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Presidential Platform




I am today announcing my candidacy for President of the United States. This wasn't an easy decision for me. I mulled it over at length and probably irritated the hell out of those that support me the most in-game. During the course of this campaign many people are going to agree with what I have to say and others will probably disagree. Disagreement is the nature of politics, but it is also the foundation of debate, and hopefully new and innovative ideas. In this election, I see myself as a pronounced underdog, there is no doubt in my mind that my opponent has been hard at work preparing for his run at the presidency. Despite all of this, I am prepared for the fight and hopeful that this election will spur some sort of reasonable and insightful debate about the direction this country needs to go. In the past six months we have gone from a motivated populace that was pushing back an invasion to a country currently trapped in a malaise. Despite this, I am of the firm conviction that this can be turned around not with just new leadership, but with new ideas. The framework for success in this game has totally been altered in a short period of time. We can either change with the times or be resigned to live in the past and perish slowly. It's time for us to embrace a new era and new ideas.

During my tenure in the game, I have served in the following capacities:

1. Former President of the eUnited States of America
2. Former Congressman
3. Former Secretary of Defense
4. Presidential Adviser
5. USWP President
6. Creator of Seal Team 6
7. Former Marine
8. Former Lieutenant, Colonel, and Brigadier General in the Airborne
9. Former Lieutenant General of the United States Air Force (PTO and ATO Operations)

Anyone that knows me can attest to the fact that I am extremely active within the game and probably spend far to much time on it. During my presidency I was spending anywhere from 12-18 hours a day on the forums, IRC and the game itself. Even though I am no longer president, I essentially spend the same amount of time devoted to eRepublik. Basically I have no real life at the moment, which makes me a social misfit in real life and a machine when it comes to dedication to this game.

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The Military
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Inevitably every candidate that runs for president, congress, or dog catcher has to comment on what they would do to make the military "better". I can honestly say there are very few things that can be done to improve the excellent organizational skills and leadership of the military. They do a very good job, often with resources that are less than what our enemies have. Despite all of this, there are things we can do as a government to help the military reach its own potential without dictating policy to those that understand the organization better than the politicians who wish to control it.

The battle in Hello Kitty showed us one important thing above anything else. Hungary is physically stronger than us as a nation. It can't be contested. Their players are older, stronger, and just as numerous as ours. In order to compete with nations like this we need to take full advantage of the new training module. In order to match up to countries like Hungary our soldiers need to get stronger. Not every player can afford to buy a gold pack and even if they do they cannot afford to consistently do it to add to their players strength. One of the first things I would do as president is present before congress a proposal for the national government to help subsidize military training. Every player over a pre-determined strength level that would be willing to pay half of their training and enroll in this program would receive the other half of their training paid for by the federal government.

The benefits of this are two-fold. It encourages long term buy-in to the game and it also represents an investment in players rather than just conquest. People want to progress nationally and individually. The prospect of investing in players shows the eUSA's commitment to them and in turn will make them more prone to stay in the game. If we were to only focus on our top 50 tanks alone, the effects on tanking a wall are dramatic. Hundreds of thousands of extra damage would be placed after just a month of dedication to this program. Will it be costly? It will be, but I think the subsequent parts of my platform will explain how we will get the funds to do this. Some of our opponents are already doing this mind you. It is time for us to take training seriously.

Another thing we truly need to get serious about is ranking our lower level players in the military. We need to increase the budgets of branches like the Mobile Infantry, Army, and Home Guard we need to get them fighting every day. While we cannot increase the strength of every player, we can increase their rank by providing a steady stream of guns and battles to each soldier in the lower strength branches of the military.

My plan to aid the military is as follows:

1. Propose a program that will pay half of the training costs for soldiers willing to pay for the other half of their training.
2. Increase the budget of our lower levelled branches so they can rank faster.

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War
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Here is where I give the obligatory promise of other politicians: If elected I will attack the UK!!! My question is this: Then what? Essentially we have ran our mouths about attacking the UK for over a month. At this point we are almost obligated to attack them out of common courtesy or just look like braggarts that don't follow through on their threats. After we wipe them out though we seriously need to consider what our long term objectives are. A war with the UK will probably last 4 or 5 days tops and that will hardly maintain long term interest in the game and it certainly does not represent any type of great conquest. Do they deserve a beating? Of course they do, but lets not pretend that it is the equivalent of Alexander the Great marching across Persia.

