SENATE BILL: Pacific Emergency Stimulus (Law'd)

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

There is little the federal government can do to save the region. I support stimulus for them, but, like a loose woman, I definitely think we need strings attached instead of just handing them however many billion dollars we decide to give them.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Perhaps those in charge of the pacific can give us an idea of what they wish to accomplish with this money? I am all for financing projects or help out with their debt, but we need some concrete plan to help reduce unemployment and get their economy moving again. Issuing a check with no plan is just going to put a strain on our own budgetary concerns.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Broadly, I want to see us tie this money to specific goals. I know some regionalists may be up in arms over this, but I think it's the best way to make progress. I'd also like to explore providing businesses incentive to return/hire/whatever in the region, and drop their tax rate which is apparently entirely too high compared to other regions, pass their constitution, all while providing them with the capital to get this done. Maybe we should send someone like Oakvale down there to help them along?

By providing the money to the region now, the Federal government may even see a profit from the loan in the future if we are able to get them turned around. A healthy Pacific is good for all of us, and I intend to make that my dying wish should I not be around for another term.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Broadly, I want to see us tie this money to specific goals. I know some regionalists may be up in arms over this, but I think it's the best way to make progress. I'd also like to explore providing businesses incentive to return/hire/whatever in the region, and drop their tax rate which is apparently entirely too high compared to other regions, pass their constitution, all while providing them with the capital to get this done. Maybe we should send someone like Oakvale down there to help them along?

By providing the money to the region now, the Federal government may even see a profit from the loan in the future if we are able to get them turned around. A healthy Pacific is good for all of us, and I intend to make that my dying wish should I not be around for another term.

Bold: we already did this.
Italicized: This is something I've been looking into, and I'm currently torn on what to cut. We are currently discussing the budget.
Underlined: Currently discussing this, and it is likely to pass. How exactly would this tie into the stimulus?

Just my general musings.. it has nothing to do with this.

I guess the problem is, I don't know what you all have done to get the ball rolling. I am on your side though in terms of wanting to get you the money though, so I am not trying to come across as critical at all. I just want to make sure we do this thing the right way. I think I speak for all of us when I say we want to see a thriving Pacific again.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

That is the goal I think we want to reach on this. Where it needs to go, what to use it for, etc.

Additional, we can discuss giving you tax breaks and tax holidays at the federal level that you cannot do at the regional to allow businesses to hire again and the like until you get to a certain level of employment, which I never thought of because I had 4 classes today and have been here for too long tonight.


If I wasn't dead tired tonight, I would dive into it now, but I will get more into detail tomorrow.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I am planning to just make this a mega-bill and get the ball rolling.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Bailouts can work assuming the region is turned around, but that's my goal here. We need to give them a set of benchmarks to on taxes and give them tax holidays on payroll, etc, so jobs can be created. That is our ultimate goal. If we see a turnaround, revenues will explode in the future as opposed to what they are now, which is a good thing for us, and we can make money off the interest of whatever funds we provide them. I will try to present an amendment after we get through these other things.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

If there is already 65 billion going into the region, the size of the bailout included in this legislation needs to be dramatically reduced.

I could just de-activate the SEDZI...

Just deactive it and let us pass the bill here so we can have as much control/oversight as possible. I have Oakvale on the ground there now. There is a greater risk that the $65 billion is squandered if we just hand it to them and hope, and I don't want to take that risk. The region has been in chaos for a while, and it's high time to actually make some progress.

And Tryion, I do want to provide them with money. I am not just advocating tax cuts. I just believe that we need to legislate some benchmarks (like dropping their absurdly high tax rate at the moment, etc) that we want to see. They need money though with their enormous deficit, and we can take the hit at the federal level better than they can.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I hope I didn't overstep my authority by unilaterally appointing Oakvale as my manager, but I need eyes and ears on the ground there, and he has been a resident there long enough to qualify. I would hope the Senate has no issue with him. If so, take it out on me. I can handle it.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Does anyone know the current text of this bill? I am probably going to just write up my own version of what I'd like to see and present it here, but I don't even know where we are right now.

We are throwing around a lot of ideas, which is great, and I think we seem to be on the same page. I just want to know where we are so I can amend accordingly.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I would rather dispose of the committee idea- with few exceptions, these have proven to be unfruitful, slow, and bureaucratic in this game, and I would rather have some sort of swift execution with specific guidelines provided by the Senate in this bill.

