[CP] State of the Union (Day 2159)

Day 2,159, 09:11 • Published in Canada Canada • by Addy Lawrence


THE MANDATE

On October 5th, a majority of eCanadian voters provided me with a mandate to build an eCanada of vision, passion, and purpose. I have an outstanding team of people to help me achieve this:

Vice-President, Rylde
Vice-President, Acacia Mason
Minister of Defence, klop123
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shoi12
Minister of Finance, Bryan Alexander.



STATE OF THE UNION

Opening Remarks

As we approach the mid-point of my term, I must say it has been rather uneventful, if not altogether boring. There was some mild excitement this week but it really didn't get to a boil. There is always the back half of the term.



On the budget and fiscal responsibility...

Minister of Finance Bryan Alexander did a great job preparing a budget for this term and proposed it on a timely basis. You can review his fine work in this google doc.

I am proud to say that the hypothesis that tax revenues would double by increasing from 1% across the board to 2% across the board turned out to be valid, Bryan's work confirms this. Tax revenues have doubled and eCanada is in a position to generate $100,000 CC a month in tax revenue.

A budget has been proposed to spend this money on MPPs and Combat Orders. This now awaits the approval of congess.

A nation's Executive Branch of Government should demonstrate fiscal responsibility each term by preparing and proposing a budget to congress that balances the revenue generated from the tax regime with the military and social needs of the country. Either the tax regime needs changing, or the programs need changing, or both or neither. This has to be analysed or this area is not being effectively managed. This is a minimum standard that each Executive should operate and I am glad that MoF Bryan Alexander restored credibility to the Exec.



On the inducement proposed by DMV3...

A congressman motioned to accept DMV3's offer to pay into eCanada's treasury a sum of money equal to the tax differential between 2% Work Tax and 1% Work Tax assuming that eCanada congress would reduce the Work Tax from 2% to 1%.

Congress voted down this motion. If it had passed, I was going to veto the bill.

Government loses its objectivity when it carries out specific actions at the request of those who provide it with consideration. Agreeing to this would have created a dependency of the government upon DMV3's payments.

His payments were not a donation because he expected something in return. Donations are made without expectation.

I applaud DMV3 for his hard work, eagerness, and zeal in making eCanada a better place for "engaged" players of eRepubik. I do not beleive he will give up until he gets it right and I'm confident that he will get it right.



On the leak of content from Close Door Congress...

I made a proposal in Closed Door Congress to Air Strike eUK. Debate ensued, some for, some against. In less than 12 hours after moving the motion, I was pm'd a screen shot of the motion. The pm was from an eUK citizen who had received it from another eUK citizen. Incredibly, the leak was already circulating amongst eUK citizens by this time.

Some say my motion was stupid, others like the idea, it really doesn't matter. It was supposed to be a discussion to build majority support for heading in a direction, or to remain status quo.

Others have said that "Only a few people knew, you shouldn't have released your article'. To that I say that the key people we didn't want to know about it were directly informed and that is the risk that Closed Door Congress is supposed to manage.

If congressmen aren't going to respect the Congressional Rules of Order then they should be prioritized as low as possible on their party's ballot card so that they are kept out of office as much as possible. If party's aren't going to respect that standard, that party's members should not be permitted access to Closed Door Congress.

I may be just overreacting but it would seem to me that if you can't keep the door closed in Closed Door Congress, then it shouldn't exist because it is affording nobody any level of privacy nor discretion.

At this point, I believe that Closed Door Congress should only be open to Congressmen. No CP. No Ministers. No Party Presidents. No bureaucrats.

End rant.



On eNetherlands' occupation of eCan regions...

eNetherlands is looking forward to a congress this month and they are targeting to make the congress as large as possible. Negotiations are underway to provide them up to three more regions so that they can have a full 40 member congress. A single region gets you a 10 member congress, two regions gets you to 20, three to 30 and four to forty. It stays at forty members until you reach 40 regions and then they add a congressman for each region beyond that.

There has been a variety of confusion reconciling the deal eNL thought they had reached with the outgoing executive with the deal that was presented to the new executive, and there is a strategic issue with eNL opening up a border with ePoland in North America (who would have ever anticipated that) but we are continuing to work through it.



On region swapping with eUS...

With eUS signing a NAP with ePoland, they have given up some economic bonuses, however, they have achieved a level of peace.

Talks are underway and going well regarding a significant region swap with eUS whereby both countries would achieve desireable economic bonuses and position themselves to be more economically competitive in this game environment.

You can read all about it in Open Door Congress.



On the Trial Membership in CoT...

There is a summit on Saturday morning that I will attend. I was impressed by CoT SC potato's approval of our request for an exception the MPP rule. They are proving to be a reasonable group.

There are strikes being planned within CoT and I am optimistic that this will generate excitement here in eCan.

Unfortuntately, the regions held by members of CoT continues to dwindle and the strength of the CoT alliance is being called into question relative to it counterpart, TWO. There has been a LOT of water cooler talk about how to counter the TWO/ACT juggernaut, both within CoT and outside of CoT. TWO/ACT's dominance is a game changer and hurts the long-term viability of the game.



Closing Remarks and Shameless Plugs...

After my expose of the mole in Closed Door Congress, someone actually proposed a very weak impeachment motion in Open Door Congress so we are getting closer to that inevitable impeachment attempt. I think the Budget and the region rental negotiations are pushing up the value of the CP stock but the lack of a war or battle that can "unite the clans" is pushing it down. Hopefully something emerges from the CoT Summit tomorrow that will serve as a rallying point.

Who's your daddy?