Washington (US Political RP; 2016 ; IC ; OPEN!)

[Prolieum]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"Afternoon, Governor. I trust your flight went well?"

[Eslarya]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"Afternoon, Governor. I trust your flight went well?"

"No, the peanuts were the worst and I swear I was in first class with some actor because I heard the same script over and over. Aside from that, I do think it was well."

She had started to laugh as she grabbed Reed's shoulder.

"Ah, well, that's life. How are you?"

[Prolieum]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

Reed went with it. Being grabbed out of the blue was hardly uncommon for him.

"Not too bad. Things are going well with the move, the campaign seems to be coming together. I'm optimistic for the future."

[Great Franconia and Verana]

Leanne hung up the phone and chuckled.

That man is the last person I want giving me a lecture on acting with dignity,Leanne thought, as she went to her work, remembering the Presidents scandalous behavior regarding the WAC and Senator Carrollton. While the Presidency was a powerful office, it was also only as influential as the man that sat in it. And if there was ever a time when the Presidency was impotent, it was now.

A lame duck, with approval ratings in the toilet,Leanne thought, He will be needing the Senate more than the Senate needs him. She of course would respect her word however, because she knew that the Party was more important than her, or Winston, or any Political position.

Leanne pressed the button on her intercom.

"Monica, please get me the Chair of the DNC please, and Senator's Clark, Overstein and Ramussen please."

[Eslarya]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

Reed went with it. Being grabbed out of the blue was hardly uncommon for him.

"Not too bad. Things are going well with the move, the campaign seems to be coming together. I'm optimistic for the future."

"Optimistic for the future, that's got to be an understatement Mr. Reed. You are our candidate with a 70% chance of winning, I'd be running around and dancing if I were you."

[Prolieum]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

Reed smirked. "If there is one thing that I've learned from my career, it is that there is no such thing as a sure win. I'll look into that dancing on November 9th."

[Meelducan]

American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"I'm honored, Senator."

"You know, for the 11 years I have been in The Senate I haven't endorsed any candidate but I think you are the one to lead our country forward."

[Canton Empire]

Senator Green grabs an SUV and begins to drive to American Dream, Maryland to meet with Calvin Reed. He was sure that Leanne would light in to him for this meeting, but the Democratic Party needs a lifeline and Green thought he'd be the one to be that line.

[Eslarya]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

Reed smirked. "If there is one thing that I've learned from my career, it is that there is no such thing as a sure win. I'll look into that dancing on November 9th."

"A careful and a winning one, that wife of yours sure is lucky. Though I'll be counting on that dance at the New Year's Eve ball, not to jinx it though."

She knocked on wood before turning back around.

"I've come here just to say that as leader of the Republican Governors Association, we'll be backing you every step of the way. I'll soon hopefully ensure Kiser follows though. And my endorsement is as good as done."

[Prolieum]

Entrance, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

Ms. Logren glanced up to see another Senator come in. Quite the swarm of unannounced arrivals. Perhaps she ought to put up a sign "By appointment only."

"Senator Green, how nice to see you. What can I do for you?"

Conference Room 110, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"We're glad to have you on board, Senator. I'm happy to be your first."

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"I truly do appreciate that, Governor. But let's not let this be a one-way street. I imagine that I may be able to help you out as well. There are some states that I may be able to work to tip the balance in-Montana, in particular. You obviously know the races better than I do-but I would imagine that I could provide some kind of assistance on the state level on the side."

[Federal States of Xathuecia]

Well....this is embarrasing

[Prolieum]

Entrance, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

Ms. Logren glanced up to see another Senator come in. Quite the swarm of unannounced arrivals. Perhaps she ought to put up a sign "By appointment only."

"Senator Green, how nice to see you. What can I do for you?"

Conference Room 110, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"We're glad to have you on board, Senator. I'm happy to be your first."

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"I truly do appreciate that, Governor. But let's not let this be a one-way street. I imagine that I may be able to help you out as well. There are some states that I may be able to work to tip the balance in-Montana, in particular. You obviously know the races better than I do-but I would imagine that I could provide some kind of assistance on the state level on the side."

"But of course. Winning races is my specialty. I can head out and preach your message. Or at least get them to hate the other guy's right? I bet you, Ohio will be yours!"

She smiled kindly adjusting her necklace.

"Though, I was wondering, not to be so adamant but I'd be interested in a cabinet position."

