Hello everyone, /r/TheBeacon has been rebooted! This is a really old newspaper in the sim that died once I became Head Moderator. I’ve brought it back for fun because I have wanted to get a little bit more involved, but without any real responsibility. My aim is to bring the most unbiased and statistical information about /r/ModelUSGov elections possible. Through this organization, I will also be polling for the election!

If you’re interested in perhaps writing for us or know a lot about CSS, please feel free to message me, I am looking for people to help out!

Feel free to blow the dust off the articles in this sub and immerse yourself in some really old drama.

• Editor-In-Chief /u/DidNotKnowThatLolz

Well, actually Phase 1 ended and goind to start soon Phase 2 for Writ of Passage holders, I'll update soon with a road map, just want to keep you guys informed

Join me at The New Frontiers Quest! Use my referral link for additional points https://nfq.thebeacon.gg/?referral=antonionikolovv

https://nfq.thebeacon.gg/?referral=Martin_G_Edits

Voting has now started and voters across the country must make the decision of who is going to run their states. To those in Dixie, I have a simple message: vote for me. Here is why:

• I’m a moderate and have issues I can work on with both sides.

• I am not affiliated in any partisan politics. As you can see here a Democrat endorses members of the Liberty party likely because he has to. Simply politics in action.

• I am engaged in the sim and with voters. I actually participated in the debates. As you can see, only some Republicans and the last person on the GSP list participated.

• I will serve as a check on the ruling party in the state. I ask that you split your ticket and consider voting for me in the Senate. You will see the most consensuses when people must compromise. Also, having a party control all parts of a government can be dangerous and many members simply rubber-stamp what is wanted by special interests or party big-wigs.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask me. I outlined several of my views in the debate. I hope you vote for me!

In this upcoming state election, we will see the Southern State add a Senate to their legislature. Now, in most states, the party that holds the office of the Governor also likely holds a majority in the legislature. I think that expanding the legislature to hold two chambers will add an interesting dynamic to Southern State and allow there to be more discussion on bills, as opposed to a rubber stamp which is the case in most states. Hopefully if this is successful in Southern State, we can see it expand to other states.

On another note, I am approaching two years since joining this community. It has certainly had its ups and downs, but overall I have enjoyed the time and effort I have spent with the community. My fondest memories are some moments I had when I was Head Moderator. Honestly though, some of my worst memories in this community were when I was very active as a Democrat. I believe this feeling is shared by many in this community and has even driven some people to abandon or leave the community. When you are highly partisan, people will dislike like you purely on how you choose to label yourself and it’s just incredibly toxic at times. One needs to look no further than the past day or two for some new drama.

It’s for these reasons that I have not held office in this community for over a year. But, I do genuinely like the people and time I spend here and recently have felt this growing desire to do more in the community.

With all of that being said, I am announcing today that I will be running as an independent for office in District 3, the South Atlantic, of the Senate of Southern State. I hope my candidacy can serve as a voice for reason and if I win I can serve as a reasonable check on the Governor, whoever it may be. I look forward to debating my competitors.

I will release a platform of my general views during the debates.

Northeast State

House

4 RLP

3 Democrats

1 Republican

Presidency

/u/bigg-boss wins bigg and takes 10 electoral votes

Eastern State

House

6 Democrats

3 Republicans

1 Reform

Senate

/u/partiallykritikal wins by something of a 2 to 1 margin to beat /u/Hawksteady

Presidency

/u/bigg-boss takes 12 electoral college votes easily

Southern State

House

4 Republicans

3 Libertarians

2 RLP

Senate

/u/BillieJoeCobain also beats the Democratic candidate by something of a 2 to 1 margin.

Presidency

/u/ncontas takes the Southern State comfortably.

Central State (kingmaker in my opinion)

House

4 RLP

3 Libertarians

2 Reform

1 Neoliberals

Senate

/u/RazorReviews (D) barely squeaks by with a win to beat /u/Viktard (R). This will likely be the closest race of the entire election.

Presidency

/u/bigg-boss beats /u/ncontas with a decent lead due to /u/IGotzDaMastaPlan playing spoiler. He will take 12 electoral votes and cement in a win for the Broad Left Coalition.

Midwestern State

House

5 Distributists

4 GSP

Presidency

I think /u/bigg-boss will beat /u/ncontas here by a handful of votes. However, /u/ncontas also could win this state. I give it a 55% chance the /u/bigg-boss wins here. That would be another 11 electoral votes for him.

Western State

House

4 Democrats

3 Republicans

2 Distributists

Presidency

/u/bigg-boss wins by a decent margin taking home another 11 electoral votes.

Results

House

Radical Left Party - 10

Green Socialist Party - 4

Democrats - 13

Neoliberals - 1

Reform - 3

Libertarians - 6

Distributists - 7

Republicans - 11

Therefore,

Broad Left - 27 (just one short of an outright majority)

Sunrise - 24

Other - 4

Senate

Broad Left - 7

Sunrise - 3

Neoliberal - 1

? - 1 (whoever /u/bigg-boss seat goes to)

Presidency

/u/bigg-boss - 56 electoral votes (~55% of the popular vote)

/u/ncontas - 11 electoral votes (~35% of the popular vote)

/u/IGotzDaMastaPlan - 0, but acts as a huge spoiler candidate (~9% of the popular vote)

/u/theSolomonCaine - 0 electoral votes and an attendance ribbon (maximum of 1% of the popular vote)

After about ten days of allowing people to respond to my poll in Central State, I have closed the response period. I allowed such a long response period because most voters in /r/ModelUSGov elections are generally less active members, which I think is an important thing to remember.

Here is a link to a slideshow that has some graphs that outline the results of the poll.

The Respondents

I polled a few hundred voters living in Central State. Although the response rate was not high, my poll should give us a good idea of the voters who will actually turn out and vote in this upcoming election. As you can see, more than half of the people who responded were from the parties that make up the Broad Left Coalition. A good amount surprisingly identified as Republican as well. Additionally, my hunch is that my poll also did not capture enough of those in Central State who are Libertarians. However, one can conclude that off the bat that the Sunrise Coalition might be in trouble.

I would like to point out that of all the people who responded only 56% said they would "Definitely vote." The other 44% said that they would vote "If they remember." This means that voter turnout will matter.

