The Independent Vice Presidential Debate

[Purple State]

Many thanks to Yelnoc and The Independent for hosting this debate, as well as to Ogis and Dallasfan for stepping up to participate in this early but important vice presidential debate. The opportunity to share ideas early and often makes the campaign much more exciting and fun.

Just a quick note, for religious reasons I will have to get this up quickly and then go dark until tomorrow night, but I will get in as much information as possible now and then tomorrow.

The February elections take place at an extremely important time for the game. We have a new Constitution, a reformed Wiki, a top-notch Department of Forum Affairs, an active Game Moderator and improving Departments of Internal Affairs and External Affairs. In gameplay, we are facing a looming economic crisis, both financially, in terms of our domestic market, and fiscally, in terms of our national debt. So these elections matter.

When I served as President with Marokai as my Vice President, we didn't have these same problems. Instead, the game was stuck in a rut, with its foundation crumbling and major disillusionment among members. So we went to work rebuilding from the ground up and set up the current game stability that we have now.

Now we are back, but with an important difference. Marokai, the preeminent Atlasian policy wonk, is on top of the ticket. In a game where the foundation is stable, we can now move on to true gameplay. That means proposing substantive policy, as Marokai is apt to doing, and ensuring that the legislation is successfully shepherded through the Senate. If elected Vice President, my number one job will be to make sure that the Senate operates effectively.

And I plan to do that and more. The trains will run on time and the debate will be exciting again. Some of that may mean reforming the rules of the Senate or finding creative ways to spur new interest in the arcane federal legislature. But it also involves outreach, fun and the balls to bring up controversial topics. That is what Marokai and I will be doing, throughout this campaign and hopefully throughout or time in office.

So if your idea of a better Atlasia is more open and more interesting debate, that draws in everyone from the most wonkish to the most ideological to the most loony, vote Marokai/Purple State for President and Vice President.

Thank you.

[Purple State]

Now, let us move into the actual debate.  As I'm sure you know, there are rumors, credible rumors, that China may stop funding our massive debt within the very near future.  What would you and your running mate do to prevent this?

The looming debt crisis with China combined with the current economic weakness requires an all-of-government approach to deal with successfully. This means enlisting the help of the Senate to both provide adequate stimulus while working to control extraneous spending and crafting a long-term sustainable budget. This means interacting with the government of China (through the GM), from the Secretary of External Affairs up through the President to ensure that they are aware that to harm the Atlasian economy is to cause massive damage to their own growth and development.

This will take an extremely active government and everyone can be sure that Marokai and I bring that to the table. We will be engaged from the start to make sure that the regions have what they need to create jobs and that the Chinese government does not act against our interests and their own.

Finally, I should point out that we are only lucky enough to have these sort of game topics because Marokai and I previously worked hard to have the most active government, which included appointing Badger as GM. I assure you that it is our full intention to carry that into our administration if elected.

[Purple State]

Wow, today was busier then expected.

Moving on, what is your tickets stance on the deficit?  Will reducing it be a primary or secondary focus (or tertiary?) and what methods are you willing to use to get us out of the deep red?

Since my time as GM we have known that the Atlasian deficit was, well, quite large.

Marokai and I both feel strongly that the deficit must be closed in the medium term, but not at the expense of growth and innovation. At the end of the day, we can go a long way towards closing the debt through sustained growth in the economy.

So what is the solution? Cutting programs that don't work, streamlining programs with extra slack and expanding programs that build the economy of tomorrow.

Now Marokai will be leading these policy initiatives, but I hope that his proposals coupled with my vision for a more active Senate will produce broad debate on these issues. The game is small enough that if we make discussions exciting and welcoming, we can really hear from most people and include as many great ideas as possible from all along the political spectrum.

[Purple State]

Marokai and Tmth, you have a whole presidential debate thread to go at it. Stop bickering in this thread and let the VPs debate policy.


The issue with the debt is not the size (as implied by Dallasfan), but the threat that China will withdraw from buying new debt, a major threat to international faith in our ability to finance current spending levels. It should also be noted that the annual budget deficit is nearly under control, but we are almost a decade away from closing out the debt.

We need to work with the Chinese and other nations to address their concerns with our current debt. One way to do that is with diplomatic outreach, at the Global Treaty Organization and bilaterally. Another is to build a sustainable economy that avoids crippling crises and supports strong and extended growth. And that is exactly what Marokai and I plan to do.

[Purple State]

So let's leave it up to presidential candidate Marokai Blue to "correct" everybody in public by inserting himself into other debates that he is not a part of when people are "wrong", instead of bringing the issue up privately with the debate moderator. [/sarcasm]

Again, you coming in here and re-posting a talking point from your own presidential debate was wholly inappropriate.

You're just being disingenuous Snowguy. You posted in the presidential debate thread to criticize a policy proposal by Marokai:

'm sorry, this all I can fit into 20 minutes, as I myself didn't have an answer already planned out.

Nor did I.

No.  You just gave a lengthy bullet pointed and annotated speech about credit card legislation that does very little to actually impact an economy in freefall.

So can we get back to the question at hand or do you all want to keep making yourselves look like idiots?

[Purple State]

I assumed that the reason rumors that China will stop financing our debt indicated that we have a massive debt; otherwise there would be little panic.  This game needs an easy-to-access history of GM events; that is much more important then "politics".  

If you are not a Vice Presidential candidate (or myself, of course) do not post in this thread.  Thank you.

Question #3: What is your personal view on offsite recruitment to the game and will it be a feature of "your" administration?  Format is the same as last time.

The debt is large, but it's coming down over the next decade as long as current tax levels are coupled with responsible stewardship. But enough of that.

Offsite recruitment will not be a central part of a Marokai/Purple State administration. While I welcome new blood to Atlasia and know from my own experience what an active and interested newbie can do for the game, part of the value of these boards is discovering them on your own. The people that join should generally be those who are specially motivated to do so.

This game requires player interest to thrive and you just don't get that as consistently from players that are brought in by others. Now I'm not saying that every player that's recruited will be another Hamilton and deserves any anger directed at them. That would be disingenuous and wrong. But I really don't believe that you get the same caliber of player as often when you recruit, as when you let people discover these boards on their own as they become familiar with the forum at-large.

So we will be encouraging better "new member orientation" programs, like improving the "Introduction to Atlasia" thread and promoting a mentor program for new citizens, but we don't intend to make offsite (or even onsite) recruitment a part of our administration.

[Purple State]

Thank you.  Going back to the economy, the Atlasian unemployment rate is at record highs.  What would "your" administration do to get more Atlasians to work.

Our strategy is two-fold:

First, build on the successful "Social and Economic Development Zones" (SEDZ) created under the Social & Economic Development Zone Improvement Act. While those zones currently exist, the Secretary of Internal Affairs under a Marokai/Purple State administration will focus on using those zones as effectively as possible to improve the job climate.

Second, we will reinforce the Hiring Incentives Act, legislation originally passed under my administration that successfully stabilized the job market for a time. We will make sure that this, combined with a robust unemployment insurance system, encourages employers to hire while maintaining the safety net for those looking for work.

[Purple State]

I'm really happy to see the level of agreement that new members of the game need to be treated better. If anything comes out of this campaign, hopefully it will be a broad consensus among Atlasians that new members should be treated with respect and dignity.

Coupled with the mentoring ideas that some of us have mentioned, I think we might see a new dawn for young and aspiring players.

[Purple State]

Thank you Yelnoc for holding the first vice presidential debate of the campaign.