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~How To: Congress~
Congressional elections are right around the corner, and you know what - I can't say that I am very satisfied with performance in this term thus far, as short as it has been. Here are some good things and some bad things that have occurred in the days of my presidency so far, with regards to being in congress.
Bad: Congressmen voted YES to MPPs with both Canada and Spain, despite me asking not to due to lack of prior notification.
Bad: The taxes that I have suggested and proposed on the eUS forums have not been put into play.
Bad: We have 16/40 congressmen signed up, and even fewer active, on the eUS forums.
Bad: The amount of votes have dropped a few since the beginning of my presidential term.
Good: We have placed many hospitals and defensive systems, despite being limited to one every two days.
Good: We have changed several industries' taxes and still have around a week left to change the rest.
Good: The congressmen who participate in the eUS forums do so very actively.
If you want my vote, this is what you need to do:
1) Sign up for the eUS forums and get active on there. If you do not do this, you won't be able to follow day-by-day politics.
2) Following directions. Admittedly, this improved significantly the day I came into office. I sent PMs to every single congressman, letting them know that I do not want pointless and thoughtless proposals, but rather, follow the Pre-approved Proposal Policy by posting what you plan on changing BEFORE actually proposing it in-game.
3) Prove to me that, even 25 days after you are elected into congress, you will still be active and participating
Some advice - don't try to impress other citizens about your tax policies, be whatever they might. Congress isn't the place to debate about the economy, that's why our country has the Economic Council. If you talk about your political views, economic views, and feelings about other countries in your congressional article/campaign/speeches, then you misunderstand the role of what you are running for.
To save you the trouble, here is the link to the eUS forums: http://erepublikusa.com/forums/index.php. There are many useful threads in there that explain further the ideal congress process.
If you are wondering when the South American war is going to happen, then you are probably just as educated as I am. I ask that everybody curious about war please be patient. I anticipate that it will come soon enough.
Thank you all,
~Bennjamin
Bad: Congressmen voted YES to MPPs with both Canada and Spain, despite me asking not to due to lack of prior notification.
Bad: The taxes that I have suggested and proposed on the eUS forums have not been put into play.
Bad: We have 16/40 congressmen signed up, and even fewer active, on the eUS forums.
Bad: The amount of votes have dropped a few since the beginning of my presidential term.
Good: We have placed many hospitals and defensive systems, despite being limited to one every two days.
Good: We have changed several industries' taxes and still have around a week left to change the rest.
Good: The congressmen who participate in the eUS forums do so very actively.
If you want my vote, this is what you need to do:
1) Sign up for the eUS forums and get active on there. If you do not do this, you won't be able to follow day-by-day politics.
2) Following directions. Admittedly, this improved significantly the day I came into office. I sent PMs to every single congressman, letting them know that I do not want pointless and thoughtless proposals, but rather, follow the Pre-approved Proposal Policy by posting what you plan on changing BEFORE actually proposing it in-game.
3) Prove to me that, even 25 days after you are elected into congress, you will still be active and participating
Some advice - don't try to impress other citizens about your tax policies, be whatever they might. Congress isn't the place to debate about the economy, that's why our country has the Economic Council. If you talk about your political views, economic views, and feelings about other countries in your congressional article/campaign/speeches, then you misunderstand the role of what you are running for.
To save you the trouble, here is the link to the eUS forums: http://erepublikusa.com/forums/index.php. There are many useful threads in there that explain further the ideal congress process.
If you are wondering when the South American war is going to happen, then you are probably just as educated as I am. I ask that everybody curious about war please be patient. I anticipate that it will come soon enough.
Thank you all,
~Bennjamin
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first there is a first time for everything I suppose.
Scrabman for congress. He will make well informed decisions!
Great article. BTW, sorry for clearing off your desk...I just got so excited.
Billy Fleming for Montana.
Good article Benn.
Hey Benn... endorse me
Kyle for congress? http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/indiana-congressman-campaign-699230/1
Voted, not that you need it.
The lack of activity by so many congressmen is exactly why I'm running. It takes just a few minutes a day to check on the laws proposed and check the forums for arguements about those laws. If you can't do that then you don't deserve to be in the congress. I'm running in Illinois and if I'm elected I'll be one of the most active congress me in this session.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/vote-for-neilp99-for-congress-699161/1
I proposed a law following format, got it passed. WHERE IS MY GOLD
Also I would never ever vote to MPP with Canada, because I'm still waiting for round 2.
I will be running for congress in the great state of Washington. If any Washingtonians (Washingtonites... Washingtoners...) want to know more about me, check this thread:
http://erepublikusa.com/forums/index.php?topic=498.0
As you can see, not only do I have the Presidential Stamp of Approval (in a way) but I have also CAPTURED THE WIMMINZ VOTE (sorta). Truly I am a decent candidate. Won't you be my neighbor?... I mean, vote for me?
Thanks Benn, I like how you inform us.
I am running for congress as well.
I thought the whole point of Congress was to be a second source of opinions and a separate power center, not just "Following directions." If all they're for is rubberstamping the president's proposals, why have them at all?
That doesn't mean Congress shouldn't try to work with the president to compromise and do the best for the country, but they're not his subordinates.
Vote for me in Texas. I'm just as decent as the last guy, if not moreso
i voted and am dissapointed that so many of our elected officials would not be as mush if not more active than us regular citizens
Victor for Congress from New Jersey.
Voted and I am running in Oregon. By the way Benn, the link to the eUS forums doesn't work.