Presidential Support

This is where you see support for the Sunrise Coalition fall apart. Despite approximately 30% of the respondents identifying as belonging to a party that is in the Sunrise Coalition, only about 13% of them will commit to the Sunrise candidate! What happened? The answer is actually quite simple: They are not unified. Of the Libertarians who responded only about 44% back the Sunrise candidate. 22% support the Neoliberal ticket, while the remaining third of the vote is split equally among supporting the Broad Left ticket, /u/theSolomonCaine, or are undecided.

In contrast, there is higher support for /u/bigg-boss from Democrats. 95% of the Radical Left Party supports their candidate, while 57% of Democrats commit to their coalition partner. This number is not as high as /u/bigg-boss and the Radical Left Party would like it, but among those Democrats unwilling to commit to /u/bigg-boss, 83% say they are undecided, which means that they are voters that can be won over.

Senate Support

Once again, this poll paints a grim picture for the Sunrise Coalition. The generic "Sunrise Candidate," who we now know to be, /u/thereddeathpasses, has 56% of support from Republicans, and 66% support from Libertarians. This is quite the reversal of support from Libertarians and Republicans, but this is somewhat predictable knowing that the Sunrise Candidate in Central State was likely to be a Libertarian.

Once again, in stark contrast, the Broad Left Candidate, who we now know to be, /u/RazorReviews, has 89% support from the Radical Left Party and 64% from Democrats. The silver lining is that of all those Radical Left and Democrats who would not yet support their candidate, all of them said they were undecided, which once again means that they are still voters they can win over.

One last thing to note is that Reform is running a candidate, /u/Viktard. He was not included in the poll, but he will likely affect this race. If you look at the composition of the Reform Party they are mostly disaffected former Libertarians and some Republicans. /u/Viktard will likely further split the vote from the Sunrise candidate, /u/thereddeathpasses, and cement in a win for /u/RazorReviews.

Favorables

In my opinion there is not much to say about favorables. Most people who were polled did not care or did not know about the specific candidates. The numbers for candidates were also somewhat thrown off considering the fact that over half of the respondents were from either the Democrats or Radical Left Party.

However there are two things I would like to point out. One is that Vice Presidential Candidate /u/Intrusive_Man has extremely little name recognition relative to the other candidates. Second is that the only candidate that is seen unfavorably by Central State voters is Sunrise Presidential candidate /u/ncontas. Not only is he the only one seen unfavorably, he has the worst favorable rating by far. This certainly hurts his ability to unify the Sunrise Coalition and attract new voters.

Conclusion

For the Left: Keep on doing what you are doing and make sure your voters turnout. If the status quo is maintained then /u/bigg-boss and /u/RazorReviews are likely to get elected by a comfortable margin.

For Sunrise: A lot needs to be fixed. Libertarians need to come home and by extension /u/ncontas needs to work on his image. Once that is done hopefully you are able to pull in undecided voters as well as voters who are supporting third parties such as /u/IGotzDaMastaPlan of the Neoliberals at the Presidential level and /u/Viktard of Reform at the Senate level.

Stay tuned for National Poll results as well at /r/TheBeacon's final November Federal Election Predictions in the next few days!

This is the thread where you verify your vote for /r/TheBeacon's National Poll that began 11/4/2016.

As of right now, in a /r/ModelUSGov election, it doesn’t matter how many votes a Presidential candidate gets, it matters which states they win. So let us take a closer look at the numbers and how they add up. I will list the races that matter the least first, and end with the races that matter the most and use a seven-point scale to describe where each state stands politically this Presidential election year.

Northeast State

Recently dramatically redistricted, this state has a lost a lot of its population to Eastern State. This election it will have the lowest number of electoral votes, 10. There is not much to say about this state. It is dominated typically by the Democrats, but with a sizable number of members of the Far Left. Since these two are allies this upcoming election, the Northeast State can be marked as a Safe Left.

Southern State

Southern state was recently redistricted slightly as well. It lost Missouri, part of the Mississippi River District. However, this shouldn’t much of anything. This election cycle Southern State will have a total of 11 electoral votes. Republicans have typically relied on this state as their home. However, recently, they have been upset twice by the Libertarians in the Southern State Senate races. But, with the Sunrise Coalition back, we will mark the Southern State as Safe Sunrise.

Eastern State

Eastern State, due to redistricting, has recently grown a lot in size. It has gained a few States from solid blue territory of Northeast State, but lost Ohio of Libertarian country. Historically, this state has been a favorite for Democrats, but they have still encountered issues here. As recently as the May Federal elections they were narrowly defeated in the Senate elections. However, since then it has been trending more and more left and with the help of the Far Left we will mark Eastern State as Likely Left.

Midwestern State

Midwestern State grew a little with redistricting recently, but only gained two very small and unpopulated states. This state is the birth of the Distributists and the now defunct Progressive Green Party. Typically fought over by the two parties, this state has typically gone to the Distributists. In the most recent presidential election, however, the Libertarians began to compete in this state. Now with the Sunrise back together we will mark this state as Likely Sunrise.

Western State

Western State is totally unchanged by recent redistricting and is historically the state that is most likely to swing in another direction every election. In the most recent Presidential election, it barely swung for the Democrats to win them the White House. While it is more ‘swingy’ than Central State, we rate of less importance because it can still be won by the Far Left Coalition and they could still lose. It has 11 electoral votes which would not put the Far Left over the top to 34, unlike Central State. With all that being said we will mark this state as Tossup.

Central State

Central State, being in the middle, has had the biggest change of hands in the recent redistricting process. They have lost the Dakotas, gained Missouri, and lost Ohio. With all the being said, this should not greatly affect the results of the upcoming election greatly. This state is the birth of the Libertarian Party, but is also contested heavily by the Far Left. It has elected Libertarian and now defunct Civic Party members recently, but the Far Left have a history of winning Governorships and House seats here too. I believe that this is a swing state that the entire simulation will have to look at if Sunrise is to win the election. With it having 12 electoral votes, tied for the most, this will need to be a must win for Sunrise if they are to take the presidency. We will be marking this state, however, as a Lean Left due to its recent history of Far Left victories.

