Join the new world

Thanks to the Libs for hosting. Heres an abbreviated transcript for anyone who was unable to attend, cleaned it up to get rid of extra stuff. Do note that Gaius was unable to be there at the start for very good reasons. Newton (his VP) spoke on his behalf until he arrived

For anyone that is unaware, I (Choc) am HarrisonRichardsons vice presidential candidate, and Newton is Gaius'.

Enjoy!

(NOTE: I have the consent of all 3 candidates to post this)

Opening Statements

Sucked, I'll save you the effort of reading them

Economy


Indrae: Okay, first we will start with Economic related questions.
Indrae: First question: How do you feel about the current state of the economy and what would you do as president to attempt to improve it?
Civil_Anarchy: The current state of the economy is one that we cannot directly control. We are not in a crisis, and therefore, we should not take immediate action to change much. As per improvement, my platform mentioned a Government Sponsored Companies provision, that would attempt to get Companies that work with their employees more, to be implemented. In combination with a larger population, and better activity, our economy will strengthen.
Newton: Well as per usual I'm no economic guru. So I'd allow the awesome people on the EC like DrTango to take the reins on that. They've proven to know what their doing, and I trust them. They know much better than me 😉
HarrisonRichardson: The President does not control the economy. It is not the duty of the President to manage the economy; that falls under Congress. My ideal tax plan is 25-1-1 Income-Import-VAT, but I think the current system needs to be given time to see if it works. It would be ignorant for the POTUS to push an economic plan seeing as they aren't the one who enacts it. also, Choc is an economic wiz.
Newton: heh

Government financial transparency

Indrae: Second question: What would you do to create more transparency and accountability in the executive budget?
Civil_Anarchy: Public records of all transactions, after the information is de-classified, aka, of no use to anyone that could possibly use it against us.
Newton: In short: let the people know where the money goes. It's around, just not well published. It could go into a WHPR for example. I'm sure we could write up a nice chart with all the info we can include.
HarrisonRichardson: I think we do plenty to promote transparency. The budget is public; that is more than 99% of other countries do. If anyone has a specific question, I would imagine that they could ask it and find out rather easily. Once again, this is more a duty of Congress than the President, though I suppose the President could lead the charge to make the information more readily available. I think our transparency is excellent ... and if anyone had any specific ideas to improve it, I'd be surprised because I can't think of any

The Gold Peg

Devoi😛 As I'm sure everybody has noticed, our peg (government-set currency exchange rate) has been sliding around a bit lately. Do you believe this is a problem, and what action would you take to deal with it? Should we keep it at .025, or move it up or down?
Civil_Anarchy: As I'm not an economics expert, I'm sure that matter will be left up to the CBO directors, and/or the economic greats of Congress. Personally, I don't view the matter as a problem, unless theres concern that it may be an economic maneuver by an enemy power in an attempt to de-stabilize the eUs economy.
Newton: That kind of issue is exactly why the Economic Council exists, so I'd let them handle it. Again, they have proven to be awesome at what they do, so why interfere? fin
HarrisonRichardson: We need to increase our USD reserves to be able to deal with larger battles and speculators. I know Congress is already discussing this and I approve. Keep the peg where it is; we've tried the peg higher and we've tried the peg lower. At .03 it's too expensive and at .02 it's so inexpensive to the point where we make much less gold. Don't fix what isn't broken.

