Join the new world

Well, it has been another 10 days or so since I last wrote an article detailing what exactly has happened in congress, but it has also been a very quiet time in congress. This past 10 days, there has been a grand total of 7 votes done in game, which is at least half of the average from last month, if not less than that. In addition to that, all of the motions were very basic and strictly paper pushing ones save for one.

My Votes.

1) Do you agree to transfer 900 ESP from the country accounts to Revenue Canada? Another one of the very basic votes that we have all the time in congress. I can answer now why exactly it is that the government of Canada gets small amount of currency like this built up and needs to be expended from time to time. Alto Deraqwar was kind enough to inform us that the currency comes as income tax from companies that are selling overseas. Anyways, this is a standard sort of paper pushing procedure, as there is no harm in voting yes on this particular motion, the only real harm possible here being the timing of the motion, and the chance of it gumming up our revenue stream. Voted Yes. Motion Passed.

2) President of Australia proposed a mutual protection pact with Canada? Australia, Canada, allies for some time now, and part of our Brolliance, I cannot honestly think of a reason we would vote no on this. So I Voted Yes. Motion Passed.

3) Do you agree to transfer 25000 CAD from the country accounts to Revenue Canada? The country needed money to continue properly functioning, so we all Voted Yes on this particular measure, or at least the bulk of us did. Motion Passed.

4) Do you agree with the proposal to issue 70000 CAD for 350 GOLD? Printing money is another one of the more basic acts of congress, and is important for keeping our economy going. Voted Yes. Motion Passed.

5) Do you agree to transfer 84500 CAD from the country accounts to Revenue Canada? Much of this money was no doubt the money that we had just printed the day or two before, the rest of it no doubt having been accrued from taxes and the like collected by the government and sent off to continue the operation of Canada. Voted Yes. Motion Passed.

6) Citizen fee change from 5 CAD to 6 CAD? Citizen Fee is the amount of money that is given to a new player when they first start out the game. This is the amount of money one starts out with. We can look at the 5 CAD amount and think that it is quite a paltry amount of money, but when you step back and think about it, it is almost 1/6th of a Au, and is certainly enough to keep a new player buying at least Q2 food while they build up their skills and train. This vote was cast down by all within congress, or at least the majority, because it did not follow proper procedure, which calls for a minimum of 24hours discussion upon the forums by those within congress before putting anything to a vote. Barring that discussion, I would still have voted no, as the vast majority of people who join this game, never do more than a single day, siphoning off a large amount of cash from the governments coffers and doing nothing for us. As well, as I stated earlier, 5 CAD should be plenty enough to get a new player started. Voted No. Motion Failed.

7) Do you agree to transfer 2328 FRF from the country accounts to Revenue Canada? Another one of those small foreign currency things that we run into all the time. I really think the bulk of these motions are given simply to accrue experience points for members of congress, though I guess they are necessary in there own small way. Voted Yes. Motion Passed.

Congress.

With this ten days being the beginning of a brand new session of congress, the first point of order that needed to occur was the nomination of a new Speaker. As such, this time around things went relatively easily, though there were the odd bump along the way as some within congress seemed to be nominating those that were not possible to be nominated. I myself was nominated for Speaker, and gladly accepted it this time around, until it was pointed out that I was also a member of the Cabinet and as such ineligible. I was somewhat disappointed by that, but did what I could see as the next best thing and nominated congresswoman Frankypicoto. She was further seconded, and accepted, and ended up becoming our newest Speaker of the House. I would like to once again congratulate her on her victory, as I am aware she has been the deputy speaker on several occasions. A small bit of controversy did happened this go around as Congressman Samuel de Champlain was nominated. It was pointed out he had not accepted the nomination, to which it was also pointed out that that was not a requirement of procedure. It was also pointed out that he was ineligible due to being the President of the Union Nationale. He remained entirely silent on this matter, and it was judged that is inaction in quitting the presidency of the Union Nationale was an indication of his desire not to be considered in the running.


Just a day or two ago, the honourable Congressman AR1ARX put forward a motion within congress to change around much of our economic policy. I will not attempt to detail out the exact specifics of his plan, as those of you whom are interested, should simply read the topic within the Open Congress section. The highlights of the plan though would be to stabilize the income tax rate of all sectors within eCanada at 11% and then to increase our import taxes in all sectors to 60%. The concept here would be to help keep the revenue of Canada within Canada’s borders. Myself, I certainly agree with this end of the proposal as I have for some time now been a big believer in closed economies, as I can see no reason or need for trade as there is in the real world within eRepublik, especially given Canada’s relatively decent size and depth of resources. The second aspect of his proposal was the creation of a new Ministry of sorts which would watch over the various prices of products within Canada and attempt to keep them at reasonable amounts, either through media exposure, auctions to assist companies within Canada to upgrade their quality level, or as a last resort, direct action within the affected market. This part of the plan I am a little less sure on, though I would agree that we within Canada need some form of watch dog to oversee things. Speaking as the one whom has run EPICS companies for the last little while, I can say that quite often prices within the market dip down to unreasonable depths where no one can possibly be making money, only losing it. In the end a system such as that does no promote or grow an economy, only hurt it.


Citizen Fee: I mentioned this previously, but there was not much else going on these past ten days, so I figure this should be mentioned again. The concept here was to change the money given to brand new Canadians when they first join the game from 5 CAD to 6 CAD. Personally, I see no need for this change, as I believe that 5 CAD should suit the purposes of new players just fine when combined with their at least 2.50 CAD a day. This would allow plenty of cash to be spent on the necessities of life as long as they are working within a Q1 company and not making frivolous purchases.

Other Stuff.

Not much to tack on here. I am sure if you are reading this paper, you are quite familiar with the fact that Dade won the most recent Prime Ministerial elections and as such is our newest Prime Minister. While I will say that I have never been the biggest fan of the CPF, I would have also been happy should Addy have won as I have come to regard him with a level of respect that I find sometimes hard to find for some members of the CPF. Please do not construe those words as an attack on the CPF, as I have good relations with some members of the CPF and am after all entitled to my own viewpoint on matters. Both candidates were quite kind in offering me the ongoing position of Minister of Immigration, which I kindly accepted from them. I now look forward to seeing what specific details Dade has for the Ministry of Immigration this term.

On a similar note, I am also sure all of you are aware that Former….everything, Jacobi has quit his position within congress and left the country and now resides within the United States. I am unsure what to say to that particular situation, as I believe it is entirely within Jacobi’s rights do live and prosper where he so wishes, though am saddened that Canada has lost one such as him.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask them here or PM them to me here or on the forums. If you would also like to become involved in some of the ongoing things within Open congress, I can assure you that at the very least I myself keep a fairly frequent eye on the goings on within the Legislative Branch page, where public citizens are able to post.

Till ten more days go by,

Captain, Congressman etemenanki, Minister of Immigration.