Tmthforu94/TDAS04: For a Stronger Mideast

[tmthforu94]

The Office of Former President Tmthforu94

Welcome to my office! Grab a seat, relax, and enjoy a drink!!

[tmthforu94]

Best of luck to all candidates seeking the office of President/Vice President! Hopefully we get a healthy dialogue going during this election, and in the end, Atlasia is left with another strong, active administration!


We're off to a quick start in the Senate, so I'd like to take a moment and outline to The People the stance I've taken on several issues:

Ratification Amendment: Aye - I hate voting to remove responsibilities from regions, and hopefully I'll be able to compensate for this by other proposals which increase interaction between the regional and federal level. The process of amendments being ratified has always created confusion, and on many occasions, we never really heard about the outcome of the vote. With Homely's agreement, I felt we should at least leave this for The People to decide.

Abolition of the Supreme Court Bar Act: Nay - Though personally a member of the Bar, I don't have strong feelings for it. However, it has a place in Atlasian history, and don't see much harm in keeping it. Rather, I'd like to revive it (whether or not through law) and find a way to give it meaning.

Checks and Balances Amendment: Not a fan of the original version, as I don't believe the Senate should be in a position to overrides Supreme Court decisions, but I have proposed an amendment with bi-partisan support that introduces term limits for justices, something that narrowly failed last session.

The Budget: I opposed education cuts as I don't find it necessary at this time. I also oppose raising taxes (even higher) on the wealthy for the same reason, along with the negative effect it would have on job creation.

Fix The Regions Amendment: Whether it be through an amendment or a Constitutional Convention, I support finding a better alternative to the status quo in terms of regional reform, and am an enthusiastic supporter of the plan the President has laid out.

[tmthforu94]

In regards to unpaid internships:

I have several problems with Section 7. The first is banning internships from the past (and requiring those companies to reimburse their unpaid interns), which is what Clause 1 and 2 would do. I think it's completely wrong to punish companies for doing something that was completely legal at the start of this year. Unpaid interns knew exactly what they were getting into when accepting the internship.

...Which brings me to my second main objection, which wipes out most of the section - banning unpaid internships. Don't get me wrong - unpaid internships aren't ideal. Most students get stuck doing at least one during their college career. Thankfully, though, businesses are pretty flexible with what you do during the intership, as well as what your hours are and the time frame of the internship. It provides an EXCELLENT educational opportunity for the student, as well as provides them with experience to attain paid internships later on, as well as employment.

In a perfect world, this section would be great. But this isn't a perfect world - if this were to be enacted, the number of internships in Atlasia would plummet, creating an environment where securing an internship would be based on who you know, rather than what you've done. We're sending our students into the workforce with less and less experience, making it even harder for them to secure a job. Speaking as a college student, I know I'm speaking in the best interest of students when expressing these concerns.

[tmthforu94]

In light of the Federalist plurality in the Senate, why are the tax rates being proposed so extremely high. Also why are you sipporting regional consolidation? If they win the region we helped build will be ripped to pieces.

Thank you for your questions.

Unfortunately, we simply do not have the numbers to lower the tax rates - even if we could get all five Federalists to back lower rates, it would still have to get by the Vice President and ultimately the President. I believe such high rates are damaging to the economy and job creation, which is why I ensured as Governor of the Mideast that we had some of the lowest rates in Atlasia. Personally, if the numbers were ever completely in our favor, I would love to lower the rates - even a slight drop across the board would be so helpful to The People. Between our tax rates and other proposals being introduced (and passed!) in the Senate, I think what we have here is an example of one side being in power for too long and letting it get to their heads. Hopefully we can change the course sooner rather than later.

As for regional consolidation, I have been a vocal supporter since the beginning, even though I see the chances of actual reform taking place being slim to none, as I do maintain the belief that those regions being affected should be required to give consent, something others who support consolidation disagree with. I support regional consolidation in the hopes that each individual will have the opportunity to participate in an active regional government, just like you and I have. Our past is there and forever will remain. But in this game, we need to create a viable future, and creating three strong regional governments is a way I think this could be done. It strengthens the regions and increases their power from the current system.

[tmthforu94]

In a three region scenario, if you have a proposed map, what would your map look like? I'm at the moment brainstorming an idea of while keeping five regions giving border states the option via a vote of those individual states of changing regions. Like giving for example Maryland the option of either being part of the Mideast, Northeast or the IDS. My opposition is based in the principal that it is not right for any one region to be targed for destruction.

