Washington (US Political RP; 2016 ; Special Events ; OPEN!)

[Prolieum]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting

Amaras nodded. "I see what you're saying, with the Court. That's why I suggested it. We know that the leftist Justices have abandoned their real task of interpreting the Constitution. "The Court is where policy is made", they even admit it." Amaras air-quotes. "Now we have justices to appoint to do their job of following the Constitution, and all we're doing is giving them a chance to review the decision without the Social Justice Warrior majority."

[Imperial Esplanade]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting
"Well, we could always nominate Villanueva de Peña to the Supreme Court. She certainly has a knack for calling out leftists, regardless of affiliation." Phillip said with a grin to show his statement was intended to be less-than-serious. "Though to your previous point about a renouncement against societal assault against family in this country, we would have the President on our side. Perhaps a meeting with him to talk about this issue, and a strategy regarding the court, may be in-order for us."

[Prolieum]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting

Amaras half-nodded, and smiled slightly at the joke. "We would have to see if he would make time for a couple of freshman. What we do have is two and a half weeks of Congress before the inauguration. I'd hope to have that be more than a blank period." He shrugged. "And, if it doesn't work out, we have plenty of time to re-align. What we have the chance to do, only now and not then, is make a real statement right out of the starting gate."

[Imperial Esplanade]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting
"What, in your mind, would encompass a 'real statement' on this matter, Peter? Are you talking about a written statement of intent? A public speech even?"

[Prolieum]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting

"The bill itself." Amaras simply clarified. "Words are worth less than action."

[Imperial Esplanade]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting
"Ah, even better. Well, know I'll certainly be more than happy to participate in drafting up such a bill."

"Anyone else, you think, would want to be a part of this?"

[Prolieum]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting

"I like having us freshman make this charge ourselves. Makes it mean a lot more than something backed by the usuals, to the country, and our constituents."

[Imperial Esplanade]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting
"Fair enough." Phillip says, nodding his head. "Well, I'll be in-town all this week. Preference for time and day to get together in order to hash something out as far as the actual bill is concerned?"

[Prolieum]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting

"Your office or mine, after tomorrow's session?" Amaras offered.

[Imperial Esplanade]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting
"My office is still a slight mess. Not quite finished getting everything in yet. So, I'd personally prefer yours."

[Prolieum]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting

Amaras nodded. "Six O'Clock?" He offered.

[Imperial Esplanade]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting
"Yes sir. Looking forward to seeing you then" Phillip says, extending out his hand so as to signify his approval of the arrangement.

[Prolieum]

Republican Senate Leadership Meeting

"The same to you, sir." Amaras concluded, shaking the hand with gusto.

[Tallahassee News Station]

Second Connecticut Republican Primary Debate

Welcome to the second debate of the Republican primary for the Connecticut Special Election. Three men on this stage will have the chance to answer your questions on the issues that matter to the voters.

Tonight's debate will use a town hall format. Several residents have questions to be provided to the candidates. One minute and thirty seconds is given for the candidate to respond to the question. The moderators may ask follow-up questions or questions of their own to further the debate. A candidate has a right to a thirty-second response if attacked by another. We will also going through questions via twitter with the hashtag #CTGOPDebate to offer to the candidates.

Without further ado, I would like to invite Representative Brennan, Mr. Roberts, and Mr. Ruger on stage, and invite them to make an opening statement with a two minute limit, in alphabetical order.

[Dentali]

WIlliam B Brennan

"I just want to state that I am honored to represent my district and this state in the House, and I am extremely grateful I could come back to have another debate with these fine gentleman. I also want to take a send and ask everyone watching to please pray for my son currently deployed against ISIS, i'm sure you've all seen on the news their is some heavy fighting right now. Thank you all and I look forward to the debate."

[Velahor]

CT Republican Debate
Carter Roberts marched on to stage with confidence, faking that his ankle wasn't killing him. He smiled and waved at the crowd and at the cameras. He was dressed in a navy blue sport coat, a white shirt, navy blue shoes, white pants, an American flag lapel pin, and the crown piece of the outfit, a blue tie with a pattern made up of bright red outlines in the shape of the state of Connecticut. Carter's campaign manager told him that it would stand out and maybe even get some press of its own. Personally, Carter felt like the tie was ugly, but it definitely stood out.

