3:
Busting To Go
VALIDITY:
follow up to 130.2
DESCRIPTION:
"...and thusly, this must now be considered under the sixteen sections and three-hundred-and-twenty-four subsections of the wrongly redacted Dunnage and Silage Act 1935, which seem relevant to this situation and which I will now recite..." It's been nine hours, and the deputy vice-leader of the opposition isn't done talking. You recently approved the tactic of filibustering as necessary for the legislative process, but frankly this is physiologically exhausting! Even with a flask of coffee, a plate of croissants and a well-used bucket provided to you by a thoughtful aide, this is proving a real trial. Surprisingly, the speaker stops for a moment, and addresses you directly.
OPTION 1
"Look here, @@LEADER@@, you know that I can go on like this till the end of session, and I can pick it up again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after," @@HE@@ says, almost threateningly. "Why don't we both save ourselves some trouble and allow ourselves the option for a minority quorum of legislators to declare that we are intending to filibuster indefinitely. A legislative filibuster if you will, which assumes that a virtual me is continuing to place an obstacle to the passage of this bill. It'll save time in the long run, recognising the need for filibusters to exist, while not wasting time that you could be using on the business of government."
OUTCOME:
a major piece of minority legislation allows a majority of minority interests to majorly undermine majority politics
OPTION 2
"And that's democracy is it?" counters your Minister of Tyrannical Majorities, bringing you a fresh bucket. "We should have some mechanism to bust filibusters, perhaps with a three-fifths majority vote of legislators being enough to declare that a debate has ended, and that the vote proper should take place without further delay. That's called cloture, boss, which I believe is foreign-talk for guillotining a blatherer's noggin off. Metaphorically, of course!"
OUTCOME:
gangs of political bullies tell minority voices to "shut up because we say so"
OPTION 3
"Honestly, this whole thing is making a mockery of the legislative process," interjects your brother, who technically isn't allowed to be in here, and who has been throwing peanut shells at the speaker with varying degrees of accuracy for the last forty-five minutes. "If you want @@HIM@@ to stop talking, then just put your hand over @@HIS@@ mouth for thirty seconds, and then declare that the silence means they've stopped talking."
OUTCOME:
the "la la la I'm not listening" tactic has been entrenched in political culture
OPTION 4
"Chaps, this IS the system working, don't you see?" explains an elder statesman, who has woken from a short nap, and is still wearing his nightcap. "The mechanisms of democracy have tangled the powers-that-be into blissful inaction, and befuddled the populace beneath a barrage of bureaucratic bewitchery. Politics drags on, the entire process of government is kicked to the long grass, and the country prospers because old fools like us don't try to run things. Just sit back, listen, relax. The decades will fly by, and before you know it you'll be retiring to the quango, cushy corporate advisory role or tropical island of your choice." A black cat walks past, and for a moment you experience a weird sense of deja vu.
OUTCOME:
life is somewhat repetitive
GAME EFFECT:
no stat changes, chain back to this issue
2:
1:
*actually, no it's definitely the worst.
