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Welcome to the twelfth issue of Red Rag

As a new citizen and first time member of Parliament I feel it would be a good idea to let the general public know what I’ve been up to. The recent changes now make MPs much more accountable to their political parties rather than constituents, but I don’t think that should let us off the hook, we still need to communicate regularly with the electorate.

Since getting into office I’ve had the opportunity to vote on a number of issues from tax and minimum wage rises proposed by New Era to MPPs (Mutual Protection Pacts) with our allies and NEs (Natural Enemies) with, naturally, our enemies. I would like to address each of these issues and explain my thinking.

Unfortunately I’m unable to support minimum wage rises, as a PCP representative the Commune system is very important to us, people work for free for mutual benefit and shared resources so that we all, quite rightly, own the products of our labour. Because the mechanics of our employment system don’t differentiate between workers in a Commune and a private business it would negatively affect the running of Communes by adding another layer of complication. Communes are much more equitable than the private market and this model should be protected.

On the issue of tax increases my gut reaction is to support them however I was swayed by the arguments of the old guard who fret about competitiveness with superpowers like ePoland and the eUSA. Taxation is a balancing act, tax too little and you don’t reach your full potential, tax too much and you actually stifle your income by driving away investment and depressing market activity. In a simple one tax for all system (we all pay the same amount of VAT and Income Tax etc) this can be demonstrated by a simple Kuznets Curve graph. Knowing what percentage of tax puts income at the peak of that curve is a fine art and as often as not, the answer changes on a daily basis.


Here’s a naff graph to show you what I mean.

With regards to international politics I’ve been very careful not to arrive at any quick decisions. With the way proposals appear in-game it can be tempting to ‘click first, ask questions later’ so I wait and see which way the wind is blowing, both within PCP and within Parliament. I stand in favour of our MPP with eMacedonia. I much prefer to remain loyal to our current allies than to seek out closer ties with former enemies. Neutrality is the best we can hope for with the eUSA in my opinion. I look forward to the conclusion of hostilities with the eIrish and pay very close attention to government policy on this issue.

And finally, New Era, my position on their problems has been very clear and I’d like to publicly state it again. New Era’s leadership has my full Parliamentary support, two bad members don’t represent the entire party and I’m happy with the assurances they’ve given this Parliament.

Thank you for taking the time to read my report, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me via private message.

- Comrade Buck, MP