Talk Elections

Per the Senate Procedural Resolution on Legislation Introduction, this is the thread for legislation introduction.

All Senators wishing to introduce legislation, please post the legislation here instead of in its own topic.  When a spot opens up, your legislation will be brought to the senate floor in a new topic by me.

Note: To reduce clutter, please do not post in this topic if you are not posting legislation.  Debate time will be given at a later time and will continue until debate has ceased; please resist the temptation to debate something in this thread.

Gustaf, if you could sticky this, that would be good.

Okay, in light of recent events, I've got one...

Senate Procedural Resolution on the Changing of Votes

§ 1. Until a piece of legislation has garnered enough votes either in favor or against to have it either pass or fail, no senator shall be prohibited from changing his or her vote on the legislation.

§ 2. Following the garnering of enough votes to either pass or fail, the President Pro Tempore shall announce this fact; following this announcement, all senators shall have twenty-four hours during which they shall not be prohibited from changing their votes on the legislation.

§ 3. Following the expiration of twenty-four hours after the announcement, the vote total at that moment shall be declared to be final and shall be applied to the legislation.  All senators shall be prohibited from changing their votes on the legislation after this time.

District Two Relief Bill

Single § Money shall be appropriated from the treasure, in enough quantity to provide the citizens of District 2 with a financial relief of 1,000,000$00.

After all, it's not real money.

FDR just sent me this bill to introduce:

1. Atlasia shall recall its ambassador from Togo
2. The Ambassador of the Togolese Republic to the Republic of Atlasia will have until Feb 28 to leave Atlasia (is it legal for countries to kick out diplomats?)
3. No Atlasian group or individual shall do commercial operations in the Togolese Republic unless given explicit permission from the Department of State
4. All assets related to the Togolese regime in Atlasia shall be frozen
5. All of the above articles will be effective immediately, and will stay in effect until the former Speaker of the Togo Parliament, Fanbare Ouattara Natchaba is sworn in as President of Togo and free and fair elections to the Togo Parliament and Presidency take place, in accordance to the Togolese Constitution
6. Atlasia urges all nations signatory to the United Nations Charter on Human Rights to take similar action
7. All senior Togolese officials are prohibited from visiting Atlasia

After reading this article (http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=7812) I want to introduce this bill.


DDT Re-Introduction Bill

1. All prohibitions on the export of DDT from the United States to foreign nations shall be lifted.

2. Nations against which the United States has levied sanctions shall still be prohibited from importing DDT.

As a loophole in my electoral reform legislation has been identified, here is my solution:

Amendment to the Statute of Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges

§ 1. The text, "the last federal election in which he or she voted," is hereby stricken from the Statute of Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges.

§ 2. It shall be replaced with the text, "the last federal election in which he or she had a chance to vote."

Do I begin my own debate thread for these two bills, or does the PPT do it?

When a spot opens up, I open debate on them.

For now, we're currently waiting for elections to be over so we can get back to business.

Al, remove my bill. Faure Gnessinbe has resigned and ECOWASlifted the sanctions. Let's say that I was responsible for all this, shall we? ;D

Ahem.  Some of us are gone in a week and a half, and our bills die with us.

See, even worse than I thought!  That's the shorter transition period, for ya.

The Line of Succession Act

Primary Sponsor: Senator MAS117 (UP-NJ)
Co-Sponsor: Senator Colin Wixted (UP-PA)
                     Senator Gabu, President Pro Tempore (I-UT)   

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, to submit my bill for a reading and debate.
This bill will take affect after the passing and signing of the new Constitution. The Presidential Line of Succession is hereby amended to read:

I.) Vice President of the Republic of Atlasia
II.) President Pro Tempore of the Senate
III.) Secretary of Forum Affairs
IV.) Attorney General
V.) Secretary of Defense & Forum Security
VI.) Secretary of State
VII.) Secretary of Treasury
VIII.) Chief Justice of the Atlasian Supreme Court
IX.) Senior Associate Justice of the Atlasian Supreme Court
X.) Junior Associate Justice of the Atlasian Supreme Court

The "Preserving our National Parks" Act

Section I
The Congress recognizes the need to preserve our environment for future generations to enjoy. It also recognizes the state of our National Parks are degrading and we must improve our standards.

Section II
All National Park fees will be increased by 40% in any car/family/group with 2 or less people, 30% in any car/family/group of 3 people, and 15% in any car/family/group of 4 people.  For any pedestrians and and car/family/group of 5 or more people, the current charges will stay the same.

This new income will be used for the maintanence and care-taking of that park.

Section III
Snowmobiles used in National Parks will be electrically run or powered by a renewable and EPA-approved source by the year 2010. 

Congress will approve $10 million dollars to assist in this transition.

Section IV
Littering fines in all National Parks are now 25% higher.  This new income will all be devoted to the maintenance of the National Parks.

Section V
EPA fines for air and water pollution violations within a 50-mile radius of any National Park are increased by 10%.

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If Cosmo Kramer would please delete his earlier post on this in order to not clutter up the thread, it would be much appreciated.

Senator, good bill, however we should add money money into expanstion of wetlands, and wildlife perserves.

Please keep comments off this thread to keep it orderly.  Comments can be made when a bill is given debate time.

At the request of Wiseguy, and because I think the Senate should examine this, most of all because it keeps last-minute registrations from flooding a District and will hopefully help the Atlasian populace as a whole become more informed.

I realize that King has some other legislation planned, if need be, we can incorporate something together so that there aren't too many acts running all over the place.  :)

If Wiseguy could delete his thread too, to keep the database from growing too large, that would be nice also.

Atlasian Political Party and Registration System Reform Act

Purpose of the Legislation
The purpose of this bill is to reduce the problem of avatar voting and ensure a fair system for all Political Parties.

Section 1
Under this Legislation all members wishing to become part of the Fantasy Elections board will apply to the Secretary of Forum Affairs and undergo a two-week Orientation Period before registering on the Fantasy Elections board. 

Section 2
The Secretary of Forum Affairs shall be in charge of new applications to register on the Fantasy Elections board, and will be responsible for giving new applicants contact information for the chairmen of all the Atlasian Political Parties. 

Section 3
The Applicants will be advised to contact at least three different parties' National and Regional chairmen, and take the Atlas Forum party selector.

Section 4
At the end of the two week orientation period, if the Applicant has the required number of posts, registration in the party of their choice will be allowed.

I regret to say to my constituent, Wiseguy, that I wish to withdraw the Atlasian Political Party and Registration System Reform Act from consideration.

Just so no one gets mad at me, there's a two-fold reason behind this.

First, in my talk with a prominent Constitutional law scholar here on the forum, he informed me that this law, if challenged, would be deemed unconstitutional based on violation of Article V, Section 4 (http://www.geocities.com/demrepdan/article5.html), which clearly states:


Any election law that violates that right, other than the exceptions laid out in the Constitution, will be struck down.

Fortunately, for all of us, the new Constitution has a much more vague clause that we can work around if need be.

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Second, over the past couple of days, Sen. hughento and I have been working out a new version of this Act, which will combine education requirements and Wiseguy's political party equality bills into one.

But, until the Constitution Convention adjourns and the Constitution is passed into law, we will be unable to bring it up because of the problems I stated before.

I will post our working draft of it here.  To Gabu:  I am not introducing this legislation, I am just presenting a working draft of it, so that when the new Constitution is ratified, it will be able to be passed without much delay (hopefully).

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Atlasian Political Party and Registration System Reform Act

Purpose of the Legislation
The purpose of this bill is to reduce the problem of avatar voting, increase the education level of our citizenry and ensure a fair system for all Political Parties.

Article 1
Anyone with the legally required number of posts as specified by activity requirements so laid by the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia, can register as a citizen in Atlasia, but may not register to vote in Atlasian Federal Elections or join any political party without passing the requirements listed below.

Article 2
Upon registration as a citizen in Atlasia, the Secretary of Forum Affairs (SoFA) will have seven (7) calendar days to send said new citizen a Private Message asking three questions relating to the Atlasian government system.

Examples of legitimate questions are as follows:
"Who was the second President of Atlasia?"
"Name one of the bills currently being debated by the Senate?"
"What district is Michigan in?"

Article 3
The Secretary of Forum Affairs will have total control over the content of questions, except in that they must fulfill the specifications laid out in Article 2.  The Secretary of Forum Affairs must change the content of questions at least once every calendar month or every five (5) new applicants, whichever occurs first.

Article 4
If said new citizen returns a Private Message to the Secretary of Forum Affairs with the correct answers to the specified questions, they will be given voting rights. 

The Secretary of Forum Affairs will then send a Private Message to said new voter giving him contact information for the National and Regional chairmen of all the Atlasian Political Parties, advising said new voter to contact at least three different parties' National and Regional chairmen, and also advising said new voter of the option of registering Independent from all Political Parties.

The Secretary of Forum Affairs will also include in his Private Message a link to the Atlas Forum party selector test.

Article 5
After a waiting period of three (3) calendar days, said new voter will be allowed to register to vote in Atlasian Federal Elections with the political party of his/her choice.

Article 6
If said new citizen is unable to correctly answer the specified questions, the Secretary of Forum Affairs will have seven (7) calendar days from the point of receiving the incorrect answers to send said new citizen a new Private Message asking three different questions, which correspond the regulations above, relating to the Atlasian government system.  This process shall be repeated ad infinitum until correct answers are given by said new citizen.

During this time said new citizen will remain a citizen of Atlasia but will not be able to vote in any Atlasian Federal Elections. 

Article 7
This law will go into effect three (3) calendar days after its passage into law.  All citizens legally registered to vote before this date will not be subject to the above-stated requirements.  If a citizen loses his voter registration per the activity laws so legislated by the Senate, said citizen will be required to fulfill to the above-stated laws in order to regain voting rights.

Article 8
It is advisable after this bill becomes law, that the Regions should enforce the same set of regulations on citizens in Regional Elections as this bill lays out with regards to Federal Elections.

As per SoFA King's request, I am presenting his three measures to the Senate for debate:

The Deputy SoFA Bill

1)  The government of Atlasia shall hereby establish the office of the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs.

2)  The Deputy's duty shall be to fulfill the obligations of the Secretary in his/her absence.  The Deputy shall also act as the official Interim Secretary in cases of resignation.

3)  The Deputy Secretary shall not be considered a member of the cabinet unless acting as Secretary in his/her absence and is therefore not part of the Presidential succession.

4)  The Deputy Secretary shall be appointed by the Secretary and confirmed by the President.  The Senate shall not intervene unless there is a motion to block the appointment.

At the request of former Gov. Ernest:

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Atomic Energy Community Termination Act of 2005

§ 1. It is the sense of the Senate that -
   (1) the 84th Congress of the United States determined fifty years ago that it would be in the interests of the United States that the atomic energy communities built during the Second World War to house those engaged in the Manhattan Project be converted from public ownership to private ownership;
   (2) said Congress passed the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955 to provide for the orderly conversion of said communities;
   (3) said conversion is essentially complete, with the communities of Los Alamos, New Mexico, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Richland, Washington being similar in character as other communities in their respective States; and
   (4) the necessity of special legislation to encourage the conversion of atomic energy communities is no longer in existence.

§ 2. The Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955 is hereby repealed as of August 4, 2005 (50 years after the effective date of said Act) and that the laws of the United States relating to the determination of and the disposal of excess property that would have applied save for said Act shall apply as of that date.

§ 3. All monies remaining in the Community Disposal Operations Fund established by section 11 of the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955 shall be transferred to the general receipts of the Treasury as of the date of repeal given in section 2 of this Act.  Monies needed to meet obligations against said Fund incurred prior to the date of repeal shall be drawn from the general receipts of the Treasury.

§ 4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to render invalid any sale, lease or other disposition of property, contract, or annual assistance payment made under the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955 before the repeal of said Act.

Jury Selection Bill

1. All juries empanelled for the purposes of trying crimes in the Republic of Atlasia shall be composed of six jurors, who shall all be registered voters in the Region of the Republic of Atlasia in which the defendant is resident and without previous convictions.

2. Jury selection shall be random and shall be administered by the presiding Justice, he may however discard jurors from his selection on grounds of inactivity.

3. If the Justice shall decide a juror has become either prejudicious or inactive, he may replace the juror. The Justice may do this twice during a trial, but if he considers it necessary for a third time, he shall order a mistrial and begin a new trial.

4. In order for a jury to convict at least four jurors must deliver a guilty verdict, however the Justice may raise this to five or six jurors at his own discretion. Jurors shall make their verdict known by public post.

5. To be empanelled on to a jury, the juror shall repeat the following oath: "I swear (or affirm) that I will well and truly try the matter in issue between the parties, and give a true verdict according to the law and evidence, so help me Dave."

At the request of Gov. Peter Bell

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Omnibus Crime Bill

Section 1: Crimes against Atlasia

The following shall be crimes against Atlasia:
   
i. The impersonation, or attempted impersonation, of another Atlas Forum member on the Atlas Forum.
ii. The "hacking" or taking over control of another Atlas Forum members personal account without their permission.
iii. Posting untrue, derogatory statements about another Atlas Forum member with the intent of causing offense or defaming their character.
iv. Posting pictures, other media, or links to the same of a pornographic nature.
v. Posting threads with the sole intention of provoking an aggressive reaction from forum members.
vi. Maliciously editing the AtlasWiki to remove legitimate content or create off-topic pages.
vii. Posting threads of a sexual nature that contribute nothing to political or philosophical discussion.


Section 2: Punishment of Crimes against Atlasia

Sentencing of the crime shall be by the presiding Justice; He may use any combination of the following as punishment, depending upon the severity of the offense:

1. For offences described in Clauses i through iii of Section 1:
   
i. Up to a one year ban from voting in any Atlasian elections.
ii. Up to two years incarceration in an Atlasian Fantasy Prison.
iii. A fine of up to $100,000 in fantasy currency.
iv. Up to 1000 hours of fantasy community service.

2. For offences described in Clauses iv through vii of Section 1:
   
i. Up to a two month ban from voting in any Atlasian elections.
ii. Up to one month incarceration in an Atlasian Fantasy Prison.
iii. A fine of up to $10,000 in fantasy currency.
iv. Up to 120 hours of fantasy community service.


Section 3: Treason against Atlasia

1. The act of deleting a voting booth is hereby declared an Act of Treason.

2. Sentencing of Treason shall be by the presiding Justice; He may use any combination of the following as punishment, depending upon the severity of the offense:

i. Up to a lifetime ban from voting in any Atlasian elections.
ii. Up to lifetime incarceration in an Atlasian Fantasy Prison.
iii. A fine of up to $1,000,000,000 in fantasy currency.

3. The Judge may also authorize the Attorney General to make an appeal to Dave Leip, the Forum Owner, to have the Traitor banned from the Atlas Forum for life.


Section 4: Trial by Jury

Trial of all these crimes shall be in a federal Court and by Jury.


Section 5: Admissibility of Evidence

The presiding Justice may admit the following as evidence of the crime at his own discretion:

i. The actual statements made on the Atlas Forum itself
ii. Screenshots of the statements made.
iii. A quotation of the statement in a post by another Atlas Forum user.
iv. The testimony of forum users who viewed the statement itself.
v. An admission by the accused in a thread on the Atlas Forum, or in a place viewed or heard by multiple persons, with recordings or testimony attributing to the same.
vi. Evidence obtained through investigation of the IP address from which the offence was perpetrated.
vii. Evidence given to the Court by the Forum Moderators or the Forum Owner, Dave Leip obtained in their capacity in that position.

Gender Equality Bill

-All laws of the Republic of Atlasia that utilise the word 'he' for descriptives shall also be interpreted as 'she'.

-The Senate advises the Supreme Court that constitutional references to 'he' should also be interpreted as 'she'.

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Just something pretty basic. Doing it for the shielas :)

The shielas appreciate it.

We now have two legislation spots open with the passing of the Anti-Opebo Act and the Water Technology Act.

Industrial Hemp Legalization Act

Section 1.

Industrial hemp shall be defined as any member of the plant species Cannabis sativa that has a THC content of 1% or less.

Section 2.

Industrial hemp shall be legal to grow and use in consumer and industrial goods in Atlasia.

Section 3.

The federal government of Atlasia will award $20 million to the first company or individual that develops an industrial hemp based fuel that can be used in unmodified petroleum gasoline engines, mix with petroleum gasoline, and can also be mass produced for under $1 per gallon.

The Government Thread Act

Primary Sponsor:Senator MAS117 (UP-NJ)

Clause I[/u]
There shall be a creation of a Government HQ thread, maintained by the Secretary of Forum Affairs, here on the Atlas Fantasy Government board.