As a nation we need to set long term goals. These goals have to be tied to military conquest, since essentially at this point it is the only thing that maintains a great deal of people's interest. This game affords us an incredible opportunity to do things as a nation that we could never do in real life. We can devote ourselves to war without any real life fears of repercussions. Short term battles provide us with a cheap thrill, but long term campaigns will provide us with multiple benefits. It will engage our current populace. It will encourage retention past level five because people will have something more to do than eat, train, and work. It will spur our stagnant economy and fill our treasury with gold instead of just USD. It will even spur the anti-war crowd to log in. lol

Right now, the world is essentially divided into two factions, EDEN and Phoenix. Our objective as a nation is simple by the current standards. We need to wipe out Phoenix as a whole. The only way to alter the complexion of the game is to get the American war machine rolling in a long term campaign that actively involves not just the military but the entire populace. We have enemies. Many of those enemies are apparent and others are not, but they are there and they want to kick our ass. In order to ensure our security and well being we need to kick their asses first. We need to pick a direction and march.

Is there a chance for failure in this plan? Of course in any plan there is the potential for failure, but the alternative is to sit back and watch our nation fall apart like a rotting corpse. In my mind the benefits outweigh the risks. My vision is of the eUSA as an entire nation actively involved militarily on the world stage and I will do anything within my power to make sure it will happen.

My plan in terms of war is as follows:

1. Set short term military goals that are attainable.
2. Set long term goals that involve campaign warfare to spur activity and promote a long term vision of the eUSA's place in the world.

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Foreign Relations and EDEN
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Diplomacy can work and can should be used often. Although I am a big advocate for war, I also believe that often a lot of our problems can be resolved at the negotiation table. There are plenty of nations in the world that are disenchanted with Phoenix and want to break free from the alliance or the continuing threat Phoenix represents to their homelands. We need to make a concerted effort not just as a nation but as an entire alliance to pry these nations away from Phoenix and offer them the chance to do something different and to be free from intimidation. I am willing to work with any nation that wants to leave the Phoenix alliance and pursue join the eUSA and EDEN in the fight against Phoenix.

There are plenty of nations in the world that wish to remain neutral and at this time I would like to send the following message out to them: Pick a side. Neutrality is not an option in this war. If you are unwilling to pick a side in this conflict you are enabling Phoenix to do what they want on the world stage. Your very neutrality endangers the well being of your neighbors and often your friends. It is time for the world to unite against Phoenix collectively and work together in a common cause against them. Neutrality is no longer an option.

We need to commit ourselves fully to our EDEN allies and work towards a common goal. I read the papers and hear the comments of some of our allies and it appears that many of them are not completely satisfied with our actions and we in turn sometimes are not satisfied with some of theirs. Infighting is common, but despite our differences we must remain focused on the task at hand. Phoenix must be eradicated and we must work together collectively to accomplish this goal. Diplomacy is a tool that can be used on enemies but must also be used with friends. We must never take the friendship of our allies for granted. Together we collectively ensure our survival and we owe a great debt to each other. Our destinies are all intertwined and together we will succeed, while separately we will fail. If we do not take the time to talk to some of our allies that feel neglected like Romania, we will find ourselves in a predicament a few months down the road. Our enemies see these divisions and will capitalize on them in some way.

My foreign policy is:

1. Reach out to disenchanted Phoenix nations and offer them an alternative.
2. Sway neutral countries over to the EDEN alliance.
3. Pursue better and longer lasting relations with our allies and work together with a cooperative spirit.

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Citizen/Newb Retention
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We have a very definite problem with citizen retention in this country. Every day we get 400 new citizens and despite this fact it appears our population is shrinking and not growing. One of the main obstacles we face in maintaining our citizens is the currently obvious boredom the game creates, especially if you are below level 5. In order to create and maintain a steady baby boom that pulls in new citizens we need to do a variety of things.

The first thing we need to do is expand the staff and funding of the welcoming committee. These guys are our first line of defense in terms of citizen first contact and retention. We need to make sure that every new citizen has what he or she needs to survive their first week in the game. The second thing we need to do is expand and promote the mentorship program. We need more mentors. These people are the heroes in the game and if we get enough of them, they can alter the course of this nation for the good like nobody else. The third thing we have to do is saturate popular gaming sites and political sites with referral links to eRepublik. Nobody can create this baby boom but ourselves.

