KDD

Fixed

I realized I messed up the senate class, will fix

Press releases to go here

Name: Martin Merkur Date of Birth: August 8, 1962 Place of Birth: Glasgow, MT Seat: Montana Class II Party: Republican Avatar: Patrick Fabian Major Caucus: Mainstreet Partnership Gender: Male (0 points) Age: 55 (0 Points) Sexuality: Straight, married, 6 children (0 points) Race: White (0 Points) Religion: Catholic (0 points) Education: Bachelor's of Arts, History, University of Michigan (5 points) Family History: Middle Class (0) Career Information: Professional Athlete (15 points). NHL, Hartford Whalers (1984-1989), Winnipeg Jets (1990), Vancouver Canucks (1991-1994), Pittsburgh Penguins (1995-2002) Television Host (15 points) ESPN hockey analysis (2003-2008) US House of Representatives, 3 terms (9 points) Montana at Large (2009-2013) US Senator Montana Class II, 1 Terms (5 points), Montana Class II (2014-) Major Cultural Award, Hockey Hall of Fame, 2007 (15 points), Selke Award, 1992, (15 points) Wrote a Book (2), (20 points) Total Points: 99 Martin Merkur was born into a farming family, growing wheat and raising turkeys and ducks. He spent a lot of his children with his mother's family in Manitoba where he fell in love with, and excelled in, ice hockey. He played hockey for the University of Michigan, where he was a star. He was drafted by the Whalers and became an immediate impact player. He was known as a prolific two way center, and play maker, and no slouch when it came to goal scoring either. He was elected to the Hall of Fame after his career ended, after 1400 games, tallying 455 goals, 1005 assists for 1,460 points. After his playing career ended he quickly got a job as a TV commentator for ESPN. He also used this time to write 2 books, both about the history of hockey. He would leave all of that to enter politics in 2008. Always a moderate Republican, in the mold of Arlen Specter or John Heinz, he wished to bring what he called his "common sense conservatism" to Montana and Washington. He won his primary against a not very well opponent, 82-18, and edged his Democratic opponent in the 08 general 53-47. His opponent sought a rematch in 2010 but it was not competitive in the Red Wave, Merkur winning 64-36. He would win again 57-43 in 2012. In 2014 Merkur opted to run for the open seat left by the retiring Max Baucus. He was unopposed in the primary and defeated his Democratic opponent 53-47 in the general

signing out

Press releases to go here

Gotta say, that bio took me by surprise. Though how many points is it when you go from nerd to gorgeous by removing your glasses?

Name: Ronald Renault Party: Republican Avatar: Nelson Rockefeller Major Caucus: Mainstream Partnership Seat: Louisiana Class III Ronald Renault was born 4/1/1950 to a prominent Louisiana family. He can trace his roots back to the late 17th century where his family grew sugar for generations. After the Civil War, their family's empire evolved greatly. Today they have their hands in Gulf Coast gambling, oil leasing, home building, real estate and private equity. The family name is well known not just because of their wealth, but political influence, with Ronald's father being governor of Louisiana for a time, and an uncle that was Ambassador to Canada. His family is known as being conservative, especially when it comes to promoting the area's industries but has been ahead of the curve with civil rights issues, giving the Renault name a rare cache among LA African Americans. Ronald earned a degree in history from Tulane, which is where generations of Renaults have attended. He would earn his JD, also from Tulane in 1975. From there, Ronald decided not to work in the family business but rather join their charitable wing, The Renault Foundation. During his long time at the foundation, Ronald worked on everything from rural development, inner city drug rehabilitation as well as providing basic medicine for the 3rd world. Ronald would leave the foundation in 2001 to enter into public service Renault was tapped to become Ambassador to Argentina, a place Ronald knew well, in 2001. He would serve there until resigning to run for office in early 2004. Renault's political life, electorally is largely thanks to Louisiana's jungle primary. Not conservative enough to win a traditional primary, in both of his senate elections he has relied on getting into the top 2 and getting some African American support, not a majority, but more than any other Republican would. As a result, in 2004 he earned 35% of the vote in the primary, faced off against another Republican in the general and won with 51% of the vote. 2010 was more decisive, winning 54% in the primary, avoiding a runoff. Points Gender: male (0) Age: 66 (-5) Sexuality: Straight with 3 kids (0) Race: White (0) Religion: Catholic (0) Education: JD Private non Ivy (10) Socioeconomic: Super rich (5) Career History: CEO (30), Foreign Service (20) Senator 2 terms (10) Total Points: 70 OOC, will fill out votes shortly. Not sure about the "related to a famous person" part, my goal was to be related to a fictional but famous politicians. Is that kosher?

