First Presidential Debate (Closing Statements)

[Oakvale]

I hope nobody objects that my opening statement is tardy, I'm a little under the weather and want to get the opening statement out of the way so I can tackle the questions when I'm feeling somewhat better.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank Archangel and The Voice and Independent for hosting this debate. We've got a great field of candidates, and I'm confident the discussion will be thought-provoking, open and broad.

I'd also like to thank Attorney General Marokai, Governor Tmth, Ambassador Ben and, er, Comrade Rocky for attending this debate.

Most of the attention paid to my campaign thus far has focused on the personality conflicts, the drama, the myriad controversies. I think everyone involved, on all sides, would agree that the conflict, while doubtless entertaining for some, has obfuscated the real issues that this election is about.

It's widely agreed that Atlasia is "broken" - Badger's sterling work as Game Moderator is ignored, the Senate is all too often inactive, and the rare new member that isn't scared off by the wild cries of "sock", or, dare I say it, "Hamilton!"  often ends up languishing in the regional assemblies, with an entrenched incumbency in the Senate providing an insurmountable obstacle for those without a strong base of friends and allies to propel them to national office.

I think all my opponents will agree with the somewhat obvious conclusion that Atlasia's institutions need fundamental change - where we will have the most enlightening and interesting debate is where we disagree on what kind of change is needed. Who knows, maybe we'll even have a few candidates change their mind after a particularly persuasive argument... although I wouldn't bet on it.

As President, I'll continue with the same kind of reform-minded agenda I've implemented as Governor. Obviously, the dreaded Real Life (tm) has prevented me from posting my formal platform, but I look forward to going into detail on my plans (they do exist! ) in this debate.

With all that said, I'll shut up until the questions begin.

[Oakvale]

I'll keep my answer quick, since I'm pretty sure my time's already expired.

First things first, I'd like to back Ben's idea of 2 GMs, one for domestic and one for foreign affairs. I've had a similar idea for a while, which evolved from my - admittedly unworkable - original idea of regional GMs. The less said about that the better.

The main problem with the economic crisis isn't merely spending, or taxation, or the price of tea in China. The problem is that, by and large, it's being ignored.

I can't and won't tar all the government with the same brush - Senator North Carolina Yankee has been doggedly alerting people to Badger's warnings for months, myself included, and President Fritz has been paying attention - but most in the Senate and the executive branch have an attitude of "Crisis? What Crisis?"

It's a GM issue - we need to get the GM posting in the Senate, we need regular contact between the administration and Secretaries and the GM, we need the game running according to some kind of actual plot. One of the biggest flaws in Atlasia is that laws go into a legislative black hole and are never heard from again - this is especially prevalent on a regional level.

As President, I'd also give the GM a small team of 1-2 assistants, focusing on regional issues, something that my fellow Governors would agree has been ignored for too long.

On an "in character" level, I subscribe to, I'm afraid to say, the conventional wisdom. Cut spending, cut taxes, and the economy will bounce back. Long term gargantuan deficits are not acceptable.

So, in short, and apologies for running over time - this crisis is largely due to people ignoring the GM until it was too late. Also, twenty minutes is too short a time.

Thank you.

EDIT: Bleh!

[Oakvale]

The time limit is up, and I will move onto the next question.

With the fact that the federal stimulus has been enacted, what is your opinion of the current federal deficit and what is your plan of action regarding this?

You have 30 minutes to respond.

I'm at heart something of a Keynesian, although not one of those who believes that the deficit is little more than a political football.

My basic position is that deficit spending may be needed to power the economy out of a crisis like the one we're facing, but that we should strive to eliminate long-term deficits as quickly as reasonably possible when we're in a more favourable economic climate.

In short, I back the stimulus passed by the Senate. It's a necessary evil. But as President I'll clamp down on wasteful spending - and even from the level-headed Senators of Atlasia, there's a lot of it - and I'm not afraid to say I'd even raise taxes to bring the deficit down to acceptable levels. I'm of the fairly uncontroversial belief that people tend to know what to do with their money better than the government nine times out of ten, but that one time out of ten applies here - the deficit needs to be reduced, and it's not going to be pain-free. But we can't go on spending like drunken sailors around the clock.