After we have taken these critical steps, we need to focus on things that will maintain citizen retention. War is obviously one of those things and I have and will spoke of its great benefits. We also need to focus on activities and organizations outside of the government. It's time we take a serious look at the benefits of militias. They can add damage to walls, there is no doubt about that, but they can also give the average citizen purpose and meaning in this game. Giving them additional funding will not break us and also offers the opportunity for us to keep citizens active in a worthwhile cause.

Although it cannot be accomplished by the government I also feel that it is time for political parties to define themselves again and create a friendly rivalry between themselves. Politics is a critical aspect of this game and it keeps people active and intellectually stimulated. We should never return to the partisanship of the past, but political parties need to start defining themselves better according to ideology and create open elections that gets every citizen involved in the democratic process. The political process is a huge selling point in this game and I feel we neglect that. People like to compete and we should not rob them of that opportunity.

My plans for Citizen Retention are:

1. Expanding government services to reach new players.
2. Off site recruitment of new players.
3. Militia funding.
4. More active and competitive political parties.

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Congress
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I believe that the president should dictate policy in the United States. Ultimately, "the buck stops" with him (or her). Despite this philosophy, I also believe that Congress serves an instrumental role in government. More so than even the president, congress is the voice of the people. It is essential to give input to and receive input from Congress. Only with an open exchange of information and ideas will we be able to effectively govern this nation. Nobody can ever claim that I was anything less than completely honest with Congress on a variety of topics ranging from MPP's, to peace proposals, to joining EDEN, and to clearing our long standing debts. I found early on in my term that if you are honest and willing to work with Congress, that ultimately they will work with you. Team work does in fact work.

Congress must be actively involved in the debate of national and international policy. Although the final decision on a good portion of matters must fall upon the shoulders of the president, it is essential to keep our legislative branch in the loop. This type of governance develops trust between both branches and also allows them insight and buy-in to the national agenda. Ultimately in the long run, treating Congress as a rubber stamp or a road block creates divisive government and excludes some of the eUSA's brightest thinkers from the decision making process. Under my administration that will not happen.

My plans for Congress are:

1. To consistently keep Congress in the loop on important policy decisions.
2. Seek Congressional input on decisions, to keep them more informed, spur debate, and develop better policy.

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Our Economy
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It was believed that the acquisition of iron would spur our economy lead to both a wealthy citizenry and a wealthy nation. We were all wrong. The acquisition of iron started a labor shift that damaged profits in other sectors of the economy which damaged revenue from those areas. This coupled with Lana as Jewitt has mentioned has led to a serious period of economic stagnation. Iron unlike grain and food is not a true essential resource. Iron only becomes essential when we have war. Iron without war is useless.

As I mentioned before, the American war machine needs to roll. We need to begin both short wars and long term campaigns to spur our iron and gun markets. When this happens our economy will begin to pull itself out of its current rut. In a war, gun prices rise and people buy them just by nature, in turn, taxes on those products are paid, salaries rise due to company profits and people in turn by more products, which leads to even more tax revenue. This very process benefits both the average citizen in terms of salary and the United States in terms of revenue. Iron without war is useless. If we want to see long term growth in our economy. We need to fight not just to motivate our citizenry, but to acquire the wealth necessary to fund our military, government programs and to increase our tax revenue.

My Economic plans are:

1. Start short term and long term military engagements to spur the iron and gun markets.
2. These wars will lead to increased revenue and in turn the ability to better fund government programs and the military.
3. Work with Congress and the Economic Council to constantly reevaluate and determine the peg.

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Conclusion
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Two months ago we had cleared our debts and our economy was stable, we were retaining citizens, we had made diplomatic progress around the globe, we were preparing for a successful invasion of Asia, and we had joined EDEN. Today our economy is faltering, our population is dropping, we have made no diplomatic gains, Serbia threatens Karnataka and Liaoning is surrounded by Russians and Hungarians. We need to alter our course and reexamine our outlook and vision of our country and the world. I know the platform I have presented is a road map to a more successful United States. We need to change and we need to get active. We cannot continue on the course we have been on for the past two months.

The United States can be truly great. We have the will and power within us. We have proven this time and time again in the past. We need to right the ship and pick a course. Collectively as a country we must work together for the common good we can save ourselves, end the Phoenix alliance, and usher in a new era of prosperity and well being for this country and the world. Stay tuned for the Vice Presidential pick.