"Governor?"

[Meelducan]

Conference Room 110, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"We're glad to have you on board, Senator. I'm happy to be your first."

"Well Mr Reed if you need anything call me, I will make a public endorsement Tonight when I get to Anchorage. It has been a pleasure meeting you." With that Senator Nilap walked out of the conference room and back to his SUV

"Take me to the Airport, I have a flight to catch."

[Eslarya]

"But of course. Winning races is my specialty. I can head out and preach your message. Or at least get them to hate the other guy's right? I bet you, Ohio will be yours!"

She smiled kindly adjusting her necklace.

"Though, I was wondering, not to be so adamant but I'd be interested in a cabinet position."

"Governor?"

"Sorry, my head seems to be in another place. Though I am more than happy to campaign for you especially in Ohio and if you say so, Montana. But perhaps you can also give me something..."

[Canton Empire]

Entrance, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

Ms. Logren glanced up to see another Senator come in. Quite the swarm of unannounced arrivals. Perhaps she ought to put up a sign "By appointment only."

"Senator Green, how nice to see you. What can I do for you?"

Conference Room 110, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"We're glad to have you on board, Senator. I'm happy to be your first."

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"I truly do appreciate that, Governor. But let's not let this be a one-way street. I imagine that I may be able to help you out as well. There are some states that I may be able to work to tip the balance in-Montana, in particular. You obviously know the races better than I do-but I would imagine that I could provide some kind of assistance on the state level on the side."

"Ah, Hello. I was wondering if Mr. Reed could spare a few minutes? I'd be more then willing to wait."

[Prolieum]

Entrance, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"I'll get in touch with him. There is a waiting area just over yonder-by that water filter. Snacks, too. Help yourself.

The area had a small popcorn machine, and a variety of the waiting-room magazines that one would expect, primarily sports, and lifestyle, along with some international, with little sleeves of pamphlets nearby.

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"No, no, Governor, you misunderstand me. I was offering to help you, in your capacity as head of the RGA. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help the GOP candidate for Governor there."

[Eslarya]

Entrance, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"I'll get in touch with him. There is a waiting area just over yonder-by that water filter. Snacks, too. Help yourself.

The area had a small popcorn machine, and a variety of the waiting-room magazines that one would expect, primarily sports, and lifestyle, along with some international, with little sleeves of pamphlets nearby.

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"No, no, Governor, you misunderstand me. I was offering to help you, in your capacity as head of the RGA. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help the GOP candidate for Governor there."

"Oh, I see. Of course. Our spending has been cut down heavily especially in Texas were popular opinion is turning swiftly against us though I doubt we'll lose anytime soon. But we'd appreciate the help. Though I have been wondering, would there perhaps be a place for ole Mondale in your administration."

[Prolieum]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

Reed smiled playfully. "Well, Governor, I'll just have to interview you, then. Go ahead and lay out your résumé."

[Meelducan]

[Eslarya]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

Reed smiled playfully. "Well, Governor, I'll just have to interview you, then. Go ahead and lay out your résumé."

"Of course. Well, let's see, fluency in Spanish or at least in my ears, school board member, state representative for Butler County, Senator of Ohio, and now Governor. Great women's turn out and hmmm...funny, a pleasure to work around. Should I go on?"

[Prolieum]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"Interesting qualification, miss. What kind of work are you looking for in Reed Administration Inc.?"

[Prolieum]

Jacksonville, Florida, Rally

“Our armed forces have long been our pride and joy. It was during the Second World War, in the world’s darkest hour, that we stood up, took our mantle, and created the most powerful fighting force known to man. It is our duty, to honor those who have sacrificed, to not simply sit content in what they have done, but always to strive forward, keeping ourselves on the cutting edge, rejecting complacency and the strategy of the past, and making sure that we are always prepared, always faithful, and always ready.”

“This requires going beyond simply the technological, where we seek the most advanced tools for defense, but into a recognition of the state of the world, our role in it, and what we must do to function on a changing earth. We must look outward to gauge the winds, and use that to determine what must be done. We cannot allow ourselves to become mired in ideas of the past, but the here, and now. I believe that we have seen, in the last decade, a failing in this. We have seen a military, under political leadership, that hasn’t adapted, hasn’t evolved, and hasn’t progressed, troops left behind in an older model, because of a lack of commitment, and a lack of leadership at the top. We have seen over a decade of a failed war, because we failed to adapt, and years in which, because of the void at the top, we have seen our position grow weaker. Ignorance is not bliss-it is danger, and ignorance in matters of national defense all the more so.
We saw this four years ago. Russia, it was said, was nothing. Our President pledged to be “more flexible” if given a second term. When the candidate of the GOP said that they were a threat, our President mocked him for living in the Cold War-when it was he who was living in the past. What do we have now?”

