[POTUS] Fiscal Expediency
Tyler Bubblar
As no doubt many of you have noticed the work tax rate was recently increased from 8% to 12%. This was done after I presented to Congress how much has been spent during my administration deflecting two Airstrikes. After making that report I made a recommendation that Congress raise taxes in order to replenish our reserves a bit. I am already seeing articles out there striking a populist pose regarding our reserves and taxes. The discussion about our reserves and tax rate initially took place on the private boards of Congress. This was done behind closed doors for a reason.
The exact state of our reserves has always been sacrosanct. When I was a fresh returnee to the game more than a year ago, it irked me to no end that the amount of money we had in the reserves was not shared with full Congress. I believe the members of Congress comprising the Select Committee on Intelligence (SCI) were aware of the number, but the rest of Congress was not made privy to it. Eventually a law was passed stipulating that on a monthly basis SCI expenditures and the balance of the reserves would be presented to Congress on the Private Section of the Boards. However, the balance of the reserves are still not common knowledge. The motivation behind this is relatively simple: we do not want enemies of the eUSA to know how much money we have to draw from.
AS I said above the two Airstrikes cost a lot of money to defeat. I will not get into specific numbers, but the Airstrike on New York conducted by Thailand (not exactly a heavy hitting nation) cost nearly $1 million dollars to send packing. Circumstances were extremely favorable to us on that day. Many of the heavy hitters of Asteria in a show of decency refused to hit against the eUSA on the anniversary of 9/11. In addition to this allies put up big tanking numbers and COs for us, while nations that we do not even have an mpp with still made the battle a priority for us and traveled to eAmerican soil to defend New York.
Argentina is a whole different animal. They are a first tier nation with a huge stack of MPPs, and they went after Mexico which possesses a much smaller MPP stack that does not include big hitters like Poland or Turkey. This battle cost more than double what we spent in New York to win. It was decided beforehand that we would spend whatever it took to prevent Argentina from landing because to put it plainly they rarely lose. Stopping Argentina from gaining a foothold in North America was crucial it was not inconceivable that a successful landing in Mexico would result in a wipe for both Mexico and the eUSA. We have spent a lot of time attempting to better relations with Argentina, but they did not make their intentions known in the time leading up to this Airstrike. Their target was either the eUSA or Spain.
I played through last year’s summer of wipe. While we eventually emerged from it, and have carved out an enviable place for ourselves on the world stage, it took its toll on our nation and community. Pre-wipe we were 3rd in damage, had a much larger population, and a more active community. Today we are a top 10 nation. we still have a lot of clout and we have some who are stubbornly holding on in our community in hopes of rebuilding but we are not what we were. Mexico suffered that summer right along with us and were nothing short of stalwart allies during those difficult months. They played a crucial role in helping to evict Serbia and Hungary from the North American theater. If my administration had any say our two nations would not be allowed to suffer that same fate again. In the past year the government has patiently stashed away funds for just such an event. If you are interested in reading the Discussion on the reserves and raising taxes, it is now available on the public boards of Congress, the numbers have been redacted, but the discussion is available. (http://eusaforums.com/forum/index.php/topic,32463.0.html)
The irony of it being me asking Congress to consider raising taxes is not lost on myself. From the onset of the 10% tax rate I have agitated for it to be lowered. I nearly succeeded once in cutting it to 7% but ultimately fell short. I published partisan articles attacking the AMP and WTP who had stood in united opposition to cutting taxes in hopes of stealing seats from the following Congress. Finally after almost a year of trying my Party (the Feds) working with the BSP and a few we managed to pick off from WTP plus Largo from the AMP managed to get taxes dropped to 8%. 8% has basically been deficit neutral. It has been found that over a 3 month period of time after factoring in baseline budget expenses and SCI spending we put away a few thousand CC. If you are interested in checking out my history as a low tax crusader go here, here, also here, and lastly here.