Foreign Policy

Indrae: Moving on to Foreign Policy.
Indrae: First Question: In your opinion, what kind of relationship should the US have with EDEN?
Indrae: Civil_Anarchy.
Civil_Anarchy: As I outlined in my Platform, we currently use an Eden-alignment strategy. This means we cooperate with them on a military level, without being a direct member of the alliance. The leadership structure of Eden has prevented us from operating effectively within that alliance, as well as some of their policies. That is painfully apparenty from our previous leaving of the alliance. The eden-alignment strategy allows us to cooperate with our allies, and have the maximum amount of freedom, and maneuverability that we need to effectively combat Phoenix.
Newton: We need to communicate. All doubts that EDEN is still valid should be void by now. They essentially took HK without us. It's time to start building those bridges back up. *However* I do want to make this point abundantly clear. The US will not rejoin EDEN under Gaius Julius. So in short, improve communication with EDEN and work with them.
HarrisonRichardson: The best term I've heard is "Friends with Benefits", coined by my Vice President. We need to realize that we lean heavily towards EDEN but we're not their ATM nor are we weak. The leadership of EDEN is not the problem; it is the leadership of select nations within the alliance. I want to work to improve relations with Spain/Poland, but it's not a one way street. They are going to have to give a bit and so will we. If they want to talk, I'm ready to listen.
Newton: I'd just like to point out that GJ improved communication with EDEN by sitting down and talking with some nations (i.e. Spain, Poland). After he talked with them they seemed a lot less hostile. So its not just a one way street
Newton: go ahead HR 😉
HarrisonRichardson: I agree, it's not a one way street. By the same token, we don't need to apologize for everything we do. T hey were in the wrong and they need to recognize that. I'm sure we were too at some point, but damn, Spoland are not invincible.
HarrisonRichardson: thank you for affirming it's not a one way street, btw.
Brad|Away: Um, guys, much as we'd love to let you continue to try and rebut each other, lets simply move on.

Brolliance expansion

Indrae: Second question: Do you believe that the Brolliance should expand, and what do you see as its future in world affairs?
HarrisonRichardson: No no no no NO! The Brolliance should NOT expand! What we have works; why do we feel the incessant need to mess up everything that works well? The brolliance is based on a simple cree😛 any member nation we're willing to give up our nation for. It started with Mein Fuhrer Emerick and Canada signing an agrement and grew from there. If you keep expanding the brolliance, it will fail. And I don't ever want to see the brolliance fail.
Newton: The broalliance is awesome because it's informal. It lacks the red tape that historically ties down alliances. So if we feel we can expand it without sacrificing what makes it great, then yes it should be expanded. The bros are the way of the future, and an example to all for brotherhood. If that *will not* be sacrificed then expansion is okay. it was just canada and US but grew from there, with nice results
Civil_Anarchy: Personally, I would be in support of the expansion of the Brolliance. It can be en effective tool in the heightening of relations with other countries around us, potential allies to help protect our country. Making it into a third world alliance will be taking it a step to far, but an expansion of it towards other friendly countries. Its already been partially expanded, and is holding up just as well as when it was started.
HarrisonRichardson: you don't admit nations into the Brolliance to imrpove relations with them; you admit them because relations are superb and you're ready to give up your country for them. it is not a tool to increase diplomatic relations. It is a sacred connection between a few close nations
HarrisonRichardson: ( I won't respond further in the interest of letting the debate move on)
Dennis_McVicker_ sure, but after this you get one chance at an answer for each candidate period!
Civil_Anarchy: I believe that there are other countries that we currently have superb relations with, seeing as our relations with countries like Australia and Japan are comparable to previous ones with other EDEN powers, such as Broatia. However, I agree with you that a heavy expansion will defeat its purpose completely.

