Join the new world

14 October 2010, Day 1,059 of the New World. For better or for worse, I have now been in Congress nine times. Whether this makes me someone to be respected, envied, or pitied, I have three time stepped up to represent Arizona, three times represented Michigan, once represented Missouri, and twice represented Beersheba South District. I have seen at least three reformed comprehensive tax codes, joining a super-alliance (this was in the United States; Israel has yet to put joining EDEN to a vote), a new constitution or two, and declaration of war against Japan and Iran. I have also sat through some more mundane discussions: granting citizenships and small changes to a tax rate being the most common.

Occasionally another Congressman brought up the topic of minimum wage. It was natural for them to do so when hourly wages were introduced, but let’s just consider V1 and V2 after it went back to daily work cycles. In my experience (other than the admins changing something), this only happened once every two terms, and it was always a first-time Congressman discussing it. The reason is simple: minimum wage is a topic that has been discussed before, and usually a nation sets its minimum wage at a certain level for a reason. The logic behind this decision usually does not change from month to month.


This may be the first time in a year that I have seen this icon

Occasionally another Congressman proposes a bill without putting it before a discussion. Again, this is usually a first-time Congressman or someone frustrated with doing things the right way. Even if I agreed with such a proposal, I would vote it down for skirting procedure. You should avoid associating your political beliefs with underhanded politics, because that guarantees resistance to them.

That is why a general rule for any legislature is to have a discussion or debate before proposing a vote. In fact, a line in the Israeli Knesset Charter, which technically is still the governing document of the country, states “Knesset Members may not propose laws without first opening a discussion to debate said law.” Procedure and the country’s charter were outright ignored three days ago by seven-term Congressman from Beersheba South District 70mD II when he proposed this minimum wage change. Even more unsettling is that the change passed 18-5. Two days later, rather than correcting it, ZoToN, a freshman Congressman from Haifa district, proposed a bill to raise the minimum wage again, this time to 2 Shekels. Thankfully this did not pass, but it is disturbing that seven Knesset members voted Yes to a proposal with an off-site discussion link. As of press time, Livelie, a five-term Congressman from Nazareth North District, used one of his proposals to fix the minimum wage; the bill is currently winning 8-5, possibly because some members of the Knesset realized the minor economic crisis they caused.

An incredibly superficial examination of the economy makes people think “new citizens don’t make much money, so we should raise the minimum wage so they can buy more things.” If any more critical thinking than that is conducted, one realizes why it is a bad idea. First, there is no obligation on the part of general managers to hire new citizens. They are less productive than older citizens, and almost always do not produce enough to cover their own wage. If general managers have to pay them even more, the likely result is that they won’t hire any at all, leaving our babies without employment opportunities – the opposite effect of any legislation meant to help them. If the President, Vice President, Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, or five educated members of Knesset were consulted, this outcome could have been explained before the Knesset shook up Israel.


New citizens could easily survive their first few days

Lack of discussion is a separate problem entirely. Only eleven accounts on the national forums have the “Knesset member” access level. Eight have posted in the sign-in topic for this month, seven of which are still eligible to serve. Israel can have up to 40 Knesset members, by the way. As Minister of Finance, I recognize that a comprehensive tax reform plan is impossible without Knesset member votes behind it. As a Knesset member, I cannot debate the merits of joining or not joining an alliance with the air. As an Israeli citizen, I find this situation unacceptable.


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Party President elections happen tomorrow, and the day after that nominations for Congress open. I plan to publish a list of qualified candidates. Anybody can declare and get on the ballot, but only those putting forth some effort will qualify for this list:

1. The candidate must be registered on the national forum.
http://erepublikisrael.freeforums.org/index.php

2. If a current Congressman, his activity level will be disclosed to the public.

3. He must pledge his achievement reward to Israel’s Finance Department.

These conditions are not difficult to fulfill. It will be apolitical; I do not care which party a would-be Knesset member affiliates with or where he stands with respect to joining EDEN. What I care about is having a functional country. Because it is relatively easy to be elected to Congress in Israel, we cannot expect 100% of the people elected to fulfill these conditions. However, I would count it a success if 60% did. Our country should be run by people who actually contribute.


Rheinlander von Phalz
Minister of Finance
Knesset Member, Beersheba South District
Party President, Integrity-Integration-Israel