“Now, because of the ignorance that we faced, Ukraine has lost Crimea, and has fallen into war. Russia has grown stronger than ever, under the Bear, countries that we had pledged to protect have been invaded, enemies of ours have been supported, and allies of ours bullied. Our President dismissed Russia as a non-factor, and because of that, we live in a more dangerous world.”

“We must not let that happen again. We must be vigilant, always ready to adapt and progress, and never letting arrogance or hubris blind us. The form of our military must be that of what is best suited to defeat the real threats before us. We require change-and I promise it.”
“I think that our first change is one of moving forward, one of not only strengthening ourselves, and the cause of defense, but the cause of justice, and of equal rights before the law. I am a strong believer that our armed forces should take a powerful step towards equality between the sexes, and make available all combat roles for our women in uniform.”

“Even from the start of this nation, women have fought-often in disguise, hiding themselves, but holding themselves no less valiantly in defense of their country. If a woman can pass the physical tests required, and prove herself qualified to the position, then there is nothing that should stop her. We make ourselves stronger, not just militarily, with the influx of an entire new cadre of devoted, intelligent, creative, and patriotic soldiers, but morally in this as well.”

“There is more to our transformation that this, however. Gender equality is a first step across the board-but others are more specific. We must adapt to the threats we face-and ever increasingly, what stands between us and those threats are the high seas-and what floats on it. Right now, we focus too much on what I have called a “police military”, in which our strength is devoted towards acting as police forces, as we have in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and elsewhere, a strategy of the past, that has tied us down, made us vulnerable, and done nothing to protect us from the real threats we face. I believe that our greatest ability to defend comes from being able to project power, to demonstrate to other nations our ability to match them in military force anywhere on the globe, and to form a steel wall if they would ever attempt to attack. Our best defenses against the horrifying possibility of missile strikes against us are on the sea, in AEGIS defenses, and in the skies. Our best defenses against terrorists, smuggled to our shores, is to guard the shores, and our best defenses against aggression from the East, or the West, towards us, is to ensure that their invasions can never leave their ports, or airports. Peace through strength, and preventative defense requires a military serving as a military, not as a police force, and that is what I seek for us to create.”

“There is more to it than that. Within our armed forces, in many ways, we have a military system similar to that at the end of the Second World War, focused on massive divisions of troops, formations for total war, on broad fronts, hammers. This can be effective, and often is-but, in the course of this campaign, I have had the distinct pleasure to speak to many incredible military officials, from Admiral Bell to General Cassierer, and it is increasingly apparent that that is no longer the world in which we live in. We are not liable to face a situation in which we devote infantry divisions to breaking the German line in France. We have already taking steps towards this, in organization by brigade, and we can go further. Increase modularity, the ability to split and combine units when needed, to adapt to situations, and further, moving towards a more universal system in our logistics, in creating a more efficient means of supporting our troops, and a more cost-effective way of getting them what we need.”

“One final aspect of a transformation, one that I have spoken of before, is being willing to work with our allies on our military technology, and weaponry. We have today a one-way street, in which assets of our own, such as the Joint Strike Fighter, have us essentially serving as the research arm for our allies, paying for development, and then shipping over what we have created-which they can get at a fraction of the cost.”

“This is not all a bad thing-cooperation is key-but it is important to make this a two-way street. With our friends in the United Kingdom, for example. We are shipping them F-35s, providing them with advanced technology-and in exchange, something like their Brimstone missiles should be made available to us. Strengthening these partnerships, making them real partnerships, will not only enhance our security, but that of the world.”

“There are other parts, such as re-introducing the SLAMRAAM system, working on fixing our weaknesses in air-defense and anti-ship missiles-but as whole, this is an issue that has been neglected in its entirety on the campaign trail, and neglected far too much by the administration-but it remains a critical factor to ensuring our safe future, insuring peace, and security-and as your President, I will assure you, that ignorance will never be treated as bliss, or complacency as a virtue.”