Karnataka

Devoi😛 The lease for Karnataka expired at the end of April. Do you support renewing the lease? If so, but the Indians refuse to come to terms, do you support holding the region by force, or RWing it back?
Civil_Anarchy: I support a renewal of the lease, for the time being. If India wishes it back, then we'll work towards the acquisition of a new source of High Iron. Possibly a new lease from China, or, an invasion of a particular country that is currently in an incredibly weak state at the moment.
Newton: Interesting issue. I support renewing the lease, for the smallest amount of money as possible, but without ripping the Indians off. If they won't allow us to, it would be interesting to talk with china about renting LK (assuming we take it 😉 ) or HK.
Newton: Anyway K-land has become a vital national interest. So I'd try very hard not to give it up and military action would be discussed with the JCS most likely
HarrisonRichardson: India profits insanely from us renting Karna. You could even argue we over pay. They can have us holding it or they can have Hungary holding it. Frankly, seeing as if they took it back it'd be taken almost immediately, I would consider holding it against their will. Sure, I'd still pay them what we agree is a fair rent, but if we give the region back to India it will get taken, sooner rather than later. Also, a ton of Americans own iron companies in KT. We would be massively screwing them.
Indrae: Now HR, you wanted to ask CA something about his response?
HarrisonRichardson: yeah, please tell me what weak countries have high iron that we could just waltz in and take over. and, further check right now if those weak countries lack any MPP's, seeing as those would be activated if we invaded.
Civil_Anarchy: Its not necessarily a weak country, rather, a country in a weakened state.
HarrisonRichardson: Sorry, what is the difference.
Civil_Anarchy: Russia is currently undergoing what could be called an eCivil War.
HarrisonRichardson: You'd invade Russia right now?
Newton: wow
HarrisonRichardson: good for you. That's ballsy.
Civil_Anarchy: As I'm not president at the moment
HarrisonRichardson: That doesn't make it smart.
Civil_Anarchy: I wouldnt invade right now 😃
Civil_Anarchy: However.
HarrisonRichardson: Oh, so, back to my point. What is the high iron you'd take? You mentioned Russia but said you wouldn't invade.
Civil_Anarchy: Either a lease from China, or, if the situation makes it preferable, from Russia.
HarrisonRichardson: If we lose KT, we need high iron, seeing as we'd be f*cking tons of American business owners in the rear. How will we compensate for that loss? There is no high iron that is easy to conquer. Sure, PHOENIX would love to give us some cheap high iron.
Newton: In the event we did lose it, I'd suggest talking to China about renting
Civil_Anarchy: A very possible scenario would be Phoenix interfering to try to ensure Russian stability
HarrisonRichardson: Based on your months of foreign policy experience no doubt.
Civil_Anarchy: In that situation, the opposing civil group, controlling the congress, would be against Phoenix. Meaning it is possible Phoenix will not support that government.
HarrisonRichardson: Your solution is impractical and expensive: why do we not keep the high iron we have.
Newton: no they will support whoever we invade

Canadaland and Bro president Derek Harland brings up the Brolliance expansion

Indrae: Well, we have a request from the Canadian CP to talk about the Brolliance, and would like to see how the candidates respond to what he has to say.
DerekHarlan😛 Thanks for giving me the chance to speak Indrae and I will try not to extend this. The goddess Emerick has asked me to speak about a certain issue and I thought I would chime in. He told me that one of the debates in here was about whether to expand the Brolliance and keep it the same. I don't mean to speak for the US but as the President of one of the founding countries of the Brolliance I would like to share my opinion. My opinion is that the Brolliance is one that doesn't need to be expanded anymore. We are all in it because we would easily give away our whole country for one another without hesitation and we all do many things to support each other. We are the closest of allies, the closest of friends and best bros. Expanding the Brolliance only threatens to tamper with this love for each other that is so rarely seen between two countries in this game. We don't fight over individual possessions or for imperialistic gains, but instead to help one another at all costs. I don't intend on dragging on this debate so I will leave it with the thought that the Brolliance should NOT be expanded on but instead kept to the people who care for it the most. And I feel that the people we have right now in the Brolliance is just right.
HarrisonRichardson: that sounds exactly like what I said and what my entire position is. It also sounds like the opposite of what the other candidates said. Thank you for affirming my position
Newton: I would agree that the brolliance needs to have it's brotherhood as the #1 priority. However, if we(all the nations) feel that expansions would be good and that we'd be able to work with them at the level of the current bros, then sure. If a single bro objected I wouldn't do it
Civil_Anarchy: I'd just like to point out that we recently accepted new countries into the fold, without encountering any problems. The brolliance should not be a third world alliance, but can be expanded to great, friendly allies.
HarrisonRichardson: Well, the President of Canada among others disagrees 😃