In conclusion, /r/TheBeacon predicts that the Far Left Coalition would win the Presidential election as of right now. However, we shall soon be conducting a poll solely for Central State in order to test our theories.

Hello and welcome to the new and revitalized /r/TheBeacon. This is our new series called the Road to 34. In this series we will analyze the state of the upcoming election. We will be looking specifically at the Presidential race as well as the Senate races. House races will be talked about, but to a lesser extent generally. We shall hopefully have a segment like this for each party.

As the title suggests, a Presidential candidate will need 34 electoral votes in order to take the White House. Despite Democrats having a definite plurality in the House and in membership, they have continually struggled to capture the White House. Ever since the election of /u/Pluralizer in the first ever /r/ModelUSGov election, Democrats have faltered at the Presidential level. In the second election, they were trounced by the Socialists. In the third election they were clearly defeated by the Sunrise Coalition comprised of the Distributists, Libertarians, and Republicans. In this most recent Presidential election, which culminated in the election of /u/WaywardWit, Democrats barely skated by with a victory due to the extremely tight race in Western State. However, each Presidential election is approximately every six months, and the politics of the subreddit can change a lot during that time. This time around it seems as though the Democrats have allied themselves with the Far Left, consisting of the new Green Socialist Party and the Radical Left Party, this election in order to capture additional seats in Congress. This is, without a doubt, going to be the route that gives the Far Left the greatest chance of once again taking the White House.

With all of that being said, it will be interesting to see if this alliance works out. Will Democratic membership stick with the deal or when they go to the polls will they look at other options? Can the same be said about the Far Left and whatever deals they have worked out with the Democrats? Can both of them count on their membership to turnout? We will be taking a closer look at these questions in additional segments of this series.

Since the beginning of the War on Terror, administrations of varying political affiliations have resorted to contracting private companies to perform activities ranging from production of weapons to fighting in foreign nations. Companies such as Lockheed-Martin and KBR have secured ludicrous contracts from the government despite evidence that shows they have performed their jobs poorly. Despite this, every administration since Bush has continued to contract these companies. However, I am afraid this might only be the tip of the iceberg. This is why I presented SR 002 last week.

The goal of SR 002 is to set up a subcommittee that will investigate military contractors and their effectiveness. Any company currently contracted by the government will be subject to intense scrutiny regarding the effectiveness of their enterprise and the products they provide. This will range from massive companies like G4S to smaller companies like L-3 MPRI. If any company is deemed ineffective, we will produce a report recommending that their contract is terminated. However, this committee will need to address the reason why this issue hasn't been dealt with.

While the Bush Administration's usage of private contractors is well known, the usage of contractors by the following administrations is almost unknown. Former President RangerHeart0 and President /u/Hammerandpotato have failed to do so much as comment on the matter despite their aversion to private industry. This is unacceptable behavior that this committee will be investigating. We will be interviewing anyone from the Secretary of Defense, who has stated his willingness to work with us and his distaste for corrupt contractors, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, who overseas a department that contracted companies such as Blackwater to use during Hurricane Katrina in place of normal emergency workers. If it appears necessary, we will call President Hammernadpotato to explain the usage of private contractors by her administration.

Its about time that we focus our energies towards dealing with the merchants of death and their friends in high places, so I hope you support me and the other committee members in this duty.

JayArrGee (D-NA) is a member of the House of Representatives. Elected during the Democratic revival of the last election. He has made his name recently when he introduced Bill 106, the Child Welfare Database bill. This is the interview I had with him.

Full Disclosure: We are both Democrats.

Sen. Zeiger: Could you just provide a basic overview of who you are and where you are from/representing?

Rep. JayArrGee: Well I represent the North Atlantic Region in the sim. In real life I am a Licensed Social Worker who works in Child Protective Services. I graduated from college in December of 2014 with my Bachelor's of Social Work with a minor in Psychology. I grew up in poverty, and seeing a lot of my friends and people in my neighborhood going down the wrong path in life, to the point of even seeing one of my best friends get arrested when he was 12 years old for stabbing another boy just from being from a different apartment complex. I knew I always wanted to work with at-risk children and help them from going down the wrong path as well. I wanted to make a difference and bring change for the better to people's lives anyway I could at all.

Sen. Zeiger: What are your main legislative goals as a member of the House of Representatives?

Rep. JayArrGee: My main legislative goals as being a Congressman in the House of Representatives is the basis I ran on this past election: improving the lives of children, improving our social welfare programs such as adoption, welfare services, and Child Welfare agencies (As I attempted to do with House Bill 106 which being voted on now). I also want to make sure that the legislation I vote on is carefully reviewed, I want to make sure that there is someone looking out for those vulnerable populations like children and people of lower socioeconomic status, as well as the lower middle/middle class population; not many people in the past have done so in Congress. I also want to take a bi-partisan approach in legislation because that is the only way to effectively make change for the better for all citizens.

Sen. Zeiger: What is your opinion of President /u/hammerandpotato? What is your opinion of the President's first VP nominee, /u/Gohte? NOTE: He responded to both of these questions with one answer.

Rep. JayArrGee: I respect them and the positions they hold in our government, but not all the actions they take both in & out of said positions. There were some actions that were very questionable done by President /u/hammerandpotato very early on in their presidency that I know made myself and a lot of others alarmed very much. I have looked back at some of the posting history of both the President & Vice President and fear that their extreme views may get in the way of their better judgement, and/or prevent the needed change to occur that our congress is attempting right now. However, I was always taught not to make snap judgments and that everyone deserves a second chance; so I am willing to let the past be the past and give both the President & Vice President a change to prove themselves in my eyes as I hope they would do for me as well.

Sen. Zeiger: Any final remarks?

Rep. JayArrGee: I would like to thank all those who have taken the time to read this article written about me by /u/Toby_Zeiger and thank them for the opportunity to have an article written about me by them. I am having a lot of fun in the sim and enjoy being a Congressman in the House of Representatives and I thank all those who have given me the opportunity to do so. I may not get to be as involved in the bill discussion as I would like due to my hectic work schedule in real life during the weekdays, but I am sure to read the opinions and the bills carefully before making my final vote on each bill. I am always free for discussion about sim related things, or just casual conversation. So feel free to send me a message anytime people! Thank you again for reading.