Honestly, I'm starting to lean more towards the belief that each region should be altered, as I think it's unfair to simply cut up the Mideast, especially since the Mideast has (in my biased opinion) the most successful history in this game.

[tmthforu94]

Just a friendly reminder that questions/discussions are welcome here!

*crickets chirping in the background*

[tmthforu94]

What's your favorite color?

That's a very good question, Mr. Miles.

My favorite color is green - it makes me think of springtime and freshness. I like it lots oh boy. I also like crimson and blue as they are the colors of my university. I like gray and brown. I like purple as it is my high school's colors. I like yellow as it reminds me of sunflowers. I don't like orange.

[tmthforu94]

Opinion of Instagram?

I have one, though rarely use it.


I will be making an announcement in the coming days in regards to my future plans in the game, specifically if I plan to seek reelection. I apologize that my activity was primarily limited to voting this past week - I was diagnosed with mono on Tuesday so have either been asleep or taking exams (Midterms week to boot!). I look forward to returning to the Senate in full force, championing pragmatic conservative values.

As always, questions/insults are welcome! *hughughug*

[tmthforu94]

Also, folks need to grow the FUC-K up and remember that this is just a game. Y'all are going to look back on this years from now and be embarrassed that you spent so much time making graphs and 20-paragraph insulting essays on a damn internet game. Find something more substantial to do with your time.

And thanks, Siren. Hugging usually doesn't spread it, but never take your chances.

EDIT: This reminds me, sans the deep personal attacks, of how invested I used to be in the game. So thankful I'm not like that anymore.

[tmthforu94]

Statement:

I have decided to seek another term to the Senate in December. Ever since I swore in at the beginning of September, I have become very frustrated by the state of the Senate. Few Senators are contributing on a regular basis, with half of the Senate only showing up to vote. This is simply unacceptable, and hopefully the October Regional Senate elections send us some fresh, active faces to the Senate.

I understand that many individuals have these same frustrations, which could potentially create an anti-incumbent vibe in December. I would urge those citizens to judge each candidate by their own merits. During the past two months, I have been actively engaged in debates and introducing amendments. Unfortunately, none of my bills were passed this session, and likely won't be next session, due to the incredible backlog that currently exists in the Senate.

During my time in the Senate, I have done my best to be reasonable and pragmatic. I am always ready to sit down and compromise with my friends to the left while still sticking to my conservative values. I look forward to further outlining my positions throughout the course of this campaign, while also outlining my stances on legislation currently in queue (because let's face it, even if next session is terrific, we still won't get through all of what is currently there).

I urge everyone to consider giving me a high preference in the December At-Large elections, though I understand that it is still pretty far away. Endorsements/donations welcome!!!

Isaac *hughughug* :D:D

[tmthforu94]

1. I really don't have a specific legislative agenda - the only two bills I introduced this session were focused on cracking down on sex offenders as well as establishing National American Heritage Day. But we have so much currently in our queue, I'm not really focused on writing legislation as much as I am sifting through what already has been introduced.

2. Were I ZuWo, I probably would have just signed the bill and put it to a public referendum. Though as the Governor has said, there are other ways The People can vote on this law. At least we now realize what's wrong with the current Mideast Constitution and it can be amended accordingly.

3. Now, I think my answer has gradually shifted from this. As both Governor and Mideast Senator, I always acted in the interests of The People in my region, and think I almost always voted as my region as a whole did. As an At-Large Senator, I'm representing everyone! With the mindset of "do as The People wish", every At-Large Senator should be unison on every vote. We are obviously not. I think it's important to recognize the will of The People when a vast majority feel a certain way, but overall, I think I side more with the belief of voting for what I believe is in the best interests of The People. Now, to address your second question, the best example would probably be the 2014 Federal Budget, in which I was the only Senator to vote against. While I respect other conservatives who voted for it, I personally did not feel that a 60% highest tax-rate over a 70% tax-rate was an acceptable compromise, and I think a spending decrease was necessary, an example being in education, where each region already spends way more than in reality. My hands were tied here though due to the current composition of the Senate.

4. Well, Atlasia's current policy does not recognize same-sex marriage (nor heterosexual), so yes. Marriage should be left as a religious entity, but I certainly support civil unions and equality for all.

5. Dogs - I have a beautiful Black Labrador and miss him dearly while I'm at college. After that, I would probably say sharks, just because I associated alligators with the U of Florida, and I can't stand them.

[tmthforu94]

Town Hall Meeting: Memphis, Tennessee

Good evening, it is great to be with you today.