signing the old girl out

Delorean Ends Campaign, Endorses Senator Kuykendall Statement from the senator: We started this campaign with high hopes. We thought our message of limited government and conservative values would win the day. Ultimately the numbers just don't paint a clear path to the nomination. There is no shame in any of this, I am proud that we got as far as we did. One of the obstacles this campaign faced is that there are many strong voices for conservative values. We truly are blessed with great options. When I look at all the other great candidates though, Senator Kuykendall I think will make the best president. When it comes to healthcare, Senator Kuykendall and I know that Obamacare has been a disaster. It stole from Medicare to give to private insurers. It represents the largest tax increase in world history. Most importantly, it imposes just another thing the government is forcing people into. From the day it launched, and the website crashed, it has been a disaster. We need a President that will repeal Obamacare and enact a market base system. Senator Kuykendall will be that President. Senator Kuykendall will also have a laser like focus on creating jobs for all Americans, with a special focus on rural America. For far too long in rural America, the path to prosperity meant leaving your home town. That will be history under a President Kuykendall and that is why I support his for President.

Delorean Announces Her Campaign Hires Senator Delorean believes that to change Washington, you cannot count on Washington consultants to make good. After meeting Theo Epstein at the College World Series in Omaha, Diane decided to think outside of the box and hire non political, proven hands. Campaign Chair Benjamin Buick. (Avatar Ed Rendell) A long time player in the financial services industry, Benjamin has run everything from call centers to risk teams, to oversight to the derivatives desk. Most recently Ben was VP of Operations for Berkshire Hathaway. Ben was an early supporter of Diane’s first congressional run and it was chosen in part because of his ability to organize and bring in non traditional political operations, a hallmark of the Delorean Campaign Finance Director Rhonda Reatta. (avatar Sue Johansen) Former Mary Kay CEO and long time board member of Susan B Anthony Pro Life America, is a long time friend and mentor to Diane. Her vast network of self starting and conservative women will serve to the backbone of the Delorean Campaign. Foreign Policy Advisor Lorenzo Lancia. (avatar Gianne Russo) This Jersey native got cut his teeth as an M&A wunderkind on Wall Street. He later become a well known hired gun for companies looking to expand overseas. His charisma and ability to read the negotiating table became legendary, and made him fabulously wealthy. His ability to turn those negotiations into long term relationships is well known and was once describe as “if Henry Kissinger and Warren Beaty had a child”. Domestic Advisor Reginald Rambler. (avatar Alphonso Riberio) This Alabama native is a well respected labor attorney. He has often been called in to serve as an arbitrator for some very high profile labor disputes. Iowa Director Linda Lebaron. (Avatar Bonnie Hunt) A long time friend of Diane, Linda was also a Mary Kay regional director; for Des Moines. Additionally, she was a founding member of the Iowa Tea Party, though this is the first campaign she is formally joining. New Hampshire Director Mary McLaren. (Avatar Margaret Court) A long time educator, Mary was Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Manchester NH before retiring in 2014. Since then she has been active in conservative causes. South Carolina Director Denise Datsun (Elaine Chal). Denise made her name in marketing and advertising. She had worked for Dillards from 1994 to 2014 until she became a consultant. Her record of selling to working and middle class women is nearly unassailable, this is her first political job.

