False Promises and Uninformed Congressmen
Bob Boblo
Contary to most articles being written right now, this is not relevent to either the looming presidential elections or the current economic state. There are two political issues that have gone by seemingly unnoticed that I would like to raise.
False Promises
A month ago, each party was putting forward their plans for the coming month in a bid to win votes. Sadly, it would seem one of the three major parties one has not quite acheived this.
UKRP have completley failed to fulfill many promises made in their manifesto of last month
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/urkp-platform-and-manifesto-october-2008-681270/1
It states 'We will fight to get a malleable Constitution passed' but very little progess has been made on this over the last month
It states 'We will reshape the Department for Work to include a mentoring programme' but no legislation was passed or proposed for this reshape
It states 'The MoF and DoT will have a small portion of their resources dedicated to a datamining operation to keep track of trends in currency exchange rates, gold prices, market shares, and other such economic indicators' but seemingly nothing like this has been put in place or proposed, and even if those departments are doing this anyway, there is no clear defined legislation about this to make sure it stays that way.
It states 'To aid in bridging that gap, we would propose an incentives programme to assist those investing in company upgrades' but an incentive programme was never put in place or even proposed.
Now fair enough, the were the ruling party as we were going into V1 but still, not all of their congressman were directly involved in this preparation, and the other parties had members involved too, but still completed all of their pledges.
So it really has to be asked, why on Earth haven't they acted upon these pledges?
Uninformed Congressmen
The other issue is proposals being put forward without being discussed in congress. A recent proposal on wood taxes (http://www.erepublik.com/en/United-Kingdom/law/485) was made without congressional discussions taking place first, and no link to the debate if one took place.
Personally, I think this should NEVER happen. Despite being very talented, all congressman have weak points, wether that be economics, international politics or whatever. The fact is many will make uninformed choices with out debates.
Aside from the obvious problem of that, there is also the capacity for abuse. If congressman can 'sheep vote' proposals through, without debate, than it becomes very easy for them to explitlaws for personal gain, something particuarly relevant with the currently large amount of GMs and shareholders in congress.
I would like to urge all our congressmen and congresswomen to make sure this kinf of thing is avoided in future.
Comments
That proposal going through without debate is very strange. We as Congressmen must Vote NO on proposals that contain no debate link. If all Party Presidents can stress that we should be fine.
Um, Bob, I've got a sheet with exchange rates available to me over the last 12 weeks for about 20 different countries. How do you know what the DoT has and hasnt accomplished?
And the MoF was, surprise surprise, a PCP member who "had things come up". Should probably clear that within your own party. When a Government has to take responsibility for two Ministers in one term it doesnt make it very productive on ALL fronts, does it?
One recommendation: Don't break your own promises. At the beginning of your article, you say that this has nothing to do with the upcoming election. Well, being an attack dog for the PCP, against the UKRP, definitely has something to do with the election.
Still. Overall, good premise for an article: things like this need to get said.
'That proposal going through without debate is very strange. We as Congressmen must Vote NO on proposals that contain no debate link. If all Party Presidents can stress that we should be fine.'
QFT.
Why exactly was there no debate in regards to the lowering of the wood tax?
@Dish
That was covered in the article
'even if those departments are doing this anyway, there is no clear defined legislation about this to make sure it stays that way.'
And I don't know about DoT, which is why I wrote 'seemingly nothing' as opposed to 'nothing'
Yet if you don't actually know, can it be considered responsible to write an article as such, basically claiming that I do jack shat in the Department of Trade?
"Yet if you don't actually know, can it be considered responsible to write an article as such, basically claiming that I do jack shat in the Department of Trade?"
"@Dish
That was covered in the article
'even if those departments are doing this anyway, there is no clear defined legislation about this to make sure it stays that way.'"
He doesn't say that you're doing "jack shat", just that if you are doing your job, the population of the eUK doesn't, and couldn't, know it, and the UKRP has also done nothing to fulfil this promise, except perhaps by telling you in private to do this. Bob's just pointing out that no legislation has been proposed to do this.
I did actually raise this halfway through the month, though as part of a separate argument.
But I thought you had all said that Ministries didnt need exact guidelines or legislation? I thought we were all for doing things our own way?
The fact is, for someone to come out and politically try to bulldog their way into favor (which is what Bob's trying to do with the PCP article he's written) is irresponsible. CB and I (and I believe I had this discussion with you as well) had this same conversation. No one really knows what Ministers do, outside of getting their jobs done.
Isn't that a facet of parliamentary transparency?
@Mephit: Apparently, no. We're against an organised cabinet, which I proposed. Remember?
I think the reason that the wood tax was changed was because it was such a subtle change that didn't appear to cause any problems, people just voted yes and didn't think twice.
I myself was guilty of that and then completely forgot about it. I remember reading it, looking at the new proposal, thinking, "yeah, that seems fine", voting yes and that was that.
I do agree though, any and all proposals from now on without a discussion link should be automatically voted no on.
"It states 'We will fight to get a malleable Constitution passed' but very little progess has been made on this over the last month"
We've started with the project, it's not something you can do in a few weeks. It takes months and It's a very big job. At least we've already started. 3 months of PCP legislation and we've seen nothing of the constitution.