He glanced over at Representative Brennan's podium, and waited to hear his opening statement. After hearing it, and being surprised at how short the message was, Carter Roberts began to give his prepared opening statement, but made a change to respond to what Brennan said.

He looked over at Brennan, a bit saddened to hear about his son. "I second Representative Brennan's sentiments, please pray for our troops fighting ISIS. Some very good men and women out there fighting the good fight to keep us free."

He then turned and looked at the crowd, changing his tone to a more upbeat one. "People of Connecticut, are you ready for an America we can be proud of? An America we look forward to passing down to our children?

This is the America that I envision. An America that achieves great things, like we always have. An educated, strong, force to be reckoned with. An America that is debt-free and worry-free. This may sound impossible to some, but there are many believers in this. Believers like Calvin Reed and Buck Havich. Believers like the thousands who have came out to my rallies. Believers like Gerald Drumpf and Amelia Yang. By the way, I'd like to make a side note of that. The Roberts campaign isn't about ideology. It isn't about factions. It isn't about infighting. It's about banding together as Americans, building a world where we treat our neighbors as we would like to be treated, and hold strong to our basic values of faith, family, and freedom. That's why people from different parts of the Republican Party, and even outside our party, can come together and vote Roberts. And that's why I'm proud to announce that tomorrow, Governor Drumpf will join me on the campaign trail tomorrow for an important campaign stop, and also why I am proud to announce that Representative Yang has blessed me with her endorsement, with more details and joint campaign stops to come. See, that's the thing about the Roberts campaign...it's not about what's best for special interests, its about what's best for America.

I would like to thank you all for coming to the debate or tuning in to it, and I look forward to this exchange of ideas with my two colleagues here."

[Tallahassee News Station]

The first questioner came up, and older man.

"Hello, my name is Kent Michaels. I'm from Torrinton, and I've been retired for about ten years now. I know I'm not going to be around too much longer, but something I look at is the national debt, and I think of how hard it's going to be for my grandchildren to try to pay that off, and it seems so unfair for them. Now I always hear a lot of people in Congress say they're going to balance the budget, but I don't ever see that happen. So Mr. Roberts, I wanted to ask you, I don't know how you'd do it, but since you haven't been in Congress, I wanted to know if you had any kind of real solutions that you think would help bring down the debt, something more than just a promise. Thank you."

[Velahor]

The first questioner came up, and older man.

"Hello, my name is Kent Michaels. I'm from Torrinton, and I've been retired for about ten years now. I know I'm not going to be around too much longer, but something I look at is the national debt, and I think of how hard it's going to be for my grandchildren to try to pay that off, and it seems so unfair for them. Now I always hear a lot of people in Congress say they're going to balance the budget, but I don't ever see that happen. So Mr. Roberts, I wanted to ask you, I don't know how you'd do it, but since you haven't been in Congress, I wanted to know if you had any kind of real solutions that you think would help bring down the debt, something more than just a promise. Thank you."

"Mr. Michaels, first of all, thank you for your question, and thank you for caring about the kind of America that we pass on to future generations. That's what the Roberts campaign is all about.

I'm not a politician in the traditional sense, so I pledge not to make a promise that I don't have a plan to keep. That's why, when I say we will lower the national debt, I mean it.

First of all, Congress always throws out empty "let's balance the budget" promises. Sounds good to everyone, but no one wants to make cuts to their pet project legislation, so it never happens. President-Elect Reed isn't going to settle for those empty promises. He has been pushing for a Balanced Budget Amendment since deep in his campaign, and I am pushing for the same. Let's keep Congress accountable for the spending they vote for. When this Balanced Budget Amendment is proposed, I will make sure it contains a clause which severely punishes Congress for not passing a balanced budget.

Secondly, I want to simplify our tax code, so everyone pays their fair share. While everyday Americans suffer from a heavy tax burden, some companies and Wall Street-types have came up with ways to shelter themselves from taxes. Not cool with me. When everyone pays their fair share, the federal government can effectively manage its money better.

But most importantly, above all of that, we MUST end frivolous spending. No more paying for unnecessary programs. No more paying for things we can't afford. Less handouts. Eliminate hidden spending and projects in unrelated bills. Less paying for things that the private sector can handle itself. We MUST rethink the way we handle spending-related legislation, and only spend on things that are top-priority for America."