Delorean Announces White House Bid Speech from Omaha " It is an honor to be here today with my family, my friends, my colleagues, my neighbors and anyone else that wants a President with conviction. After 8 years of a rudderless president who lectures us for hours and hours with actually making point, it is time for a change. I am not a lawyer, I am not a college professor. I am not going to bore anyone into supporting me. Rising 5 children, I just don’t have time for that. I believe in being clear, being strong and just getting the job done. That is why I am proud to announce my candidacy for President of the United States. Why am I running? I am going to keep it simple; Enact a flat tax that makes the burden low and easy to follow, end NAFTA and renegotiate bilateral deals, create an actual industrial plan to grow jobs and end the Bureaucratic Industrial Complex. Next time you go to the grocery store, imagine it was your job to add up everything in your cart, tell the store what you owe and if you are wrong, they add a fee to it. And you may need to pay someone else just to figure out what you owe! That sounds crazy because it is, but that is exactly what the federal government is doing to us. I will enact a flat tax where if you are single or even if you have a family, if your primary source of income is wages, you can file your taxes on a post card. It will be that easy. If you are of working age, the first $30,000 will be tax free, and a little more than that with if you are supporting children. After that it will be a low, easy to understand rate without a million carve outs. This low, flat tax will mean more money each paycheck, and less time and money to file taxes. On trade, how many more manufacturing jobs do we need to lose before we wake and say that it just isn’t working? As President, I will withdraw from NAFTA and renegotiate bilateral trade deals with Canada and Mexico. With Canada, we can have free trade as they have similar values, similar regulations and similar wages. But we can’t do that with Mexico, as we have seen millions of jobs cross the border. And don’t get me started on TPP, that is NAFTA on steroids and gives China a backdoor into our markets. With TPP they can use labor just as cheap as theirs in Vietnam and Malaysia and export their cheap crap into the US without any tariffs. No way on TPP. It is not enough must to end NAFTA, we need to pair that with an industrial plan, one that we haven’t had in generations. My proposal would first radically change the tax code. If you are a business that manufacturers goods, your taxes will be cut in half. That added savings will mean more money to invest in new products, new facilities and new jobs. Secondly, for businesses that make money over seas, you should be able to bring that money back to America tax free, but if you invest in back into America. With these reforms, American manufacturing will have an renaissance. We will also take aim an excessive regulations which brings me back to my final point, we will end the Bureaucratic Industrial Complex. When look around our country, we can see why America’s economy is still number 1, despite of Obama’s best efforts. In New York we see the financial sector dominate, Houston fuels America, California builds the technology that the rest of the world envies and American farmers remain the most productive in the world. But do you what area is then wealthiest? Its actually Washington DC. Years of the political establishment has turned government into a lucrative venture. It is an abomination that people living paycheck to paycheck are being forced to pay for a government that keeps growing and growing just to enrich itself. Under my administration, the EPA, Department of Education and the IRS will be history! Now is the time my friends, join my campaign lets take back America!"

Delorean Slams TPP, Calls for Withdrawal from NAFTA Back in the early 90s, our politicians made us a promise. They promised that NAFTA would be a boom for the American worker. The thinking is that with lower tariffs, were are just another tax, that goods would be made where it was most efficient, making them cheaper for everyone and therefor raise our standard of living. Sounds good on a paper. The problem is, it just hasn’t worked. What we have seen is a exodus of good paying manufacturing jobs leave for Mexico. Saving a few dollars here and there when you go shopping does not make up for the loss of a good paying manufacturing job. As a result, big wigs have done well as profit soars, and if you rely on investments as a big part of your income, you are doing fine. But if you are like me and millions of others, who rely on wages, there has been very little benefit. The reason is NAFTA has zero requirements that increased profits turn into more jobs and higher wages. Quite the opposite in fact. I am not against free trade agreements. Among developed nations, it makes a lot of sense because when there are relatively equal wages, you don’t have to worry about businesses just using trade agreements to race to the bottom. In fact, I even supported a free trade agreement with Colombia and that is working out well, you don’t hear about factories closing and companies setting up their manufacturing in Bogota. The key is that it is a bilateral trade agreement, where we can address our specific concerns and we won’t have to water down our priorities to get buy in from multiple countries. That is why I think we should negotiate bilateral trade agreements with Canada, and Mexico separately and dismantle NAFTA. Unfortunately, I seem to be in the minority and Obama and others now want The Trans Pacific Partnership which dials NAFTA up to 10. Congress will be debating TPP and I intend to be a strong opponent. The reasons are many, but let me for now focus on the auto industry. When it comes to cars, America and Japan are the big players but to get buy in from all proposed members of TPP, Obama and company agreed to provisions that we would or should if it was an agreement with just the United States and Japan. Right now, if you are going to assemble a car in the US, you need to procure 60% of your components domestically. Under TPP that number drops to 40%, meaning US made parts will be replaced by in all likelihood, cheap and inferior Chinese parts. That means more profits but worse cars and fewer jobs. This is the economic issue of our time and we must stand up for the working class before it is too late.