Clause II[/u]
Every cabinet member must have a thread containing there respective offices, also there needs to be a thread for the President and if the Vice President chooses too, a Vice Presidential thread.

Clause III[/u]
All cabinet members threads and Presidential and Vice Presidential threads must be included in the Government HQ thread. The Atlasian Constitution must also be linked in the Government HQ thread. All other threads that should be posted in the Government board will be approved by the Secretary of Forum Affairs.

Clause IV[/u]
The Government HQ thread should be stickied at all times.

Given the problems that we've had with the federal budget this time and before, I think it's about time that I propose this amendment that was given to Gabu by Jake a couple of weeks ago here.

Hope both of y'all are ok with me adding it here to this thread even though y'all both get the credit.

The Budget Amendment

§ 1. The Senate shall be responsible for drafting and approving a budget at the opening of each individual Congress.

§ 2. The Budget must be approved by a majority vote of the Senate and then approved by the President.

§ 3. The Senate shall approve the budget before moving on to any other matter.

§ 4. After the budget is approved by the Senate, the Senate shall appropriate money raised by the budget as it deems appropriate.

§ 5. The total overspent on the budget and appropriations must not exceed 2% of the GDP except in those situations specified by Section 6.

§ 6. Section 5 shall not be in effect in a time of war or in a time of economic crisis.  A time of war shall be defined as a time when the Atlasian Senate has voted to declare war and a situation of war exists.  A time of economic crisis shall be defined as a time when the real GDP has been in decline for two or more quarters.

2nd Amendment to the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act

Section 1, Clause 2 shall hereby be repealed and replaced with:

"The certification of election results shall be the automatic certification of the vote at exactly 72 hours after the opening of voting."

2:  The statement "those which are awaiting certification" in Section 2, Clause 1 shall hereby be stricken. 

WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG WITH MY LEGISLATION?

The Senate only allows votes on 4 bills at a time in chronological order.  You have to wait until there is a slot for you.

Just wait.  We'll all get a chance to laugh at your "legislation" in due time.

That's not right.

What's not right, that we have procedures in place and go sequentially through the legislation that was introduced?

 We'll all get a chance to laugh at your "legislation" in due time.

Why can't I be taken seriously? Because I make funny jokes and comments in teamspeak?

Your legislation is just a little...well...it isn't as good as the others?

Omnibus Election System, Procedure and Certification Bill (King is an Idiot Bill)


Section 1: The Ballot

   1. In their ballot in the Elections to the Senate and the Presidency, each voter shall list some, none or all of the candidates in the voter's order of preference for them.
   2. If no numbering of the preferences is stated then the candidate at the top of the list shall be presumed to be the first preference, the candidate on the second line of the list shall be presumed to be the second preference, and so on.
   3. All elections shall always have the option of write-in for voters, except in the case of run-off elections.
   4. In order to write-in a candidate, the voter shall not need to explicitly specify that their vote is for a write-in candidate.
   5. In order for write-in votes for a candidate for election to qualify as legal votes, the person written-in must formally accept the write-in candidacy before the end of voting in the given election.


Section 2: Determination of the Winner

   1. If any candidate shall gain a majority of the first preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election.
   2. If no such candidate shall exist then the candidate with the least preferences shall be eliminated and his votes redistributed according to lower preferences.
   3. If any candidate shall have a majority of the preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election. If no such candidate shall exist then Clause 2 of this Section shall be implemented again until such a candidate does exist or until all candidates have the same number of preference votes.
   4. If there shall be a situation where there shall be two or more candidates tied for the least number of preference votes, but none of these tied with the candidate with the most preference votes, then the following procedure shall be used to determine which candidate shall be eliminated and his preference votes redistributed:
         i. The candidate with the least total number of preferences expressed by voters shall be eliminated.
         ii. The Senate shall vote on which candidate to eliminate, with the Vice President being able to cast a tie-breaking vote if necessary.
   5. If the event that all candidates have the same number of preference votes shall occur then the following procedure shall be used to break the tie:
         i. A runoff shall be held beginning at midnight Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday after the election that shall last for 72 hours.
         ii. Those candidates who have tied shall be automatically entered onto the ballot and no other candidacies shall be allowed.
         iii. Voters shall only be able to cast a vote for one candidate and write-in candidates shall not be allowed.
         iv. If any candidate shall gain a majority of the vote, then he shall be declared winner.
   6. If Clause 5 of this Section does not yield a winner then the procedure outlined in Section 3, Clauses 3 through 8 of the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act shall be used to determine a winner.
   7. Any instance of the word in this Section candidate shall be read as ticket in the case of Presidential elections.


Section 3: Administration of Voting Booths

   1. The administrator of a voting booth shall be free to design the ballot as they see fit as long as the content of the ballot is clear and unambiguous.
   2. The administrator of a voting booth shall post links to all relevant statute regarding electoral law on the ballot.
   3. Whenever possible, the administrator of the voting booth shall be the Secretary of Forum Affairs; If he shall be absent for whatever reason, the administration of the voting booth shall be conducted by an executive officer of the federal government nominated by the President.


Section 4: Certification of Election Results

   1. When the period of voting has expired, the administrator of the voting booth shall post a declaration of the result in the voting booth, including all those votes which he has discounted, and the reasons for these votes being discounted. In so doing, the voting booth administrator shall discount those votes he is required to by law and shall only count those remaining votes for which he is able to make a reasonable determination as to the intent of the voter.
   2. At the time of the end of the voting period, the administrator of the voting booth shall lock the thread containing the voting booth. The thread shall not be unlocked except to enter the certification of the election result onto the thread.
   3. Certification of the election result shall be conducted as soon as humanly possible after the voting booth shall have closed. If the Administrator of the voting booth shall not be available to conduct such certification, then he shall nominate another executive officer of the federal government to carry out such certification in his stead.
   4. Once certification of an election result has occurred it may not be amended or rescinded except on the basis of a Court order.


Section 5: Concession of Victory

   1. If a candidate shall concede their victory of a Senate election after the certification of the election result then whoever shall have been the runner-up (defined as the candidate with the most preference votes other than the certified victor) in that election shall then be declared victor.
   2. If both members of a Presidential ticket shall concede their victory in the Presidential election after the certification of the election result then whoever shall have been the runner-up (defined as the ticket with the most preference votes other than the certified victors) in that election shall then be declared victor.
   3. If a victor who has conceded shall wish to retract their concession then they shall only be able to do so with the permission of the newly declared victor.


Section 5: Repealed Legislation

The following Laws, and Sections thereof, are hereby repealed:
   1. The Preferential Voting Act is repealed in full.
   2. Section 1 and Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act are repealed.

As suggested to me by Secretary of State Siege40:


Atlasian Currency Act

Section 1
The Government of Atlasia will establish a Mint in Nyman.

Section 2
The following people and images will be displayed on each bill or coin.

Coins:

$ 0.01 – Ernest and Constitution
$ 0.05 – Andrew Berger and Bald Eagle
$ 0.10 – Fritz and Forum Affairs Building
$ 0.25 – Nym90 and Region design

Bills:

$ 1.00 – PBrunsel and PBrunsel Memorial
$ 2.00 – Peter Bell and Atlasian Capitol
$ 5.00 – Gustaf and State Department Building
$ 10.00 – Nym90 and Atlasian Seal
$ 20.00 – John F. Kennedy and Kennedy Memorial
$ 50.00 – John Ford and Pentagon
$ 100.00 – KEmperor and Supreme Court Building

Section 3
The Mint will be under the control of the Secretary of the Treasury.

Section 4
The Senate will allocate appropriate funds to manage the Mint.

Is choosing contempory politicians really a good idea?

Indeed, we have 200 hundred years of History too... oh wait, no we don't. Oh wait. Those who have been are leaders are still here. The only one that contributed and left was JFK and Fritz, and to put them on all the currency, well that's stupid.

Siege

There's always Dunn :)

And the Retired Al.

Suggestions
$2 - Retired Al and Tip O'Neill
$10 - PD and John Engle Party HQ

I ask Senator Spade if I can have the honor of making some example designs?

I would say it would be better to wait until the idea is actually accepted before getting to work on doing it.

I have no problem with that, but can you please wait till the bill reaches the floor?

Sure thing. Thank you.

I think this looks a little cleaner than the one you gave to me.  Let me know whether this is ok, Jake.

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Freedom Act of 2005

Primary Sponsor: Senator SamSpade (UP-LA)
Co-Sponsor(s): Senator MAS117 (UP-PA)

Purpose: The Purpose of this to promote am atmosphere of Freedom and Democracy in the world.

Clause 1
The Secretary of State of Atlasia will formulate a list of world nations that are not considered to be free and democratic.  The timetable for such a list will be set at the Secretary's discretion, though such a list must be produced publicly at least 90 days from the date of this bill being passed into law.  This requirement will apply to all revisions of this list each and every year hereafter.

Clause 2
All nations on this above-stated list that receive foreign aid from Atlasia will be denied any such aid distributions upon their inclusion onto the said list for the present Fiscal year.

Clause 3
As so implied in Clause 1, each and every year henceforth, the Secretary of State will revise the list, according to the timetable established in Clause 1, and any nation that is removed from the list will be eligible for aid distributions for the present Fiscal year.

Clause 4
Atlasia will not begin the transfer of new distributions of foreign aid to any nation on the list for the present Fiscal year.

That is much better Sam

Mr. President, I ask consent to be named as a Co-Sponsor to Sam Spades recent bill of the Freedom Acts of 2005.

Perserving the Name Bill[/u]

Clause I[/u]
Despite his name change to "Mike Naso," Mr. Naso can and still be always refered to has either Chief of Staff Mike Naso or Senator Senator Mike Naso (until the end of his Senate term).

Clause II[/u]
Despite his name change, all official Atlasian Gov't documents will refer to "Mike Naso" as Chief of Staff Mike Naso.

I am willing to take Co-Sponsors on this bill. :)

I ask that my must recent bill go directly to a vote.

MAS, don't be a dumb ass.  I know that can be hard for you sometimes, as you tend to be an overly critical and hot tempered individual.

Hey, guess what?  Naso is a Senator, he was elected, like it or not, so lay-off assholes.  His vote counts for just as much as yours and his voice is just as important as yours.  So, here's a novel idea, why not try to work with him?  Cause this is getting old real quick.  Eventually, you guys are going to have to grow up, so you could take a step in the right direction and start now.

Enough is enough. The joke is getting old.

Help him learn, don't just mock him.  I taught you something you didn't know today, after all.

There are no federal property taxes, "Senator".  Normally, only local city and county jurisdictions have property taxes.  Occasionally states do it, but that's only for school districts, I think.  In Texas, for examples, it was only local jurisdictions.

Regulating non-federal tax rates is clearly unconstitutional...

I withdraw "Preserving the Name Bill"

Unless the spending cuts on those bills equal half of the total spending of the government, you're asking for MASSIVE deficits if this is implemented.

Yes indeed. Not excessive spending cuts.

Um, those three acts do not constitute roughly one half of the federal budget.

The only way your proposed tax cut would really work is if you abolished almost every non-military function of the government.

We can cut down the percentage of tax cuts. The Senate is a team. Let's work on some ideas as a team. How does...35% tax cuts sound?

Yeah. Now you only have to cut roughly 35% of the federal budget. ;)

I would suggest a flat tax of 19%, allowing only for personal exemptions. This would ensure that the rich pay their fair share (no loopholes), lead the way for rapid economic growth, and likely shrink unemployment.

You appear to have missed my point: there is no way in heck those three bills make up half of the spending of the government, so even if you abolished them entirely, you still wouldn't make up for the revenue hit taken from lowering taxes by 50%.


Even at 35%, those bills don't account for 35% of total government spending.  Heck, do they account for 1% of total government spending?  0.5%?  I think we'd to need to slash an awful lot more than just those three bills.

If you want to cut taxes by 35%, Sam Spade is doing a fantastic job in the budget thread; look there to see what all of the spending amounts are currently to find out what we could cut.

The tax cuts could go at 25%. How does that sound?

That's still not low enough for the three bills you laid out.

A 19% income tax would cut taxes on the emerging upper class. I would suggest an exemption of about $35,000 for a family of four, only because it's a number very often cited in article such as Heritage and CATO.

More importantly, the rate could be lowered in future years to about 13%, as in Russia.

This is definately going into FahrenheitNASO II.

A18 should be the D3 Senator here...he at least has a brain.

To pay for a 50% Tax Cut we must:
[li]Abolish the military.[/li]
[li]Abolish social security.[/li]
[li]Abolish medicare.[/li]
[li]Cut welfare benefits by 75%.[/li]
[/list]

Very minor changes to the government.

Depends on the troll...

Could we, oh, I don't know, leave this thread for legislation introduction and nothing else. I know it's a lot to ask, being that you all must get the last word in and all, but it would probably be much appreciated.

I've given up attempting to regulate this thead.  It just doesn't work. :)

OK....a 10% tax cut. Does that work?

Please stop picking random numbers.

How about you look at the budget, figure out what we could cut, and then fit the tax cut to those numbers?

Create a 'bitch and debate about introduced legislation thread', then see if they go there instead. :)

We can't afford tax cuts right now. Just pass an asture budget to knock at least some sanity into finances, and have fun next budget (either way).

No, putting you in office would not be worth it.

I think there was a a lot of good in this bill.  I would rather have it in some form than not all all.

The "Preserving our National Parks" Act Revised and Reintroduced

Section I
The Congress recognizes the need to preserve our environment for future generations to enjoy. It also recognizes the state of our National Parks are degrading and we must improve our standards.

Section II
All National Park fees will be increased by 30% in any car/family/group with 2 or less people, 15% in any car/family/group of 3 people, and 10% in any car/family/group of 4 people.  For any pedestrians and and car/family/group of 5 or more people, the current charges will stay the same.

This new income will be used exclusivly for the maintanence and care-taking of that park.

Section III
All government owned and run snowmobiles used in National Parks will be electrically run or powered by a renewable and EPA-approved source by the year 2010. 

Congress will approve $5 million dollars to assist in this transition.

Section IV
Littering fines in all National Parks are now 25% higher.  This new income will all be devoted to the maintenance of the National Parks.

Section V
EPA fines for air and water pollution violations within a 50-mile radius of any National Park are increased by 10%.

 
 
 
 
 

[/i]Goods and Services Taxation Bill[/i]

1. The federal government shall introduce a Goods and Services Tax at rates determined by the Treasury Department, alhough advised by the senate to be 0% for neccessities, 10% for luxuries and 5% for other goods and services.

2.To determine the category each good or service is placed in, the Treasury Department will be given $5 million over 2 years to fund staff and resources to analyse need, benefit to our economy, and other factors of it's choosing for all goods and services.

3.After the Treasury department determines the placement of goods and services into catergories, this bill shall take effect.

Very much a working draft; I'd appreciate comment from other Senators, Sec. Kramer, and other Atlasians on this bill in the discussion thread for introduced Legislation. I will also be working on a bill for income and business taxation following the guidelines I gave in my campaign.

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MAS, put this in the bitch thread.

I request that the Senate review my post here (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=19067.msg410314#msg410314).

All comments and suggestions in the bitch thread, please.

Respectfully, former President PBrunsel, you can't introduce legislation. 

Some Senator has to introduce it for you.

Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act[/i]

§ 1 The possession, sale and consumption of marijuana and the plants needed for its processing, shall not be criminalized by the federal government of Atlasia.

§ 2 All federal activities related with it shall be immediately shut down, and the money currently appropriated to them shall be used for:

     A. The construction of treatment centres for alcohol, marijuana,
         and other drug abuses
     B. The fight against illegal drugs

§3 All people convicted by federal courts of the crimes repealed in this bill, shall be given amnesty from the punishment awarded to them by the said courts.

§4. Taxes on marijuana shall be set in the annual budget. Individual regions may set their own taxes on marijuana as they see fit.

I'm glad to see a form of my old bill is coming back alive.  I would like to see the tax put back on the bill though.

I've been thinking about how to formulate this for quite some time, and I think I finally have a form that I'm happy with:

Affirmative Action Criteria Specification Bill

§1. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is hereby amended by increasing the numbers of sections 708 and onward by one and adding the following section immediately after section 707:

"CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION
SEC. 708. (a) Any claim of violation of the guidelines laid out in sections 703 and 704, put forward as a result of the guidelines specified in in sections 705 to 707 with regards to the punishment of discrimination against an individual based on the traits specified in sections 703 to 704 (hereafter referred to as the "Traits"), shall have the standard laid out in subsection (b) applied to it in order to determine whether a violation has occurred.