This is my goal. I want us to basically give them a set of guidelines to follow in order to receive each installment of money we plan to give them, i.e. pass the constitution, lower their tax rate, etc. We can waive the payroll tax here at the federal level. Oakvale is serving me and will hopefully give us an idea of what we need to include in the final bill that we pass. He knows a lot more about the situation that I do, admittedly.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

What are the tax rates at the moment for the pacific? Trying to gather all the info I can...

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

What are the tax rates at the moment for the pacific? Trying to gather all the info I can...

Last year's awful budget.

EDIT: Actually, due to Oakvale's changes, it's now a flat tax.

Either way, I am about to turn your world upside down.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

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Here are some changes I made to it recently. I feel comfortable delegating a large portion early on assuming our biggest demands are met, and if we have Oakvale and the rest of the Committee there, I trust the money will be spent wisely. I also want to give the Manager oversight to make sure the money isn't spent frivolously.

I figured the tax rates after reviewing the Northeast and Mideast budgets and factoring in the land value and cost of living in the Pacific. Obviously, short term deficits will increase, but I feel with some of these in place, investors and businesses will return to the Pacific, jobs will be created, and we will finally start seeing a meaningful recovery in the region.

This isn't a final draft by any means, but I think it is now a step in the right direction.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Amendment is friendly under the presumption that tmth is adopting it for the President. If he's not, I'll originate the amendment.

Question though: Do we need to cut the sin tax rates? Considering how inelastic the use of those products is, I doubt we'd see much of a relative boost in economic activity from the cut.

It may not be necessary, but I thought it would be wise to have them in line with other regions. While those tend to be inelastic, I think there is a certain limit. If we want to revisit this after the amendment if/when the amendment is adopted, I am okay with it.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I had tmth's amendment in my version already, so I don't think anything needs changing except to remove the bold text from section 4.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Based on what my advisors have told me, the Pacific doesn't have a functioning constitution and has failed to adopt one months after their fourth one was completed. I think they need to adopt it, so we need to tie their adopting it to the stimulus funds. It is the best way to get it passed quickly. I don't feel comfortable handing them $50 billion without the region formally adopting its constitution.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

We can amend it if it is the sixth constitution then.

And shua, I am not trying to dictate what is in the Pacific constitution. That is not my concern nor my job.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Would anyone else be in favor of getting rid of the committee and putting this in the hands of one person, with oversight from the Senate? Committees tend to be useless bureaucracies in Atlasia that are usually incapable of getting any actual work completed.

That was my original intention with Oakvale, but I feared the Senate would not like me giving power to one man. Committees are always inefficient and useless and if given the choice, I would never use them.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

We are NOT forcing you to do anything suggested in this bill, but we will not give you all a dime if you do not follow any of the suggestions my administration and the senate are suggesting.

I am interested in turning the region around. It has been in the crapper for far too long and has hurt our economy, and that doesn't sit well with me. I want you all to be healthy and happy. You are free to pull back and refuse these suggestions, just understand we will not just give you all $85 billion of taxpayer money with no strings attached.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

If we have to keep the committee, the lesser people on it, the better. This is why I didn't try to destroy it earlier. I figured I would have to make a committee

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I am fine with a 2-3 person committee if that's what you all want. I won't veto this bill over something as mundane as that.

What do I need to put in my amendment regarding Oakvale's appointment? Does the Senate need to specify in the bill that they approve of his appointment or does BK's acceptance/my special appointment suffice absent Senate approval?

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Tally, should we amend that to specify who the Managing Director is? Something like stating he/she is appointed by the President and accepted by the region? Just in case Oakvale disappears, so it will be easier for me to appoint someone else? I know I am being overly cautious here but I think we may as well clarify in the text.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Yeah, that should be sufficient. Mind you, I have no plans to replace Oakvale, but in case something terrible happens to him, we have our bases covered.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I wish we could just let the Pacific come up with a proposal for using the money and how they will restructure and then vote on that.

This bill allows for that to occur when it comes to the remaining $35 billion. I am not going to set forth any specifics. I will let Oakvale, PJ determine what it needs to be spent on.

I simply think the first two things really must be done before we begin to see any progress, which is why I am giving them the bulk of the money first if they adopt them. The rest of it will have less strings, but I think we still need some oversight considering we are dealing with taxpayers money.