Join the new world

Make it Official

I, Joshua Hoss, plan on running for President of the eUnited States of America. I have asked Jewitt to run as my Vice President and he has accepted. Elections are on the 5th of August, and I ask for support from the people of our great eNation.

While other candidates are going to go on the attack and stay negative I want to put my good foot forward. Look at the other candidates’ platforms, read mine, and then decide. I am not going to tell you what they promise, what they criticize, or what they claim. You can read their platforms and judge best for yourself. What I will say is that our current direction is not the correct one. We need to change things or we risk being eliminated form this game. Everyone needs to ask themselves one question: Are you happy with the way things are going?

Background

I hate doing self promotion writing, so this will be brief. I was in the military for just about all of my eRepublik life. I started as a Private in the old National Guard and worked my way up to General of the Airborne. Along the way I have met many great people and soldiers in our armed forces, had the opportunity to fight PEACE firsthand (not only by fighting but by actually planning campaigns against them), and have gained a greater understanding of the military aspects of the game.

Besides the military I am also actively involved in the United Independents Party. Once again I joined that party shortly after I was able to in the game, working my way up from Welcome Director to Vice President to current party President. I also had the opportunity to serve for two terms as the UIP eCongressional Representative from Wisconsin. During that time I chaired the Military Committee, allowing me to work with the military on funding matters.

Lastly I am a business owner. I co-own JY Industries with a close friend of mine. We have managed to work it up off the ground, going from only a quality one company to three companies in only a short time. I prided myself on being able to give my employees the best wages possible, and the best instructions possible on how to get higher wages.

Policies

Military Policy
A Military President
I will be a Military President, make no mistake about it. The eUSA cannot afford to have a peace-time President at this time. We need someone with some military experience, someone who knows how to plan a campaign and help see it through. I have been there, helped plan campaigns, distribute weapons, and deployed overseas. I know the logistics and funding needed to make military actions possible and successful. I know the amount of work that needs to go into military planning, the steps we need to take, and how to make it possible. We cannot sit by and allow our nation to be taken over one region at a time.
The eUSA was shocked to find out this last week that Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Eugene Harlot had resigned. I had the opportunity to work with Eugene and I have the greatest respect for the man. No matter what anyone else things of him he will always be our “George Washington” to me. With his resignation the JCS will have to work that much harder to stop and defeat PEACE. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) are there for a reason – they are the best at what they do and they work very hard to make sure our military is the best it can be. However, the President is the Commander-in-Chief and decides where/when to attack. Because of that I plan on being more militarily active than previous administrations. This means that I plan on working closely with the JCS to lay out our options going forward and implement an effective new strategy. We can no longer afford slow response times and prolonged debate, now is the time to be decisive. A passive Commander-in-Chief cannot be effective; the military needs to be given a solid direction. This does not mean I will force my ideas or plans on the military, nor will I ignore the JCS and do what I want. Instead all options will be weighed quickly and thoroughly, with a decision being made and put into motion.

Tanking that Works
We need to get our best soldiers into the best opportunities to help us out. Everyone wants to receive free weapons, funding, and be able to tank. The eUSA has programs set up to ensure that we can identify and fund tanks. In this time of war those tanks have to be only the strongest of us. We cannot afford to waste gold funding a lower strength person when someone of much higher strength is sitting idle. This is not always popular with the general public, but it is something that needs to be made clear. We are at war, we cannot afford to play favorites or deny our strongest the chance to help. The general public and lower strength military will still need to be guided and given direction, but the funding will need to be focused on getting the most damage for the dollar (or gold). When we win this war we can revert to our policies of getting everyone ranked up equally, but during this time of crisis we cannot afford to do that. We need to win, and we need to win badly.

Alliances
It is also important to work very closely with our allies in this time of need. Canada is sitting in the same position as us, facing the same threat, and suffering the same defeats. We need to gather ourselves closer to Canada, not just politically but militarily as well. This means working on joint operations (whether offensive of defensive). We cannot allow ourselves to be split. PEACE has used many nations to attack us; we need to work together to beat them back. The eUSA alone cannot win this war, we need our allies. To accomplish this I will propose a joint-nation military committee made up of the eUSA and eCanadian military personnel. Running battle plans from one military, through the President, to the other nation’s President, and to their military is a long and complicated process. We need to simplify it and get our military minds working together faster. On the short term I plan on getting our own military and public to become more coordinated. This means getting them to fight in the same place and being able to stop PEACE rather than spreading ourselves thing. Canada is an extremely important ally, and we will work with them as best possible. But occasionally our forces will have to focus on a eUSA region rather than an eCanadian region. Once again we will need to work quickly with eCanada’s government to establish what our best hope for victory is.
This has already been a long and drawn out war. It will be longer. We cannot give into PEACE and let them take us over, or there will be no place for us. We need someone in office who has the military experience and aggressiveness to make the eUSA victory possible.

Foreign Policy

A New World
There is no need to remind people of the dire straits we are in right now. We are currently at war with most or all of PEACE, have fewer allies than them, and are at severe risk of losing those allies in this war. Our old alliance of ATLANTIS is long gone, Fortis appears to be much weaker, and our foreign policy has chased away would be allies. The general disarray of the eUSA’s foreign policy has been a slow and gradual fall. Rather than working with all our allies and gaining new ones our policies have been to “stick to our guns” and refuse to adapt. This has not and will not work.
The New World has changed. Gone is old line defining ATLANTIS nations and PEACE nations. That war is over. Today we face a world dominated by PEACE, whether we like it or not. We have proven in the last month that our new alliance of Fortis is not up to the task of defending itself against PEACE. New things need to be tried. The biggest mistake of the past has been to chase away would be allies. This list includes eMexico, eRussia and the eUK. At one time we had the opportunity to work with all three nations to secure our borders and strengthen ourselves. Rather than doing so and focusing on the future we looked short term and for our own gain only. We cannot continue to do that.