(b) For the claim of discrimination to be sustained, it must be proven, by the accuser,

(1) if a discrimination in hiring has occurred, that the hired applicant and the receiver of the alleged discrimination were exactly equal in ability and competenece, or that the receiver of the alleged discrimination was more able and competent than the hired applicant, and that the choice to not to hire the receiver of the alleged discrimination was based soley on that individual's Traits; or

(2) if an other form of discrimination has occurred, that the action against the receiver of the alleged discrimination was not warranted by any procedures laid out by law, by any form of arrangement or agreement between the accused and the receiver of the alleged discrimination, or, if the discrimination was towards an employee of a company, by any form of company code or regulation, and that the choice to take the action against the receiver of the alleged discrimination was based soley on that individual's Traits.

(c) The burden of prove shall be on the accuser.  If any part of the relevant requirements in subsection (b) cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the accusation shall be regarded as without merit and shall be consequently disregarded."

I'll explain what this is exactly doing in the topic provided.

What about disabled people?

I'm just using what's already in the Civil Rights Act of 1964; if we want to add "disabled people" to the list, that's an entirely different thing.

I wonder what the Americans with Disabilities Act says on that.

That might answer your question, though I must admit I've never read the bloody thing.

I have no idea whether or not the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been amended to include other things that were not present in the copy I found, and quite frankly I don't really feel like looking it up, so I've modified the text of my bill to include a catch-all "see above" line instead of what was there before.

Co-Sponsor: Senator SamSpade (U-LA)

Judiciary Bill

Section 1: Divisions of the Supreme Court

There shall be three divisions of the Supreme Court:

   i. The Criminal Division
   ii. The Civil Division
   iii. The Electoral Division

Section 2: Criminal Division

1. The Criminal Division of the Supreme Court shall sit to try crimes against Atlasia.

2. Each trial shall be presided over by one Justice of the Court as mandated by the Constitution.

3. Trials shall be by jury unless the defendant shall enter a guilty plea or both the defendant and the prosecution shall agree to a Judge only trial.

4. Sentencing shall be by the presiding Justice, anything in previous statute to the contrary not withstanding.

Section 3: Civil Division

1. The Civil Division of the Supreme court shall sit to hear cases initiated by an individual citizen or group of citizens against the Republic of Atlasia or other citizens, excepting those cases under the jurisdiction of the Electoral Division.

2. Each case shall be presided over by one Justice of the Court, with a jury trying the evidence if the defendant shall wish it, otherwise with the Justice trying the evidence.

3. The presiding Justice shall award damages to the plantiff and order such writs as he shall feel the verdict of the jury and the weight of evidence justify.

Section 4: Electoral Division

1. The Electoral Division of the Supreme Court shall sit to hear cases concerning electoral disputes and cases concerning the Department of Forum Affairs.

2. Each case shall be presided over by one Justice of the Court.

3. The presiding Justice shall order such writs as he shall feel necessary to uphold the law.

Section 5: Full Court Consideration

1. Cases concerning the interpretation of the text of the Constitution or the constitutionality of a legislative or executive action shall be considered by the entire Supreme Court in the first instance, anything in the previous sections not withstanding.

2. The entire Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction to all cases of the Divisions of the Supreme Court as to both Law and Fact.

3. The entire Supreme Court shall also have original jurisdiction over cases not otherwise assigned original jurisdiction by this statute.

Section 6: Assignment to Divisions

1. The Supreme Court shall assign Justices to Divisions of the Supreme Court as it shall wish for one month terms on the first day in each calender month.

2. No more than one Justice shall be assigned to each division of the Court in each month, excepting such circumstances as provided for in other clauses of this Section.

3. Each Justice may serve on a maximum of two Divisions of the Supreme Court, excepting such circumstances as provided for in other clauses of this Section.

4. In the event that Justices shall be absent from the Forum due to vacation or other reasons then Justice(s) may be temporarily appointed to preside over the relevant Division(s) during the absence.

5. In the event that a backlog of cases occurs on a Division of the Supreme Court, then additional Justices may be seconded to the relevant Division as the Court may see fit until such backlog is cleared.

6. Once a case is opened on a Division it shall remain under the same Justice for the duration of its consideration, even where a new Justice is assigned to the Division at the beginning of a new month, except where a Justice shall leave the Supreme Court in mid-trial, in which case a new Justice shall be selected to take over the trial.

7. A Justice may not be presiding over more than one case per Division at any one time.[/i]

You see, I'd like to be nice to your legislation and then you propose something like this.

What else am I supposed to do?

What's wrong with it?

Look at it for a second.

What is defined as being "adequate training?"

What is defined as being "proper programs to help children?"

The "unfunded mandate" on this bill is simply insane.

This amount of government control over education, I, nor anyone else will stand for.

Firstly, numerous grammatical and spelling errors.

(Sorry to chime in, I know I'm not a Senator)

Wow, LOL

Nothing will make you happy.

Legislation is supposed to present distinct, quantifiable specifics that can be followed to the letter, not vague, essentially unimplementable guidelines.

Your "legislation" sounds more like a resolution than a bill.

Wow, good bill Naso.  Can't wait to get debate on this started.

Well, I take it from the third-person phrase "NOTE FROM WRITER" that he didn't write it, but hey, one good bill is certainly a start.

The Diplomatic Mission Act[/u]

Primary Sponsor:[/u] Senator MAS117 (CUP-NJ)
Co-Sponsor[/u]: Senator Colin Wixted (CUP-PA)

§ I. The President of Atlasia shall have power to negoitiate Treaties and establish diplomatic relations with other micronations or forums, but such Treaties and relations shall only have effect where ratified by the Senate.

§ II. If the need arises within the establishment of a relationship with another foreign entity, the President shall appoint Ambassadors with the advice and consent of the majority of the Senate.

§ III. The Ambassadorship does not qualify as an Office under the Government of Atlasia.

§ IV. The Presidential nominee for an Ambassadorship must be be voted for in the affirmative by a majority of the Senate in order to be confirmed.

§ V. The Ambassador's will report directly to the Secretary of State, who in turn will report directly to the President of Atlasia.

§ VI. It shall be the job of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (a sub-department within the Department of State) to protect Ambassdor's in foreign nations. It shall be the job of the Marine Security Guard Battalion to guard and protect Atlasian Embassies in foreign nations.

The Nuclear Restriction Act[/u]

Written By:[/u] Secretary of State Siege40
Primary Sponsor:[/u] Senator MAS117 (CUP-NJ)

§ I The Government of Atlasia will neither sell technology in the process to generate nuclear weapons, or operational nuclear weapons to foreign powers.

§ II. In the Foreign Policy, all instances referring to ‘No military Restrictions,’ excludes nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon technology.

I withdraw the The Bringing The Vote Resolution.

In preparation for the new Constitution, I have prepared this amendment.

---

Constitutional Amendment to the Right to Bear Arms Clause in the Bill Of Rights, Article VI, Clause 4

Article VI, Clause 4 shall be struck from the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia and replaced with the following amendment which shall replace the eliminated clause as Article VI, Clause 4:

The right to bear fire-arms and low-potency explosives shall not be infringed.  The definition of a low-potency explosive may be determined by the Senate in appropriate legislation.

The New Mexico - Montana Regional Bill

Clause I

The State of New Mexico shall henceforth be located in the Pacific Region.

Clause II

The State of Montana shall henceforth be located in the Midwest Region.

Clause III

This bill shall take effect following the next Regional election upon approval by the Senate.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Y'all knew it had to appear sometime. :D

I've always said that I'm in support of regional rights in things that don't concern the nation as a whole, so I think it's time to put my money where my mouth is.  The following is an amendment to the new Constitution; I'm assuming we'll have it in place by the time this comes up for a vote.  I recognize that we're not going to get to this; this is just so it'll be here for the next session of the Senate.

Restriction of Definitions Amendment

§ 1. The text "Marriage and Divorce, and Adoption" is hereby stricken from section 5, clause 5 of the Constitution.

Given the current mess we're in, these three things are what I feel we can do without the federal government regulating them against the regions' will.

I would like to propose an ammendment to the Constitution:

Article 1, Section 5, Line 31:

"To provide for nessesary anti-poverty legislation"

Senate Residency Requirement

Section 1

The Senate shall require that all persons wishing to run for either a Class A or Class B Senate seat must have been a legal resident of that region or district for at least 2 months prior to the election or appointment by the governor of that region.

(It is not the best written bill, but we will have time to discuss later)

I'm going to expand on this and then resubmit it.

Proposed Amendment to the Constitution:

Section 1

The Congress shall have the right to approve any legislation that they see as being necessary and proper for the alleviation of poverty throughout Atlasia.

Section 2

As we recognize that not all conditions that result in poverty are the same, and thus not all possible programs will work for all individuals, it shall be the right of the Senate to create legislation that specifically targets certain groups or subpopulations of Atlasia.

Section 3

The Federal government shall have the right to sublet the responsibility of any programs or monies to the various regions, provided that the government of those regions approve of bearing the responsibility.

Proposed Bill on Farm Subsidies (may need refinement):

Farm Subsidy Limit Act

Section 1: All future agricultural subsidies, starting in FY2007, shall be capped at a value of $15 billion per year in FY2005 dollars, to be adjusted for inflation.

Section 2: All present subsidies shall continue through FY2006. The Department of the Treasury, in conjunction with Congress, shall be responsible for a thorough review of current subsidies, to determine where neccesary reductions shall be made.

Section 3: These restrictions will be lifted in only in the following circumstances:
    3.i. During a time of Congressionally declared war;
    3.ii. Invididual aid in Federal Disaster areas;
    3.iii. A Congressionally declared famine emergency.

We probably wont get to it in this Senate but here it is:

Federal Activity Requirements Statute

The Senate notes that:

1. The present activity requirement requires 25 posts between elections in order for a voter to be defined as active, without specifying whether such requirements apply for general elections only, or includes special elections.

2. That special elections can occur as soon as one week after a general election, thus potentially disenfranchising many legitimate voters.

Clauses:

1. All those persons who have posted at least 25 times in the 8 weeks (56 days) prior to the commencement of an election shall be defined as active for the purposes of that election.

2. Those persons considered inactive (defined as not active) shall not be qualified to vote in a particular election.

3. Section 5 of the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act is repealed

4. The Amendment to the Statute of Election Procedures, Certification, and Challenges Act is repealed.

Senate Resolution

Primary Sponsor: Senator MAS117

Whereas, the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia hereby recongizes and thanks forum member Jravnsbo for his service in the United States Armed Forces, as he is off in Iraq guarding our freedom and protecting our nation. 

Whereas, the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia hereby authorizes and urges the President of the Republic of Atlasia to bestow and nominate Jravnsbo for the Atlasian Silver Star.

For Gabu, I am preparing to add another section to the Official Senate Procedural Resolution, detailing the vote rules on Cabinet members and Justices (since I missed that somehow).

I would like, if possible, for this not to be introduced now, if you're thinking about introducing more legislation and introduce it at the beginning of the next session when we have a full Senate as part of the Expired legislation.

Okay, although I'm not entirely sure whether or not we'll be able to get to any more legislation.  We only have until this Friday before the sixth session ends.

Yes, I fully agree.

I think you kind of beat out my dual electoral reform amendment and statute in terms of legislation size. :D

Ah, the good old days, back when we thought that would actually fix the electoral system. :D

Section 1:  Purpose

The purpose of this Procedural Resolution is to provide the Senate with detailed, yet flexible rules for parliamentary procedure, define clearly the powers and prerogatives of the President Pro-Tempore (PPT) and the President of the Senate within the affairs of the Senate, excepting those provisions so stated by the Constitution, and provide a speedy, yet careful process for legislation to proceed from the Senator to the Senate to the President for Passage or Veto.  It is also designed to clean up many of the inconsistencies, redundant clauses and vague wording of previous Senate Procedural Resolutions.

Section 2:  Definitions

1.   Legislation is defined as any Bill, Amendment, or Resolution to a current Act, Procedural Resolution, or Constitutional Amendment.

2.   In all past, present and future instances of the terms, a Bill is defined as a piece of legislation that is awaiting or is presently in debate on the Senate floor.  An Act is defined as a Bill that has achieved passage into Law.



Section 1:  Powers and Responsibilities of the President Pro-Tempore

1.   The President Pro-Tempore, to be further known in this document as the PPT, shall be the Presiding Officer of the Senate and shall be responsible for upholding the provisions of this Procedural Resolution when it is in his power to do so individually or, as so defined in this document, whenever joint consideration with either the President of the Senate or the members of the Senate.

2.   The PPT shall also be responsible for maintaining regular contact with the President of the Senate, in case such need arises for joint use of power as laid out under Article 7 of this Procedural Resolution.

3.   It is also the PPT’s responsibility to present himself/herself to the rest of the Senate as an exemplary member and to make sure that the Senate’s debate remains civil and orderly at all times.

Section 2:  Powers of the President of the Senate

1.   The President of the Senate, in addition to his powers so stated in the Constitution, shall retain the powers and prerogatives as the Presiding Officer of the Senate under the following circumstances:
a.   A publicly announced absence by the PPT from the Atlas Forum.
b.   If the PPT has been inactive from the Atlas Forum for seven (7) days. 
c.   In any case where the PPT has failed to uphold the provisions of this Procedural Resolution when it is in his power to do so individually.
d.   During any period of time when no Senator is presently holding the office of PPT.

2.   The President of the Senate shall also be responsible for maintaining regular contact with the PPT, in case such need arises for joint use of power as laid out under Article 7 of this Procedural Resolution.
 



Section 1:  Rules on Legislation Introduction

1.   The PPT shall establish and maintain a thread for Senators to introduce legislation, to be further known in this document as the Legislation Introduction Thread.  Only Senators who presently hold elected office may be allowed to post in this thread.  Any Citizens or Individuals who post in this thread may be subject to legal action pursuant to the relevant clauses in federal Criminal Law legislation so passed by the Senate.

2.   The PPT shall also establish and maintain a thread for all Citizens and Individuals of Atlasia to give opinions, thoughts, suggestions and ideas about recently introduced legislation or legislation presently under debate on the Senate floor.  This clause is not meant to deny Citizens or Individuals their right to post on Senate debate threads dealing with specific legislation presently being debated on the Senate floor.

3.   In the first seven (7) days of any new Session of the Senate, but at no other time during a Session of the Senate, the PPT may start a new Legislation Introduction Thread or a new commentary thread on legislation, as defined in Clause 2 of this Section, if the PPT determines that either thread has become too long or has been diverted off-topic.  Any legislation relevant to the present Session of the Senate that has been introduced on the old Legislation Introduction Thread must be posted on the new Legislation Introduction Thread by the PPT.

4.   If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor.  The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT.  (Nasolation clause)

5.   If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation addresses two or more divorced subjects, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor, strike any Sections from said legislation that deal with unrelated subjects, or split said legislation into multiple pieces of legislation which deal with only one subject individually.  The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of two-thirds (2/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT.

6.   The PPT may also utilize the Powers laid out in this previous Clause (Clause 5 of this Section) at any time during the Senate Debate on said legislation, as laid out in Article 4, Section 1 of this Resolution.  The rules for challenging the PPT’s actions by the sponsoring Senator shall also apply in this situation.

 Section 2:  Rules on Introducing Legislation to the Senate Floor

1.   The PPT will designate each piece of legislation debate time on the Senate Floor in the order of which it is posted in the Legislation Introduction thread.
 
2.   At any one time there may be no more than four (4) Bills/Constitutional Amendments/Resolutions on the Senate Floor being debated upon or voted upon by the Senate.

3.   Pursuant to Clauses 1 and 2 of this Section, legislation may only be introduced on the Senate floor by the PPT after another piece of legislation currently on the Senate floor is either:
a.   signed into law by the President or simply becomes law (by executive inaction for seven (7) days).
b.   in case of a Bill or Resolution, rejected by a majority of the Senate after a vote is called.
c.   in the case of a Amendment to the Constitution, rejected by more than one-third (1/3) of the Senate.
d.   withdrawn from the floor by the sponsor.

4.   In case of a veto override vote, legislation may only be introduced after the veto is sustained or overridden in a vote by the Senate.

5.   In case of a vote on an Amendment to the Constitution, legislation may only be introduced after the Senate has approved the Amendment in question and every Region has started a Public Poll on the Amendment, as so laid out in Article VII of the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia.

6.   After any one of these events so stated in Clause 3 of this Section occurs, the PPT must wait at least twenty-four (24) hours before introducing new legislation to the Senate floor, but may wait no longer than seventy-two (72) hours before introducing said new legislation.

Section 3:  Rules on Reintroducing Expired Legislation

1.   Within seventy-two (72) hours after the beginning of a new Session of the Senate, the PPT shall start a thread detailing expired legislation left over from the previous Senate session, to be further known in this document as the Expired Legislation thread.  In order for legislation to be reintroduced, said legislation must not have received public debate time on the Senate floor, or if debate time has been given, must have not come up for a public vote in front of the full Senate.  Any withdrawn legislation from the previous Session may not be eligible for reintroduction.