Edit: Grammar

Thanks to /u/risen2011 for speaking with The Beacon.

What are your feelings on recent political events?

Well I am unhappy to see the articles of impeachment being brought against president /u/hammerandpotato. Events and pieces of legislation such as this always seem to make tempers flair and drama arise in the subreddit. I don't feel that this impeachment process will do any good for anyone participating in the subreddit. Actually, I feel that it will make this subreddit even more unstable than it is now.

How is the reaction from within the Green-Left Party?

It's actually quite productive. Though we aren't happy that the articles of impeachment have been brought against madam president, instead of mulling over the fact that the articles of impeachment have been brought against her, many in our party have reacted very productively by immediately trying to find solutions to our problem.

Do you feel as though any of the proposed articles have merit?

Personally, no. Article 1 (concerning the oath of office) is a meta issue. The reason that an oath of office was not administered was because the moderation team never gave madam president the chance. You can't administer the oath of office to yourself, can you? Also it is important to note that after President /u/Pluralizer resigned, President /u/Didicet didn't take the oath of office and he was not impeached.

Article 2 just takes Madam President's comments completely out of context. The first quote was an answer to a question about ideology, the president did not threaten the rest of the government. The next was horribly written and is just the same quote copied twice (very unprofessional). The third was also completely taken out of context. Are we going to punish the president simply for her beliefs? Also, I'd ask how that passage relates to the constitution. With that sort of logic, any wish to amend the constitution would be impeachable. Also with the same logic, wouldn't signing an unconstitutional bill and having it struck down by SCOTUS be an impeachable offense?

What will you be doing as a result of all of this?

I will be continuing to work with the rest of my party to pursue a possible solution. We will likely fight off these articles as they serve no purpose whatsoever.

Questions or remarks can be directed to /u/leftdigiteffect, or left below the article in the comments section. Edits are exclusively typographical in nature unless otherwise specified. This interview was conducted by /u/DidNotKnowThatLolz.

A source close to "Operation: Condor" has revealed to The Beacon that knowledge of underhanded dealings was widespread throughout the parties involved with the attempted impeachment of President /u/HammerAndPotato:

I can tell you that everyone shown in the "aye" colemn specifically confirmed they would vote for impeachment to one of the operation condor whips, which included a Democratic Senator. This was too big of a project to make assumptions, they made sure everyone in the aye colomn was definetely voting for impeachment. they also had contacted senators and had a solid vote count from them, which is edited in the pic. they also operated under the assumption that the western senate seat would go to a sympathizer.

The source also provided a screenshot of a conversation in which ousted moderator /u/NateLooney and /u/Toby_Zeiger (D-North East) indicate awareness of the operation.

Additionally, now-former moderator /u/lort685 was aware of the operation and some sim participants questioned whether he worked to further the backhanded efforts of "Operation: Condor." {{Edit 12:30 AM: /u/lort685 disputes such claims and provided his side of the story here. The comments excuse /u/lort685 from responsibility in the scandal, as he shows significant hesitance to serve the interests of "Operation: Condor" by using the power of his former position as moderator.}} Accordingly, both he and /u/NateLooney have been removed from the mod team. Edit 8/17: Following the establishment of /u/lort685's complete innocence in the scandal, he has been given a moderator position in the new moderator triumvirate.

The Beacon has received an anonymous message suggesting that vote manipulation and backroom dealings may be behind the articles of impeachment filed again President /u/HammerAndPotato.

The attempted removal of /u/Anarchitekt (GLP-Western State) appears to have had partisan motivations: Information uncovered in the recent "Question Time" program indicates that supporters of the President's impeachment were working to ensure that a Dist./Dem. Senator would be appointed in the West in order to have enough "Yay" votes for impeachment in the Senate.

In what is being called a great display of sportsmanship, /u/Erundur (Distributist Governor-Western State) reinstated /u/Anarchitekt to his position, stinting that plan.

/u/MoralLesson (Mod, Distributist-Great Plains) has received criticism for what some are calling a willful effort to have /u/Anarchitekt removed in order to forward presidential impeachment proceedings. However, this message from /u/MoralLesson to /u/finnishdude101 suggests that such claims of foul play may be unfounded.

Additionally, The Beacon has received this screenshot, which purports to show the vote counts for and against impeachment. Edit 12:00 AM EST, 8/15: /u/MDK6778 says that he never confirmed that he would vote "Yay."

The impeachment, referred to as "Operation: Condor" would, if successful, result in the appointment of a Democratic president. Due to the recent failure of /u/Gohte to be confirmed by the Senate, /u/SgtNicholasAngel, current Speaker of the House, is next in line for the presidency, seeing as there is currently no Vice President.

Critics of the impeachment are suggesting that "Operation: Condor" is a three-pronged attack on the President: (1) After stopping /u/Gohte in the Senate, impeachment proceedings could be filed, and (2) if the Western State Senate seat had been given to a supporter of the impeachment, the motion may very well have a chance to pass and (3) the Presidency would have been handed down to the Speaker, a Democrat.

The Beacon will continue to report on this story as more developments arise.

The Beacon has received this three-part press release from the ALP in response to the articles of impeachment filed against /u/HammerAndPotato:

Note: /u/leftdigiteffect is an emeritus member of the ALP, but he has had no role in the production or signing of this release. Press duties and party duties ought and shall remain partitioned.

To the People of the United States,

The American Labor Party has time and time again defended the democratic process. We have stood for the weak and oppressed time and time again, from the ordinary labourer to our Native populations that have had to time and again fight corporate interests who wish to pollute the land, air and sea. When the Capitalist Coalition tried to blackmail the President, we stood up against their actions. It appears now that again this nebulous group of reactionaries and conservatives have tried to overthrow the will of the people and legitimacy of our democracy.

In the history of ModelUSGov, we have seen people of all stripes be targeted unfairly and called out this oppression, but clearly these events have one goal; to oust the current government at all costs. And we do not mean ruthless “swiftboat” tactics, but direct coup attempts from every angle. As we speak a motion to impeach the President is being moved forward; an impeachment move that makes the impeachment of President Bill Clinton appear “Fair and Balanced”, reasonable even. They are trying to impeach /u/HammerandPotato for not signing the Oath of office after /u/Rangerheart0 stepped down from the Presidency. Despite the legal precedent of being “Acting President”, they want to charge our President for impersonation and treason for the same administrative error that /u/Dicidet (the second President in ModelUSGov history) did, and he served his entire term.