[Prolieum]

Des Moines, Iowa, Rally

“I have spoken a great deal about my foreign policy, and how I intend to help bring us forward. Today, though, I want to speak about something similar, but distinct, and that is going to be our broader military policy overseas, and how we are going to move forward to ensure ourselves for the future.”

“The first thing is something I have been pushing for some time-and that is to strike ISIS, really strike them. We have not been. Just a short while ago, they made another advance, capturing vital oil fields, and hundred more are dead, while within their ranks, slavery, mass rape, murder, torture, and all kinds of atrocities continue every day. We’ve treated them with the kid gloves. American citizens have been killed, the Middle East is coming apart, Iran is growing stronger, innocents are suffering, and I think the American people have had enough of our administration responding to this threat by-kicking Turkey out of NATO. It’s ridiculous, absolutely absurd, that faced with the greatest evil this earth has seen in decades, with a group of slavers, murders, and rapists carving a swathe throughout the middle east, that the most pressing matter, apparently, was carrying out some personal grudge against Turkey. It is absurdity.”

“We have had enough of sitting on our hands. We are ready to strike back. We have the strength, and the will. Together with a NATO effort, and UN support, we are positioned for Desert Storm the second. A buildup to a rapid, overwhelming assault against ISIS positions, combined with supporting Kurdish allies in the north, and using our tactical assets to give Iraq an aerial wall of defense in the south. This terrorist group cannot stand against any devoted action by our military-and it will not. We will not sit and allow the Middle East to descend into chaos, will not leave ourselves vulnerable through inaction. Rapid, decisive, action against ISIS is how it will be done.”

“From that, though, we face a second issue in the Middle East, something I have talked about before, and that is this idea of the U.S. as the “world’s policeman”, that the best use of our armies is in occupying other countries, and basically being law enforcement, rather than what we are actually supposed to be doing-defending the United States of America. All this idea has brought us is tens thousands of casualties, the longest war in our history, a six trillion dollar bill, and a less secure world.”

“We are not going to do that anymore. The United States is not the policeman of the world-and our troops’ primary aim is going to be defending our country-not occupying foreign ones.”

“On that topic, that of defense, I believe that one area in which we have fallen short is cooperation with our allies, particularly our allies in NATO. NATO is one of the longest-lasting and most successful treaty organizations ever, a vital part of our victory in the Cold War-but recently, it has fallen from that. It has not kept up with the times, and neither have we. That needs to be changed.”

“For one, we have the issue of military spending, in that, in many ways, we fund NATO. Only us, and a few other countries, including Estonia, now, actually spend the required amount on the military-the obligated and agreed-on level. That’s about as cut-and-dried as you get. You make a deal, you stick with that deal. That’s true here, that’s true everywhere-you honor your contracts. The U.S. will do it, and our allies will as well. No more skating by.”

“But, we need to do more than simply set an arbitrary limit. We have the opportunity to function cooperatively in our defense, to use our forces in conjunction rather than separately. With a policy of cooperative development, we can help strengthen the forces of all of our nations, creating a strong bulwark against aggressive, a strong network of mutual defense-and one that need not only include what we now have. I will work to incorporate our allies in Sweeden, and in Finland, into NATO, for the greater good of us all.”

“And, finally, I believe that in our strategy, we need to begin to shift our focus, to pivot. Diplomatically, and militarily, the East is where we face the greatest threat-and are offered the greatest opportunity. We face some challenges. There is a risk that we may not be able to continue our efforts with the Philippines as we have in the past. We also see opportunities, particularly with out friends in Japan-but Asia is the fastest-developing region on the planet. For better, or for worse, the future will be decided there, and in both military, and diplomacy, it will have its rightful focus on a Reed presidency.

We have seen damage in the past years. We have become less secure, have seen friendships wane, and enemies grow bold-but this is not inevitable. We can improve-and we will. We can once again lead the world boldly, secure our futures and those of our allies, and create a better world-and we will, together.”