2.   Office-holding Senators will be given seventy-two (72) hours from the starting of the Expired Legislation thread to reintroduce any piece of expired legislation by public post.  After seventy-two (72) hours, any legislation that has not been reintroduced shall be removed from the Senate agenda.  Said legislation may be reintroduced by any Senator at a later time, but it must then follow the rules and guidelines for legislation introduction so laid out in Section 1 of this Article.

3.   The PPT will designate each piece of reintroduced legislation debate time on the Senate Floor in the order of which it was originally introduced on the Legislation Introduction Thread.
 
4.   The PPT must wait at least twenty-four (24) hours after the Expired Legislation thread is officially closed before introducing reintroduced legislation to the Senate floor, but may wait no longer than seventy-two (72) hours before introducing said legislation.

5.   If a Budget must be approved at the beginning of a Senate Session, as laid out in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, said reintroduced legislation may only be brought to the floor of the Senate by the PPT after a Budget has been approved.

6.   The PPT must wait at twenty-four (24) hours, but may wait no longer than seventy-two (72) hours after a Budget has been approved before bringing reintroduced legislation to the Senate floor for debate.

Making sure I get some of these to the top of the list.  :) 

This one was primarily worked out by Lt. Gov. WiseGuy, but I did some modifications, as well as some nice legal sounding jargon, so here it is.

---

Purpose of the Legislation

The purpose of this legislation is to renovate the antiquated Atlasian registration system in order to handle new problems and challenges.

Section One – Political Party Registration

1.   Anyone with the legally required number of posts as specified by activity requirements so laid by the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia, may register to vote in Atlasian Federal Elections in a Registration thread maintained by the Secretary of Forum Affairs (SoFA) or the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs (DSoFA), but may not affiliate with any Political Party or register officially as an Independent.

2.   Upon registration as a citizen in Atlasia, the Secretary of Forum Affairs (SoFA) or the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs (DSoFA) shall provide the new registrant with an information packet on the Political Parties in Atlasia sent in a Private Message to said new registrant, along with advising said new registrant of the option of registering Independent from all Political Parties.  A reasonable amount of time for fulfilling such a request should be no greater than seventy-two (72) hours or three (3) days since said new registrant officially registered to vote, unless all parties involved in this process have publicly declared their absence from the forum for a given period of time.

3.   If there has been no publicly declared absence from the parties involved and the new registrant has not received a Private Message within three (3) days of his registration, said new registrant may file a Complaint in Federal Court against the Secretary of Forum Affairs (SoFA) or the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs (DSoFA).  All defendants named by this Complaint may be subject to legal action pursuant to the relevant clauses in federal Criminal Law legislation so passed by the Senate.

4.   After the new registrant has received a Private Message with an information packet on the Political Parties in Atlasia from the Secretary of Forum Affairs (SoFA) or the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs (DSoFA), he/she shall contact whomever provided the initial information and notify them of their chosen Political Party affiliation or whether he/she wishes to remain Independent from Political Party affiliation.  Until this contact has occurred, said new registrant shall remain Unaffliated or Independent from Political Party affiliation.

5.   After the new registrant has chosen a Political Party affiliation or has chosen to remain Independent from Political Party affiliation, said new registrant shall be allowed to switch Political Party affiliations or choose to become Independent from Political Party affiliation at any time without following the steps laid out in Clauses 1 through 4 of this Section.  Affiliation changes may only be allowed by public post in the Registration thread maintained by the Secretary of Forum Affairs (SoFA) or the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs (DSoFA).

Section Two – Information Packets on Political Parties

1.   Each Political Party of over 5 registered citizens shall be required to create an information packet to show to all new registrants.  Each Political Party of 5 registered citizens or under shall not be required to create an information package to show to all new registrants, but is strongly advised to do so. 

2.   The Secretary of Forum Affairs (SoFA) or the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs (DSoFA) maintains the right at all times to exclude information on Political Parties in Atlasia who have not provided information packets on their Political Party from any and all new registrants.

3.   Information packets should include, but may not be limited to the following:

a.   Contact information for all National and Regional Chairmen, as well as any respected individuals within said Party.
b.   Links to the present Platform of the Party.
c.   Links to the Party Website and Forum. (if applicable)
d.   A short simple statement describing the Party’s goals and its ideals.

4.   Those Independent of Political Party affiliation may also create an information packet to show to all new registrants, but only one “Independent” information packet will be shown to new registrants along with the required advising of said new member of the option of remaining Independent.

5.   If there are more multiple information packet from those Independent of Political Party affliliation, the Secretary of Forum Affairs (SoFA) or the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs (DSoFA) maintains the right to choose which information packet he/she believes best represents those Independent of Political Party affiliation.

Section Three – Legal Parameters

This legislation shall go into effect after the conclusion of the next scheduled Federal Election following its passage into law.  All citizens legally registered to vote before this date will not be subject to the above-stated requirements.  If a citizen loses his voter registration per the activity laws so legislated by the Senate after said legislation has gone into effect, said citizen will be required to fulfill the requirements of said legislation.

I'll try to get some of this near the top of next session too!

Atlasian Regions Amendment

I.   Regions
1.   The former regions of Atlasia are hereby disbanded.
2.   The new regions of Atlaisa are now the Pacific, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Southeast.
A.   Pacific: Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana and Colorado
B.   Midwest: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. 
C.   Mid-Atlantic: Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia and D.C.
D.   Southeast: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
E.   Northeast: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island
II.   Regions Constitutions
1.   The new regions of Atlasia may choose to adopt an old regions constitution or write a new one
2.   All constitutions from all former regions shall be put up to a vote for the citizens of the new region along with the option of None of the Above.
3.   For any constitution to come into power a simple majority is all that is needed from each new region. Also the same is in effect for NOTA.
4.   Any propositions that have passed on an adopted constitution shall come into power a long with it.
5.   If NOTA passes all propositions that have passed on any old constitutions but are not written into the new constitution shall be put on the ballet along with the new constitution for a vote.
III.   Elections
1.   Any office holder in Atlasia shall stay in office until they’re term expires then they shall seek re-election from their new region.
2.  If any office shall fall vacant before the old term expires there shall be a special election held from the old region until the next scheduled election.
3.  If after an election cycle a region would still be Governerless that region shall have a special election held to elect a new Governer.
IV.   Region Lock
1.   No state shall be locked into any one region.
2.   Each state has the right to switch region as long as the entire population of said state signs a petition for movement.

2005 Puerto Rican Statehood Bill

I.   The commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are hereby the 51st state of the union of the Atlasia with the name of Puerto Rico.
II.   The Senate shall vote on which region/district Puerto Rico shall be designated into.
III.   The State of Puerto Rico shall be given full rights from whichever district/region it’s placed into and be under full jurisdiction of the Atlasian constitution.

I would like to motion that this bill be broken into two separate parts, since sections I, II, V, and VI deal with Social Security taxes, whereas section III deals with Capital Gains taxes and therefore violates the Procedural Resolution on multiple issue bills.

It is a related issue, very much so.  I would hate to see this bill pass without the cuts in capital gains and divident taxes.  The point of the tax breaks are to allow for people who need it to be able to make a bit more money off stocks as they will be slightly phased off of social security.

I understand the rationale behind it, Preston. 

I'm just functionally motioning for a PPT decision when we get a PPT, because it's an issue that could well come up later when we're debating the bill.

Regardless of what I think though, it is the PPT's decision and his alone.

Strike my Regions Amendment please. No more states to the south, we'll just leave it as is for now. My other bill is still in there though.

I think President of the Senate Peter Bell (since Gabu no longer has the power) should create a new legislation thread.

BTW, since Jedi isn't going to do it, I am going to introduce the Regional Amendment under my name.

Until we have a moderator who is vaguely active to change the sticky, I'm going to leave it as it is. Once John gets the moderator power, I'll post a new one.

The Repeal of the ANWR Drilling Authorization Bill

Primary Sponsor: Senator MAS117

1.) The entirety of the ANWR Drilling Authorization Bill is hereby repealed.

Do you really think the almost Senate that passed this will repeal it? I don't think so.

MAS is just being obstinate.  :P

Btw, MAS, your Clause 2 is really pointless.  There are no moneys being appropriated by my legislation, at least as not of yet unless someone writes a proposal to spend the money on clean energy legislation.   

There are only revenues being gained by the government.  These revenues will need to be subtracted, that's all.

Candidacy Declaration Bill[/u]

Primary Sponsor:[/b] Senator MAS117
Co-Sponsor:[/b] Senator Sam Spade

The Senate notes that:

1. Under Article I, Section 4, Clause 6 and Article I, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution the Senate is delegated the power to determine procedures for declaration of candidacy in federal elections.

2. In the interim, Article VIII, Section 2, Clause 3 sets the Candidacy Declaration period at 7 days for Scheduled elections and 2 days for Regular elections.

Clauses:

1. All declarations of candidacy must be submitted to a thread established by the Secretary of Forum Affairs for this purpose in the (Voting Booth ?). This thread shall be linked from the Atlas Forum Headquarters and Government Headquarters threads.

2. The Secretary of Forum Affairs shall post in the thread when the candidacy declaration period for a particular election shall have expired.

3. All declarations must list the office being sought and the party label being used by the candidate. Such declarations of candidacy may be withdrawn or amended up to the end of the candidacy declaration period, and the declaration of withdrawl of a candidacy must be done in the same thread that the candidate declared in.

4. For all declarations of candidacy to the Senate, the candidate must be resident in the relevant District or Region at the time of candidacy declaration, else the declaration shall not be valid.

I'd like to be a co-sponsor to this legislation if that's possible.

I also might suggest that this thread be stickied in the Atlas Fantasy Elections board, since it really is very relevant to that.

I will add the distinguished gentlemen as a Co-Sponsor to this bill. Sure I will post it in the other board.

Modifications to Federal Personal Income Tax Rates for FY2006

Section 1
All rate changes specified below shall be valid for personal income tax collection in the fiscal year of 2006 (FY2006) only.

Section 2
(a).  FY2006 Personal Income Tax rates for the top earnings bracket shall be raised by 3 percent to 38 percent.

(b).  FY2006 Personal Income Tax rates for the second-to-top earnings bracket shall be raised by 2 percent to 35 percent.

(c).  FY2006 Personal Income Tax rates for the third-to-top earnings bracket shall be raised by 1 percent to 29 percent.

(d).  FY2006 Personal Income Tax rates for the third-to-bottom earnings bracket shall remain at 25 percent.

(e).  FY2006 Personal Income Tax rates for the second-to-bottom earnings bracket shall be lowered by 1 percent to 14 percent.

(f).  FY2006 Personal Income Tax rates for the bottom earnings bracket shall be abolished.

King, could you post what the brackets are exactly?

Looks like a great bill.  I'll co-sponsor.

I second Jake's question and would also like to add the question as to how much projected revenues would come through these increases (minus the one decrease)?

I did not add the bracket figures to the bill as the vary from group to group:  http://taxes.yahoo.com/rates.html

My fight against China begins with my new resolution (not bill):

                                A Resolution to Condemn China

Be it resolved by the Senate here assembled;

Whereas; China has repeatedly violated human rights.

Whereas; China’s human rights violations violate their own international commitments.

Whereas; The Chinese Government condones the usage of cruel and unusual punishment for its prisoners.

Whereas; The Chinese Government continues to persecute all political ideas contrary to those of the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China.

Whereas; The Chinese Government continues to persecute all religions.

Whereas; China persist in, despite international outcry against, its' one-child policy.

Therefore be it enacted by the Senate that; China should be condemned for its crimes against human rights.

The Helicopter Rearmament Bill

Primary Sponsor: Senator MAS117
Co-Sponsor:[/b] Senator Supersoulty

§ I. The Treasury of Atlasia shall allocate $1.5 billion dollars to Bell Helicopter, a Textron Company, towards the funding, building, and arming of 50 new AH-1Z Cobra Helicopters for use in the Atlasian Marine Corp.

§ II. The Treasury of Atlasia shall allocate $843.75 million dollars to Boeing to fund, build, and arm 15 new AH-64D Apache Longbow Helicopters for use in the Atlasian Army.

Tax Equity Act of 2005

Section 1: Payroll Taxes Repealed
Subtitle C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to payroll taxes and withholding of income taxes) is repealed.

Section 2: Estate and Gift Taxes Repealed
Subtitle B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to estate and gift taxes) is repealed.

Section 3: Conforming Amendments; Effective Date
(a) The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--

(1) by striking subtitle H (relating to financing of presidential election campaigns), and
(2) by redesignating--
  (A) subtitle D (relating to miscellaneous excise taxes) as subtitle B,
  (B) subtitle E (relating to alcohol, tobacco, and certain other excise taxes) as subtitle C,
  (C) subtitle F (relating to procedure and administration) as subtitle D,
  (D) subtitle G (relating to the Joint Committee on Taxation) as subtitle E,
  (E) subtitle I (relating to the Trust Fund Code) as subtitle F,
  (F) subtitle J (relating to coal industry health benefits) as subtitle G, and
  (G) subtitle K (relating to group health plan portability, access, and renewability requirements) as subtitle H.

(b) Redesignation of 1986 Code-

(1) The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, enacted on October 22, 1986, as heretofore, hereby, or hereafter amended, may be cited as the 'Internal Revenue Code of 2005'.

(2) Except when inappropriate, any reference in any law, Executive order, or other document--
  (A) to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall include a reference to the Internal Revenue Code of 2005, and
  (B) to the Internal Revenue Code of 2005 shall include a reference to the provisions of law formerly known as the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(c) The amendments made by this act shall take effect for all tax years (months) beginning after it becomes law.

Section 4: Enactment of Flat Tax

Subchapter A of Subtitle A is amended to read:

'Section 1. Flat Tax Imposed
'There is hereby imposed, on every resident, a tax equal to 16 percent of the total income, from whatever source derived, of such person, except for estates and gifts.'

Section 5: Supermajority Required for Structural Changes to Personal Income Tax

No measure to create any new personal income tax bracket, deduction, or exemption shall be considered by the Senate but by a vote of three-fifths of the total number of senators, taken by yeas and nays.

I add my co-sponsor to this bill.

Once again, I'm going to ask with Masterjedi's bill...

What does this do to the government's revenues and all?

Same thing still goes with King's bill; I still haven't gotten an answer on that question.

I don't care where you get the figures, as long as they're GM-approved or come from the GM himself.

Unless I get figures, I will oppose vigorously any and every tax change/raise/cut, etc. because I like to know what we're getting into.

We did this in another thread, where we were discussing alternative tax systems for the United States. If taxes are at the same levels as in the United States:

http://www.wnjpin.net/OneStopCareerCenter/LaborMarketInformation/lmi10/tpi.htm
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=1821&sequence=0

For 2004:
(total personal income)x = (income tax revenue + payroll tax revenue)
$9,672,205,074,000x = $1,542,400,000,000
x = 0.1595
x-> 0.16

Estate tax raises very little money as is, much less at a 16% rate, so exempting it is not a big change in net revenues at all. We're already abolishing it in real life without replacing it with another revenue source, and it'll do wonder for small business.

I don't have exact figures, but our revenues would slightly increase as the tax increase goes for approx. 33% of the tax base while the decrease for appox. 31%.

Lets start cutting the fat from our budget:

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Deficit Reduction Bill of 2005

(a).  Data below is indexed as millions of dollars. 

(b).  The 7th Senate shall make the following modficiations to the following programs in the FY2005-06 budget as passed by the 6th Senate:

NASA                                            -$14,484;
Corps of Engineers                                  -$4,975;
Agency for International Development                    -$3,390;
International Assistance Programs               -$2,089;
Small Business Administration                    -$1,439;
Export-Import Bank                            -$1,044;
Cargo Preference Program                        -$673;
Assistance for Former Soviet Union                -$484;
Federal Drug Control Program                    -$457;
Corporation for National and Community Service    -$433;
Assistance for Eastern Europe                    -$402;
Corporation for Public Broadcasting                -$375;
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission       -$331;
Legal Services Corporation                        -$329;
Peace Corps                                    -$284;
National Labor Relations Board                   -$238;
Overseas Private Investment Corporation            -$207;
National Endowment for the Humanities            -$125;
National Endowment for the Arts                -$113;
Appalachian Regional Commission                -$109;
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.                -$105;
African Development Fund                        -$57;
Trade and Development Agency                   -$55;
Federal Labor Relations Board                    -$29;
Selective Service System                        -$25;
Commission on Civil Rights                        -$9.