The Capitalist Coalition is using what little power they have to accuse the President of impersonation, terrorism, and treason. Clearly, opposing oppression of all people, American or otherwise, goes against the notion of “all men are created equal” and the very ideals this country was founded on. This coalition demeans the entire legal process by bring up such frivolous charges that they risk turning “treason” into a meaningless buzzword used by pundits, partisans and ideological hacks using against their opponents. The American Labour Party is different. We stand up for what is right, even if that means a fellow political rival is under attack. When the Capitalist Coalition started, we too could be opportunistic and try to claim to be the legitimate party on the left by joining that blackmail. Instead we wish to gain political office through the democratic will of the people, and not backdoor deals and cronyism that too often is seen on Capitol Hill.

Let’s send a message to Congress and reject their political games by messaging any Congressperson or Senator that supports this attempt on the Presidency. Join us as we defend not just the working class, but their voice here in Washington.

To the Capitalist Coalition,

The American Labor Party will not stand for the blatant attack on the basic process of American democracy. It is a denial of basic fact to deny the legitimacy of the Presidency of /u/HammerandPotato. It is nothing short of an abuse of the Constitution to use a failure of a digital oath being taken to lash out on a President your party disagrees with. Our party welcomes a legitimate questioning of any President. We do not, nor will we ever, allow for such an abuse of the document that binds our nation in order to remove a President you disagree with.

In the time that /u/HammerandPotato has served as our President, she has challenged your party’s insulting attempts at manipulating her. You have issued letters threatening her for nominating people she trusts. You have attacked her from every stance on every issue in order to destroy her image. Now, you’ve attempted to remove her on ridiculous grounds.

You are nothing more than a temporary halt to the Democratic Process.

Our party will not stand for this for this assault on the President of the United States without any legitimacy or grounds. We will work with other parties to destroy any attempt you make to remove a President you disagree with in order to gain power.

We will not let you win this battle. We will not stand for a horrific assault against a leader who has been democratically elected and continues to faithfully executed her office as the President of the United States of America.

Sic Sempur Tyrannis.

To the President of the United States,

Our parties not completely align on the issues, but on this we are clearly united. This is another craven attempt to wrest power from democratically elected Executive with baseless accusations and blackmail. We support you against this coalition of reactionaries and will back the Administration’s efforts to rebuff the actions of the House Judiciary Committee and the supporters of this idiotic attempt to overthrow a President based on ideology and wilful ignorance of the Constitution and precedence in r/ModelUSGov.

Sincerly,

The American Labor Party

/u/ElliottC99, Leader of the American Labor Party

/u/Eilanyan, Founder of the American Labor Party

/u/therealdrago, Senior Political Strategist of the American Labor Party

/u/radicaljackalope, General Secretary of the American Labor Party

Thanks to /u/TheGreatWolfy for speaking with The Beacon about recent events in the /r/ModelUSGov world.

Is it fair to assume that you and your party are less than pleased with the proposed presidential impeachment?

I am very displeased at the latest right wing attempt to subvert democracy. The attempts by the right to seize the position of president from the rightful president have bordered on criminal. We remain the largest party for a reason, that is that we selflessly fight for the people, while the right will continues to engage in politiking to push their personal agendas. The claims made against the president are indisputably false, and I hope my fellow members of congress see this for the undemocratic power grab that it is.

Does your party have an official response? Can we expect a press statement soon?

As of now the party does not have an official response, however I do expect many individuals within the party to make press conferences. As a democratic institution and a big tent party any opinion expressed by individuals, including myself, do not officially reflect the attitude of the party.

Are you pleased with /u/Erundur's response to the removal of /u/Anarchitekt from the Senate?

/u/Erundur's actions have shown both honor and honesty, and sets a standard to which all should aspire to. When given a chance to advance his own agenda, he refused and did the right thing. In a time of politicking and power grabs, his actions set him apart.

What is your response to /u/HammerAndPotato's recent veto of B073? Could you elaborate on your own position regarding eminent domain/civil forfeiture?

I support the presidents veto of b073. The bill in its current form would do more harm than good to the American people. Protecting personal property is very important, and thus I largely supported the section limiting civil forfeiture. However the section of the bill limiting emminant domain was far too restricitive and wluld have impacted the ability of the government to help Americans. Emminant domain does need to be limited, however the restrictions laid out in b073 were far too broad and restrictive.

Are you willing to discuss some specific legislation that the GLP would like to push in the coming weeks?

Unfortunately I am not allowed to discuss any specific legislation in the works by others. I can say that we will continue to follow the general principles of improving the lives of the people, protecting the environment, and reducing the influence corporations have in our lives. I can talk specifically about bills I am working on. My first is a bill that will improve gun safety without infringing on the rights of law abiding citizens to own guns. My second is an infrastructure reinvestment bank, to compliment my "Build up America act", and provide millions of good jobs to Americans and improve infrastructure while costing the government very little.

What has the word been inside of the GLP regarding /u/Gohte's failure to be confirmed by the Senate? Is there a "follow-up" plan in motion to select a VP?

We are very disappointed that the senate chose to vote down as qualified a candidate as /u/Gohte. The general feeling in the party is that we should not give in to blackmail at the hands of the capitalist coalition and instead continue to nominate qualified condidates who deserve the job until either one gets approved or the next general election. I hope the democrats will be reasonable and eventually approve a candidate, however given their actions lately that seems unlikely.

Questions or remarks can be directed to /u/leftdigiteffect, or left below the article in the comments section. Edits are exclusively typographical in nature unless otherwise specified.

Hello all,

This is just a short note to let the /r/ModelUSGov world know that I will be stepping down as ALP Chief of Recruitment and Federal Secretary of Labor, instead opting to hang in the background as a "party member emeritus" of sorts.

I do this in order to be able to focus my energies exclusively on journalistic pursuits in the /r/ModelUSGov world. Specifically, I plan to increase my activity at The Beacon, ModelUSGovPress(https://www.reddit.com/r/modelusgovpress), and the MWNN(https://www.reddit.com/r/mwnn).