"t states 'The MoF and DoT will have a small portion of their resources dedicated to a datamining operation to keep track of trends in currency exchange rates, gold prices, market shares, and other such economic indicators' but seemingly nothing like this has been put in place or proposed, and even if those departments are doing this anyway, there is no clear defined legislation about this to make sure it stays that way."
As dish said, the DOT is working on it. Of course we aren't going to propose it in public area's where all other country's just need to look and copy-past it.
"So it really has to be asked, why on Earth haven't they acted upon these pledges?"
because we've been too busy cleaning up the mess of the PCP legislation.
plus: everyone knows you're the PCP slander dog ;P
"because we've been too busy cleaning up the mess of the PCP legislation. "
HAH! Funny guy.
Would you like to list all those 'messes' that have been 'cleaned up'? Or do they slip your mind?
Fact: More got done on the constitution when PCP where in power, mainly due to SBJ.
'
"So it really has to be asked, why on Earth haven't they acted upon these pledges?"
because we've been too busy cleaning up the mess of the PCP legislation.
plus: everyone knows you're the PCP slander dog ;P
Wrong again Shadow on all accounts
@Ip: On your "fact", that wasnt because the PCP pushed the Constitution. That was because SBJ worked his arse off on it. Can't claim his hard work as a "victory" for your entire party.
Ask SBJ.
And I voted no, in this proposal.
Shocking could be good or bad. Not really at that aimed towards propoganda though.
I think Bob's article says it all when he acknowledges that the UKRP have successfully steered the eUK through the start of V1. It's been a tremendous strain for us all, but we have come through. Hopefully now with the changes in the productivity formulas our careful raw materials preparations will finally bear fruit.(See my article "What's Wrong with the eUK economy?" http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/what-s-wrong-with-the-euk-economy--695468/1 )
Widdows....Gonna say it again in the open: "For one who left the eUK due to Mud-Slinging, you shouldn't be one to talk. "
Go be stubborn in the corner because you lost last month (and soon to be this month) why don't you?
'Go be stubborn in the corner because you lost last month (and soon to be this month) why don't you?'
Lol, since when have I moaned once about the election? You can ask Rayf, in the time I did serve as MoD, that I was incredibly helpful to him. Every day we chatted via PM and we helped each other out. And yet ignorant people like yourself and Dish keep saying I've been pissing and moaning about it. Get a grip.
'Widdows....Gonna say it again in the open: "For one who left the eUK due to Mud-Slinging, you shouldn't be one to talk. '
Tell that to Shadow. If someone attacks KIA and my party should I stand by and let them have a go? No, I should stick up for them, especially when the BS came from someone who is the most inept president this eCountry has seen (by popular vote).
Oh and you're questioning my character when the whole reason you started in the eUK instead of the eUSA was because it was too big out there and you wanted to be recognised and have power.
You're nothing but an arrogant, ignorant idiot who thinks they can shoot their gob off when they know f all about the situation. You don't care about the eUK, you care for power and being recognised. You're pathetic.
I see nothing changes with PCP 🙁 Trying to score cheap shots as usual.
Widds you need to calm down mate and engage your brain before you open your mouth.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/public-apology-695797/1
Deathtoll. You are being incredibly hypocritical, as are you Pagan.
You go on about cheap shots.
Look at Jerry's thread.
You go on about protecting people and sticking up for people. Well, if Shadow hadn't have insulted my party and KIA then I wouldn't have insulted him back. And yet I'm getting ripped into? I'm getting blamed for everything?
Oh and you also were having a snide comment by saying this 'Go be stubborn in the corner because you lost last month (and soon to be this month) why don't you?' and you wonder why you get a response? You wanted a response, you got it well done, do you want a medal?
'participate as much as I do?'
You participate? In my view you've done f all for this country apart from find a few multies. Well done.
'But some of them just truly can't handle not having a position to use over people.'
That's a blatant reference to me, yet I'm in no position, I have no power. Showing your ignorance much?
'are really really unfit for any political position.'
Yet again a blatant reference to me. When you've been called the best MoD by two of your main rivals and had 3 and a half terms in the job you can talk.
Pagan, if a government has not fulfilled its promises, it's hardly a cheap shot to point that out, it's a very serious and necessary claim. You harp on about him being PCP, but let's be honest here, are UKRP going to point it out themselves? Are they willing to stand before the electorate and say 'Hey, yeah, you elected us for this, but we couldn't be bothered to do it'?! Of couse it's going to be someone else that points it out. Bit of realism please.
Oh, and your claim 'if i were here for power, would i participate so much?' is a logical fallacy. The reason people enjoy power is because of its application, and the more you have, the more there is to be enjoyed. So it makes sense that input time rises if you're here for power.
'When you've been called the best MoD by two of your main rivals and had 3 and a half terms in the job you can talk.'
Oh and you can call that arrogance people, but that's fact.
Twaters, did the UKRP write articles about all the items in PCP manifesto that didn't happen ? No.
You guys want to score cheap points, then fine go ahead it's obviously working very well (*sarcasm😉 considering your presidential candidates losing the elections.
You guys complain about the eUK atmosphere, yet you criticize our party and insult our members. It's PCP members who are making the atmosphere toxic in the UK.
And I don't even need to mention the theatrics.