Total Decreases:                           $32,261 
Total Increases:                           $0 

Change:                                   -$32,261 

Well, please get me exact figures then.  My guess was that revenues would slightly increase, but I sort of figured that.  :)

Masterjedi is essentially calling for around a 400-500 billion revenue cut.  We'll have to keep that mind.

How? I gave you the numbers. It comes out to 16%.

Average government revenue for a while has been roughly about 18% of GDP.

For example, if GDP is about 11 trillion, where it is presently, average government revenues are about 2 trillion at present.

I support all of these cuts except those for NASA.

His bill only replaces the current payroll and income taxes; not corporate taxes, excise taxes, or anything else.

It will raise the same amount of revenue that the United States government is generating from the income and payroll taxes each year. It hikes rates on interest and lower-to-middle income bracket capital gains, while slashing the tax on unearned income.

Um, that's $32 billion.

King, do you have any information on how much each of these programs are alotted each year?

This was written by Joe Republic, I'm sponsering it for him.

Secret Ballot Procedure Bill

Section 1

1. During any federal election, a registered voter may choose to submit their ballot or absentee ballot in secret.  This is considered an optional alternative form of voting to a public ballot.  The method of vote submission is outlined in Section 2, Clause 4 below.

2. All secret ballots must satisfy all clauses outlined in Section 1 of the Omnibus Election System, Procedure and Certification Act.

3. No registered voter may vote both publicly and secretly in the same election.  If this occurs, the Secretary of Forum Affairs will discount both votes.

Section 2

1. For the purposes of counting and validating secret ballots, an Electoral Committee will be assembled by no later than a week before the election is scheduled to begin.

2. The Committee will be comprised of three members, consisting of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

3. In the event that any of the office holders listed either are themselves candidates in the election or are not present to fulfill their duty, those in the aforementioned situation shall be replaced by the highest office holder in the following list who is not a candidate present in the election and who is present to fulfill the duty:

Senior Associate Justice
Junior Associate Justice
Vice President
President Pro Tempore
Secretary of State
Attorney General
Secretary of Defense
Secretary of the Treasury
1A Senator
1B Senator
2A Senator
2B Senator
3A Senator
3B Senator
4A Senator
4B Senator
5A Senator
5B Senator

4. Identical copies of all secret ballots will be submitted for counting by the voter to each of the three members of the Committee in the form of a personal message.

5. Once voting has officially ended, the Committee will convene in a private and suitable manner.  Each member will ensure that their own collected ballots are identical to the corresponding ballots collected by the other two members.

6. In the event that any one of the three copies of a ballot does not match the corresponding copies, the ballot will be discounted.

7. All legitimate ballots will then be incorporated into the vote count and subsequent certification for the relevant election.

8. Once the election has been certified, the Committee will disband.

I would like to note that starting with the next election, we won't have a 1A Senator, a 1B Senator, etc. Instead, we will have 5 District Senators and 5 Regional Senators.

Might I suggest that we instead order Senators by seniority? The President pro Tempore would be the most senior Senator. The others would be ranked by length of service. If length of service is tied, then the tie would be broken by the order in which the oath of office was taken.

That's fine by me.  I more or less copied that list almost exactly from the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act.

Senator, you can pick up a copy of the Atlasian Federal Budget that you voted on yourself. ;)

I hereby withdraw the Candidacy Declaration Bill.

Entered by StatesRights Before

Atlasian National Parks Act

Section One
•  Atlasia shall set up a senatorial commission to investigate the creation of several national parks within Atlasia.
•  National Parks shall be created with the consent of the several Regions.
•  A National Park shall be considered a natural wonder or site of historical significance (i.e. battlefield, historical home/birthplace).

Section Two - Protections
•  Any area deemed a Natural Wonder or Historical Site shall be protected from all construction, development or any other act which would destroy the integrity of the site.
•  Any construction to sites to improve them (i.e. Parking lots, visitor centers, etc) shall be done upon the approval of the senate.
•  Any homes, businesses or private properties currently on areas deemed to be national parks shall be purchased by the Atlasian government at fair market value.

Section Three - Declaring a Park
•  Intentions for a park may be declared by the President simply by requesting the senate to investigate and vote on the matter.
•  Senators may petition for the creation of a park to the senate.
•  Citizens may start a petition for a national park to be voted on by the senate.

Section Four - Voting for a Park
•  Creation of a park will require a simple majority of the senate to pass.

Entered by StatesRights Before

Atlasian Wetlands Act

Section One - What is a Wetland?
•  Wetlands shall be considered any area of undeveloped land greater then five acres which is either partially submerged or submerged under water for greater then six months of the year.
•  Wetlands shall be considered any area in which development has not already occurred and/or development has not already begun.

Section Two - Protections
•  All undeveloped wetlands shall henceforth be protected under federal law and be enforced by the regional governors under their discretion.
•  Wetlands shall not be drained, rechanneled or otherwise damaged once declared as a declared protection zone.
•  ATVs and Airboats shall not be restricted from recreational usage of these waterways but their usage (ie speeds) shall be determined by the regional governors.
•  Wetlands will be protected from use as sewage dumps, drain off points or other such non-natural usages.

Section Three - Penalties
•  Violators shall face a ladder penalty of 500$ for the first offence, 1000$ for the second offence and 10,000$ for the third offence.
•  Habitual violators shall face the above mentioned fines plus up to 3 years imprisonment to be determined by the court.

Wow three bills in one day. Thanks to John D. Ford for writing this one for me!

Prescription Drug Reimportation Act

1. Atlasian trade law shall be amended to allow private citizens to purchase prescription drugs from Canadian retailers and transport them into the United States for private use.

  A. Section one shall not apply in cases where the Atlasian citizen does not have a properly
      issued prescription for the drug in question.

2. Drugs reimported from Canada may not be resold in the United States.  Only private non-commercial use is permitted.

   A. Violation of Section 2 will result in a penalty of maximum ten years imprisonment and
      a maximum fine of $5,000.

3. No commercial enterprise may purchase drugs in Canada and reimport them.  The privileges are restricted to private citizens who have been prescribed the medication in question.

   A. Any commercial enterprise that attempts to reimport drugs into the US will be fined a
     maximum of $50,000 per dosage of drugs they attempt to reimport.

4. No drug may be purchased directly from a drug producer or wholesaler, only from retailers.

I wish to add my sponsorship of this act.

By the request of the SoFA:

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Amendment to the (F.L. 6-12) Government Thread Act

Clause 2 of the (F.L. 6-12) Government Thread Act shall be amended to read:

It is the responsibility of each member of the Cabinet to create and/or maintain a thread in the either the Atlas Forum Government Board or the Atlas Forum Elections Board relating to their office. There shall also be a similar thread for the President of the nation. If the Vice-President determines it useful, a Vice-Presidential thread shall be created using the same guidelines outlined for the previously listed thread.
[/list]

Now we can finally protect the Stow, Ohio wetlands.

Can we finally get a new legislation introduction thread?  This one is getting wayyy too big! ;)

How is it getting too big?  I can still follow what's going on and senators don't need to; you just append your legislation onto the end.

Expanding the language and actions of this bill is probably a good idea, but here is the real jist of it:

---

Atlasian Road and Rail Deregulation and Privatization Initiative

Section 1
(a).  The Senate recognizes that the regulation and subsidization of freight and passenger rail is fiscally irresponsible and economically dangerous for the industry.

(b).  The Senate recognizes that the nationalization of highways, roads, and bridges is unnecessary and dangerous for the designing of future infrastructure.

(c).  The Senate recognizes that the federal taxation of automotive fuel is economically dangerous and an unnecessary tax.

Section 2
All Federal taxes on the purchase of all fuel used for the powering of automotive vehicles shall be hereby repealed.

Section 3
(a). The Urban Mass Transit Act of 1964, Railway Labor Act of 1926, and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1934 are hereby repealed.

(b). All subsides on freight rail, subways, and other forms of passenger rail are shall be declared void by FY2006.

Section 4
(a).  The management of all highway, road, and bridge networks in Atlasia shall be transfered to their respective regional governments by FY2006.

I'd like to co-sponsor this bill.

What are the fiscal implications of this bill?  Seems like you're getting rid of all gas taxes, that's got to cost a lot

We all also getting rid of $35 billion in transporation subsides and regulatory costs.

Diplomatic Mission Bill

Primary Sponsor: Senator MAS117
Co-Sponsor: Senator Supersoutly

§ I. The President of Atlasia shall have power to negoitiate Treaties and establish diplomatic relations with other micronations or forums, but such Treaties and relations shall only have effect where ratified by the Senate.

§ II. The President may appoint ambassadors to foreign nations to help facilitate relations between the said nation and the Republic of Atlasia. These said ambassadors must be confirmed with the advice and consent of a majority of the Senate.

§ III. The Ambassadorship does not qualify as an Office under the Government of Atlasia.

§ IV. The Presidential nominee for an Ambassadorship must be be voted for in the affirmative by a majority of the Senate in order to be confirmed.

§ V. The Ambassador's will report directly to the Secretary of State, who in turn will report directly to the President of Atlasia.

§ VI. It shall be the job of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (a sub-department within the Department of State) to protect Ambassdor's in foreign nations. It shall be the job of the Marine Security Guard Battalion to guard and protect Atlasian Embassies in foreign nations.

As requested of me by former Senator Bono, I will introduce two Amendments to the Constitution (in separate posts) that he has asked me to introduce.

If there are any problems or changes with either of these, Bono, please let me know and I will do so.  I have modified the wording very slightly to make it sound in keeping with the rest of the document.

---

Addition to the Bill of Rights, Article VI

16.  Each individual shall have the inherent Right of defending the life, liberty and property of any individual using whatever force is necessary, through whatever means available, including the use of deadly force.

Sam, I don't like to actually read what I vote on so this get's my full support.

Pacifican Statehood Act of 2005

I. After a majority of vote by the citizens of Guam, Atlasian Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands voting in the affirmative in a referendum administrated five days after the passage of this act by the territory governments of the commonwealths of Guam, Atlasian Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands are hereby entered in the Union of Atlasia as the 52nd state of Pacifica (or 51st if Puerto Rico doesn’t come in).
II. The Senate shall vote on the region/district the state of Pacifica shall be entered into.
III. The state of Pacifica shall be given full rights under whichever region/district it’s placed into and be under full jurisdiction of the Atlasian Constitution.

No this is getting ing stupid. Know how many people live on the majority of those islands MAS?

Navassa - 0
Jarvis - 0
Howland - 0
Baker - 0
Palmyra - 0
Wake - 200 contractors
Kingman Reef - 0

The only islands that have significant population are Am. Samoa - 70K and Virgin Islands 124K.

I added the 3 territories in the Pacific that have population (Northern Mariana, Guam and Atlasian (in this case) Somoa) as one state.

You (in your bill that even you admit is pointless) want each island a state, even those that don't have population. In my bill we start getting some taxes back while getting the islands up to the quality of living that we enjoy today.

You on the other hand seem to really want to let them wallow in poverty!

                    A Bill to Establish “Statesman Park”

Be it enacted by the Senate here assembled:

Section 1: A “Statesman Park” will be established through the Atlasian National Park System.

Section 2: The park will be established to commemorate the history of such Atlasian Statesmen, ranging from Presidents, to Senators, to Governors, to Cabinet members.

Section 3: Bronze statues will be erected to their memory as well as a plaque commemorating their achievements.

Section 4: This park will be established in Arlington, Virginia.

Section 5: Funding will come from those penalties under the Preserving Our National Parks Act.

Just another silly bill from me to keep our history remembered.

This simple initiative is the first step toward real education reform and will save taxpayers over $350 million by taking a projected 500,000 Atlasian students out of public schools in areas across the country.

---

The Atlas Educational Scholarship and Choice Initiative

Section 1.   

Beginning in the fiscal year of 2006, the Treasury of the Republic of Atlasia shall activate a nonrefundable personal income tax credit valued at $500 per applicable dependent for the reimbursement of funds spent on the tuition of a K-to-12 school which is not a member of a government-sponsored public school district. 

Section 2.

Beginning the fiscal year of 2006, the Treasury of the Republic of Atlasia shall activate a nonrefundable personal income tax credit for the donation of funds to an I.R.S. 501(c)3 K-to-12 scholarship clearing-house charity valued at 50 percent of the total annual donation.

Section 3.   

Individual taxpayer shall be allowed to apply for both tax credits in 1.(a) and 1.(b) only if the credited return does not exceed their income tax liability for the fiscal year.

Section 4.

For a taxpayer to receive the credit, they shall be required to enclose a standard receipt for each dependent from the applicable schools or charities.

Striking of the 24 Waiting Period

Primary Sponsor:[/b] Senator MAS117
Co-Sponsor:[/b] Senator Colin Wixted, Senator Supersoulty, Senator King, Senator MasterJedi, Senator Sam Spade, Senator Gabu

1.) Article 3, Section 2, Clause 6 is hereby removed from the Official Senate Procedural Resolution.

I'll co-sponsor this as well!

I would like to co-sponsor this as well.  When this comes to a vote, I will point out other parts of the resolution we can strike that deal with this clause exclusively.

(If we have enough co-sponsors, do we actually need a vote.)  :)

Yes, we do, just to make sure and to make it official.  Simply saying "this has enough support; let's just pass it" would create a bad precedent, to say the least.

Nah, I understand.  I was more of just making a joke, frankly.

Fatwa Appreciation Act

Wheras the current government of Iran is run by an insane, extremist Ayatollah, the State Department shall have the right to publicly mock any insane fatwas that the Grand Ayatollah of Iran issues.

Iranian Resistance Support Act

Wheras the current government of Iran's violations of human rights and its support of terrorist movements runs contrary to the interests of both the United States and the Iranian people, the US Government is authorized to give $20 million in aid during FY2005 and FY2006 to resistance fighters attempting to overthrow the current government of Iran, at the discretion of the Departments of Defense and State.

I believe I did something like this in my Promotion of Democracy Act, which implecitely states Iran as one of the sources of aid for pro-democracy groups but I would support an increase in that aid.

Marijuana Criminalization Act

Section I
The Marijauana Legalization and Taxation act is hereby repealed.

Section II
Regions shall be given the right to decide the status of Marijuana legaliziation in their state.

Section II is already a part of the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act. It implicitely states that 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. Commercially sold marijuana cigarettes shall be subject to the same regulations as tobacco cigarettes, unless a regional law shall nullify this provision and provide its own. (Important areas are bolded)

The Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act was a federal decriminalization of marijuana not a full regional and federal decriminalization. If you would like you have the full authority to put forth a proposition in the Southeast, under the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act, to criminalize the possesion and use of marijuana. I personally see no reason for this law since it basically gives the states a power that they already have. Preston you need to stop getting all riled up about things like this.

Colin is quite right on the application of the bill in the Regions at large.

I would not have approved it, had the Regions not had the right to tax it and criminalize it themselves, etc.

A proposed amendment given to me by Governor Dubya:

Constitutional Amendment to Article IV, Section 2, Clause 4

Article IV, Section 2, Clause 4, of the Constitution of Atlasia shall be amended to read thus:

A State by plebiscite shall be able to veto its transfer from one Region to another, or initiate a transfer to a different Region.

Atlasian Tax Reform Act of 2005

Section I
The Alternative Minimum Tax is now alterted in which the minimum base to be qualified increases proportionally to inflation annually.  The minimum base is now set at $80,000.

Section II
Coporate Income Tax deductions and subsidies not pertaining to discouraging a negative externality or encouraging scientific research and development or any other positive externality shall be cut 25%.

Section III
The Earned Income Tax Credit (ETIC) is increased by 10%

Section IV
For all married couples filling jointly, the income will be taxed at the rate average of the rates of the two individuals should they have filled seperately

Section V
The Federal Estate Tax is renewed to 1999 levels for all estates of valued over $5,000,000. 

Section VI
The current FY 2005 tax cuts for those in the top 1% tax bracket are eliminated and the tax cuts for the top 2-5% are cut in half.

Section VII
The income tax rate for small buisnesses is decreased 5%.  A small buisness in this case will be defined as any buisness that's gross revenue is between $50,000 and $5,000,000.

Section VIII
Taxes for all making less than $75,000 anually are cut 1%.

I will work on the facts and figures while it works it's way to the floor.

Articles of Impeachment against President Alcon:

I call for an impeachment vote against President Alcon for attempting to violate Article II, Section II of the Constitution in announcing he will remain in office beyond the first Friday after the current elections

EDIT: I Withdraw this Bill. 

Under the President's ability to introduce legislation, I present the DanielX Lacks a Sense of Humor Act of 2005:

WHEREAS, Senator DanielX of Wyoming has no sense of humor whatsoever.