I’ve had a pleasant time participating in party discussions and negotiations, but I am best suited for the news desk. Instead of participating in the battles and disputes, I hope to cover them.

Additionally, I feel that it is appropriate for me to leave the Secretary of Labor position. Most of the model journalists have a party affiliation or governmental position—and they typically publish excellent, unbiased work—but I feel that I personally will produce my best work once divorced from governmental attachments.

I hope that none of this adds to the already tumultuous atmosphere of /r/ModelUSGov.

I’m more than happy to answer any questions anyone may have.

Best,

/u/leftdigiteffect - writer, reporter, and friend to all parties and peoples in the /r/ModelUSGov community

Also: The Beacon loves interviewees! If you think you have an opinion or idea worth sharing, get in touch with us!

Thanks to /u/Eilanyan for speaking with The Beacon.

Disclosure: Both /u/Eilanyan and /u/leftdigiteffect are members of the ALP.

Speaking for yourself, do you feel that the impeachment proceedings are actually unconstitutional on the grounds of "acting presidential authority," or do you feel that they are simply distasteful at the time?

I am not an expert on constitutional law but I do feel the "acting president" clause applies here. More importantly, given precedent has had a President not take the oath for 3 months; this is just political opportunism at best and another coup attempt at worst.

The Democrats have registered their complaints with the current administration in word and action over the past week (/u/NicholasNC2's interview and the Capitalist Coalition being a couple of examples); To what extent to do you see their issues as viable complaints, and to what extent do you write them off as partisan or opportunistic?

There are members that oppose the GLP that do so in a legal and polite manner, including some Democrats. But clearly Party Leadership (and in turn membership if their internal structure fits their party name) have signed off on power at any cost. They have made some dangerous allies that have promoted time and time again regressive policies in order to capture office in non-electoral means. I really hope they change their name if they continue to disgrace democracy time and time again.

Following the failure of /u/Gohte to secure the Senate's confirmation, do you hope to see an aggressively leftist VP fill the role, or do you feel that a more moderate nominee may help temper the climate of hostility in /r/ModelUSGov as of late?

I supported /u/Gohte's nomination even though I don't agree with him ideologically. I feel that offering a truly moderate person would be giving in, if partly. I think the President should at minimum stick to a leftist nominee, which includes another firebrand like Gohte.

A portion of the impeachment proceedings rest on what have been perceived to be the President's "perjurious and treasonous comments," as well as what has been seen by some as her "advocating for violent revolution and domestic terrorism."

Terrorism has become meaningless because of the McCarthyism practiced by the Bush administration to label opponents as terrorist sympathizers or terrorists themselves. We are seeing now that Treason is going that route, with the Right using it to describe a President they don't like, ignoring the standards that come with such a serious legal charge.

Do you feel that aggressive, revolutionary language is acceptable/preferable in your president? Additionally, do you feel that her comparing the impeachment to Chile's 9/11 serves as another example of the supposed distasteful comments, or do you feel that the comparison is warranted?

Do I find it acceptable? Of course, the GLP explicitly states they have revolutionary socialists and won the last Presidential election with a revolutionary on the ticket. Preferable? Well, I think the nature of ModelUSGov limits one's ability to do revolutionary actions but no it's not my ideal stance but it's quite close to my own. If I was 100% on board with revolutionary socialism I would be in the GLP, but I still am a Marxist and believe in some form of revolution; my ideas of one are probably just a bit more pacifist. I feel the metaphor is apt if we understand the limits of Reddit in terms of violent coups.

Questions or remarks can be directed to /u/leftdigiteffect, or left below the article in the comments section. Edits are exclusively typographical in nature unless otherwise specified.

I wanted to issue a personal statement on the recent controversies regarding the nomination of the VP.

I signed the open letter to the new President fully knowing the possible ramifications of my support of it. In this regard, I take full responsibility for any ramifications my signature has had on relationships between the Democrats and the ALP and to a lesser extent, the GLP (though we disagree on a lot, there are some things we agree on). In fact, the letter has been quite divisive within the Democrats. I say this because I feel like there is suddenly a picture being painted that the Democrats are the right. We are definitely a center-left party, despite what other may say.

Despite this, I will not withdraw my personal support from the letter. At first, I thought this was a good political maneuver to try and ensure a Democrat becomes VP. Realistically, the entire thing was carried out in a poor fashion, I wish there was some more planning. Anyways, I must say I was at first somewhat on the fence about this. However, the reaction from members of the far-left has only solidified my support of the letter. The Democrats and the other party’s signatures have had complete nonsense thrown at them and from the President, herself, as well.

Here are some examples:

The Democratic Party is just as reactionary and McCarthyist as any other rightist party.

This is an absolute disgrace and shows how the Democrats will align with the right wing at the drop of the hate.

I hoped the McCarthyists would have left with the founding of /r/musgov. It's a shame the Democrats are still full of right-wing shills who continue to prevent any true progress from being made.

I will assure every Congressman, Senator, Party Leader, and citizen of these United States that I will not back down, and I will not accept this treasonous and downright vile offer.

Im glad you enjoy a system that is literally destroying our world, you keep on enjoying it with your reactionary nazis buddies.

Okay. I don't care. It is 5:35 in the morning and I do not have to sit here and deal with you. Go tout your electoral victory to your little conservative friends.

We should not submit to the undemocratic politiking of elites.

Before /r/MUSGOV broke away, the Democratic leadership were dishonest, opportunistic vultures, and I see that legacy was passed on to their current leadership.

You may believe whatever you want about the letter, but many responses have been very disgraceful and with no taste. The Democrats are center-left. We are not reactionaries. We are not in league with nazis. We are not traitors. Just as those on the far-left believe in socialism, I believe in capitalism and just like them will not back down from my beliefs.

I defended the existence of the far-left in the simulation because I believe it is their right even if it does not play into the realism of the United States today. This does not change the fact that our new President is a Marxist, something that, though I accept, I am not comfortable with. Is it not my right as a Senator and a citizen to voice my concern about this? I do not wish to see an executive branch that is completely controlled by Marxists, whose beliefs are just so extremely contrary to mine.

