Mideast Assembly Thread

[Kaine for Senate '18]

This is the official Mideast Assembly Thread.  Once all 3 members have taken their oath of office, business can begin

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Shouldn't this be in the government board, not the elections board?

You're right; if a Mod could move this, that'd be great.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Great, looks like this farce can now get down to business.  Good thing we have an incompetent governor who appointed who a treasonist Frenchie who can't get elected to anything else instead of the Fmr. Gov. who rightfully should have this seat

DWDL, if you care so much, move back to the Mideast.  Otherwise, shut the hell up.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Great, looks like this farce can now get down to business.  Good thing we have an incompetent governor who appointed who a treasonist Frenchie who can't get elected to anything else instead of the Fmr. Gov. who rightfully should have this seat

DWDL, if you care so much, move back to the Mideast.  Otherwise, shut the hell up.

Well as a member of my party it reflects poorly on us that you did this

It will have no effect at all on anything; instead of being in the Assembly, Inks is elected Governor.  Stop bitching, and take the better result.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Great, looks like this farce can now get down to business.  Good thing we have an incompetent governor who appointed who a treasonist Frenchie who can't get elected to anything else instead of the Fmr. Gov. who rightfully should have this seat

DWDL, if you care so much, move back to the Mideast.  Otherwise, shut the hell up.

Well as a member of my party it reflects poorly on us that you did this

It will have no effect at all on anything; instead of being in the Assembly, Inks is elected Governor.  Stop bitching, and take the better result.

No, your misconduct reflects poorly on the party, the fact that you appointed a moron is beside the point

My conduct will have no effect on the national results for the RPP, and you know it.  However, you've decided to bitch and whine, simply because you dislike me and Hashemite.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I just have 1 question: Say a Governor is unable to open a booth at midnight; does that mean the booth has to be disqualified, and new election held?  I know that this month's ballot will go up between 10-10:30, but I'll include a clear message that no votes cast before midnight will count; how will that fit in?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I had introduced an Amendment to make the Lt. Governor presiding officer, but I guess that never went through

[Kaine for Senate '18]

The Fair Election Act is hearby declared passed and will be sent to the Governor's desk for signature upon Mikado's taking office.

Or I could sign it now.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Mideast Fair Election Act

Section 1:

In situations where the Governor improperly words or incorrectly opens the voting booth for ballot referenda, constitutional amendments, and elections, the ballot will be shut down immediately by the  Judge of the Mideast Superior Court.  All results and votes cast in that voting booth are null and void.

Section 2:

If a voting booth is closed for improprieties, the Governor shall have one week from the opening of the original booth to open another booth on the measure/election/amendment.

X Governor Benjamin A. Constine

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Cloning Act of 2008

1)The twenty first initiative, declaring cloning illegal in the Mideast, will hereby be repealed.
2)This will reestablish the legality of the practice and research of cloning in the Mideast Region by private companies and individuals.
3)No government funding will be given to the study or practice of cloning at this point in time.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Not again...

At least it gives them something to do.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Heh. Turns out Ben needs to second the nomination.

I have seconded it, in multiple threads, I believe.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I second Inks's nomination, and urge that he be confirmed ASAP.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Welcome Inks and Peter to the Mideast Assembly...

Considering I'm the only member who has been RE-elected to this great office...I wish get things started as quickly as possible. I urge you both to swear yourselves in as quickly as possible so we can get to work for the people of the Mideast.

Then I wish to determine the Speaker of the Assembly... I hereby announce my candidacy, by the way.

Let the fun begin!

As do I, the incumbent Governor.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

This is the first piece of legislation I would like the Assembly to consider:

The Mideast Education Opportunity Act of 2008:
Section I:
1.   Because the number of college graduates in the Mideast has declined in recent years,
2.   And because the economic difficulties have further impacted the ability to pay for college,
3.   The Mideast has resolved to pass legislation that will ameliorate the financial difficulties of paying for college.

Section II:
1.   Beginning with the graduating class of June, 2009, all students who meet a majority of the following requirements:
2.   A four year GPA of at least 3.6,
3.   A median family income of under $125,000 per year,
4.   An SAT score of at least 2,000,
5.   Or an ACT score of at least 30,
6.   Will be provided with a full or partial academic scholarship to any 4 year school in the Mideast.

Section III:
1.   In addition to the requirements set out in Section II, the recipient must sign a pledge to attend, for all 4 years, a school in the Mideast.
2.   If the student chooses, sometime after receiving their scholarship, to attend a school not in the Mideast,
3.   Then the scholarship can be revoked, although it will not necessarily be so.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

a.) where does the money come from? It should be stated in the act how we will fund the project.

My plan is to raise sales and income taxes, as the primary source of funding, and to cut spending on certain domestic projects.

b.) Section III/3: The scholarship MUST be revoked. It'd be foolish to pay for a citizen's education in another region.

If a student is able to get into a school like Harvard, or Yale, or Princeton, I don't want to force them to attend school in the Mideast because they can't afford to go elsewhere.

c.) what criteria do we use to grant these scholarships. II/6 states that students will receive full or partial support....what does the question depend on?

I'd like to have a scale based on grades, family income, test scores, and the schools to which they are applying.

d.) I think the required GPA shouldn't be set in stone like that. We should decide how much money we can spend on the entire project, than we can set a quota based on demand for the scholarships. The required GPA could even be potentially higher....but we need a mechanism to make sure we don't get in way over our heads financially. (the same goes for SAT and ACT scores...I don't think we should set concrete limits.)

I'm perfectly fine with altering the requirements, although I set numbers that were fairly high, so going above that may make it too hard for people to qualify.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

We need variable limits....based on supply and demand....to ensure that the program works, in my opinion.

Agreed.  I just want to make sure that if somebody gets into a top level school like UVA, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, University of Michigan, etc., that they aren't prevented from going by lack of financial means.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

to get to the funding aspect....do we even have an official income/sales tax, or do we always just talk in general about "raising or lowering" it?

From what I can tell, it's the latter.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Anyway...I would like to add the source of funding to the bill in some way. Then add the part about variable eligibility requirements...and I think we can agree quite quickly on passing the act.

Perfectly fine with me; I'll let you substitute it in as an amendment.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I would ask that you fellows also take into consideration the movement of the regional capital.

As soon as this legislation is dealt with, I have a bill about the regional capital.

Section I/4: The Mideast will fund the above mentioned program by an increase of the regional income tax.

and concerning section 2, I want to either eliminate the concrete limits....or set them quite low in order to allow us to raise them accordingly when appropriate. I'll opt for leaving them out right now:

Section 2: Potential student's eligibility will be determined by their GPA and SAT/ACT scores. The required level will be determined annually based on overall supply and demand of government support. No candidate whose family's yearly income is greater than $125,000 will be considered.

Both of those are fine with me.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I agree with Meeker; we shouldn't be abolishing offices, we should be trying to entice new residents.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

So, where are we with the 1st bill?

As far as I can tell, we have a compromise ready; we just need an official text to vote on.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

This man was a former Governor of the Southeast.  His death deserves the flag to be flown at half mast.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

It is my view that when a former Governor of any region dies, it should be honored.  I am willing to postpone, and wait for confirmation.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Fine, the flags won't be lowered.