The EDEN Situation

Note: Gaius arrives during this section

Civil_Anarchy: The key point of my foreign policy is the Eden-alignment policy. Anyone who wants to know it can check the platform. Also, fight Phoenix. I will not cooperate with Phoenix as an alliance during my term.
Newton: Foreign policy: Communicate with our allies, and any PHX state that could be broken off from the herd. We have a responsibility to be loyal to our allies of old, otherwise we resemble a certain other english speaking country.
HarrisonRichardson: Foreign policy: My platform can be read at tinyurl.com/hr4potus. I won't bore anyone with repeating it here.
Krems: I'd like to hear the Newton/GJ camp's take on the recent article from the head of EDEN Intel that said that EDEN never hated us it was all a trick and that we are actually best bros in particular why neither PIZ or Woxan were informed of these jolly schemes
Newton: Well in short, it's BS. Certain members were blatantly offensive in every sense of the word.
Krems: That's not what I've heard GJ has been telling people I think a direct quote is "Woxan wasn't told cause he's a fgt"
Newton: I'd have to see the logs. I've talked with GJ and he understands that there was miscommunications among a bunch of other problems
Gaius_Julius: alright 1st thing the meeting between cerber and phx fgts was legit however it is important to point out a couple things when the Spanish govt saw the irc convo they immediately sacked Siddy the spainard in that convo secondly while elements of the polish govt wanted to invade us it was at best a pipe dream, Phx and Poland did not legit trust each other. A number of spanish govt officials wanted to use the fialure of the PHX meeting, to trick phx into attacking the US or someone this fell apart when the convo with MM2 was discovered on pastebin.com, and it led to a distrust of members of our govt by Spain/Poland
HarrisonRichardson: notes that GJ isn't even answering the question
Gaius_Julius: idk what the question is... (EDITORS NOTE, He arrived after question was asked)
HarrisonRichardson: then why are you ranting. (Provides Question)
Gaius_Julius: "Gaius_Julius this fell apart when the convo with MM2 was discovered on pastebin.com, and it led to a distrust of members of our govt by Spain/Poland"
HarrisonRichardson: Why were neither PIZ nor Woxan informed was the question
Gaius_Julius: EDEN leaders disliked Pig, which was not Pigs fault and when they saw the conversation with MM2 it completely discredited anyone in the US govt, including Woxan
HarrisonRichardson: So if an EDEN leader doesn't like your tone they can shove you out of the loop?
Gaius_Julius: half of them thought that Woxan was a Phx spy
HarrisonRichardson: then half of them are ignorant and they don't deserve a single vote next election. it's not their job to determine whether or not our President is a spy, it's ours. so, we elected him, they need to drop the petty crap and work with him or lose US support
Gaius_Julius: the problem is every time EDEN and the US tried to work it ended in someone rage leaving the channel
HarrisonRichardson: so your answer to why they are out of the loop is that they "don't like the guy". great allies
Gaius_Julius: the fact is that when we put the 9-10 smartest people in our block in a channel no one coudl work together and no one trusted each other. Woxan himself admits he doesnt trust Spoland
HarrisonRichardson: what's your point. the question is why did they keep us out of the loop on something of this magnitude. your answer is that they "didn't like PIZ or Woxan". I don't care if they hate the man, you work with him or you get no support from the US.
Gaius_Julius: no they didnt trust either of them
HarrisonRichardson: you can't keep us out of the loop and then expect us to think it's okay because of one crap article three weeks later
Gaius_Julius: they legitimately thought Woxan would leak info to Phx or would backstab them
HarrisonRichardson: homey don't play that. Sounds a whole lot like what they did to us... herp... maybe they should look in the mirror
Gaius_Julius: sounds a lot like what members of our govt planned to do to our allies
HarrisonRichardson: Woah woah woah, you're calling this a conspiracy?
Gaius_Julius: no im saying for the past three weeks the US and EDEN have been running around doing bullshit back door conversations both talking to our enemy
HarrisonRichardson: Well then you better walk that last statement back. As I remember it, they were the ones in a meeting with PHX. Prove it. Do you have logs? Because we sure do have logs of Cerber meeting with them
Gaius_Julius: and they have one with max in it who last i checked was in Woxans cabinet
HarrisonRichardson: I think we've all discredited Max didn't know he was doing that much.
Gaius_Julius: nor did half the Spanish govt
HarrisonRichardson: if that's your only soure.. your argument is pretty weak.
Civil_Anarchy: Okay, how about instead of this back and forth, we change it into a legit question.


