My Response to the Congressional Questionnaire

Day 397, 10:01 Published in USA USA by HeadmistressTalia

This is my response to the Questionnaire posted in in the Libertarian Bulletin (http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/congressman-questionaire-711733/1)


1. Hot Topic: As you know, we're mirroring irl USA right now. Many citizens, including the USWP are opposed to the war against France. What are you general opinions on the war- for or against? What do you think was our reasoning for getting involved? Do you blame President Dover or General Shafer for poor planning in that war?

Our official reasoning for the war was to help liberate Switzerland, and to help our economy. Whether these are good reasons or not doesn't matter now - we're in the war. And I believe in finishing what you start. Simply because we didn't overwhelmingly win after a couple of days is no reason to declare failure now. Wars take time, and suffer setbacks. We need to develop patience and accept that this will take some time.

I do think the initial battles could have been handled better. There was a definite breakdown in communications and a failure to provide supplies.These problems are being worked out, but I'd like to see a concrete plan for improvement. Right now we're more in the finger-pointing stage. Enough of that, is doesn't matter who's fault it is, let just get things better.


2. Economic: There's a lot of talk on the forums about economic issues. How would you gauge our current economic situation, and how would you propose that we improve it?

No one knows what our economic situation is and as everybody tries to "fix" it things are getting more out of whack. I believe in the free market which means the government should sit back and let the economy sort itself out. Look - we have over 8 thousand ecitizens. Does any one person or even a group of people actually expect to figure out how these people will behave and what's "best" for them? The point of markets is they process the increased information better than we can - and they work themselves out. Usually things just get crazier when we try to correct the market's natural fluctuations.

That being said, the government does have a role - that of taxes. Taxes should be low - enough to pay for our military and their supplies, and for infrastructure costs. That's it. No mucking in monetary valuations. No protectionism. No attempts to force people to "do the right thing" by taxation policies. Just tax enough to support legitimate government roles.


3. General Policy: Give a brief summery of your beliefs, whether they all coincide with the overall Libertarian ideals or not.

I believe people have the right to do what they want with their lives and their property as long as it doesn't infringe on other people's rights to live their lives the way they want with their property. (Man that sentence is a doozy!) That means the government too - get the heck out of my way, I can do better without your help.

I'm neither pro nor anti war. I do believe in winning though - once we're in a war, I want to kick tush.

I'm adamantly opposed to cheating. In this game or in RL, be honest and straightforward. I know that seems hard to accept in politics, but I think the world would be a better place if we stopped being weasels simply because everyone else is.


4. General Qualifications: Are you currently signed up on the US forums, and can you devote about an hour a day to policy discussion? Do you use the US IRC channel?

I am on the forums - I don't post much because I don't feel like repeating what's already been said.
I try to avoid IRC - I find it usually devolves to silliness. Forums give you a chance to think about what you're going to say - IRC tends to encourage a response NOW, rather than a thought-out response later.