I agree, Congress is too inactive. I am running for congressman of California. Be sure to cast your vote
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/sutton-for-congress-california--699580/1
@Mardoc: They aren't my assistants nor my subordinates, they are my advisers and often times the people I am closest too.
The only reasoning for my Pre-Planned Proposal Policy is for the sake of organization and discussion PRIOR to posting the proposals (woah, too many Ps). If we have congressmen posting proposals without discussion, we won't get anything done efficiently.
No reason not to be organized, right?
Yea we do need a more active congress, and with limited proposals, it's better to talk about them before hand. Personally I don't mind if I don't get support, I'm running for the good of the country, and the good of the people.
Benn I like the idea of forcing the congressmen to get 4 others to agree to their bill before they decide to propose it. It shows that they are active enough on the forums or IRC to get something done. It'd be nice to show a list of congressmen who have proposed bills that did not have support of 4 others, and what bills they were.
Mardock has a little bit of a point, though. The president shouldn't have his bills automatically be posted by congressmen. He should have to have 5 congressmen who agree with him (obviously this won't be too hard) before the bill is proposed. Why should the president have special powers? Checks and Balances, sir.
PPPP (Pre-Planned Proposal Policy) FTW!
This comment was approved by the Kyle321N for Congress campaign. For more information visit: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/indiana-congressman-campaign-699230/1
Benn Dover, I'll be the active and responsive congressman that you want. I'm going to run in Louisiana.
Inactive congressmen!!! sounds like the real United States. Vote em' out if they can't devote the time. I will run when I have sufficient experience.
@Kyle: Again, my word isn't close to final. What I throw out is what I think is ideal. Other congressmen take this into account because I usually have good arguments for whatever I propose, meaning that we'd probably settle around those taxes anyways. I hope that I am not coming off as Head Congressman or anything like that; we share a symbiotic relationship - they are my advisers as I am theirs.
Why are Hospitals and Defense Systems taxed?
Actually Alby I think that may have been a bug, because I can't remember people posting 1% VAT across the board...
Hey Benn... you should run your next article looking for new members for the DoF. The Wiki page is coming along quite nicely.
I agree completely with you Benn. Although, I feel that Congress is entitled to disagree/not put into force all of your policies, they should be consistently talking with you in multi-partisan fashion to get the most done for our nation. Potentially a set time for a congressional/executive discussion time on IRC or some other medium to keep the discussion consistent.
As congressman for Wyoming (if elected) I would be willing to help you (or whoever is sitting executive) to keep the discussion between Congress and the President consistent and productive.
I forgot to say...I'm running in Alaska. I'm extremely active. I will continue to be extremely active. Plus, I'm a wimminz, and you need some gender diversity in congress
Good advice. I'm running for Arkansas and I'll look into that forum you talk about Keep up the good work.
"Follow the Pre-approved Proposal Policy ..."
LOL Benn
Just as well I left
Never did like it over there
How many YES Congressman do you need?
You should post a list of congressmen you endorse right before election time.
Benn, I think I'm objecting more to your tone than your actions. Nothing you've asked from Congressmen is unreasonable, but it seems like you're telling them rather than asking them.
@Benn (who wrote @me )
I completely agree, I didn't mean to come off saying that you had final say so on bill. I was just saying for other congressmen, if there was a bill that you proposed in the forums and they want to propose it here in the game, they should still have to go through the Pre-approval Process.
@Alby (hopefully not the racist dragon )
Read my article: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/indiana-congressman-campaign-699230/1
I propose we change that!
Thanks for the update!
Thanks for this update, but I'm a little confused as to a point on the bad. Why is it bad that the congressman disagreed with you and approved Canada & Spain? Is 30 gold that hard to part with? They do have a choice, and we did vote them in. If they have to do what you say, then that defeats the point of a legislature, doesn't it?
@Mardoc: Kyle's most-recent post displays how I feel. I'm not forcing anybody to do anything, I'm asking them to. Other congressmen feel that the organization that I brought to the administration is really useful and convenient, unlike they way things were last term.
I don't really mean to come off as the BIG BOSS MAN, but I try to be as organized as possible. I have flaws, both in too much organization from time to time as well as not enough, but who doesn't have flaws :p
Mardoc you know how Spain and Canada now have MPPs with us? Well, they weren't supposed to. Atlantis members are supposed to contact each other prior to MPP proposal, but Tantis and PrUdEn didn't do this. I'm not angry, or even slightly annoyed at this, it slips sometimes, but congressmen actually yes to these proposals.
The congressmen who don't attend the forums, something that I HIGHLY appreciate and respect, don't know about proposals that are unlinked or in another country's forum. I just try to get them active on the forums, one way with the PPPP.
Sorry if I come off as demanding, I don't mean to, just trying to turn our administration into a successful part of this term.
@Wisher: They can vote whichever way they want, I'm not going to tell them who to vote for, but what if the country was, say, Italy? I'm sure that some would vote yes because they are large-sized and a friend with America in real life, but would they know that they are in PEACE?
Like I said in the post before this one, it isn't a president's job to make congressmen do anything, just educate them before making a vote.
Nice guide.
Great Article, However, there are a few things I disagree with in your article. The overall disagreement is the idea that the President has authority over Congress. I believe Congress should be able to propose whatever bills they wish, although I support deliberation, it should not have to be pre-approved. Also, I don't like the idea that its not the place of Congress to debate economic policies, it absolutely is when they have to vote "yes or no" certain economic policies. The Economic Council can't replace congressional deliberation over economic policies.
Good Article
Voted.
not so a nice vision of the American free spirit