Congressional Candidacy Announcement Virginia Incumbent

Day 393, 23:22 • Published in USA USA • by Joshua Tree

I hadn't planned on writing my campaign article this early, but after having seen two candidates throw down the gauntlet, I feel compelled to take a break from RL for a second and present my platform.

1- Track Recor😛 It was insinuated in a recent article by one of the aforementioned candidates that I have neglected my duties in Congress and have failed to fulfill my campaign promises. This being said, let me review my platform from the previous campaign. Aside from the obvious question of pie vs. cake, my major platform promises were:

A- War. I promised to vote for WAR. I kept that promise. Granted, support for the war has declined, largely due to poor strategic moves by the president and his staff and lack of diplomacy in relating to the general public. However, as I promised in my article, the war has provided immense opportunity for new and experienced players alike to make rapid advances in strength, skill level, and experience points. In addition, this is the first war that has been fought with the widespread use of 'tanks', decoders, food bombers and the current military structure. This has been a learning curve all around.

B- Citizen Expansion Program: Providing orientation and support for new citizens. While this has not always been at the forefront of my activity in Congress, given the more pressing issues of the economy, the widespread failure of congressional accountability/activity, and the recent hot topic of possible misuse of treasury funds being discussed in Congress, I have nevertheless fought against the removal of some of the basic resources available to new citizens, such as the National Guard (which provides both structure and social and economic support for new citizens getting on their feet in the game) and I have wholeheartedly supported a revision and improvement of the 'New Citizen Message' that goes out to everyone who joins the eUSA.

C- Economy: Yes the economy is spiking like Michael Jackson's heartbeat in the toy section at Walmart. Yes we are dealing with the effects of war on our economy and market; both good and bad. Yes there are some unintended consequences to the market. However, there has been more consumption of goods over the last few weeks than in the entire two months previous. There has been a direct stimulus to the market caused by leaps and bounds in experience levels of players and the gold that is introduced to the market as a result of new achievements by players. And I can personally attest to the fact that the average wage of the eAmerican worker has risen at least 2 dollars in the past few weeks.

There have been more proposals in Congress aimed at stabilizing the economy in the last three weeks than in the two months prior combined. There has been more discussion, debate, and energy directed at improving the market and the US dollar than ever before. We may still be a ways away from where we WANT to be, but we are damn sure further ahead than where we started at the beginning of V1.


In addition to working on the promises I made in my campaign, here are a few more things to consider:

At my inception into Congress, I quickly noticed two things: 1) there are WAYYY too many 'congressmen' getting elected and then sitting inactive. They collect the 5 gold that comes with the position, and then sit and do NOTHING to earn it. and 2) Even for those who are active, there is no way for the public to hold them accountable. One congressman actually said that they did not want to have to reveal how they voted to the public. wtf???? is all I can say to that.

I have spent a good deal of time and energy fighting for a system that will hold Congress accountable. It has been a passion of mine. But don't take my word for it. If you REALLY want to know how you have been represented in Congress, you need to look no further than this: http://erepublikusa.com/forums/index.php?board=7.0

I have seen the beginnings of a smear campaign from one of my opponents. He has implied that I have been inactive in Congress and have failed to fulfil any of my promises. I certainly hope that he does not intend to hang the merits of his campaign on my 'failures' and instead chooses to pursue his candidacy based off of an upright platform.

If any of you question my activity, please research it. You will be able to see EXACTLY how I voted on every single proposal. You will also be able to see that I have NEVER missed a vote. My vote has been cast for every proposal since my election, without fail. So I ask you to take responsibility for your vote and research my track record. THEN, if you disagree with my methods, qualifications, and results, you can base your vote off of that. If you would like to better understand anything, feel free to PM me.

Also, another candidate mentioned that he would like to take over Virginia because it 'has been a R4C stronghold since Beta' and he would like to see his party get a foothold. Yes I am a member of the R4C party. Anyone who knows me will know that I have a general distaste for the idea of 'voting party lines'. I find it to be lemming like behavior at best. I disagree with partisan politics. I like being in the R4C because they don't care about the fact that I don't care which party I'm in. I like DesertFalcon because he doesn't try to jam his policies down my throat.

Unlike RL, party politics in eRepublik are influenced MUCH more by who is Party President than by a specific moral or ethical stance. Pardon my french, but who gives two sh**s what party you are in? What matters is how well you represent the people in your state. Not everyone in Virginia belongs to the same party. Am I here to represent my state? Or my Party President?

Here are the remaining points of this platform:

2- Congressional Voting Reform. I will not stop working towards full transparency of Congressional votes. This seems important to me now more than ever, given the fact that there are allegations of Congressmen acting in their own behalf at the cost of their fellow Americans. We should be able to see whether or not somebody is voting for or against the best interest of their state and country. See my two previous articles for more information.

3- Fiscal Accountability. It has recently come to light that the president may have improperly used/provided unauthorized access for others to use Treasury funds, and has been receiving a 'government subsidy' for his weapons company in exchange for a stockpile of weapons to be supplied in time of war. While these are currently allegations and solid evidence has yet to be presented, they are nevertheless very serious allegations. Regardless of the results of the investigation into this matter, it has become a personal goal of mine to help establish a system of Fiscal Accountability.

4- Economy. I will continue to work towards stabilizing the economy. I'd like to see income taxes lowered. I'd like to see the cost of food, weapons, and gifts to go down. I'd like to see the door open for every citizen to own a house. I don't expect it to happen overnight. I hope you don't either. But I will say this: The handful of Virginia citizens who took me up on my invitation to share with me their expectations will verify that not only have I communicated closely with them throughout the process, I have also striven to fulfil those expectations.


That's it. If you have questions, comment here. I welcome a public discussion. You are also welcome to PM me.

To research my congressional activity visit the forums here: http://erepublikusa.com/forums/index.php?board=7.0

Thank you. I look forward to your replies.

Jtree
Senator
Virginia