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Good day ladies and gentlemen,

This is an open letter to the citizens of the District of Columbia., the most important region in the eUnited States of America. Why is it the most important you ask? Well the answer is simple, this is our capital and without it, we would not be one country, united in the New World.

I would like to introduce myself to those of you who do not already know me, my name is Ian John Locke IV. I am a, as some would call it, "Beta Giant". Oh yes, that is right, I am an old man. But, take into consideration, that I am an old man with a reputation.

[Short Biography]
I served New Jersey as its congressman twice starting 25 December 2008 and ending on 25 February 2009. On 25 February 2009, I started my third term in the United States Congress as a representative of the great people of Missouri. My last two terms were not my best, however, as my school work grew more intensive, the time I had for eRepublik and Congress grew smaller and smaller. I regret that that happened, but it did and it is part of my past and my history. You should be pleased to know, however, that my semester is over and I am free until 29 August 2009. I will be on eusforum.com as much as I possibly can each and every day. No issue is too small or inconsequential and everyone that goes past the committee to which I am assigned will be thoroughly reviewed by me. Likewise, I will try to light a fire within the souls of my committee members to make sure that none of them grow disinterested or bored. I was the AAP Party President for 3 straight months and might very well have been re-elected to a fourth if I had not chosen to not run. I am currently serving on the USWP's prestigious Executive Board as Chief of Staff. I was the executive officer of the 1st Division 1st Army, before General Armandez took up where General Symrstar left off. After this, due to my committment and love of the Army, I was transfered to the newly formed 3rd Division. I am now a 1st Lieutenant in the Army Rangers, a division of the Army that, with the exception of officers, will be deployed alongside the United States Marine Corps. The Army Rangers is a stepping stone into the Marines and this division of our Army is extremely important to this country's defenses and its ability to conduct war.

[I do have a history of criticizing Congress, what has happened to my sudden change of heart?]
There is no sudden change of heart. This is completely in line with everything I have said. There has always been a certain level of inactivity and boredom within Congress. At one point, I was part of that group. By electing me, there will be one less apathetic and inactive Congress member serving this nation.

[What about Big Brother? Isn't he active?]
According to the Speaker of the House, Big Brother is on the inactive list. He has a very limited amount of posts on eusforum.com and he does not have a single vote registered with the SoH. Would I be more active than him? Well I cannot see the future, but if I were to compare the level of activity I have planned to the level of activity he has shown, he might as well be a snail.

And to those of you saying: "But you were the AAP PP for 3 months and you were a member of that party for the longest time!"
You are right. And I still hold a great deal of love for that party and many of its members deep within my heart, but that does not mean I will just let an inactive player keep his seat in the US Congress, even if he is an AAP member.

[What are my stances?]
On War Games...
I believe War Games to be a very valuable asset to this country's accelerated development. What do I mean by this? With war games available to all those who are at a sufficient level to fight, employers can purchase moving tickets for their employees to move to New Jerey or Florida in order to get their wellness up and make a better profit. With companies having a better production rate, the amount of products they sell on the market increases allowing a low VAT to become more efficient.

The overall wellness of our population is very important as well as the Rank of each citizen. With each fight, citizens gain overal experience points but also army experience points that allows them to do more damage with the accession of rank.

On Real War...
Our potential to win is very great. We need to keep ourselves from being disheartened after being defeated by 10 countries when we fight alone. We were close to in the Far East Region and we fought admirably.

On Transparency...
I think a lot of pressure has been put on the Presidents of the United States for almost complete disclosure. Honestly, one player and their press secretary do not have the time or ability to tell all.

Given this, Congress should open certain forums to allow for the public to view the discussion. Certain boards that have always been hidden due to national security issues should, as they have always been, stay locked and out of sight of the common player, but others, such as those concerning taxes and the success or failure of PANEC. I am on the fence, however, as to whether or not the public should be allowed to contribute directly to the discussion. In my previous terms this has been beneficial as we can show through the example of One Eye before he was officially elected to the office, but also detrimental as a few different citizens decided to troll on those forums.

One more idea I have, that I would wish to push for if elected would be to have the records for voting accessible at all times. How do I mean this? If the spreadsheet to which the form is attached is set to automatically re-publish when changes are made, then a simple link to the published spreadsheet would be easier on the Speaker of the House and allow for a greater ease of access for the public.

Whether or not this happens is inconsequential to me. On the site you are viewing this on, you will be able to see a spreadsheet that is updated with how I voted on each proposal. I am going to set up my own form which will automattically update that form everytime I submit a new vote. If you wish to ask me a question I will provide a link to my profile so you can PM me with it.

On Taxes...
As I was in office when PANEC was first passed I feel I should tell you that I supported it at the time. I still, at this point in time strongly support PANEC as our tax plan. Our budget is contingent upon PANEC remaining the official tax plan of the eUS.

Many argue that 20% income tax is quite harsh, and quite honestly, I feel the pinch as well. That said, I am willing to endure the pain so long as my tax dollars go to important government programs and events. By programs I am speaking of none other than Meals on Wheels (which admittedly has been running a bit sluggishly lately) and the government owned weapons companies. Many argue that new players cannot buy food with such high taxes. With a program like Meals on Wheels, why would they need to?! In terms of events? Why none other than our War Games that occur three times a week. What is left over after the budget is put into safe keeping in case of any emergency.

All of this said, I will not promise you that I will work to lower taxes because quite frankly, lowering taxes is not an option in my opinion unless the budget changes.

On Hospitals and Defensive Systems...
I believe that the eUS has two Q5 hospitals stock piled in case of emergency, I do not see why this is not reasonable and would gladly support keeping this as is.

DC already has a Q4 hospital which is the best it will ever receive. Why, oh why? If DC were in need of a Q5, it would have been given it months ago. Also, upgrading one quality level is not a cost efficient strategy, ever.

I would only ever support a DS for DC if the threat of attack was imminent. Seeing as how it isn't, why use so much money on building and purchasing one?

On YOUR Vote...
Of course I would appreciate it and I would love to win. Doesn't everybody? But I implore you, check out EVERY platform. Vote on experience and who you think will get the most work done for you while keeping you in the loop.

I feel I am that player. I hope you will feel that way as well.]

Sincerely, Ian John Locke IV
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My campaign web site can be found here.
If I win, I will add my voting record to that website.