Join the new world

Let's face it, Congress kind of sucked this month. We received some pretty bad PR and a few members made some big, public mistakes that didn't help our image. However, that doesn't mean everyone in Congress screwed up. In fact, some of our accomplishments were pretty EPIC.

1) New Tax Policy: While some may not agree with the new tax policy, the fact that it was passed at all is remarkable. Congress was divided over tax policy much like the RL Congress is divided over healthcare reform. The fact that we finally reached a compromise and passed much needed reforms to ensure the continued functioning of important government programs and the military is an EPIC accomplishment.

2) New Constitution: I'm sure not many of you noticed, but we passed a new Constitution early in this term. It is much simpler than past constitutions and focuses solely on the realities of game mechanics rather than roleplay. It is a major step in the right direction and was an EPIC accomplishment.

3) New Chat Room Owner: We found out this term that Congress can propose a owner of the in-game national chatroom. Seeing as it was frequented by newbies and tolled by our enemies, moderation was desperately needed. We now have a new owner, which is also an EPIC accomplishment.

4) Congressional Procedure Reform: Little known to most non-Congress members, we also passed some procedural reform to ensure that we discuss and consider a proposal in-depth before we actually vote and implement it. This will force us to actually consider implications before we act and is an EPIC accomplishment.

So, yes, Congress made a few mistakes this term. The path to tax reform was messy with quite a few in-game proposals that weren't very well supported in debate. However, in the end, we did manage to accomplish a few of the goals we set forth at the beginning of this term.

The work is not yet over, though!



We still have a lot of work to do to make Congress a more efficient, more aware, more responsible group. A lot of this work will not be noticeable to non-members as it will deal with procedures - how we do things, such as approve citizenship. However, some changes will be noticeable with in-game proposals and regular updates on Congressional affairs through the Congressional newspaper, which will be revitalized. We, as members of Congress, need to do a better job in the future of keeping you, the American public, informed as to what we are doing.

I was going to retire from elected politics at the end of this term. I have decided not to retire and to instead run for re-election in Texas to work on fixing the problems from within. The only group able to fix Congress is Congress itself, so we need active members who are willing to work hard and spend countless hours on fixing the problems we now face.

So, vote for me again on March 25th in Texas. I'll be the USWP candidate again. We need to buckle down and get to work, and I'm willing to spend eight hours a day on eRep to get that done.



Vote for Chris Stanwick!