WHEREAS, Senator DanielX entered Articles of Impeachment following what was clearly a joke.

WHEREAS, today is Tuesday.

The Senate declares that Senator DanielX of Wyoming be forced to spend at least an hour a day watching improvisational comedy at the Lander Center for Creative Arts in Lander, Wyoming.

:D

I'll co-sponsor this! ;D

Gabu Rubber Chicken Act

1. The Atlasian Government shall purchase for Senator Gabu a supply of 1,000 rubber chickens to be used in his comedy routines.

2. The expense shall be deducted from Gabu's Senatorial salary.

3. The city of Lander, Wyoming shall hereby be renamed Gabuville, Wyoming.

Supreme Court Adjustments of 2005

Section 1:  Article III, Section I, Clause II of the constitution will now read as follows:

The Supreme Court shall consist of five Justices who shall all be registered voters, one of whom shall be the Chief Justice. Justices shall hold their office during good behavior.

Section II:
This will take effect upon ratification by the regions, as specified in the constitution.

What is the rationale for having five justices?

Yes I cannot see any reason for this amendment. It is already hard enough to try to find three active people who are willing to be justices finding two more would just add more hassles.

I think he wants 2 more people who aren't in the FEC.

.
Geez, our Senate has no sense of humor.

I'm not paid to be funny, I'm paid to be a Senator. ;)

You get paid? :(

Yep. What you didn't recieve your paycheck? :)

Yes, but it was in the form of Monopoly money, and I already own Park Place and Boardwalk with hotels on each spot.

The Mideast has the right idea:

Signature and Avatar Amendment
1.  The Senate of the Republic of Atlasia hereby recognizes that a mandatory statement of a voter's registration in a person's avatar or signature is no longer necessary to aide the administrator of an election to determine the state in which a voter is registered.

2.  Upon this recognition, the Senate of Atlasia with the formal consent of the Regions shall repeal Article V, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Atlasian Constitution effective on August 18, 2005.

The Southeast has never required mandatory avatars in someone's sig.  :)

Fine, everybody that wasn't standing on Capitol Hill when this amendment was proposed that thought of this before... has the right idea.

Packing it with people who will overturn Bono vs. Atlasia and render Supersoulty's unwed mothers protection bill constitutional.

Uh...Preston, one of the first people I would suggest to Siege for any expanded court would be Dibble and then probably Peter Bell since both have a great knowledge of the constitution. I'm doubting that either of these people will swing it in your favour. Actually I believe that all three of the current justices would come to the same conclusion as the majority opinion in that earlier ruling.

I recall FDR trying this one time... not literally of course.

And here we are debating a bill about tactical voting.

Well, I suppose at least you're very open about your extremely Machiavellian motives.

I realized that since MAS is no longer in the Senate, I would like to take over sponsorship of this resolution.

Time to cut to the chase here:

Reunification of the Southeast Bill[/u]

Clause I

The State of Virginia shall henceforth be located in the Southeast Region.

Clause II

This bill shall take effect immediately on September 1, 2005 or once approved by the residents of Virginia by plebiscite and by the Southeast and Mideast Regions, whichever occurs at a later time.

OMG ITS THE FEC!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm simply letting the people decide if they want the bill approved.  If they disaprove of it, they will reject this amendment.

OMG PRESTON WAS THE HEAD OF THE FEC ALL THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!

This was written by Joe Republic again and I'm not for it or against it as of now so don't try to crucify me yet. :)

VOTING SYSTEM REFORM RESOLUTION

Preamble

Whereas, the current system of preferential voting used for federal elections has been called into question,

Whereas, there are several potential alternative systems that could be used instead,

The Senate hereby recognizes the need for a discussion on reforming the current system of voting.

Section 1 - Forming a Commission

1. The Administration and Senate will jointly form a Commission, that will address the issue of reforming the voting system.

2. The President will appoint the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs, and two Atlasian citizens who do not currently hold federal office, to join the Commission.

3. The President Pro Tempore (PPT) will appoint two senators (including himself if he wishes), and two Atlasian citizens who do not currently hold federal office (and are not the same citizens appointed by the President), to join the Commission.

4. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will also be a member of the Commission.

4. The members of the Commission will decide among themselves who will chair the Commission, by any means they see fit.

Section 2 - The role of the Commission

1. The Commission will discuss any and all systems of voting that they feel would be appropriate for use in Atlasian federal elections, including the current system of preferential voting.

2. The Commission may conduct these discussions in any way that they see fit.

Section 3 - Report

1. Once the Commission has reached a conclusive decision that meets the approval of the majority of its members, the Chairman will report the findings to the Senate.  The report will state which system(s) of voting they recommend for use in Atlasian federal elections.

2. Once the Chairman has delivered his report, the Commission will disband.

It would make sense for this commission to discuss not only the means of voting, but also secret vs. public balloting.

Also, I would note that the PPT has considerable latitude in which Senators to appoint: he may appoint any Senators. However, the President seems to have no choice in which members of the Cabinet to appoint. As a matter of principle, since the Presidency's powers seems to have already been so restricted, I would suggest that the President be permitted to choose any two members of the executive branch (including himself, if he pleases, just as the PPT may do).

I'll agree with that reasoning, though I still think the SoFA ought to be included too.

I dont think it would hurt to add a few Governors in there to rep. the regions, Master.

Good idea, MAS.

Er, why would we include the regions in a reform that only affects things at the federal level?

I don't think it's just a matter of which level this affects. The voting system is an integral component of the Atlasian political structure, and I think that it would not hurt to have a wide range of interests represented on the commission. (For instance, the Chief Justice would be a member, even though the reform is political, not judicial.)

I was going to ask the same thing.  Still, the Commission would include four Atlasian citizens who don't currently hold federal office, so I guess a couple of Governors could be picked anyway.

I suppose.

I also should add that since this affects the President and people external to the Senate, shouldn't this be a bill, instead of just a resolution?

Yes; it would require the President's signature to become law.

I figured that it was mandating a temporary measure that would probably precede an actual bill (i.e. to change the system).  If you'd prefer it was a bill, that would be ok though.

I was under the impression that the Senate could set up internal committees (that is, committees comprised entirely of Senators) on its own, but that the creation of other agencies required a law.

However, I doubt that anyone would actually challenge the commission; it doesn't really matter whether its a bill or a resolution as far as I am concerned.

Well, it's just that Senate resolutions are supposed to only be related to things that stay internal in the Senate.  The proposed idea requires the President to act, as well as people from the executive branch and private citizens.

Returning some long-term fiscal sanity to the federal government:

---

Repeal of the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act of 2003

Section 1:  Definitions

1.  All estimates on projections of spending for the "Medicare Part D benefit" come from CBO estimates listed below.

Testimony on estimating the Cost of the Medicare Modernization Act (http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=5252&sequence=0), circa March 24, 2004

Projection of Spending for the Medicare Part D Benefit (http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=6076&sequence=0), circa February 9, 2005

2.  Through these estimates, it is assumed that the Repeal of the programs created under this Act shall save roughly $557.7 billion dollars over these next 10 years, and that the savings of the Repeal of these programs for FY 2006 shall be roughly $1.8 billion dollars

Section 2: Provisions

1.  The Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act of 2003 is hereby repealed.

2.  All funds previously appropriated by the Senate for FY 2005 to fulfill the requirements of this legislation shall be honored by the Federal Government.

3.  All appropriations and other moneys set to be authorized for fulfillment of this legislation in the Preliminary Version of the Federal Budget for FY 2006 and all future Fiscal Years shall be terminated.

I know I'm alittle late in saying this but I support the formation of a committee to look into the pros and cons of any reform to our current voting system.

To continue on with some of my expansionist views here's this bill. I know some people will consider this a lowering of the qualitiy of bills but it isn't. :)

Atlasian Land Acquisition Act of 2005

1. After the passage of this bill Atlasia shall begin talks with Denmark for the purchase of Greenland.
2. After discussions with Denmark Atlasia shall agree to purchase Greenland for between $4,332,172-10,830,430.
3. If purchase occurs Greenland shall become a full territory of Atlasia, completely governed by its constitution and laws.

I sincerely doubt that Denmark would sell Greenland for even a 1/1000th the price of what you're quoting here.

Uh, if we're going to begin talks with Denmark to purchase Greenland, why do we essentially have a set price already?

Also, as Sam points out, $10,830,430 is not exactly a lot of money.

Why would we want Greenland?  At least there turned out to be oil in Alaska, but there's nothing in Greenland but eskimos and polar bears.  We could rename it 'MasterJedi's Folly'!

The Polar Bear is a very endangered species, we must protect it! ;)

I say we should take control of both North and South Atlasia as the continents are both named after this country.

Manifest Destiny!

If you really want to take control of both continents, the best means of binding them to Atlasia is through trade.  It is more subtle than just acquiring them outright. 

I'll manifest your destiny. :P

Actually to be serious their have been large oil deposits found in Greenland. The problem is they are rather hard to get to at this time and some of the less remote oil fields are just entering exploratory drilling at this time.

Dealing with what was mentioned earlier by me:

Constitutional Amendment to Article I, Section 8, Clause 6

Article I, Section 8, Clause 6, of the Constitution of Atlasia shall be amended to read thus:

"The Senate must approve each and every Budget before moving on to any other matter, except for Presidential nominations, PPT elections. or other similarly urgent matters at the beginning of a session of the Senate."

So it was Atlasigo Vespucci who thought that the Atlasias were new continents, not Amerigo Vespucci? :)

Sure. :P

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Greenland was an independent country, what right does Denmark have to fork it over? They'd have to abandon their ties, that's true, but I don't know if they have the right just to sell it.

Siege

Well according to the Danish government Greenland is a county of Denmark and is thus part of the Kingdom of Denmark in full. It has representatives in the Danish parliament but has a large amount of autonomy in almost all matters, the only matters it doesn't control are mostly military and foreign affairs although Greenland has not joined the EU in defiance of Denmark and it trade and tourism agreements with several other Nordic countries and is also one of several countries in some Inuit worldwide organizations. So for such a bill to actually work we would probably have to talk to both governments and give both governments some sort of payment for this to work.

That relationship is kind of like Scotland and Britian in a small way.

Yeah in a way. It's basically Puerto Rico with voting Congressional Representation.

Right then, if we are going to annex Greenland, than let's do it right, and edit that legislation.

Siege

Er... no. Nothing like that at all. U.S and Puerto Rico is a better comparision

Written by President Seige40, introduced by me.


The Unification of Canada and Atlasia Act

Preamble

Whereas there is a significant number of Canadians, and others hailing from the Commonwealth

Whereas it was recently decided that the unification of Canada is acceptable to a plurality of the people of Atlasia

Whereas Atlasia would benefit by expanding its political frontiers

We hereby conclude to unite the nations of Atlasia and Canada.

Section 1 – Canada, The Region

1 – The ten provinces, and three territories that compromise the nation of Canada shall be reorganized to fit into the prescribed ten-state rule.

2 – The three territories will be consolidated into one state named the Arctic Atlasia Abbreviation of Arctic Atlasia will be AA.

3 – The provinces of New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island are to be consolidated together and named New Brunswick.

4 – The provinces and territories of Canada will from now on be referred to as states.

5 – The Region of Canada may preserve all the cultural institutions familiar to the Commonwealth of Canada. The national animal, national anthem, and in general symbols may remain, but will be identified as regional symbols.

6 – Canadian language laws will be respected, and not interfered with by any branch of the government of Atlasia. This includes French and English as official languages, and the particular spelling of words in comparison to the common American or Atlasian spelling, example colour versus color.

7 – The Region of Canada is free to establish itself in anyway it pleases. After entering the Republic of Atlasia, the Region is free to draft a constitution and hold elections, the Federal Government will allow the Canadians to continue to operate the parliamentary system and recognize the English Monarch as the head of state, but purely a figurehead in role. 

Section 2 – Inter-Relations and Mergers

1 – All of the Federal powers of the Canadian Government shall be transferred to the appropriate powers in Nyman, this includes military matters and foreign relations.

2 – The Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Army will be merged with the Atlasian Armed Forces. Particular names and traditions may be preserved.

3 – Under the Foreign Policy Review the Commonwealth of Canada is to be stricken from the record, the relation between Atlasia and Canada will follow that of the United States and Atlasia.

4 – The Game Moderator will act as events in Canada are a domestic concern to those living in Atlasia. The events of Ontario and the events of Alabama will have equal relevance and Canada, and Canadian will be treated as Atlasian citizens and no preference given.

Section 3 – Confirmation of the Act

1 – After passing the Senate, and pending approval of the President of the Republic, a referendum shall be held to confirm the popular mood of Atlasia in the unification. Specifics of the referendum are to be reached by the Senate and Secretary of Forum Affairs.

Why does Masterjedi think we should unify with every known state, country, commonwealth, territory, etc etc? Although the idea of Canada combining with the Atlasia for fantasy makes more sense then that of Guam (And yes were talking about Guam :) ) I am still oppossed to it. Can can the voters vote this idiot outta office? Another impieralist bill, it is. A bad Senator, you are.

HAH!

Mssterjedi, just because you occupy Mike Naso's former seat in the Senate does not mean that you are allowed to propose bills that reach his level of inanity.

I'm ok with it if we sell Quebec to France once we get it, jk.

I'm not sure about this bill at the moment.

I really don't see anything wrong in the unification of Canada and Atlasia, I'd like to actually be registered where I live for once.

Siege

See even Seige wants it, and he's from Canada. Plus I have re-introduced good bills such as the National Parks and Wetlands Acts.

Although I did not notice it when the Puerto Rico Statehood Act was passed, I do notice it now. I might be mistaken, but I have looked, and cannot find a provision authorizing the Senate to admit new states. The only clause I did find was this:

"In the event that a new State joins the United States of America, the Senate may apportion this State to a Region and a District via proper legislation."

To me the meaning of this clause is clear. If a state joins the U.S. in real life, it automatically becomes a part of Atlasia, and the Senate determines the region and district which it is to join. The Senate itself cannot, as far as I can tell, admit states on its own.

It's quite possible that I am wrong, but neither Article I nor Article IV contradicts this analysis.

Don't they have to "apply" for statehood?

Emsworth Statement: It doesn't say the Senate can't admit states though.

Texasgurl Question: It says near the end that the Canadains take a vote on it.

The Senate is a body of enumerated powers. It does not, in my view, have the authority to admit states unless the power is specifically granted. Furthermore, the inclusion of the clause I pointed out above seems to rule out the possibility of the Senate admitting states on its own. Instead, that clause appears to indicate that new states join Atlasia only if they do so in real life as well.

I'm sorry to say this but Emsworth is right. Since it is not a power delegated to the Senate as enumerated in the Powers of the Senate section of the Constitution. Since this is not delegated to the federal government it would be up to the provinces themselves to apply for statehood. If you are in support of this you could talk with Sec State WMS about an official resolution encouraging the Provinces of Canada to hold referenda on statehood and with John Ford to get things moving on the GM side of things.

Also as the Dominion of Canada is a sovereign nation it is thus not entitled to follow the acts, laws, or resolutions of other sovereign nations. Section 3 seems to state that the Canadian government must do when it has no obligation to do it.

Canada isnot a dominion.
It's full official name is just Canada.

Dominion was its name, then we scrapped some colonial yolk. Yay!

Siege

I'm very sorry to this, but I am compelled to do so by the rules.

Pursuant to Article 3, Section 1, Clause 4, I declare that the Unification of Canada and Atlasia Bill is unconstitutional. I find as follows:

1. The Constitution does not in any way, explicitly or implicitly, grant the Senate the power to admit new states to the Union. Instead, it only provides as follows:

"In the event that a new State joins the United States of America, the Senate may apportion this State to a Region and a District via proper legislation."

This Clause clearly suggests that if a state is admitted to the real United States, then it is also admitted automatically to the fantasy Republic. The Senate's only role is to determine the region and district to which the new state belongs. There is no authority to create or admit new states; the Senate, being one of enumerated powers only, cannot constitutionally pass this act.

2. The Constitution does not anywhere grant the Senate the power to create a new region. Therefore, by attempting to create a Region of Canada, the bill violates the Constitution.

Therefore, pursuant to the rules, I find this bill unconstitutional, and with great regret, remove it from the Senate floor. The sponsor may challenge my ruling in twenty-four hours; the challenge requires the approval of one-third of the Senate to override my ruling.

Finally, I wish you would have said something before, during his other 2 idiot bills.

Incidentally, this ruling also covers the Pacifican Statehood Act, which is also removed from the Senate floor for reason #1.

NO!

Well, that sucks. Looks like I'll be registered in Vermont for a while yet.

