SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE: Gov't Oversight and Reform (Recommendations)

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Is there any pending legislation the committee can consider?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Presuming I am elected Chairman of the NSC Committee, my first order of business will be to hold hearings on pending FoPo legislation (like the new Treaty Amendment), as well as some overview hearings on our foreign policy, including testimony from the SoEA and Ambassador Cathcon.  Perhaps we should do similar things here?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I think both Committees have solid claims; joint work would probably be best.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

The court is fine as it is.

No, it isn't.  Power is concentrated in the hands of only three individuals, and there are far too few cases.  Both of these are issues that need to be remedied.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I don't see any way to increase the caseload, but I believe that expanding the Court is something that needs to be done for future cases.  Other than that, there's nothing we can do.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Would the Committee members desire the invitation of the Justices to offer their opinion on this since they have been outspoken on previous reform attempts already?

Very much so.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why are there multiple bills trying to pack the court?

Because the time has come to expand the Court.  Three Justices is simply too few; all a Justice needs to do is to persuade one other person of the correctness of his idea in order to win.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

So your solution is to pack the court?

My solution is to expand the number of Justices.  It is narrow-minded to say that the Court can never be expanded.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I don't disagree with the Court's rulings, that's the thing.  I think the Court is doing an excellent job.  There have been no impeachments, nothing to politicize the Court.  You're seeing a conspiracy where one doesn't exist.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Wait...why are we talking about reducing the size of the Court? It would be better to expand the Court.

Nobody is talking about reduction; we're only considering expansion.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I think both suggestions will improve the Court; I continue to beat the drum for expansion, which I think will democratize the Court and lend legitimacy to its opinions.


In opinion should the Supreme by expanded by the addition of two more members?
Aye.

Should all the Supreme Court Justices be required to post opinions on each case considered by the court?
Aye.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Gentlemen,

This legislation's purpose is to prevent members of the executive branch from refusing to cooperate with a Senate committee.  While the punishment may seem harsh, it is necessary given our lack of an alternative.  Regarding Scott's concern, I would suggest adding a penalty of a four month voting ban for private citizens.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Aye
Aye

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Mercy mercy me.  That'll take a while.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I can state that I did not know anything about these numbers, and haven't really done anything as SoIA.

With this crisis though, I will work with the President, Napoleon, and the GM, Shua, to get results for Atlasia. This country will bounce back.

Can you explain why, since being confirmed nearly two months ago, you haven't done anything?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

From the international side, I echo Marokai's concerns about continuity.  When Joyce replaced me, he followed through on my stories, which was a good thing.  Unfortunately, I don't think there's any legislative way to force a new office holder to follow through.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Could we, perhaps, require an outgoing GM/SoIA/SoEA to prepare a list of their story lines, publish them publicly, and require the incoming officeholder to adhere to the stories, under threat of impeachment?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I think part of the problem is that, except for GM, these positions now turn over too much.  We've had three men serve as SoEA in 4 months, and several men serve as SoIA, with the incumbent having done nothing since taking office.  If we could keep them all in office together, we'd be more likely to get follow ups and continuity.  Of course, I'm not sure there's a solution to that.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Plan looks good to me.  Let's go!

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I firmy believe that the only way to create continuity, and hopefully entice officeholders to actually work, is to have a comprehensive report of what their predecessors did.  That way there's a starting point.  I want bi-monthly status updates, or whenever an officeholder departs - whatever comes first.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I'm generally in line with what Scott said.  I just think there needs to be something that each successive officeholder can work with.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

We need to figure out what's going on with Morgie.  This is absurd.
 

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[Kaine for Senate '18]

Summon Morgie, then Nappy, but otherwise good to go.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I want Morgie here now!  Or else I want his head on a pike!

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I admit I'm disappointed that the President, at least publicly, didn't seem to do anything when the SoIA disappeared.  If he took private action I'll retract my statement, but this was a significant problem, and it seems like the President did nothing to deal with it.