I really hope the admins demand a thorough explanation of the nickname "Muffintop". One doesn't just throw that out there. I get that he is fat, but still...I need to know! And before anyone claims I am fat shamming, my pic on twitter is literally Kathy Bates covered in Saran Wrap.

updated

Press Releases to go here

This is now all set

can we consider this to have not happened? I thought it would be ignored since I jumped the gun

Name: Diane Deloreon Seat: Nebraska Class 1 Party: Republican Avatar: Kathy Bates (circa Fried Green Tomatoes) Major Caucus: Freedom Diane O'Hara born on 1/1/1963 to a working class family in Grand Island Nebraska. She was the youngest of 4 children, her father was a truck driver and her mother was a secretary. At age 18 she married her high school sweetheart and moved to Omaha where her husband Mike Delorean got work in a factory. Diane briefly worked at a waitress before giving birth to the 1st of her 5 children in 1983. Mike became a foreman and the family was doing okay but as the kids got older, Diane wanted more and started selling Mary Kay in 1995. By 2005, with Mike doing well and Diane becoming regional manager of Omaha, the family was firmly middle class and proudly sent their children to college, the first in the family. In 2006, with her youngest kids still in school, she was motivated to improve her schools, and was elected to Subdistrict Board Member of Omaha Public Schools. Later, in 2010, she was enthused by the tea party movement and scored a surprise win over Lee Terry in the GOP primary, 51-49. Though a great year for Republicans, she was probably a little to the right of the district (NE-2)of as a whole and won the district 54-46. With her wit and unmistakable laugh (think Rosanne) she became a symbol of the 2010 GOP wave and a staple on cable news and talk radio. Delorean would serve just one term in the house. In early 2012, when Ben Nelson announced his retirement, she threw her hat into the ring. She won a 3 way GOP primary with 47% of the vote and won the general election more comfortably with 57% of the vote. Throughout her time in the house and the senate, she became known as a impassioned fiscal conservative, often dubbed "Steve Forbes in a Skirt". She published two success full books, in 2013 and 2015, further giving her somewhat of a national appeal, specifically with blue collar women. Social issues however are a slightly different story. Though conservative, that is generally not where she focuses most of her energy and has shown some streaks of moderation. Gender: Female (5) Age: 53 (0) Sexuality: Straight Married 5 Children (0) Race: White (0) Religion: Catholic (0) Education: No College Degree (5) Socioeconomic history: Working Class (10) Career: Business Associate (10), House of Rep 1 term (3 points), city council 1 term more than 500k (3), Senate 1 term (5 points) Awards and Extras: Published 2 books (20 points) Total Points 61 Key Votes 112th Congress 2011-2013 Republicans: American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 Nay Democrats: United States–Colombia Free Trade Agreement Aye 113th Congress 2013-2015 Both: Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Aye Both: Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 Nay (5 points) 114th Congress 2015-2017 Both: Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 Aye

Name: Tara Tallinn Seat: South Dakota, Class II Party: Republican Avatar: TBD Major Caucus: Mainstreet will flesh out later today

