The Official Journal of the eUSA Congress - Day 3124

Day 3,124, 02:33 • Published in USA USA • by eUSA Congress
Welcome to THE SPEAKER'S WOR😨 The Official Journal of the eUSA Congress.
Dateline: Thursday, June 9 (Day 3124)
Location: 102nd Session of Congress
Editor: OMFG Staff and Speaker AlexJ1890
Video : Schoolhouse Rock: I'm Just a Bill

The Word of the Day:
: 1 : Blacklisting
: 2 : Recent Congressional Activity
: 3 : Sh*tpost of the Week

Editor’s Note:
The Speaker's Word will be published every Thursday, by the OMFG and Speaker AlexJ1890.


Follow-up to Previous Congressional Activity

Probably the biggest news to come out of Congress in recent months has been the early December Blacklisting of several American citizens for their participation in an unauthorized overthrow of the Defensive Dictator. Since then, some of the Decembrists have come forward to publicly apologize for their actions, asking to once again be allowed to participate in the Congressional process on the eUSA forums.

In some cases it was a matter of following procedure-- an apology in an article, then a Congressional Discussion-Proposal-Vote sequence-- and the now reformed revolutionary was back, even serving in Congress as a member in good standing. Other cases became circus sideshows, the Discussion threads sh*tstorms, and at times it seemed the rift that has long divided America would never be mended.

Ultimately, though, it's Congress' house and Congress calls the shots. If you don't like how the system works, fight to change the system from within the system. Or learn to like it on the outside. 

Congressional Activity Since May 26

Lowering the Work Tax

As the Resource Wars wound down, Congress became anxious to be sure the eUS would be a favorable place industry-- both in retaining American companies and attracting foreign business, once we're able to move our Companies to regions high in our particular needed resources.

[discussion] Taxes and the new economic module seemed to set the wheels in motion. In the end, while there would be support for a Tax reduction, no specific number had been agreed upon.

Two days into the above Discussion, [Proposal] Lower the Work Tax to 1% was made, but locked as the 102nd had not yet completed its initial Sign-In.
A day later, deja vu with [Proposal2] Lower the Work Tax to 1%
Then, on May 27, Lowering the Work Tax is deemed to be the correct timing to start a Discussion that a properly seated 102nd Congress could handle. This thread continues to date.

After two days of Discussion, [Proposal]Lower Work Tax to 1% gained the required 10 Approvals in under three hours.
Literally within minutes of gaining Approval, [Vote] Lower Work Tax to 1% was started.
Vote passe😛 21 Yes, 7 No, 2 Abstain
Sent to CP/D Tyler Bubblar for in-game Work Tax Vote. Work Tax is lowered from 15% to 1%.

Remember that Lowering the Work Tax Discussion, above, that's still open?
A new Discussion, Raising the Work Tax to 5%, is a result of "buyers' remorse," after Plato's announcement that the new Resources would not be set immediately. There are, of course, two schools of math involved here. Some say that we cannot sustain running the Budget off the Reserves, others say that even at 1% Tax we'll run a small surplus.
If the fiscal conservatives feel they'll have enough support, we may see another Proposal-Vote cycle in the works.

Speaker of the House Election

After the initial Sign-In, and while the above Tax activity was raging, and in between Un-Blacklistings and Not Un-Blacklistings, Congress managed to perform its first official duty, that of electing a Speaker of the House.
Of course this did not go smoothly.

In the initial selection process, three candidates garnered the required five Nominations and there was a Vote. The margin was too close, none received a "50% + 1" majority of those voting, and a Code mandated runoff election was called between the two top candidates. 

This time, a tie vote. Back to the Code, which now calls for the most senior-- having the most terms in Congress-- to be declared the winner. Here's a link directly to the last post in that thread.
AlexJ1890 is elected Speaker of the House.

Declaration of War on Canada

One of the side-effects of the Resource Wars ending with the eUS getting everything except Neodynium has been a resurgence of hostility toward Canada.

The Declaration of War on Canada Discussion thread was started promptly within hours of Neodynium going to Prince Edward Island. Maybe "discussion" isn't the right word for it. Perhaps a few random samples:
"It's time to invade Canada and wear their asshat 4eva. PEI shall be the 51st state of the eUS."
"TOP GUN STANDS READY TO CLUB BABY SEALS"
"Greelinganda belongs to Greeling, it's been written in stone."
After around 36 hours of that, we went to the Proposal, then the Vote.
Having sufficiently trolled Canada, the Vote faile😛 7 Yes, 27 No, 1 Abstain.


Congressional Sh*post Thread of the Week

It's not all fun and games in Congress, sometimes there are totally serious issues to address.
click on the image to... no, don't click. don't encourage him.


The Legislative Branch and Public Congressional Proceedings are where Congress conducts almost all its business, and are there for you to follow our Discussions and Votes.

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The Speaker's Word - Day 3124
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