Benito Senatorial Debate

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

I feel that we have two strong candidates for Senate, but we need to know how they stand on issues.

So, what I am going to do is post a question. I will ask each candidate to post a preliminary response, and then a follow up response after their opponent replies.

We will do this in alternate order. I will go alpahbetically for the first question, then reverse for the second , etc, etc.

Please limit your first response to no more than 250 words, and your follow up to 100 words.

I will post a series of questions, in that we have a few weeks to have this debate. I encourage the citizens of Benito to email me questions they would like to ask our two candidates.

If this is acceptable to both Candidates, I will begin the debate as soon as they let me know they are ready.

[Deleted]

First let me thank Sir Mick for agreeing to moderate this debate for us. I know he is very busy with....well....Mick has stuff to do besides this and we appreciate his time!

I am ready when you are, Captain.

[Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN]

Even though I'm not from Benito, I'm looking forward to this debate!

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

I'll go ahead and get started.

Capt Asmourescu:

Recently there was a bill proposed:

The Committee on Secret Ballots Act

My first question to the both of you is : How do you stand on the current method of voting for the General Election ? If you agree with the current method, please explain why. If not, please explain why not.

I ask that you confine your comments to the current method. We may take up alternate methods in a follow up Question.

[Deleted]

Nov 27, 2010 17:02:37 GMT -6 Capt. Sir Mick Preston said:

I'll go ahead and get started.

Capt Asmourescu:

Recently there was a bill proposed:

The Committee on Secret Ballots Act

My first question to the both of you is : How do you stand on the current method of voting for the General Election ? If you agree with the current method, please explain why. If not, please explain why not.

I ask that you confine your comments to the current method. We may take up alternate methods in a follow up Question.

Currently I feel we utilize the best possible method for our General Elections. However, I am always open to new possibilities, particularly if a new system can be equally (or exceedingly!) fair, in addition to offering more great benefits to us.

So far, I have not seen another system that, in my opinion, would do better to replace our current system. I look forward to more studies, however, so that we can analyze the results and possibly find that "perfect" system.

I believe through constantly challenging and questioning ourselves, we will continuously strive for greatness.

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

Thank you, Capt Asmourescu

Capt Taglheir- the floor is now open for your preliminary response.

[Cole Schneider]

Nov 27, 2010 17:02:37 GMT -6 Capt. Sir Mick Preston said:

I'll go ahead and get started.

Capt Asmourescu:

Recently there was a bill proposed:

The Committee on Secret Ballots Act

My first question to the both of you is : How do you stand on the current method of voting for the General Election ? If you agree with the current method, please explain why. If not, please explain why not.

I ask that you confine your comments to the current method. We may take up alternate methods in a follow up Question.

I feel that the General Election voting method needs some tweaking. The system as a whole works just fine, but i feel that it is to... general.

The voting seems to impersonal. All that i have done is stated my political party and a few names here and there. It needs to be more... official and friendly. It seems like an odd mix, i know, but perhaps we can make it work.

[Cole Schneider]

Oh, I'm ready for the debate by the way.

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

Thank you Capt Taglheir.

Capt Asmourescu, your reply?

At this point, you may question the reply by Capt Taglheir directly.

I note, this reply is limited to 150 words.

[Deleted]

Capt. Taglheir, I am a bit perplexed by your response. Our voting requires a vote for a Senate candidate and for a political party for the Cosa and Provincial Assembly. What more should we be stating? I feel that we need to study solutions to ensure all Talossans are adequately represented in the Ziu. What changes do you propose and will they ensure a more efficient representation of a candidate's constituency?

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

Thank you Capt Asmourescu.

Capt Taglheir, your reply?

At this point, you may reply to the question by Capt Asmourescu directly.

If you wish, you may also ask him a question on this topic.

I note, this reply is limited to 150 words.

[Cole Schneider]

The voting methods of most Talossans, my self included, is to post in the Election Thread that has been started. We have ballots, and i think these could become mandatory.

Along side this, i feel that the method for picking the Cosa is muddled. I think that we can split the Cosa into seven "sections" if you will. These are metaphorical sections, the Cosa will still be a whole. Each of these sections will represent a providence. And the votes will be counted for popularity of parties inside those Providences. The 200 Cosa seats will be divided between Providences based on their population. Each election the number of seats per providence will change based on the number of citizens. So this is accounting for lost citizens and new citizens coming of age or immigrating.

I also request that the word cap be raised slightly, as i had to edit this post many times to fit.

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

I take pause in the discussion to address a Question by Capt T-

The 150 word reply is traditional in the Senate debate, for brevity. If Capt A wishes to agree to amend the 150 word reply, then I will gladly adjust it as so.

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

Now, on to the second Question.

Capt T - you have brought up the idea of a change in how the Cosa derives it's members.

I direct you to this Amendment:

The Equality in Voting Act (Amendment) (ref: talossa.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=hopper&action=display&thread=2219 )

Now, ignoring the author of that particular Amendment, in that he was just a Senator when he wrote it - Please discuss if this Amendment should be repealed.

[Cole Schneider]

I do believe that this amendment should be repealed. Along with the repeal of this amendment, the immigration process should be reworked as to correct vast differences in population. Along with that, i think a separate political body should be instilled. This body, lets call it Valançarh for now, will only be called to meeting once the Cosa has voted, AND PASSED, a document/amendment/or what have you. The Valançarh will be consisted of 21 seats. 3 seats per providence, these seats will be appointed by Senator, King, or Popular Vote (i'm not writing the bill, just outlining it.). Oh, and no one person can hold more than one seat. Once the Valançarh has voted, the what have you will either pass, or be sent back into the Cosa with a 72 hour time seal on it. During this 72 hours the Cosa and Valançarh will hold open discussions. These discussions will be loosely moderated. By loosely i mean keep the ruffians in check. That discussion is meant for the Valançarh to state their opinion and convince the Cosa why not to pass it. Once the 72 hour time stamp is up, the Cosa will vote once more. This vote will determine if the what have you will pass or not. So all in all, the Cosa is still making all the decisions, the Valançarh is just their to add a balance to the political scene.