The primary purpose of this town hall meeting is to outline my positions on various issues facing Atlasia, and I look forward to answering all of your questions.

Before we begin, I would like to take a moment to congratulate Duke and Matt, who are currently on their way to being elected President and Vice President of Atlasia! I would also like to offer an early congratulations to the five Senators that will be elected to the Senate, though we still may not be 100% sure who they are. I would especially like to congratulate my regional Senator, TNF. While we disagree on most issues, I admire his tenacity and activity levels - we need this type of activity in the Senate.

At this time, I would like to open the floor to questions. I encourage you all to ask away!

[tmthforu94]

Are you happy and/or surprised by the surprisingly well showing by the Duke campaign?

I've known Duke pretty well since joining the game in 2009, and I know that he has a lot of friendships among older members in the game. I expected most of them to back his campaign, and I was correct. While I was not expecting the margin of victory to be quite as large, I was fully expecting a large victory for him. None of the Senate races surprised me either, though I am pleased with how well the Federalists candidates did.

What do you think about my amendment to the rules?

I think I have been pretty vocal about my general opinion of inactive Senators. That being said, I don't necessarily agree with creating stricter requirements for Senators who have at least made the effort to introduce multiple bills. I would support your amendment with an amendment that changed "expulsion" to just stripping them of their sponsorship of all legislation.

That being said, I wouldn't be opposed to allowing an expulsion vote for Senators who haven't posted in five days. That's unacceptable, IMO.

[tmthforu94]

What do you think about my amendment to the rules?

I think I have been pretty vocal about my general opinion of inactive Senators. That being said, I don't necessarily agree with creating stricter requirements for Senators who have at least made the effort to introduce multiple bills. I would support your amendment with an amendment that changed "expulsion" to just stripping them of their sponsorship of all legislation.

That being said, I wouldn't be opposed to allowing an expulsion vote for Senators who haven't posted in five days. That's unacceptable, IMO.

I think this is an area where we'll just disagree, but it's not that I want to punish someone who wants to put effort in. It's that I want to push Senators, if they are going to sponsor tons of legislation, then they should show up for that legislation. That's all.

Fair point. I do think a reasonable agreement though would be to move it to five days for everyone and create an additional clause that perhaps strips a Senator of sponsorships after a certain amount of inactivity. It's pretty tough to expel a Senator. I think your goal of this amendment would be much better accomplished with such an amendment.

[tmthforu94]

Endorsed for at least 5th preference, I can't go higher this early.

Thanks! *hughughug*

I'm excited to announce that our campaign banner will be released in the coming days!

[tmthforu94]

You'll get between 2nd and 5th preference!

The Senate is currently debating a resolution to amend activity requirements for Senators. Currently, a Senator may be expelled if they do not post for seven days without a public LOA - I support lowering that to five. Additionally, I have introduced an amendment to the resolution that should a Senator who has sponsored five or more bills and hasn't posted in five days without a public LOA, they will be stripped of their sponsorship. As we have seen before, having inactive sponsors slows down the Senate, and this amendment will be a step in solving that problem.

I was also proud to vote for the Support for the LGBTI Athletes Bill and Comprehensive Sex Education Bill of 2013 this past week. The next piece of legislation in line to be debated is the Education for the Future Bill of 2013. In it's current form, I would vote Nay on this piece of legislation. We are already spending a large sum of money on education at both the federal and regional level, and while I would support giving more specific directions to the funding already put in place, I cannot support adding even more money to the education budget at this time, especially since we are about to enter into a deficit.

[tmthforu94]

!!!HaPpY hAlLoWeEn!!!

Stay safe tonight, everyone!

As always, questions/comments are welcome. I have been encouraged by the positive feedback I have received, both publicly and privately, as well as recent polling that showed my approval nearing 70%! I am YOUR Senator - please come to me with any concerns or questions you may have, whether it is an idea for legislation or a question about how the game works, and I would be more than happy to help you with them.

[tmthforu94]

PPT Vote

I was proud to vote to elect Senator Yankee as PPT for another session. Yankee has been a fantastic PPT, having extensive knowledge of Senate procedure and having a terrific record on activity and moving debate along.

When both sides are trading power in the Senate back and forth, a partisan PPT may be something worth discussing. But with the current environment, I see little good coming from it, regardless of whether you are in the majority or the minority. A non-partisan PPT has been good for us for years, and I'm happy that it will continue to.

[tmthforu94]

Ask me srs questions!