[Prolieum]

Las Vegas, Nevada Rally

When talking about the economy, there’s one thing that everyone hates to talk about, and just sort of shunts to the side, and doesn’t really listen, and that’s banking. Because, face it, banking is frickin’ boring. Taxes people can argue on, regulations, subsidies, but banks are complex, confusing, and not very interesting. We sort of hear something about them, about how they are doing something bad, something about the recession, and we sort of leave it at that, because, quite frankly, most people just don’t have the time to try to delve into how crazy our monetary system is. Unfortunately, someone’s got to do it, and-like it or not, banking has a massive impact on the economy, and can be the driver of success-or of recession, so we need policy, and we need policy that is out in the opening, not behind closed doors. That’s why I’m here.”

“The first thing about the banking system is what’s at the top, and most people know this bit-the Federal Reserve. We’re going to audit it. That thing really needs that audit-because right now it’s the most powerful economic force in America, not even the President, and they are running with no oversight, no checks and balances, and no democratic influence-the opposite of literally everything that the founding fathers wanted for government.”

“And maybe, just maybe-probably not, but maybe, this wouldn’t be a problem if they kept their noses out of politics-but they can’t, and they don’t, and they are stuck as part of the system, and that’s what puts us in trouble, because right now, we are being set up for failure.”

Because, just in the last twenty years or so, your dollar has lost nearly seventy percent of its buying power-seventy percent. A seventy percent increase in how much you need to spend to get the same thing. That’s ridiculous. It’s terrible for the middle class, and the lower class-and anyone who deals mostly in money-which means anyone who doesn’t own a dozen houses and three yachts. It’s killing the American worker, on a direct level. Most of the time, its hard to see how all this impacts people-here its right there. Your wallet got 70% lighter, and you didn’t even do anything about it. Someone making below the poverty rate, in poverty, if you cut out the Feds devaluing of your money would have, just by stopping this, gotten most of the way to the median income. No special welfare. No government spending. Just stopping this.
It all comes about because of a strategy of “quantitative easing”, which is politician-speak for making up money. It’s ridiculous, and its killing the worker. It’s doing just fine for the up-and-ups. If you’re a worker, you get screwed. Middle-class, lower-class, you get screwed. Even if you are a businessman, you don’t do too well. Who the heck does it benefit, then? Those on the government’s dime. Crony capitalists, big bankers, its nonsense. Its crony capitalism-and crony capitalism isn’t capitalism at all. Free markets are called free because they don’t favor anyone. Who do they favor? They favor those who work hard. They favor those who benefit society-because if you make something good, something that makes life easier-like a smartphone, people buy it, and you benefit. That’s the system that made us the strongest economy in the world. That system is falling apart, though, at the hands of crony capitalists. Crony capitalism is socialism, and socialism is cronyism. Government policy benefitting those who it wants to, rather than those who deserve it is what socialism is. People like to think socialism makes you equal-it doesn’t. It just changes the system. In a capitalist society, the industrialist, the businessman, the entrepreneur, the artist-those who give society, the people something they want, are at the top. In socialism, the lobbyist, the family friend, the crony, the government administrator-they are at the top, the people who benefit the government are at the top of the chain.

That’s the difference between capitalism and socialism. In capitalism, if you don’t do something for the people, you don’t get anything. If Pizza Hut sold only pizza made of stale dough and sour sauce, and charged twice the price, they wouldn’t give something to the people, and they’d go out of business. Well, I guess they already do the first one.”

[Laughter]
“I kid, I kid. But that’s the difference right there. And if you don’t trust me, trust the economists, investors, and entrepreneurs who wrote an open letter against this practice of crippling the working classes.”
“That’s not all the Fed is doing, and not the only reason they need to be audited-because right now, the interest rates they are setting are putting us in an incredibly dangerous position. They’ve cut out the slack, basically. What they’ve done is rigged our loaning system, makes it easy for certain people, as always, to get big loans, and big dollars, but that has put our economy on a precipice-because there is no room to adjust. The slack is gone, and they’ve manufactured a crisis that was made only by them, where when the next economic downturn comes-and these are cycles, so we’ll see one-we have no recourse at all. We’ll see a recession, I can really, almost guarantee it now, that some time in these next four years we will see a recession, and it’s because of these policies, policies that the American people have zero say in, with no oversight.”
“There is more than that, more to the mess that is our higher-up monetary policy-because its so much easier to get away with. Think about it, business leaders get demonized all the times for things, and they are the ones helping to create new ideas, and jobs-but the big bankers get away with it-they are harder to see, better behind closed doors, snuggled in with the government-and that leads to some nonsensical legislation.”
“An example of that? The Volcker Rule? Never heard of it? No one has-except the people who benefit from it.”

