remain before the election itself.

[Countess Anya of the North Parish]

PiT,
What will you do to make Alasia thrive again?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I could easily make all sorts of grandiose claims, but there's only so much that one person can do about it. Making Atlasia thrive again will require the work & cooperation of many, many people. I can explain what my record in that area is, though.

     I've invited numerous people to join Atlasia, & have a proven track record of organizing people in my capacity as RPP Vice-Chairman. One of my recruits is running for the office of Vice-President. Another is Lt. Governor of the Southeast & a third was Lt. Governor of the Midwest for a couple of months.

     In my capacity as Senator, I've done my level best to contribute whatever thoughts I have, show up for whatever votes there are, & introduce whatever bills I thought would serve the interests of my constituents. Many of these bills have failed, but it was not for lack of trying, as anyone who saw the arguments I made in favor of the Gold & Silver Standard Act can attest to. As a success to my credit, I introduced a bill that gave several national holidays to the Atlasian people, including two in commemoration of World War II.

[Countess Anya of the North Parish]

     I could easily make all sorts of grandiose claims, but there's only so much that one person can do about it. Making Atlasia thrive again will require the work & cooperation of many, many people. I can explain what my record in that area is, though.

     I've invited numerous people to join Atlasia, & have a proven track record of organizing people in my capacity as RPP Vice-Chairman. One of my recruits is running for the office of Vice-President. Another is Lt. Governor of the Southeast & a third was Lt. Governor of the Midwest for a couple of months.

     In my capacity as Senator, I've done my level best to contribute whatever thoughts I have, show up for whatever votes there are, & introduce whatever bills I thought would serve the interests of my constituents. Many of these bills have failed, but it was not for lack of trying, as anyone who saw the arguments I made in favor of the Gold & Silver Standard Act can attest to. As a success to my credit, I introduced a bill that gave several national holidays to the Atlasian people, including two in commemoration of World War II.

ok thank you.

What do you think is wrong with Atlasia?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I think that things are too complicated. As DWTL said once, he's been elected twice by STV & still doesn't get how the system works. We need to try to simplify things in order to not scare off newbies.

     I'd be interested to try a trial run with Condorcet for elections. Condorcet is probably more complicated mechanically, but it lacks the critical flaw that STV does, that being the potential for a voter to hurt a candidate by giving that candidate a high preference. It seems to me that that nasty flaw in STV is precisely the sort of thing that might cause someone to leave Atlasia.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I'm glad that many are echoing my concerns about the voting system. The best thing to stop the bleeding is to make things simpler for newbies (like myself, in some respect.)

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I would like to take this opportunity to publicize a bill that I have just introduced:

Amendment to the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act

1. The first section 1 is amended to read "The possession, sale, and consumption of marijuana, and the plants needed for its processing, shall not be considered illegal by the federal government of Atlasia."

2. The latter section 1 is renumbered section 3.

3. The latter section 2 is repealed.

     For reference, here is the bill that I am proposing to amend. If any constituents have bills that they would like me to propose, I will gladly do so on their behalf.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     An announcement regarding my intentions for the next elections will be coming later today.