[tmthforu94]

Finally! I'll return the favor, Flo.

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I have always been an opponent against the death penalty, having been part of the many attempts to repeal it in Atlasia. I was very pleased when we were able to recently abolish it, and I will fight any effort to change the current policy.

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Outside of the great people, our tradition in the Midwest is what makes this region great. I think there needs to be better clarification between the federal government and Midwest government on this issue, though I do not believe the Governor's proposal is the best path to achieving that. I am supportive of Senator TNF's bill to require that the government recognize our loony names, and urge that it reaches the Senate floor sooner rather than later.

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What I support is guaranteeing that those committing a serious crime be required to serve their sentences consecutively, while also limiting the amount their sentences can be reduced. I have a bill that is currently on the Senate floor that aims to do just that, and I would say that anyone who feels the same should contact their Senator's and urge them to vote Aye on the bill.

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I think just about anyone is on the lower-income of a society is struggling, especially compared to their wealthy counterparts. I think that as a whole, the Senate has been enacting policies that weakens the struggle, though I do have a concern that some of our efforts may be counterproductive, especially when you look at the high tax rates in Atlasia.

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No, as I generally oppose the emphasis of standardized testing in our education system.

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I think it may have been a bit of a rash decision that he will later regret. I do not appreciate his false statement that I recruited off-site zombies to the game - what's ironic was that "scandal" occurred years before he even registered. I think Griffin often paints himself as the victim and cannot realize his own faults.

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While I expect Goldwater and myself to both win, I have a hard time seeing a center-right candidate pick up the third seat needed. We will just have to hope that the fifth candidate elected is one who's willing to sit down and work across the aisle. Though that being said, I think just about any combination would be an improvement over the current group in there.

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Yes. I might even introduce something to address this, though I don't want to steal your thunder, future Senator.

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Until they become an organized party, I don't think it is likely. Additionally, I do not think it would be good for the Atlasian right if we became fractured once again.

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I have confidence that our party will continue to expand on it's majority. Hopefully this majority translates into a bit more power in the future!

[tmthforu94]

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I think it may have been a bit of a rash decision that he will later regret. I do not appreciate his false statement that I recruited off-site zombies to the game - what's ironic was that "scandal" occurred years before he even registered. I think Griffin often paints himself as the victim and cannot realize his own faults.

Could you expand on this?

I became fully engaged in the game in June 2009 (I had registered a few months before). Upon joining, I was a young kid who was new and very naive as to what was going on. I recruited a person from another forum to join as well, because I thought she would enjoy it just as much as I did. She quickly registered and cast one vote, which was in the June 2009 election. Shortly after, the privately notified me that she simply didn't have an interest in the forum, and stopped posting all-together.

This is the off-site recruiting that Griffin tried to attack me on, and I hope everyone else can realize that this is just as silly as I do. Griffin seems to have an addiction to attacking any successful conservative, and I think it will be good for everyone with him gone.

[tmthforu94]

Someone has a lot of time on their hands. Imagine the possibilities if you actually used that effort to do the job you were elected to do!

Saying something might work doesn't mean you actually go through with it. During a slow period in Atlasia, there was actually a time when quite a few Atlasians were arguing the merits of off-site recruiting. The question was how many people I recruited to join Atlasia, and the answer was and remains to be a single person. You're trying too hard.

[tmthforu94]

Lay off the sage

If only...


I would like to announce my opposition to Senator TNF's war on education in Atlasia, specifically his effort to ban the practice of homeschooling. The public school sentence in Atlasia is still not up to the level it should be, and forcing everyone to attend a public institution will do absolutely nothing to change it, other than creating more of an overcrowding problem. If they have the means to do so, parents should be able to make the choice as to where they send their children, rather than trap them in failing schools. Statistics have repeatedly shown that students who are homeschooled perform better on tests and beyond than those in public schools, and they still have the same opportunities of a social life that children in public schools. Each student learns differently - we should be allowing them to learn in the environment that is best suited to maximize their Dave-given potential. This is just another example of Senator TNF's war on success in Atlasia. I will do whatever it takes to ensure this atrocious piece of legislation is defeated.

[tmthforu94]

Statement from the Office of Tmthforu94:
The recent tragedies that swept across the Mideast struck home to the Senator, as the areas affected were very close to his former residence. The Senator will be traveling this weekend to the areas affected to survey the damage and offer assistance to families affected by the storms.

[tmthforu94]

#defeattmth

Saw that was trending earlier on Twitter. Impressive!