Siege

We can always declare war on Canada and win. :)

No, cause then it would be stuck as Occupied Territory, cause the Senate can't admit them. I've considered my options, ;)

Siege

I was not particularly accustomed to looking for technicalities. That, unfortunately, is a part of my job now.

Emsworth, I am sorry to say this, but it is not your job to decide the Constitutionality of laws. IIRC that is only the job of the Supreme Court of Atlasia. Both statehood acts should be able to come up as legislation and be voted upon by the Senate. If their constitutionality is challenged by an Atlasia then the court will decide it's Constitutionality but this is not your power. It is only the courts power. Thus I official protest your striking of the Pacifican Statehood Act and the Unification of Canada and Atlasia Act from the list of items to be debated and voted upon in the Senate. Unless their is a specific clause that allows you not unilaterally decide the Constitutionality of acts of the Senate then I would suggest that you do not strike these bills.

Article 3, Section 1, Clause 4 of the Senate Procedural Resolution

If the PPT determines that a piece of legislation is functionally impractical, frivolous, or is directly unconstitutional, he may, in a public post on the Legislation Introduction thread, remove said legislation from the Senate floor. The sponsoring Senator of the legislation shall have seventy-two (72) hours to challenge this action in a public post, and with the concurrence of one-third (1/3) of office-holding Senators in the affirmative (excluding the PPT), may override the actions of the PPT. (Nasolation clause)

Masterjedi still has 68 hours to challenge Emsworth's decision and afterwards find 3 other Senators to agree with him.  You can be one of the Senators to, Colin, if you want to.  :)

Protest noted.

As Sam Spade points out, there is indeed a clause of the OSPR that permits me to remove the bill from the Senate floor. I would never have presumed to take such an action if such a clause did not exist. I actually gave my argument on the constitutionality of the bill first, before making a ruling, to see if there would be any counter-argument. If there was any opposition, then I would not have used the power, and would have left it up to the Senate. However, my argument was not refuted or challenged (except for one post, which I addressed); thus, I felt justified.

I am not aware if the power to declare a bill unconstitutional has been used before. However, Senator Gabu has indeed used the power to declare motions and amendments frivolous, and has struck them from the agenda of the Senate.

I'm sorry if this seems heavy-handed, though.

Emsworth can declare bills unconstitutional that are on the floor.  Supreme Court can only go as far as passed and signed legislation that is brought to their attention.

It's alright I seem to have forgotten that clause of the Senate Procedural Resolution, that's easy to do when the bill is near the size of War and Peace ;), so I am sorry if I seemed rather harsh. The protest will still remain official since I do not believe that it is frivolously unconstitutional, we aren't talking about giving tax cuts to just the Mideast here, and I believe that it should be given a vote even if it is, in my opinion unconsitutional. 

I don't think that it needs to be frivolous in order for the power to be exercisable.

If there is any doubt about whether the bill is constitutional or not, then I would agree with you. If a bill is directly, plainly, and evidently unconstitutional, however, I would have to demur.

Well it's up to MasterJedi. I don't care how you use your power I just like objecting to things. :)

So do I! I know that I've probably been irritating a few Senators with my nitpicking on legislation.

And now for something completely controversial (I've gotta keep yall on your toes):


Article 1 – Purposes

The purpose of this legislation is to clarify badly written legislation of past Senates, to establish a clear and careful definition of the term “marriage”, along with prohibitions and rules concerning the contract of marriage and to provide for the establishment, definition and creation of civil unions within the Republic of Atlasia, with all necessary prohibitions and rules regarding the same.

Article 2 – Definition of Marriage with Prohibitions

1.   Marriage is hereby defined as a civil contract between one man and one woman who have each attained the age of eighteen years, and who are otherwise capable.

2.   Every marriage entered into in which either the husband or the wife has not attained the age of eighteen years is void except where this section has been waived by the presiding judicial officer of the Region in which one of the parties resides on a showing of necessity.

3.   Marriages in the following cases are prohibited:

a.   When either party thereto has a wife or husband living at the time of such marriage;
b.   When the husband and wife are nearer of kin to each other than second cousins, whether of the whole or half blood, whether by blood or adoption, computing by the rules of the civil law; or
c.   When the parties are persons other than a male and a female.

4.   It is unlawful for any man to marry his father's sister, mother's sister, daughter, sister, son's daughter, daughter's daughter, brother's daughter or sister's daughter; it is unlawful for any woman to marry her father's brother, mother's brother, son, brother, son's son, daughter's son, brother's son or sister's son.

5.   A marriage between two persons that is recognized as valid in another country is not valid in the Republic of Atlasia only if the marriage is prohibited or made unlawful under Section 3 or 4 of this article.

Article 3 – Establishment of Civil Unions in the Republic of Atlasia

Section 1 – Creation and Definition of Civil Unions

1.   A civil union is hereby defined as a civil contract between one man and another man or one woman and another woman, who has each attained the age of eighteen years, and who are otherwise capable.

2.   For a civil union to be established in the Republic of Atlasia, it shall be necessary that the parties to a civil union satisfy all of the following criteria:

a.   Not be a party to another civil union or a marriage.
b.   Be of the same sex and therefore excluded from the marriage laws of this country.
c.   Meet the criteria and obligations set forth in Article 4 of this legislation.

2.   The following is a list of void and prohibited civil unions:

a.   A woman shall not enter a civil union with her mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, brother's daughter, sister's daughter, father's sister or mother's sister.
b.   A man shall not enter a civil union with his father, grandfather, son, grandson, brother, brother's son, sister's son, father's brother or mother's brother.
c.   A civil union between persons prohibited from entering a civil union in subsection (a) or (b) of this section is void.

3.   Marriages already contracted by the provisions so laid out in the Civil Unions Act and the Marriage Equity Act, that are no longer legal due to the provisions of this legislation, shall henceforth be defined as civil unions, retaining all the rights and privileges afforded to the parties under this legislation, and shall remain valid and legal until such time as both parties wish to dissolve their civil contract, or their contract is dissolved through the occasion of one of the parties’ death.

4.   Marriages already contracted by the provisions so laid out in the Civil Unions Act and the Marriage Equity Act that are no longer legal under the provisions of this legislation either as a “marriage” or as a “civil union” shall no longer be valid and legal within the Republic of Atlasia.  Said parties to marriages defined as such shall no longer retain any of the rights and privileges afforded to marriages or civil unions in the Republic of Atlasia.

Section 2 – Benefits of Civil Unions

1.   Parties to a civil union shall have all the same benefits, protections and responsibilities under law, whether they derive from statute, administrative or court rule, policy, common law or any other source of civil law, as are granted to spouses in a marriage, whether such benefits, protections and responsibilities are enforced at the state, Regional or federal level, with such exceptions exclusively as shall be stated below.

2.   A party to a civil union shall be included in any definition or use of the terms "spouse," "family," "immediate family," "dependent," "next of kin," and other terms that denote the spousal relationship, as those terms are used throughout the law.

3.   Parties to a civil union shall be responsible for the support of one another to the same degree and in the same manner as prescribed under law for married persons.

4.   The law of domestic relations, including annulment, separation and divorce, child custody and support, and property division and maintenance shall apply to parties to a civil union.

5.   The following is a nonexclusive list of legal benefits, protections and responsibilities of spouses, which shall apply in like manner to parties to a civil union, whether such benefits, protections and responsibilities are enforced at the state, Regional or federal level:

a.   laws relating to title, tenure, descent and distribution, intestate succession, waiver of will, survivorship, or other incidents of the acquisition, ownership, or transfer, inter vivos or at death, of real or personal property, including eligibility to hold real and personal property as tenants by the entirety (parties to a civil union meet the common law unity of person qualification for purposes of a tenancy by the entirety);
b.   causes of action related to or dependent upon spousal status, including an action for wrongful death, emotional distress, loss of consortium, dramshop, or other torts or actions under contracts reciting, related to, or dependent upon spousal status;
c.   probate law and procedure, including nonprobate transfer;
e.   group insurance for federal employees;
f.   spouse abuse programs;
g.   prohibitions against discrimination based upon marital status;
h.   workers' compensation benefits;
i.   laws relating to emergency and nonemergency medical care and treatment, hospital visitation and notification;
j.   family leave benefits;
k.   public assistance benefits;
l.   laws relating to taxes imposed by the region, state or a municipality;
m.   laws relating to immunity from compelled testimony and the marital communication privilege;
n.   laws relating to loans to veterans;
o.   state or Regional pay for military service.

6.   The following is a exclusive list of legal benefits, protections and responsibilities of spouses, which shall not apply in like manner to parties to a civil union, whether such benefits, protections and responsibilities are enforced at the state, Regional or federal level:

Any and all adoption law and procedure.

7.   The rights of parties to a civil union, with respect to a child of whom either becomes the natural parent during the term of the civil union, shall be the same as those of a married couple, with respect to a child of whom either spouse becomes the natural parent during the marriage.

8.   Parties to a civil union may modify the terms, conditions, or effects of their civil union in the same manner and to the same extent as married persons who execute an antenuptial agreement or other agreement recognized and enforceable under the law, setting forth particular understandings with respect to their union.

Section 3 – Dissolution of Civil Unions

The presiding judicial officer of the Region in which the parties of a civil union reside shall have jurisdiction over all proceedings relating to the dissolution of civil unions. The dissolution of civil unions shall follow the same procedures and be subject to the same substantive rights and obligations that are involved in the dissolution of marriage in accordance with Article 5 of this legislation.

continued...

---

Article 4 – Records and Licenses in Civil Unions

Section 1 - Civil Union Licenses

1.   Upon application in a form prescribed by the department, the chief judicial officer of the presiding Region shall issue a civil union license in the form prescribed by the department, and shall enter thereon the names of the parties to the proposed civil union, fill out the form as far as practicable and retain a copy in the Regional office. Both parties to the proposed civil union shall sign the application attesting to the accuracy of the facts stated.

2.   A civil union license shall be delivered by one of the parties to a proposed civil union, within sixty (60) days from the date of issue, to a person authorized to certify civil unions by Section 3, Clause 1 of this Article. If the proposed civil union is not certified within sixty (60) days from the date of issue, the license shall become void. After a person has certified the civil union, they shall fill out that part of the form on the license provided for such use, sign and certify the civil union. Thereafter, the document shall be known as a civil union certificate.

3.   Within ten days of the certification, the person performing the certification shall return the civil union certificate to the office of the chief judicial officer of the Region from which the license was issued. The officer shall retain and file the original.

4.   An officer who knowingly issues a civil union license without first requiring the applicant to fill out, sign and make oath to the declaration contained therein, shall be fined not more than $50.00 nor less than $20.00.

5.   A person making application to a officer for a civil union license who makes a material misrepresentation in the declaration of intention shall be deemed guilty of perjury.

6.   The chief judicial officer of the presiding Region shall issue a civil union license to all applicants who have complied with the provisions of above-stated clauses of this section, and who are otherwise qualified under the laws of the state to apply for a civil union license.

Section 2 – Restrictions on Civil Unions

1.   An officer shall not issue a civil union license when either party to the intended civil union is:
a.   under 18 years of age;
b.   non compos mentis;
c.   under guardianship, without the written consent of such guardian.

2.   A officer who knowingly violates Clause 7 of this Section shall be fined not more than $20.00. A person who aids in procuring a civil union license by falsely pretending to be the guardian having authority to give consent to the civil union shall be fined not more than $500.00.

Section 3 – Authorization and Certification of Civil Unions

1.   Civil unions may be certified by a supreme court justice, a chief judicial officer of a Region, a superior court judge, a district judge, a judge of probate, an assistant judge, a justice of the peace or by a member of the clergy residing in the respective Region of issuance and ordained or licensed, or otherwise regularly authorized by the published laws or discipline of the general conference, convention or other authority of his or her faith or denomination.

2.   Persons authorized by Clause 1 of this Section to certify civil unions shall require a civil union license of the parties before certifying the civil union. The license shall afford full immunity to the person who certifies the civil union.

3.   A person who certifies a civil union shall be fined not less than $10.00, if such person:
a.   certifies a civil union without first obtaining the license; or
b.   fails to properly fill out the license and, within ten days from the date of the certification, return the license and certificate of civil union to the clerk's office from which it was issued.

4.   A copy of the record of the civil union received from the chief judicial officer of the Region shall be presumptive evidence of the civil union in all courts.

Article 5 – Statement Concerning Recognition of Regional and State Law per Constitutional Responsibilities

1.   The federal government shall continue to recognize and uphold all Regional and state laws and statutes concerning marriage, divorce, adoption and emancipation of minors, marital property law, child custody, alimony, child support or any other subject so covered by Article 1, Section 5, Clause 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia that do not directly or indirectly conflict with the laws and statutes so laid out in this legislation and future legislation concerning the above-stated subjects and Constitutional clauses.

Article 6 – Repealed Legislation

1.   The Civil Unions Act is hereby repealed in full.

2.   The Marriage Equity Act is hereby repealed in full.

I believe that this bill is redundant. Section II, as others have noted, is already a part of the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act. No marijuana tax has yet been imposed; thus, this bill does not actually affect anything.

Therefore, I would respectfully request Senator Cosmo Kramer to withdraw it from the floor.

I am definitely not inclined to declare it frivolous and remove it from the Senate floor on my own. As a general note (not on this bill in particular): Frivolity is a more subjective standard than unconstitutionality. Thus, I don't think that I would act in such a case unless actually requested to do so by the senators.

I'm introducing this on behalf of Emsworth:

Pledge of Allegiance Act of 2005

§ 1.  The words "under God" shall cease to form a part of the pledge of allegiance of Atlasia.  The new pledge of allegiance shall read as follows:

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of Atlasia, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."

Questions and comments may be directed in his direction.

I always thought it was "under Dave" not "under God".

Yeah I thought that too, so it's really unecissary. And if it isn't, by God this better not pass!!!!!!!!!!!

I was wondering why we swear to a flag, couldn't we swear directly to the Republic... or a personal vow to me? ;)

Siege

I already tried that, called the Old Glory Act. ;)

Joke Bill. Yes, i'm completely kidding :D:

Midwest Pork Handout Act:

1. The Federal Government shall pay each voting citizen in the midwest $100.00.
2. This money has absolutely nothing to do with popularity ratings ;).
3. The money shall be taken out of HUD budgets for inner-city development, as long as the inner cities are outside the Midwest :P.

Hooray :D

I co-sponsor this bill as long as the Northeast Region is also added to the handout. :P

Well I havn't caused an uproar in a while. I dontknow whether the bill's grammar or the bill's intent will cause more anger! ;)

The Atlasian Senate Term Limit Act

Section 1: All Atlasian Senators will be limited to four terms (16 months) in office.

Section 2: Any Senator which has served over four terms when this act takes effect will be allowed to serve the duration of their remaining term.

Section 3: This act will be administered by the Secretary of Forum Affairs.

Section 4: This act will take effect immediately after the Midterm Election of August 2005.

(This is not a ruling, but my personal view.)

I feel that this bill is unconstitutional. The Senate only has the power to "determine regulations for the procedure of and the form of Senate elections." There is no constitutional authority, as far as I can see, for the Senate to set qualifications for Senate candidates. This bill's restriction of the right of the People to elect whomever they please to the Senate, therefore, seems unconstitutional.

So, I would suggest introducing it as a constitutional amendment if you wish.

I am aware of that Mr. Vice President, and it is a valid point. I feel that this does determine the form of a Senate election by stating you get four months. The only qualification is, you could argue, is that it disqualifies a Senator after serving Atlasia for 16 months. I think that point is that this is Constitutional because it gives the Senate the power to determine regulations for a Senate election.

With respect, Senator, I do not agree with this line of reasoning. By the same token, the Senate could set a qualification under which members of the Atlasian Monster Raving Loony Party are disqualified, justifying it under regulating the "form of Senate elections."

My view is that the Constitution permits the Senate to determine procedural matters relating to Senate elections, but it may not disqualify candidates from running.

I see what Emsworth is saying but another reason not to pass it is that we can't have a Senator Gabu forever! :)

I am fundamentally against term limits in any and all parts of government.  I will be against this bill or amendment, in whatever final form is decided.

I have no problem with "personal" term limits, such as the one that I gave for myself when I first ran for Senate.  I don't like mandated ones, however.

Ok I'm on an environment thing I guess! :P It may be a little confusing so when it comes up I'll answer any questions.