“The Volcker Rule is perhaps the single most blatant piece of cronyist trash there can possible be. You know what it does? It prohibits banks from using their own money to make risky decisions-and it mandates that they use your money! It creates a system dedicated to making sure that if a big banker screws up, the only person who loses is you. It is blatant corruption, giving bonuses to mishandling the people’s money, and it is a symbol of how wicked Washington can be that it got passed-and it got passed in-you guessed it-one of those thousand-page bills that no one but the corrupt and the lobbyists can read.”

“Dodd-Frank was supposed to help after the market crash. It was a knee-jerk reflex, and it Is full of flaws-they just rammed it through without thinking about it, and its screwed things up royally. Since Dodd-Frank, big banks have gotten bigger, and small banks have gotten smaller, or gone out of business entirely. “Too big to fail” is no longer a reflection on the past-it’s the mantra of this kind of legislation, the goal. It’s based on faulty principle, faulty premise, and faulty policy. Under this administration, two things have happened. First, we have seen the single slowest economic recovery ever in the post-war era. Second, we have seen, despite a “liberal, equal” President, the share of wealth of both the middle-class, and the lower classes decrease-and go to the top 1%. That’s wrong.”

“There are two kinds of one-percenters. There are the businessmen who have earned it, who created something that benefitted the world, and made our lives easier-the Henry Fords, the Steve Job’s, the Mark Zuckerberg’s. These people were smart, industrious, and creative. They fueled industry, created jobs, and added something to the world. They are the ones to deserve to be up there.”

“Then there is the other half. Corrupt bankers, lobbyists, businesses tied in with the government, feasting on subsidy, friends of the administration. They give nothing to society, they are accountable to no-one, and they don’t deserve to be there-not at the expense of hardworking Americans.”

“That’s the hypocrisy of the left. They rally against the 1%, but they have no interest in really spreading that wealth-they just want to replace them. If they truly cared, we would see the wealth of the 1% falling under our President. We haven’t. It’s growing-but at the same time, businesses are struggling, and that’s because the 1% is being replaced. It’s no longer working your way there-its sleazing your way there. The upper class of America aren’t the people with the greatest creativity, the greatest talent, but those with the lowest morals, and the greatest skill to manipulate.”

“It is sickening, and it is spreading. Every time you here another proposition for a big-government program and a big-government regulation, its something covering up the cronyism it will fuel.”

“What do I want? I want a nation where your place in society is determined by your work, and your skill, not your connections. That means that we give everyone a chance, and no one a backdoor in. It means reforming education, and welfare to better enable people to rise on the latter-and it means slashing apart the web of corruption that has fueled the decline of the middle class. It means removing protections on corporations, because they are not the ones who need them. A corporation that rises to power through government knocking out its competitors or giving it a backdoor isn’t a success at all. Those at the top need to earn their way-and earn it from the American people.”

“It’s the old maxim on success-make something the people want. If you, any of you, come up with the next big thing, the next technology, the next smartphone, or the next gadget, a new kind of art, something unique, good, and you sell it, and you become successful-you earn it, because the people chose it. That’s how it should be. If you make something that people want, and they buy it, you do well-and if you out yourself as someone terrible-they don’t buy, and you lose. It’s democratic. If you are a lobbyist, though, you can do whatever nastiness you want, and get rich off the public dime, the taxpayer’s dime, and there is not a thing you can do about it.”

“Our job is twofold-to give everyone, no matter their race, sex, color, creed, or where they were born, a shot at success, through real welfare reform, through choice in education, through cutting the tax burden on the poor-and to give no one a ride to the top through corruption, to strip away the unjust systems in our government that allow it.”

“I came here to talk about banking reform, now I am talking about something far greater. No more free rides from greased palms. No more. If a hand achieves success, it should be from the callouses it bears, not the wad of cash it offers.”

“We are going to bring an end to wealth through corruption, and put the power back in the hands of the people, and bring America back to what it was meant to be!”

[Eslarya]

Conference Room 109, American Dream HQ, Baltimore, Maryland

"Interesting qualification, miss. What kind of work are you looking for in Reed Administration Inc.?"

"Hmm...I think something near the top. I don't know where exactly. Just close enough to the top that I feel like I am in charge, enough to undermine you ya know?"

She laughed there unable to hold it back.