[Tallahassee News Station]

(Moderator)

Representative Brennan, do you believe Mr. Roberts's proposals are feasible?

[Dentali]

(Moderator)

Representative Brennan, do you believe Mr. Roberts's proposals are feasible?

"Feasible? Yes but they are a bit more complicated, take the balanced budget amendment. I think its a good idea, but we need to work on the details. Mr. Roberts wants congress to be severely punished if they don't pass a balanced budget. Well what kind of punishment is that? What if the budget is only off by a percentile? Our balanced budget would be partly based on estimates of income over the next years, obviously those predictions aren't always accurate. And how do we ensure that congress doesn't just use the balanced budget as an excuse to hike up taxes?

"With taxes, yes they need to be simplified but we also need to stop subsidizing big business. We need to make sure taxes get lower while they get simplified or we are going to see a flight of businesses and jobs."

"As for frivolous spending, yes we need to end it. But cutting frivolous and unnecessary programs and regulations alone will not get us to a balanced budget. And more important than cutting programs we need programs that encourage growth of American owned businesses, we need to cut regulations that restrain businesses and make it more difficult for them to prosper."

[Dentali]

(TO the once deleted Stevie in 3rd grade is struggling question)



"Well mam we need to rethink how we deal with schools and education to begin with. I'm sure Stevie is a good kid, a bright kid but everyone learns differently has special needs and problems in different areas. Right now we have a one size fits all education system, which frankly doesn't do too great. Thats why I want to create ESA's Education Savings Accounts, they let you take money for your child's education and use it how best suits your child."

"You can use it to pay for extra books, tutoring, different educational supplements, even private and alternative schools, you can save it for college or trade schools. What I want to do is empower parents and students, truly partner them with teachers get their individual needs addressed."

"This is just one part of education reform though, we need school choice, we need to reward innovative teachers and then bring those innovations to a wider field. We need to cut out the red tape in education and gets schools focused on teaching our children workable skills. Its not an easy job, its complex in depth and deals with our most precious resource. But its a path we can take together, and I promise you, Stevie is gonna have a great life ahead of him."

[Velahor]

(Moderator)

Representative Brennan, do you believe Mr. Roberts's proposals are feasible?

"Feasible? Yes but they are a bit more complicated, take the balanced budget amendment. I think its a good idea, but we need to work on the details. Mr. Roberts wants congress to be severely punished if they don't pass a balanced budget. Well what kind of punishment is that? What if the budget is only off by a percentile? Our balanced budget would be partly based on estimates of income over the next years, obviously those predictions aren't always accurate. And how do we ensure that congress doesn't just use the balanced budget as an excuse to hike up taxes?

"With taxes, yes they need to be simplified but we also need to stop subsidizing big business. We need to make sure taxes get lower while they get simplified or we are going to see a flight of businesses and jobs."

"As for frivolous spending, yes we need to end it. But cutting frivolous and unnecessary programs and regulations alone will not get us to a balanced budget. And more important than cutting programs we need programs that encourage growth of American owned businesses, we need to cut regulations that restrain businesses and make it more difficult for them to prosper."

"I agree that we must stop subsidizing big business, and that a reasonable amount of regulations should be cut while still protecting small business from predatory practices by large companies.

I refuse to be wishy-washy about balancing the budget though. I actually have a bit of experience in this. The NBA has something that resembles a balanced budget act a little bit, it's called the salary cap. Let me explain. Teams have a certain amount they are allowed to spend on player salaries. There's two caps. If a team exceeds the soft cap, they aren't allowed to add any new spending, but can resign players who are already on the team. Then there's a hard cap, and if that's exceeded, teams are punished with a luxury tax.

Similarly, my ideas for punishment for not balancing the budget involves a hard and soft budget cap. If the federal government exceeds their budget in a given year, no new spending will be allowed in the next year. Let me repeat, no bills that increase spending when the soft cap is broken will be allowed.

Now when the hard cap is broken, here is where it gets interesting. If this limit is reached, the "luxury tax" is assigned to the Congress themselves. While Congress is in the luxury tax, they only receive 70% of their pay, and all non-essential federal services are shut down until the budget is balanced."