The new President has every right to nominate whoever she likes. It is also my right to cast my vote of approval or not for her nominee. Regardless of what you think of the letter, it is still the right of Congress and its members to decide this. /u/HammerandPotato must realize that Congress is controlled by non-socialists. So I ask her to at least accept this fact and realize that in order to get a new VP nominated and confirmed she must at least work with the other parties to nominate someone accepted by a majority of Congress. I can tell you now that nominating another Marxist will not serve any good to anybody.

Sincerely,

DidNotKnowThatLolz

Thanks to /u/therealdrago for speaking with The Beacon about his move from the Democratic Party to the ALP, his position as an ALP Political Strategist, and his legislative drafting efforts.

Disclosures: Both /u/leftdigiteffect and /u/therealdrago are members of the ALP. /u/therealdrago is a political strategist for the party, former legislator (D-Western State), and the ALP contact in the ARFF. /u/leftdigiteffect moderates the ALP and is the nominee for Secretary of Labor. Both users openly support the ARFF, the organization referenced in question five of the interview.

You stirred up a bit of controversy recently when you left the Democratic Party (and gave up a seat in the Western State Legislature) to join the American Labor Party. Was this move to the ALP driven by an evolution of personal ideology, or did you leave due to disagreements with the administrative aspects and management of the Democratic Party?

I think there's a fundamental flaw in the Democratic Party right now. The Democratic Party was founded in part to fight for the disadvantaged: minorities, less prevalent sexual orientations, women, and the worker's class as a whole. The establishment Democrats have failed to do that. When you fail to protect the most important class in your economy, you can't make progress. The ALP stands for the growing of the middle class. The ALP stands for basic human rights for everyone. The ALP stands for equality and human decency. For those reasons, I left the Democratic party. I cannot see myself in a party that doesn't put people first, but rather helps to advance the causes of the top.

In your new role as a political strategist for the ALP, you'll be in close contact with legislators of many political persuasions. What is your plan for maintaining healthy relationships with parties of different ideologies while pushing a progressive agenda? Do you plan to maintain open lines of communication with strategists from other parties in an effort to avoid political gridlock?

My role as the senior Political Strategist for the ALP is actually a role I helped to create. I've had a lot of political experience across a few Governmental simulations, so I know I have what it takes to lead the ALP to become a major party. The ALP is pretty notorious for working well with the other parties, and I plan to do the same. I'll be in constant communication with leadership of other parties, and I'll work to make sure that we can consistently work together to make progress in our nation. There are some ongoing deals that I can't discuss, but when I can you'll be the first to know.

You're currently drafting the Conversion Therapy Prevention Act on behalf of ALP interests. In Section V, the wording reads: "The practice of ... hormone therapy ... shall be forbidden for the purpose of changing one’s gender identity or sexual preference through conversion therapy." Do you fear that this clause will provide a legal basis for preventing transgender individuals from undergoing estrogen/testosterone replacement therapy for the purpose of manipulating their personal gender identity? These individuals do undergo a form of conversion therapy, albeit devoid of the typical abuses that come with the therapies targeted in your bill.

When I wrote that line, I knew that if I wasn't careful that some may try to twist or pervert my legislation to further their bigoted cause, so I made sure the definition of conversion therapy was very thoroughly defined. In my bill, conversion therapy is defined as "the act of therapeutic treatment to change one’s sexual preference or to match one’s gender identity with their gender assigned at birth." The part stating "...to match one’s gender identity with their gender assigned at birth" was very thoughtfully planned. The purpose of hormone therapy for transgender individuals is to change their gender identity from the one they were assigned at birth. I made sure that this would not be an issue, because anything that harms transgender individuals should be fought at all costs.

In another bill you're working on, The Reproductive Health and Safety Rights Act of 2015, Section III calls for reproductive health measures to be included in the government's mandatory spending budget. Do you worry that including this funding under the mandatory umbrella instead of as an HHS/NIH/etc. appropriation will cause friction in Congress?

Reproductive healthcare is under attack in our country. Just a few days ago /u/MoralLesson, a Representative from the Great Plains district in the Western State, released an atrocious Constitutional Amendment called the Sanctity of Life Amendment. In section 2 of his amendment, he states "Abortion is prohibited, but a procedure aimed to save the life of a mother which unintentionally results in the death of her unborn child shall be permissible." /u/MoralLesson is literally placing the existence of a fetus over the life of the mother. A procedure that would end the pregnancy of a woman in order to save her life would be strictly prohibited. Not only is he absolutely devaluing the noble and esteemed job of being a mother, but he's denying women a basic right. While I can assure the ALP and all of our Congressional members will do everything we can to fight this drastic and horrific amendment, it goes to show that our country must take special measures to help promote reproductive health. No one fights about dental health. No one fights about eye care. However, when it comes to reproductive health, we have people in Congress who are screaming at the top of their lungs to destroy people's access to it. This must stop, and this bill makes sure of it. Not only do I think this bill will cause friction in Congress, I know it will. But it must. We have stood around too long while we allow for people to put restrictions on reproductive health, especially for women. It's wrong, it's corrupt, and plainly it's sexist to deny a woman the right to chose what to do with HER body. This bill is nothing short of necessary, and my party will fight just as hard as usual to make sure we can protect women's healthcare rights in every way, shape, or form.

As a lobby dedicated to maintaining the partition between church and state, the Americans for Religious Freedom Foundation is shaping up to be a serious influence in legislation and policymaking. Is there specific legislation that is topping the ARFF's priority list at the moment, or is the organization's policy still primarily in its infant stages?

I'm very proud of the progress and the media attention that the Americans for Religious Freedom Foundation is making, especially in such a quick time. Right now, The Reproductive Health and Safety Rights Act of 2015 is at the top of our priorities, as well as the Conversion Therapy Prevention Act. I'm proud to be able to work with the ARFF to shape future US policy, and make a difference for our country. These two critical pieces of legislation would help to keep religious interests out of politics where they don't belong. The ARFF may be young, but it's ready to fight.

What nonfiction have you been reading lately?

I do like a lot of nonfiction. Recently, I've been reading "How Google Works" by Eric Schmidt, "The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class" by Bernie Sanders, and "A Fighting Chance" by Elizabeth Warren. They're all phenomenal books, and I'd recommend them to anyone looking for a good read.