More on Brolliance Expansion (Emerick's Questions)

Emerick: Gentlemen I have several questions. The first one should be a quickie. Newton said " it was just canada and US but grew from there, with nice results". I'd like to know exactly what results he likes
HarrisonRichardson: for the recor😛 I hate the brolliance expanding
Emerick: Say that a few more times
Gaius_Julius: I dislike expanding the brolliance as well
Civil_Anarchy: Well I suppose I'm the only one who supports it then 😃
Newton: Working with Australia and Japan and Ireland has been a pleasure so thats what i meant by nice results. ive been in communication with their VPs. communication has been good. mmkays.


The MaxMcfarland Debacle


Emerick: The first part was basically addressed by Gaius_Julius and HarrisonRichardson while they were debating, so if you want, a one word answer will suffice for the first part Two part question: what's your opinion on the McFartland scandal last week, and do you think that it's a risk to national security to have one man in control of the entire political system?
HarrisonRichardson: Max was in the wrong and he made an awful decision to do what he did One man control: AWFUL IT SUCKS X100 too much riding on one person
Choc|afk: With no oversight obviously as well, since the Vice President was unaware of his action
Newton: you can say that again
Emerick: And that's bad because it can lead to corruption or a complete collapse if he goes afk
HarrisonRichardson: among other things, yes.
Emerick: List them
Civil_Anarchy: I've never known Mcfarland personally, and I was significantly surprised by these developments. It saddens me greatly that those negotiations took place, and, such negotiations will never go on with Phoenix, as an alliance, during my term.
Emerick: Why then, if it's so bad, the entire APF says "In Max We Trust" and kiss his feet?
Civil_Anarchy: As for his control, the APF is very powerful indeed, but it has other significantly powerful politicians in the mix there as well. If I'm not mistaken, Mcfarland has made a promise to step down as PP. As long as his party is run according to the wishes of the members it represents, I see no problem with its existence, or leadership.
Emerick: Also grammar "Mcfarland has made a promise to step down as PP" Clearly, this has happened
HarrisonRichardson: They don't know any better They see Max and they see free Q5 hospitals and this and that

If you could name one person as president...

Emerick: To each candidate: please name one person who you'd love to see as president. Does not include yourself, Civil_Anarchy.
HarrisonRichardson: Chocolate McSkittles .if I can't choose my VP, I'd say Publius
Gaius_Julius: Krems
Civil_Anarchy: Made it a hard question 😃
Choc|afk: Inb4publiusfist


Citizen Retention

Indrae: Do you have a plan to increase citizenship retention?
Civil_Anarchy: Well then, my platform talks about a ton of different plans I have to increase retention. Retention is synonymous with activity in this game. My plans range from Government Sponsored Companies, Encouragement of Training programs in Small Parties, to the less serious ones, such as Holidays I will go into detail about any plan mentioned here or in my platform upon request.
HarrisonRichardson: If you mean new player hubs, we have those.
Civil_Anarchy: I'm fully aware.
Gaius_Julius: Increased media presence by the govt, education articles, fun articles that catch ppls attention, a reformed mentor program that guides players through every step, using govt companies to catch new players and prevent them from making early game mistakes and getting frustrated
HarrisonRichardson: Meh, make parties not suck, as best the POTUS can. Use that influence to make parties more like Feds/SEES in that they serve as tools of retention because of how they are set up. Also, my VP, Chocolate McSkittles has an awesome new program he is releasing tomorrow that he can share a bit on
Choc|afk: Domestic affairs are kinda my thing ... Among other things, I have a new program I am releasing tomorrow that will incentivize being involved in the eMerican media as well as visiting the forums+IRC (increasing the social aspects of the game for some players), all while makign america more kickass, making this the greatest multitasking use of funds ever. Obviously Fun = retention. This is just a teaser, announcement tomorrow in the Welcoming Committee paper :3
Civil_Anarchy: GJ: Seeing as you are in support of using govt companies to catch new players, would you be in support of the government endorsed companies plan? This plan would slightly incentivize company owners to train new players, or befriend pre-established players, at the expense of a fairly low amount of $
Gaius_Julius: I see no problem with that, especially in the case of weapons companies which could be used during the guns for huns program or to shore up military stockpiles
Civil_Anarchy: HR: Your platform regarding political parties is fairly vague. How do you propose to make political parties "suck less"? And I would like to point out parties like the SFP and ADP have the same programs in place as the Feds and SEES.
HarrisonRichardson: I'm not quite sure. I'm not afraid to say I don't know. I do know that what Feds/SEES do works. Then they don't suck. They are the exception, not the rule.

