At Large Senate Q&A

[CLARENCE 2015!]

I have discussed with Polnut the lack of time for a debate... but we both are willing to do a Q&A togethr to contrast and Jersey Rules of course is invited. If either of my opponents wants the Q&a to be started by a 3rd party that is fine...if not we can just respond to this post

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Sure... but I think we have only 16 hours until the polls open!

[CLARENCE 2015!]

I know you have a dog in this fight Napoleon but I have no objections to you moderating

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Alright... well shoot away guy

I would love to get the gauntlet of questions as the vote starts in 15 hours

[CLARENCE 2015!]

1 Putting aside my life experience, Polnut clearly stomps me in experience in the board. However I have been an active legislator in the Southeast with bill writing, debating, voting and that experience would work well in the Senate. I know Polnut is running with the whole "Experience Counts" gig but from what every one has been saying, the same old business is getting stale here and new blood can help that.

2 First is a school vouchers program. I am working on writing this up for the Soutehast and am getting information to do it but that is only a midway point... the goal is not to give power to regions but to parents and students and I want to pursue this at a national level. There is bloat in public universties  and I will examine the best way to go about this nationally but that will be my priority. Second will be to take a look at the structure of the military and if need be revise that- it is an issue I have experience with and I went thru and updated the Southeast militia act to account for salaries, costs, and expand veterans access to benefits. I will do the same thing in the Senate if elected.  I will have more  items if I get voted in but you asked for priorities- there they are

3 Judging by last election it is pretty evenby party but over all I believe the entire board skews to the left... even most members of my party on here are more centrist or libertarian then conservative. I reckon I'd be the most conserviatve member of the Senate maybe alongside TJ in Cleve, but that would sure make for some fiery debates!

Game Reform- I support the effort going on down there about lowering the requirements to play this game... if I did not have all the time in the world on my hands I would not have put forward the effort to get a start here... luckily I had some more experiences folks help out me  out. In general there seems to be a lot goin on now to reform the game with the party dissolution and caucuses, one which I founded, and the talks in the Senate about requirements. I would follow the lead of more experienced members on this... but I think electing a newboy to the Senate will be a good sign that new members are welcome and can join the fun

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Good night Polnut! For when you wake up later...

I want to say that I agree with his points about streamlining tax system and about foreign policy. In the Southeast, I sponsored a bill which passed to give the surplus back to the people as a rebate and if a surplus continues taxes ought to be lowered...that is a good problem to have

My question for Polnut is two-fold... What do you believe an appropriate tax structure should be and what is your general foreign policy outlook? You mention those as priorities but I would like to discuss specifics if possible...

For me, I believe in a fair tax, which taxes consumption rather then work. It also encourages sound financial decisions. For foreign policy- I believe as I said in my announcement in a foreign policy which intervenes if our national security is threatened but whih does not have our military engaged in nation building. If we want to talks pecific nations I would be glad to.

I also want to point out how truly amazing it is that we are having this conversation from across the world... it is a part of today's world and the web that you all may not appreciate but shows just how far we have come... that is one reason I love this board!

[CLARENCE 2015!]

We have much in common on taxes but please know the Fair Tax is not a spin term, it is a very specific policy proposal in terms of sales tax. It is a good starting point for future discussions I believe

With regards to your question about foreign policy- I support military intervention if our national security is threatened. Take Iran- I believe that if they were to produce a nuclear weapon,t he world would be in grave danger not only because they may use it, but it may end up in the hands of a terrorist group. If we came to a point whre intelligence showed that Iran had produced a nuclear weapon- wich is contrary to what they have told the interinational community they are doing- I would vote to use force. But I want to be very clear... I have long agreed with the strategy of using our technology over our manpower nowadays. We have unmanned drones and stealth bombers and long range air defense and field artillery that makes having men on the ground a needless risk. My heart weeps for the young man or woman who comes home wihtout a limb because of an IED or does not come home at all. I support a new kind of warfare that uses our technology and does not place as many of our service members at risk. I also would support intervention in humanitarian situations as you would, but would defer to an organization such as the Afrian Union or local nations to handle nation building and would not get bogged down for a decade.