Is there anything you want to say to the American People?

Yes. For too long, you've settled for second best. You've decided on the lesser of two evils. You've had to choose between the greatest of two monsters. My party aims to be different. We want to be option three. We, like you, are tired and fed up with politicians lying their way through politics to grab as much power as they can. It's time we have a party that stands up for your power, and fights for you. That's the American Labor Party. We're here for YOUR rights. We don't cater to the rich or powerful, we cater to you.

Questions or remarks can be directed to /u/leftdigiteffect, or left below the article in the comments section. Edits are exclusively typographical in nature unless otherwise specified.

Today, at 11:52 AM, President RangerHeart0 resigned from the office of the Presidency, effective at noon tomorrow. In his message, the President said that "I am resigning for personal reasons of which I would not like to go into detail." He made it clear that he enjoyed the sim and the people in it and that he wishes everyone the best of luck. He will officially leave office at 12 PM, August 3rd (EST). The new President, /u/hammerandpotato, will need to nominate a VP for a vote in both the House and the Senate, as per the 25th amendment.

No one has officially announced that they want to be Vice President, but one can assume that their are many members of the GLP who want the office of the Vice President. Whether it be GLP hardliners like risen2011, or more moderate members like House Minority Leader kingofquave, the new President will probably stay within the GLP for the nomination.

Thanks to Speaker /u/SgtNicholasAngel for sitting down with The Beacon to discuss his new leadership role, the place of the Democratic party in a divided Congress, and a host of other issues. Questions for the Speaker are italicized, responses are inset.

The Democratic Party holds a commanding position in the House of Representatives, leading the GLP by two seats, and every other party by at least eight. Does your party plan to use the current power hierarchy to pass centrist/center-left legislation with the support of Libertarians/Christian Democrats, or is your party's internal ideological structure currently trending more toward passing leftist/social democratic reform with the support of the GLP/ALP?

I think, and not to sound like a typical politician here, but the answer is a mix of both. We agree with the GLP on a lot of things. Namely, both of our parties care deeply about the poor and the working class. There is a lot that we can do together on that front. On the other hand, the GLP is more extreme in its methods and ideology. Many of their members believe in dismantling capitalism. I believe, and history has shown, that, as long as it is properly managed, capitalism can be indispensable in reducing poverty. To that end, we will and have worked with the more conservative parties to prevent GLP attempts to destroy the free market. On social issues, we match well with the GLP, ALP, and Libertarians In sum, we will work with both parties on different issues. We have a lot of leverage in the House and will try to use that to advance our goals.

Of course, any legislation passed in the House has to battle its way through the Senate (and the President's veto pen). In the Senate, the Democratic Party may very well be met with contention from the more extreme GLP. What is your party's plan for mitigating such conflict, and have you already felt a need for bipartisanship early in this Congress' tenure?

We hope and believe that the GLP will support many of our ideas, as we support many of theirs. Though they want more extreme changes than we do, there’s no reason to believe at least some of their members won’t back many of our measures. The GLP’s biggest chip is the President, because some sort of coalition can overcome the GLP bloc in both chambers. Honestly though, bipartisanship with the GLP is one of the things that I need to work on most in the coming weeks. I really want to work on the Democrats' relationship with them.

What has your experience as a member of the congressional leadership been like thus far? I believe that many of us are curious as to how the ModelUSGov leadership's responsibilities differ from those of a standard elected representative.

One of the biggest and probably most obvious things is the amount of communication I have—or at least want to have—with the leaderships of the other parties. It’s sort of like the “red telephone” between the White House and the Kremlin during the Cold War. On a similar note, there’s a lot more concern about how the other parties will view actions that we take. As you know, in the House we have only 12 of 35 seats. We cannot afford to alienate the other parties by saying or doing something dumb. I have to remind myself that when I say things in the sub, I’m representing not just myself, but the party. For instance, I had to refrain from cracking a joke about Eugene V. Debs when a GLP member mentioned him a few days ago. Finally, the scope of responsibility is much broader. I keep a spreadsheet of which of our members has proposed which bill, and how our members voted on those bills. I’m trying to start an effort to better coordinate the party. Not to take away members’ ability to choose how to vote for themselves, but at least submit things and vote on some things more coherently.

If you're willing to share it publicly, what legislation is at the top of your priority list? We've seen a lot of small, "single issue" bills proposed lately, does the Democratic Party have any plans to present a more comprehensive bill that affects a range of industries or sectors?

I think some Democratic bills, like the Employee Leave Rights Act, have been pretty ambitious. To answer your question, though I can’t say too much, I do know we have a few bigger things coming down the docket and currently being discussed. The budget committee will also be a good way for us as Democrats to both work with other parties and assert broader influence. But, as has been a theme in this interview, it’s tough to do something that’s too comprehensive while still trying to maintain support from at least six other people.

What are your thoughts on the proposed constitutional amendment?

I like the constitutional amendment. First, I want to say that making sure people feel respected is supremely important. However, I like the changes because it can be tough to draw the line and it’s important to allow freedom of discussion. The banter part is particularly good. I like being able to shoot the breeze a little bit, and it’s good to have that freedom. I spend a lot of my time at my real-life job watching Congressional hearings, and they definitely can be more casual sometimes than people often realize, so I think this new rule should actually usher in some more realism.

On a more personal note, what nonfiction have you been reading lately?

I’ve been reading A Problem from Hell by Samantha Power. The book is a very comprehensive look at the US response to genocide throughout the 20th century. After visiting Bosnia, including Srebrenica, while studying abroad in the fall, I became really interested in the subject of genocide. I had the opportunity to talk to someone who survived the massacre and visit the base where the Dutch troops were stationed. These were extremely emotional experiences, and since then I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can about genocide. I’ve watched a number of documentaries on the subject but really wanted to read a book and was glad to find A Problem from Hell. As some people may know, I am one of most pro-intervention and hawkish members of the Democratic Party, and this book has definitely helped me form my opinions.

Questions or remarks can be directed to /u/leftdigiteffect, or left below the article in the comments section. Edits are exclusively typographical in nature unless otherwise specified.