A New Approach
First let me say that I make no claim of having extensive foreign policy experience. What I do offer is a fresh take to the scene. Obviously things so far have not worked out as well as we hope. Do we want to continue on that path or try something different? While I may not be the most experiences I can promise to bring a hard working ethic with me. I will work my butt off for our country and use all my resources to make sure that we not only survive, but grow as a nation.

We will have to look outside of our normal friends for help. As stated above, the New World is a different one than that of even one month ago. Things change, and so should we. We cannot stay stuck in the mud, nor can we shut off diplomatic routes just because they go against past policy. This may mean opening up dialogue with PEACE nations, or even PEACE itself. Do not misunderstand these attempts as “giving up” or “surrendering”. Those two things are something that I as a President will never do. What this will be is an attempt to gather support for the eUSA on a global scale and to make sure that we as a nation do not cease to exist. This will require massive work and effort by all, from the President to the foreign relations department to the average citizen. We all need to stick together as eAmericans, but we also need to work globally. Any conversations we have with PEACE will be done with our best interests forward, not just because we “should” or “need” to talk to them. Peace with PEACE is something that will not be taken lightly, nor will it be done on their terms. I would rather fight to the last man then give PEACE the advantage needed to take out our allies and friends.

I have stated that we will take an “eAmerican first” approach. This does not mean that we will abandon our friends. Those who have stood by us during this time of crisis deserve, and will receive, our help. What needs to be stressed is the importance of the eUSA doing what is best for itself first, and then looking towards our allies. We will have to balance this view with the need to remain strong globally. Obviously FORTIS has not worked out for us. We will need to examine it and weigh our options, examine which path is best for the eUSA. Foreign policy is not something that can be completely determined ahead of time - it needs to adapt and grow with the changes of the new world.

Domestic Policy

Secretary of Health and Services
Even in this time of war we need to continue new player growth and development. This means getting our citizens active, stronger, and more skillful. To do so we need to coordinate our programs under one roof so that they can focus in on the correct audience. This is why I will announce the cabinet position of “Secretary of Health and Services”. Much like its real life counterpart this position will focus in on the health and general well being of our citizens. They will manage the departments of fun, meals on wheels, and the welcome committee. While these programs have worked well in the past they need to become more coordinated and be given specific direction. Having them server under one person will allow for general goals to be given out and assigned that will assure less wasted funds.

Transparency
I plan on publishing an official White House Press release containing the news of the day. Government transparency is important; people must have faith in the government. To garner that faith I will remain open to the public through these press releases and through availability on the IRC Chat. If elected I will introduce a Rizon chat room designed for public interaction with the President. In this room, citizens will be able to come in and talk directly with myself and ask any questions regarding my administration. I do not believe in only excluding a select group of the nation, nor do I feel that ignoring even the newest of citizens is right.

Congress
Dealings with congress will be simplified to the roles of my Vice President (VP). The VP will not only focus on domestic/economic policies, but will also serve as a liaison between the Executive and Legislative branches. By having the VP serve in this manner it will assure direct communication between both branches without the hassle of having to go through multiple people. This will hopefully lead to improved relations amongst both branches and an improved, more efficient working relationship. Giving eCongress someone to directly deal with and someone who has their attention is very important.

Economic Policy
The Budget
The biggest strength the eUSA had coming into this war was our economy. At the start of the war we ranked near the top in business, gold generated, and national budget spending. We could afford to deploy a large military and to fund many programs. However, this war has taken much of that away from us. When I wrote this policy paper, the US had lost control of California, a region with many businesses and citizens. The loss of this region (and all regions so far) has resulted in our nation generating less funding. With less funding we are not as able to support our military or domestic programs.

To counter this, we as a nation need to focus on rebuilding with what we have. Many citizens have large savings that they are saving for their own rainy-day fund. This is great, but it is bad when they only use it when their real-life home state is being attacked. What we need is to get citizens to spend, and spend like mad. Our economy is still running strong - it just lost a pinky toe and cannot be drafted. Then again, I saw it perform marvelously when the dollar began fluctuating. How can a weak economy stand that? The fear and worry of a broken economy is what destroys a strong market - we need to stop hearing "our economy is crumbling!" when everything is nearly the same as it was five days before the fall of California or any other state.

Free Market
When it comes to exports, we have few options right now since we are at war with over half of the e-globe. To expand our business base, we need to promote trade to our allies as well as free market competition. Why? Cheaper goods means more spent on the war. We need to be able to get what resources we require at the lowest price available, and we should allow our allies to do the same.

Closing

In closing I ask that you take the time to read through not only my policies, but those of my opponents. I want you vote, and I want you to be confident that you are voting for the best candidate. Please feel free to contact me through the game, on Rizon (#UIP is one channel I am on), or on any forums we may share together. Believe it or not I want to hear what eAmerica thinks. Thank you.

And to keep things fun: You wouldn't argue against this, would you?

Joshua Hoss
Candidate for President of the eUnited States of America