Oh and Gabu, when this comes up for a vote put the first URL in "animals" for a link and the second URL in "plants" for a link, thanks because I don't know how to do it. :)


Species Act of 2005

1. Endangered/Threatened Species
   A. Atlasia hereby recognizes the Endangered/Threatened Species List of animals http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/TESSSpeciesReport  and plants http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/TESSSpeciesReport
   B. Any individual wanting to bring an endangered or threatened species into Atlasia shall have to purchase a license allowing them to own said species plus an additional fee of 100,000 dollars for each animal brought in. In addition each individual must have the space they plan to hold said species inspected and approved by a local zoological society.
   C. Any zoo or zoological society may freely bring endangered or threatened species into the US if they haven’t been cited for animal rights as long as they notify the government of Atlasia.
   D. If any endangered or threatened species said offender shall be fined 500,000 on the first offense, 1 million and 5 years in prison for the second offense and 2 million and 30 years in prison for the third offense. If the offender commits a fourth offense life in prison shall be enforced.
2. Invasive Species
   A. Atlasia hereby recognizes invasive species as a problem to the nation’s environment.
   B. An invasive species shall be known as any non-native plant or animal that disrupts or destroys the natural state of the environment.
   C. Only zoos or zoological societies shall be allowed to import invasive species into the US.
   D. Any private company or individual found bringing in an invasive species shall be fined 2 million dollars and serve 30 years in prison for the first offense. If a second offense occurs the offender fine shall double to 4 million and spend life in prison.
3. Species Tracker
   A. Atlasia’s Fish and Wildlife Service shall be required to create a computer system track the import and export of endangered, threatened and invasive species into and out of Atlasia.  In addition this system is required to keep on file the information of any previous offender.
   B. Any endangered, threatened or invasive species import or export must be reported the Atlasia’s Fish and Wildlife Service.
   C. Any individual, company, zoo or zoological society that currently has endangered, threatened or invasive species has two years to report all of said species to Atlasia’s Fish and Wildlife Service to be logged in the computer system.


Oh I know everybody knew this was coming. :D

Adding States Amendment
The following clause is added to Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution:
6. The Senate may by law admit new States to the Republic of Atlasia. The Senate may apportion this State to a Region and a District via proper legislation; however, the State shall still be liable to all the provisions of this Section and Section 4 of this Article.

Your such an imperialist Jedi.

I figured you'd show up eventually. :)

thankfully there's someone

I know it's similar to the Voting System Reform Act, but I think it's needed:

The New Members Needed Act

Preamble

Whereas, the need for new members is apparent in Atlasia because of dwindling membership and the unopposed Senate and Gubernatorial races,

The Senate hereby acknowledges the need to attract new members to Atlasia.

Section One: Forming a Commission

1.   The President shall hereby appoint a commission composed the Secretary of Forum Affairs, the Deputy Secretary of Forum Affiars, one Senator, one Supreme Court Justice, and one citizen of Atlasia who holds no position in the federal government.
2.   The commission, after being appointed by the President, must be approved the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
3.   The members of the Commission will decide among themselves who will chair the Commission, by any means they see fit.

Section Two: The Role of the Commission

1.   The Commission shall discuss any way it feels possible to attract new members to the forum including but not limited to sending representatives to other political forums.
2.   The Commission may conduct these discussions in any way that they see fit.

Section Three: Findings

1.   At the time the commission feels it has reached its conclusion it shall draw up a report with all of its findings and present it the Senate of Atlasia.  The Chairman will issue the report for the which the Senate will use to pass further legislation for this issue.
2.   Once the Chairman has delivered his report, the Commission will disband.

I took this right out of a real life bill because, well, I thought it was a good idea, and I'm not very good at writing bills that deal with a lot of technical stuff.  I added some stuff though, see if you can figure it out.  :)

Military Enlargement Bill of 2005

To provide a temporary increase in the minimum end strength level for active duty personnel for the Army, the Marine Corps, and the Air Force, and for other purposes.

      Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia,

SECTION 1. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN MINIMUM END STRENGTH LEVEL FOR THE ARMY, MARINE CORPS, AND AIR FORCE.

      1. The size of Army on active duty shall be not less than 522,400 of which no less than 50% of the increase shall be an increase in Special Operations Forces;

     2.  The size of the Marine Corps on active duty shall be not less than 190,000 of which no less than 50% of the increase shall be an increase in Special Operations Forces; and

      3.  The size of the Air Force on active duty shall be not less than 388,000 of which no less than 50% of the increase shall be an increase in Special Operations Forces.'.

I changed it to Emsworth's ideas for how it should be written, but I'm still not sure on how to get the cost.

I'm afraid that this bill will have to be revised considerably; it cannot simply be lifted from real life. For one thing, there is no "United States Code" in Atlasia; although U.S. statutes have been "inherited," there is no code as such. Secondly, the bill is not in very clear language (note part (b), for example). Instead of the circumlocutous wording of the bill, I would suggest simple. For example, "the size of the Army is increased by X." And thirdly, and finally, the bill should include an estimate of financial implications for budget purposes.

I would hope that all of these issues can be addressed before the bill reaches the floor of the Senate.

No we still use the USC when referring to the preexisting legislation.  It's merely that we haven't been accepting any modifications made to it since Atlasia began has having any validity.

All the party platforms appear to assume that it's "under God." Also, there hasn't been any specific law changing "under God" to "under Dave." That's why I, too, assumed that "under God" is a part of the pledge.

I don't like this one.  This liberal mentality that assumes we can fix this pledge "issue" by removing "under God" is silly.  Why do we need a nationalist pledge at all?

I was not under the impression that the Senate would agree to the abolition of the pledge. If it is, however, that's fine as well.

i think that we should change to say "Under Dave". if that would fail i support this bill.

It's just one of those things that sets me off.  It comes across as so bent on "seperation of church and state" that it looks almost anti-religious, not neutral.  On a tangible note, the bill makes no provisions for any use of the pledge-- if we have to alter it, what will the pledge be used for?  Continued recitation in schools & workplaces?  A little national motto?  I don't see the point.

I'll fight to keep it "under God" but if it changes to "under Dave" I wouldn't be too happy but I'd be ok with it. But there is no way that I  would support the removal of the pledge.

I'd rather keep it the way it is or abolish it.  I oppose removing "under God" from the pledge.

Yes, I take your point about how it comes across. Of course, it's not anti-religious; that would be adding "under no God" to the pledge, for example.

Of course, I'm aware, and I don't think your intentions are malicious.  But, and I was referring more to those who want the Plede altered in general, it seems that the fact that this pledge is blatant nationalism is no cause for concern, only getting a reference to God removed.

(Of course, the Pledge was altered to include the reference to God in the 1950s... I simply don't support changing it back because of what that would stand for.  I'm much more worried about forcing people to pledge allegiance to a country than to a God.  One who opposes "Under God" in the interest of Atheists should, if he is intellectually consistent, oppose the whole pledge in the interest of Jehovah's Witnesses.)

The inclusion of the phrase "under God" is an explicit acknowledgement of a Supreme Being, and is therefore IMHO unconstitutional. The pledge as a whole, however, is not unconstitutional. So that's why I suggested the bill in its current form.

Right, but I'm not simply debating the constitutionality of it, but the intellectual consistency of anyone who supports removing "under God" but not the entire pledge.  Even if a pledge of allegiance to a country is not unconstitutional, it still should not be permitted as its officiality as endorsed by the government could be interpreted as an infringement of the rights of those who refuse to pledge allegiance to any government, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses or other similar religious groups.

The Free Palestine Act

1. The Republic of Atlasia condemns the use of terrorism by groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas in trying to destroy the nation of Israel and to kill innocent Israeli people.

2. The Republic of Atlasia deplores the nation of Israel for using curfews, walls, and other freedom restricting measures on the Palestinian people.

3. The Republic of Atlasia hereby recognizes the nation of Palestine as being made up by Gaza Strip and West Bank upon the condemnation of terrorism by top Palestinian officials.

4. The Republic of Atlasia hereby calls upon the United Nations, and more specifically Israel to recognize Palestine after the said conditions are met.

5. If the said conditions are met and Israel still does not recognize Palestine, the Republic of Atlasia will hereby withhold 40% of military aid to Israel and 5% more aid will be witheld for every month Israel does not recognize Palestine.

I know, MUN style (without the heading The Republic of Atlasia:) but so what.  :)

Would anyone like to join me in introducing a free trade bill for all of the Americas (nations in CAFTA, NAFTA, plus Brazil, Argentina and a couple of other South American countries)?  The only problem is writing it.  I mean, CAFTA was hundreds of pages long.  Anyone know how this could be done?

Please withdraw the Palestine crap.

Why?

Well I don't think it should be withdrawn but I will vote against it. Palestine shouldn't have their own countries until the leaders condemn terrorism and it stops, or at least is barely noticable.

1. The Republic of Atlasia condemns the use of terrorism by groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas in trying to destroy the nation of Israel and to kill innocent Israeli people.

Okay

2. The Republic of Atlasia deplores the nation of Israel for using curfews, walls, and other freedom restricting measures on the Palestinian people.

"Walls" are the only real thing keeping the suicide attacks down to a bare minimum lately. To denounce a nation's steps to protect itself is absurd.

3. The Republic of Atlasia hereby recognizes the nation of Palestine as being made up by Gaza Strip and West Bank upon the condemnation of terrorism by top Palestinian officials.

Or maybe when the hostilities end. Not when the PA makes a half assed declaration.

4. The Republic of Atlasia hereby calls upon the United Nations, and more specifically Israel to recognize Palestine after the said conditions are met.

As above

5. If the said conditions are met and Israel still does not recognize Palestine, the Republic of Atlasia will hereby withhold 40% of military aid to Israel and 5% more aid will be witheld for every month Israel does not recognize Palestine.

Great, so if Israel doesn't do what we want, even though it's not in their best interest, we cut off an arbitrary amount of military aid.

Honestly, I have no idea.  Bills like that tend to be incredibly complicated and I'd probably have to read through the whole damn thing in order to make any sense of it.

If I have any real free time soon, I'll do so.

I can understand some of your comments.  I believe the part about declaring against terrorism should be changed to making an effort to stop terrorism, as determined by the Senate or UNSC or something.  The fact is, what the Palestinians are doing is horrible, and that should be stopped.  But the everyday Palestinian person does not do this stuff, and they deserve their own nation.

The average Palestinian may not do it, but they elect members of Hamas to represent them as their leaders, so I wouldn't put them wholly outside the blame.

Also, notice I used the word "condemn" for suicide bombers and "deplore" for Israel's antics.

On behalf of Vice President Emsworth:

Second Miscellany Act

Section 1
Whenever an Act which repealed a former Act is repealed, said
former Act shall not thereby be revived, unless expressly so provided.

Section 2
The following Acts or sections are hereby repealed:

Anti-Drug Testing Act
Stickies, Posts, and Polls Reduction Act
PPT Election Act
Boss Abortion Act
Federal Activity Act
Section 3 of the Miscellany Act
Constitutional Amendment Act
Unwed and Teenage Mothers Protection Act

Thank you, Sen. Wixted.

This is basically copied from the U.S. Code. It's a general principle of law to avoid confusion and controversy.

No problem Mr. Vice President.

A member of my district has a piece of legislation, and therefore I must sponsor it:

The Sealand Recognition Act

Written by Governor MAS117 (CUP-NJ)
Sponsored by Senator A.J. King IV (CUP-VT)

§ I. The Principality of Sealand hereby is recongized by the Republic of Atlasia as an independent sovereign nation apart from that of the United Kingdom.

§ II. The Government of the Republic of Atlasia hereby recongizes His Royal Highness Prince Roy, The Prince of Sealand as the Head of State for the Principality of Sealand.

§ III. Persuiant to the passage of this Act, the State Department of the Republic of Atlasia hereby lifts all economic and military restrictions put upon the Principality of Sealand.

mASShole can leave again

The Secretary of State put restrictions on a country, this bill seeks to lift said restrictions :D.

Unified Electoral Code

Written by: Peter Bell
Sponsors: True Independent, Sam Spade

Section 1: Votes

1. In their vote in the Elections to the Senate and the Presidency, each voter shall list some, none, or all of the candidates in the voter's order of preference for them.
2. If no numbering of the preferences is stated, then the candidate at the top of the list shall be presumed to be the first preference, the candidate on the second line of the list shall be presumed to be the second preference, and so on.
3. A voter may cast a write-in vote in any election, except a runoff election.
4. In order to write-in a candidate, the voter shall not be required to explicitly specify that his or her vote is for a write-in candidate.
5. In order for write-in votes for a candidate to qualify as countable votes, the person written-in must formally accept the write-in candidacy before the end of voting in the given election.
6. A voter may vote for "None of the Above" in any election, except a runoff election. Any voter who votes for "None of the Above" may do so only as a first preference; any and all lower preferences of the voter shall be ignored.


Section 2: Determination of the Winner

1. If any candidate shall gain a majority of highest preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election.
2. If no candidate has a majority of highest preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first preferences shall be eliminated, and his or her votes redistributed according to the next-highest preferences of the voters.
3. If, after the implementation of Clause 2 of this Section, any candidate shall have a majority of the highest preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election. If no such candidate shall exist, then Clause 2 of this Section shall be implemented again until such a candidate does exist, or until all candidates have the same number of highest preference votes.
4. If two or more candidates are tied for the least number of highest preference votes, but none of those candidates are tied for the greatest number of highest preference votes, then the following procedure shall be used to determine which candidate is eliminated:
    i. The candidate with the least total number of preferences expressed by voters shall be eliminated.
    ii. The Senate shall vote on which candidate to eliminate, with the Vice President being able to cast a tie-breaking vote if necessary.


Section 3: Run-off Elections

If all remaining candidates shall have the same number of highest preference votes, then the following procedure shall be used to break the tie:

1. A runoff shall be held beginning at midnight Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday after the election, and ending 72 hours thereafter.
2. Those candidates who have tied shall be automatically entered onto the ballot. No other candidacies shall be allowed.
3. Voters shall only be able to cast a vote for one candidate.
4. If any candidate shall gain a majority of the votes cast, then he shall be declared winner.


Section 4: Sudden Death Tie Breaking

If Section 3 fails to yield a winner then candidates shall have the option of using one of the following methods to break the tie:

1. Number Guessing

    i. The President shall choose an integer between one and ten and shall secretly communicate this number to the Secretary of Forum Affairs and to the Chief Justice. Once receipt of this number by both parties is confirmed, the candidates in the tie shall then guess the original number and communicate this guess to the three officials without revealing their guess to others.
 
    ii. Whichever candidate guesses closest to the number shall be declared the winner of the tie. In the event that two or more guesses are equidistant from the original number, this shall result in a tie, and the process shall be repeated until this event does not occur.

    iii. In the event that any of the office holders listed either are themselves candidates present in the tie or are not present to fulfill their duty, those in the aforementioned situation shall be replaced by the highest office holder in the following list who is not a candidate present in the tie and who is present to fulfill the duty:

Vice President
Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs
President Pro Tempore
Secretary of State
Attorney General
Secretary of Defense
Secretary of the Treasury
Senior Associate Justice
Junior Associate Justice
District 1 Senator
District 2 Senator
District 3 Senator
District 4 Senator
District 5 Senator
Mideast Senator
Midwest Senator
Northeast Senator
Pacific Senator
Southeast Senator

    iv. In the event that all office holders listed in Clause iii either are candidates in the tie or are not present to fulfill the duty, the President shall appoint one to three citizens able to fulfill the duty, depending on how many are needed to fill the vacant positions, and the citizen(s) shall then be required to be approved by the Senate by a majority vote before the number shall be selected.

2. Term Splitting

The candidates in the tie shall agree upon a schedule according to which the candidates shall divide the term among themselves. The schedule shall be allowed to be whatever the candidates agree upon, provided that its total length does not exceed the term to which a candidate would have been elected to had he won in his own right.

3. Governor's Vote

The Governors of the several Regions shall each vote for one of the candidates in the tie; If one candidate achieves an absolute majority, then he shall be declared victor. If no candidate obtains such a majority, then the Governors shall have continuous re-votes until such a candidate exists.

4. Failure to Agree

If within one week of the necessity of Sudden Death Tie Breaking being known, the candidates have not agreed on a method to break the tie, then the method described in Clause 3 shall be used to break the tie.


Section 5: None of the Above

If, in an election, the None of the Above option shall have gained more votes than each candidate, then a new election shall be held under the following procedure

1. The new election shall be held beginning at midnight Eastern Standard Time on the second Friday after the election, and ending 72 hours thereafter.
2. None of the candidates defeated by the None of the Above option in the original may be declared candidates in the new election. However, a voter may still write-in any such candidate.
3. The candidacy declaration deadline for the new election shall be the same as for special elections.
4. Except as regards Clause 2 of this Section, all provisions of Section 1 of this Act shall apply to the new election.


Section 6: Applicability

Any instance of the word "candidate" in Sections 1 through 5 shall be read as "ticket" in the case of Presidential elections.

(continued below)