More Brolliance expansion talk

Civil_Anarchy: If a country that did have great relations with the eUS, say Croatia or Greece, wanted to join the Brolliance, would the other two candidates be in support of allowing them to join?
Choc|afk: *Broatia, You spelled it wrong
Civil_Anarchy: My apologies 😃
HarrisonRichardson: no, no expanding of the brolliance
Gaius_Julius: no is my answer, no need to expand
Civil_Anarchy: Harsh, but ty.

The purpose of the Brolliance

DanielC😨 i have a great question, other than symbolism, does the brolliance have any actual structure, purpose, or need to expand?
Civil_Anarchy: It obviously has a structure, and a possibility to expand. As for purpose, bro :3. It doesn't necessarily *need* to expand, but there shouldn't be a provision against said expansion.
HarrisonRichardson: structure: none, and that is great
DanielC😨 bro :3 is symbolism, which i included
HarrisonRichardson: purpose: to maintain the love between us and canada, which spread to a few others....possibility to expan😛 holy repetition batman
Choc|afk: I'm just curious, Civil_Anarchy, what structure are you referring to?
Civil_Anarchy: Although minimal, an unofficial structure to the alliance does exist.
Choc|afk: The fact that we're all in it and love eachother? Thats a given.
Civil_Anarchy: The Brolliance isn't just a name, and the fact that the administrations of bro countries cooperate means that there is some form of a structure. Not even comparable with Eden, or Phx tho.
Civil_Anarchy; Which is rank on top of rank on top of rank on top of....
Choc|afk: Structure implies formality. The only formality in the Brolliance is how much we love eachother. You cant formalize love!
HarrisonRichardson: ^
Civil_Anarchy: Ha, although true, structure can exist without formality. And its not just the love, although the love serves as a basis for the structure of the Brolliance. Love is the foundation, cooperation due to that is the structure.
HarrisonRichardson: let's debate definitions
Choc|afk: I think at this point this will become circular, so I will leave it at us having a difference of opinion


Stuff about Ajay

HarrisonRichardson: can we voice Ajay
Civil_Anarchy: Not the best of ideas. I've got a question. If elected, will you guys keep the republican party out of the top 5?
HarrisonRichardson: sure
Gaius_Julius: yes

Closing Statements

Indrae: Would the candidates like to give some closing statements?
HarrisonRichardson: I'll pass on a closing. I've said plenty in these two hours. I'd just like to say: next debate, more foreign policy, less everything else
Choc|afk: I would like to interject and thank Dio for the opportunity to take part in the democratic process of this great country. Dio bless this country.
Civil_Anarchy: As President, the majority of my term will be focusing on the Social issues plaguing our country. A country's power is the power of its population, before any economic or military policy. Even if I'm not elected, I'm going to be testing these policies, albiet on a minor scale. I urge the American people to work towards fixing this problem while we're still strong enough to do it
Civil_Anarchy: Tl:dr Social is greater than Foreign Policy and Economics.
Gaius_Julius: I think what we need more than anything is energy, we have lost some of the spark we used to have. We need a direction to head towards. Some of that direction will come from the President, but in many ways it will come from the govt saying "here we are giving you this opportunity, do something with it" thats what made us great in the past
Indrae: I think it's time to wrap this debate up everyone. I apologize to everyone who did not get their question asked.

CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING IT TO THE END!