When we're living off borrowed Chinese money, we're living off borrowed time. It's not sustainable, it's not acceptable, and it's not going to last under an Oakvale Presidency.

That about wraps that one up.

EDIT: I'll go into more detail on this question in my campaign thread in the coming days, I'm just getting paranoid about the time limits.

[Oakvale]

I'm sure this violates the rules, but I should just butt in to add that I disagree with Tmth that vetoing a bill to raise the debt ceiling is the right course of action. I'm all for tough love, but that wouldn't help anyone, IMO, and would just cause an unneeded financial crisis.

The solution is cut spending in a gradual, sustainable way, over a period of several years, as opposed to the traumatic (and dramatic) moves favoured by those who are even bigger "deficit hawks" than I.

The rest of the Governor's answer I broadly agree with.

*is hushed by moderator*

[Oakvale]

Unfortunately, I have to get going shortly - I'll answer any questions I miss in the meantime in my campaign thread.

To quicky address the unemployment question, I'd first of all agree with the Attorney General that, hopefully, the major stimulus passed will have some impact.

In keeping with his second point, which I agree with, on regions combatting unemployment on a more local level, I've made a couple of efforts to address the situation in my own region - the most notable being a regional hiring incentives initiative when President Purple State vetoed - IIRC - a national bill with similar aims.

The most fundamental truth of economic theory is that people - and businesses - respond to incentives. We need to give businesses an incentive to start hiring again. The obvious thing to do is to implement large tax credits for a businesses hiring an unemployed worker, but there are other things we can do. If it will create jobs, lowering the minimum wage slightly will actually help rather than hurt people - the minimum wage will still be higher than welfare after all. This might not be the obvious thing for a "left" candidate to do, but if it creates jobs I don't much care if it's Milton Friedman or Karl Marx.

Another major way to fight unemployment is education, education, education. Also, education.

Seriously, though - the unemployment rate for college-educated workers is much, much lower than those with a high school diploma. There's a reason for that - if Atlasia is to have near-full employment, we need, to borrow the cliché of Ireland's current government, a "smart economy".

To this end, my administration will invest heavily in education (especially adult education), a field, incidentally, which Tmth and I have co-operated on in the past.

Thank you.

[Oakvale]

I too realize that the debate is over, but I hope it won't be too much trouble if I provide a brief closing statement before the switched-off cameras and empty seats.

First and foremost, thanks to Archangel for hosting this debate. It's certainly been one of the more interesting discussions I've partaken in recently.

While I unfortunately missed the second half of this genuinely interesting and engaging debate due to falling ill, I enjoyed arguing and, on occasion, agreeing with my three opponents - it shows that, if you'll excuse the massive cliché, what unites us is stronger than what divides us. Most obviously, we all agree that a second GM is needed to draw further attention to the storylines that supposedly run the game. We may differ on the details, but the fundamental is an accepted truth.

Whoever wins in Febuary, myself, Tmth, Marokai or Ben, this debate has made me hopeful that Atlasia will be better off for it. We're not going to get saddled with an inactive or incompetent administration, and I think that's something to be glad for.

I hope you've all got a sense of how I'd govern, and what my policies would be as President. The brief flash of drama we had the other week is, thankfully, fading, and it's nice to see we're focusing on what the election should be about. If elected, I will strive day and night (well, day) to shake some life into Atlasia's creaking, dusty institutions. If there's one thing I've learned as Governor, it's that fundamental change requires changing the fundamentals. [1] That's what I propose to do.

Without further ado, I'll get off my soapbox. Vote Oakvale/Snowguy.

Thank you.


[1] Sorry.


PS: Yes, Badger, you'd still have a job.

PPS: You can read my responses to the questions I missed here, here, and here.

[Oakvale]

I too would enjoy another debate, if it can be organised.