We are seeing similar partisan attacks from BSP and SFP regarding the vote to raise taxes. They are of course entitled to their opinion. However, at least in regards to my Party and their vote they did what they felt was best for the nation. (I cannot speak to for the other Parties, but I suspect their motivation was much the same.) My Party backed me in my crusade to lower taxes because we believed and still do that Private Military Units benefit from a balanced rate, but after going over the numbers with them they agreed that the right thing to do was replenish our reserves as the Airstrikes of this month demonstrated that thanks to COs to defeat a sustained campaign against the eUSA serious investment of resources is required.
Sometimes standing on principles comes with a cost. There was never a question of let’s allow Thailand to succeed on 9/11/14. It might have been cheaper to defeat them later without all the hype, but such a concept was anathema to so many (including myself) with good reason. It’s very likely we could have cut a deal with Argentia selling out Mexico and rolling out the red carpet for them as we urge them on to the European theater. We have made two strong statements in the last two months that the eUSA will defend her interests and those of her friends. We have made it clear that we are a force to be reckoned with and to be frank I think it will help us in the weeks and months to come. An Alliance shift is coming, when that happens we will see what we have seen in past shifts. The lines of power and friendship will be redrawn. Having the money to back ourselves is a must and will only become more crucial as time goes on. Players only get stronger as they train thus COs will cost more and more as time goes on.
I have demonstrated that I am willing to spend money to defend my country, but I am not willing to leave the next administration with the bill. If we had done nothing to increase revenue but continued to maintain our bonuses eventually we would have scraped bottom. It would have taken some time, but when it happened it would have been completely my fault. I have long fought for this nation and this community. I understand that no one loves to pay more, but it is what the long term fiscal health of this nation requires. Good governing is not a sexy thing that will earn adulation and love from the masses. However, it is the responsible and right thing to do. I thank you for your time and consideration in reading this article. I would also like to thank Congress for putting the long term security of the nation first even though no one will love them for it.
Comments
First for Irony
Some time ago you were bitching about high taxes (it was then 10😵 and failed with your Lucky 7% in Congress- so times have changed homie?? Tell us how did they change!!
I explained as thoroughly as I could in the above article. We were friends once. Frankly I'm unsure as to why that changed. This was not an easy thing for me to do. I have long loathed high taxes, but it was expedient to the long term security of the eUSA.
All would be well if there was transparency!! This way it's political crap, blah blah security reasons blah blah
Trrbl Elitists stealin our monies
Sal amk
sana yok titan**** 🙁
sa
as
🙁
sa
as
Not elitists, Cypriot thieves 😃
yav he he
Support.
completely true
tl;dr
ofc 🙂
what about publishing the real figures ingame so everybody can make up his mind on real figures ! That's the least you owe to the people paying the taxes !
that information is confidential. Telling the public is the same thing as telling Asteria. WTP has the most democratic process of electing their Caucus of all the parties. They were made aware of the numbers and opted to approve and vote for the proposed tax increase. You are welcome to discuss it with them.
Getting bullshit from the Potus is an American tradition LMAo
eusaforums.com <-- check it out!
Check what out? A forum where you and folks alike pretend they are important & relevant to the game? A place you harass those who think different? Your virtual masturbation chambers?? No, thanks.
Surprisingly it seems some actual numbers were presented to 'Private' Congress, which I find totally amazing....
I wouldn't know. They took my forum access and now I'm being flamed for not reading it
That is their MO, do everything behind closed doors; then blame citizens for not know what is going on....
bunu okuyan var mı acaba cidden
insan hayret ediyor
I second it was the right move to both spend this much and to increase WT in compensation.
I do wonder if anyone has ever did the numbers on CO effectiveness though. I'd be most interested, as I somehow doubt it is as effective as many say it is.
In this instance I believe it was, as we had to merc damage to make up for the small MPP stack Mexico currently has.
Yes, that would probably be correct. I'm far from saying it is always the case, but I'm interested if we can evaluate it in a more tangible manner. I'm not sure if it's an easy thing to do the numbers on though, but what do I know, I'm trying to murder my flu with vodka at the moment.
Good call.
The right move. If you want to maintain our security we have to maintain our reserves.