[Dentali]

"Feasible? Yes but they are a bit more complicated, take the balanced budget amendment. I think its a good idea, but we need to work on the details. Mr. Roberts wants congress to be severely punished if they don't pass a balanced budget. Well what kind of punishment is that? What if the budget is only off by a percentile? Our balanced budget would be partly based on estimates of income over the next years, obviously those predictions aren't always accurate. And how do we ensure that congress doesn't just use the balanced budget as an excuse to hike up taxes?

"With taxes, yes they need to be simplified but we also need to stop subsidizing big business. We need to make sure taxes get lower while they get simplified or we are going to see a flight of businesses and jobs."

"As for frivolous spending, yes we need to end it. But cutting frivolous and unnecessary programs and regulations alone will not get us to a balanced budget. And more important than cutting programs we need programs that encourage growth of American owned businesses, we need to cut regulations that restrain businesses and make it more difficult for them to prosper."

"I agree that we must stop subsidizing big business, and that a reasonable amount of regulations should be cut while still protecting small business from predatory practices by large companies.

I refuse to be wishy-washy about balancing the budget though. I actually have a bit of experience in this. The NBA has something that resembles a balanced budget act a little bit, it's called the salary cap. Let me explain. Teams have a certain amount they are allowed to spend on player salaries. There's two caps. If a team exceeds the soft cap, they aren't allowed to add any new spending, but can resign players who are already on the team. Then there's a hard cap, and if that's exceeded, teams are punished with a luxury tax.

Similarly, my ideas for punishment for not balancing the budget involves a hard and soft budget cap. If the federal government exceeds their budget in a given year, no new spending will be allowed in the next year. Let me repeat, no bills that increase spending when the soft cap is broken will be allowed.

Now when the hard cap is broken, here is where it gets interesting. If this limit is reached, the "luxury tax" is assigned to the Congress themselves. While Congress is in the luxury tax, they only receive 70% of their pay, and all non-essential federal services are shut down until the budget is balanced."

"Mr. Roberts, I can assure you, that the NBA and Congress are two different totally different things."

[Federal States of Xathuecia]

"I agree that we must stop subsidizing big business, and that a reasonable amount of regulations should be cut while still protecting small business from predatory practices by large companies.

I refuse to be wishy-washy about balancing the budget though. I actually have a bit of experience in this. The NBA has something that resembles a balanced budget act a little bit, it's called the salary cap. Let me explain. Teams have a certain amount they are allowed to spend on player salaries. There's two caps. If a team exceeds the soft cap, they aren't allowed to add any new spending, but can resign players who are already on the team. Then there's a hard cap, and if that's exceeded, teams are punished with a luxury tax.

Similarly, my ideas for punishment for not balancing the budget involves a hard and soft budget cap. If the federal government exceeds their budget in a given year, no new spending will be allowed in the next year. Let me repeat, no bills that increase spending when the soft cap is broken will be allowed.

Now when the hard cap is broken, here is where it gets interesting. If this limit is reached, the "luxury tax" is assigned to the Congress themselves. While Congress is in the luxury tax, they only receive 70% of their pay, and all non-essential federal services are shut down until the budget is balanced."

"Mr. Roberts, I can assure you, that the NBA and Congress are two different totally different things."

Roberts smiled and lashed out, having been waiting.

"I find it highly ironic a man who probably has no major experience in finance and economics is telling us its possible to solve our debt ridden economy while the man who has been in government for a long time tells us how to stop debt yet our state, YES, OUR STATE OF CONNECTICUT, has lots of debt! So why hasn't Brennan solved our state's own debt crisis before he rambles on about the national one?"

[Dentali]

"Mr. Roberts, I can assure you, that the NBA and Congress are two different totally different things."

Roberts smiled and lashed out, having been waiting.

"I find it highly ironic a man who probably has no major experience in finance and economics is telling us its possible to solve our debt ridden economy while the man who has been in government for a long time tells us how to stop debt yet our state, YES, OUR STATE OF CONNECTICUT, has lots of debt! So why hasn't Brennan solved our state's own debt crisis before he rambles on about the national one?"

"Mr. Ruger, I am a congressperson, not the governor or a member of the state senate. I have a vote in national affairs not in local ones. Not to mention even if I did, this is a republic and no one person can solve these issues."