I find this all very interesting
It's a role reversal for me. That's for sure.
You owe me a huge apology btw
You did what you had to do. Keep doing what you're doing.
I am about to move my production to eUSA (requesting CS according to the rules and stuff) and I am ok with a tax raise, knowing by my own pocket how hard has been to repel the two airstrikes who had eUSA as final target. I also know very well that to avoid being on a wire every hour, we need to start RWs, reset determination in colonies and stuff. That costs a lot too, and I am willing to make my part.
In the meanwhile, in my humble opinion, I would consider finding new ways to earn money, both for putting aside bigger funds and for showing to eAmericans that we accept to make efforts first, for the common cause.
I am not really a boss in this stuff, but I would start suggesting 2 things:
1) Issue Money, asking people to donate golds to the treasury and paying them with currency we issued. It can give a little profit, but absolutely for free, and with little work.ì, when gold is worth less than 200cc.
2) Long term program for market taxes, raising and lowering them on a programmed yearly base, to invite people buying eUSA license in periods of low taxes, and enjoy bigger import tax flow in periods when we decide to raise. I know this doesn't work without cooperation with all internal forces, but I guess that it's possible to achieve it.
Near as I can figure is that the eUSA, unlike other countries, does not have anyone it trust enough to handle issuing money
Look back in the congressional library, The issue money thing was brought up in the last couple months, and most seemed to think the profit margin was not worth the trouble at the time.
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NEEDS MORE GREELING!
Just to clarify most of us in SFP did not have an issue with a tax raise. It was clear that both those fights were
A. Important to win
B. cost a lot
Replenishing funds to defend this country we support.
That fact that it was done in private without citizen being aware is where the problem was.
And that is what I felt was done wrong. That is why our reps voted against it. We felt the people should have been informed. I sort of like a transparent government. You know for the people by the people.
Please do get your facts straight.
The objections made by the SFP Congress members were based on the rate going higher no mention whatsoever about the venue in which the discussion took place. It's been moved to the public boards feel free to check it out. Those ARE the facts.
Again facts: J.A. Lake voted against it because he did not like that there was no mechanism to lower taxes once we reached the desired amount.
You know how difficult and time consuming it was trying to reduce taxes in the past.
PilotPhil stated that he voted against the raise because it was done behind the public's back, both statements in the forum.
In our own party discussions we felt that it was wrong going private.
None of us could agree on what amount to raise, because we had no info. I did not pressure any of our reps to give any info that was private. i figured that would go agaist protocal.
If info was made public first, we more than likely would have supported it. We are SFP, but we are eAmericans first. And the party as well as our militia Bear Calvary always put the defense of our country first.
You stated that our no votes were partisan politics. It was not, that is what irked me.
Everyone that pays attention knows there is a major feud between BSP and USWP, we do not want to be connected to that fight.
Again if info was put out before the vote, I think we would have supported it.
Not a single person, regardless of party, made any inquiry or request for the discussion to be moved to private while it was ongoing. Being opposed to something does no good if you do so in silence.
I agree with you on that. We should have pushed that inquiry, but we did not move fast enough on it.
Any way it is all good. Like I said I support us to have the means to defend our eCountry, always. I have no problem with the increase to supplement our defense. I just hope when the time comes it is not pulling teeth like the past to lower the rate. The higher taxes really hurt the newer players and retention is bad enough already.
Thanks for having the discussions declassified and publishing an article to stem the bad PR wave. Now we at least have something to point concerned citizens to.
That said, I hope you don't mind me saying that the irony here is delicious. 🙂
On a more serious note though, while I might not have expected you to be the guy to raise taxes by 50% of their previous level, I'm glad to see you take the harder choice yourself to be fiscally responsible and not leave your eventual successor (and the country) on a diminished financial footing.
Putting aside the overall amusing turn of events, I have to say that my respect for you has increased with this decision (and just so you know, it was already pretty good to begin with).
v
Well. This is interesting lol.
Voted
Ironic isn't it?
Haley!