Press Release to go here

Name: Erik Kaberle Media/Outlet: Rachel Maddow Show Reason: (Corruption) - Ross and the GOP have given no explanation as to why they have changed their tune on Ukraine. I am happy they have but it makes me wonder the motivation. In that vacuum, you have to wonder if its is because now Ross, not Biden, would get credit. It isn't above them to do that, its why you only hear about the debt ceiling when there is a Democrat in the White House. Call it what you want, just don't call that "America First". More cynically, maybe it is because Ross's family can profit a lot more from Ukraine now than it did under Biden. We just don't know. The President was asked about this on a podcast and her response was basically "It won't happen, you just have to take my word for it". We shouldn't just take her word for it. -America needs to recognize that it doesn't matter if Leah Ross is a girl scout and her family is on the up and up. Day 1 of orientation at any job tells you about self dealing. If you are in charge of other peoples' money, in this case its the President and the entire federal budget, you need to ensure that you act in best interest of the tax payer, not yourself or your family. That is pretty basic stuff and the President and her allies in congress are simply ignoring these very basic ethics guidelines. With her attitude, they wouldn't be trusted to run a bake sale, let alone control 4 trillion dollars of tax payer money. And to reiterate, I am not accusing any specific person of corruption but the potential is super obvious and could easily be the biggest rip off in the history of the world, literally. The time to act is now, not just wait and see. -If you are wondering if Leah Ross is dead set against self dealing the government, there are some obvious clues. She nominated David Perdue for Secretary of the Treasury who has infamously been implicated in using information he learned as a senator to conduct stock trades for his benefit. If she is okay with that, why on earth would we believe that she would be against her family doing the same thing? Follow her actions, not her words -The Trump Organization agreed not to conduct any new foreign deals while Trump was president. That was the bare minimum and its obvious why, foreign nationals may try to do business with the Trump Organization thinking that would win influence in the White House. Leah Ross even do that and we are talking contracts that dwarf what the Trump Organization is doing. And it doesn't matter if all the people in the Ross Group are "above board", and we shouldn't assume that by the way, foreign actors will absolutely see this as a way to gain influence in the White House. The entire set up is corruptible, it is not dependent on the values of the individuals within the Ross Group. -Leah Ross may not be vested in the Ross Organization, but so what? If you were running a little league and decided to only buy shirts and gear from your brother's business, that would be an ethical violation. Now take that and multiple that by a trillion and there you have our current situation.

Kaberle Calls on Ross Group to do the "Bare Minimum" and Pause Foreign Deals The Trump Presidency was no role model for ethics. This is true in many ways, including the self-dealing when it came to travel, with untold sums of tax payer money going right into his pocket for things like charging $1000 per night for the secret service to stay at his properties. One of the base minimum controls they did have was the Trump Organization agreed not to engage in any new foreign projects. The Ross Group is far larger and engages directly with foreign governments, with deals that dwarf that of the Trump Organization. I believe the only way to resolve this is for the Ross Group be dissolved. That is something that they must do voluntarily. They have declined, meaning they either are looking forward to using their new found influence to enrich themselves, or they are willfully ignorant. I understand dissolving a large organization takes time but what they can do today is declare that they will not pursue any foreign contracts with Leah Ross is President. That is the bare minimum. It is painfully easy to see how a foreign country may pick the Ross Group for a multi billion dollar contract just to win favor with the White House. It is way too easy. I get the sense that being openly corrupt and flaunting wealth is something the Ross’s learned from the Trumps. But the stakes here are so much greater. We spend over 800 billion dollars a year in defense, and it would be so easy for decision makers to be influenced by the Ross name. The latest Ukraine bill has a commission that despite its name, is still reporting the White House meaning it accomplishes zero goals. Short of the Ross Group voluntarily ending foreign contracts, there will need to be new oversight on any new defense bill. It may take longer to pass bills, and even deliver the resources, but this is a problem Leah Ross and Leah Ross alone created.

Kaberle Named DNC Vice Chair Senator Kaberle make the following remarks upon being named Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee "I am humbled by this honor and I want to thank Senator Krol for his confidence in me. I am not spilling and state secrets when I say the the 2024 election didn't exactly go our way. We must focus on delivering for the American people and when we do, I think we can win in places you might not expect. The fact of the matter though is that no legislation will pass without significant Democratic support in both houses. When I see Senator Ewing joining the Ross transition team, I worry that they are considering Project 2025 which will turn the federal government into Tammany Hall. I hope President Ross knows what she is doing, she will need Democratic votes for anything and she is going to have a bunch of unqualified hacks implement laws, that very much changes any bipartisan calculation. Now is the time where President Ross needs to decide if she wants to have any legislative agenda at all or not. "

Kaberle Hits the Ground Running Senator Kaberle made the following remarks regarding a trio of bill he has introduced in the senate. "For the single people out there with no kids, an employer provided life insurance policy of $50,000 be more than enough. But if you are married and especially you have kids, that is not nearly enough. There are also millions of people out there who aren’t in terrible but are still not considered insurable by many life insurance companies. Those people are at a serious financial risk. For decades the government has taxed employer paid life insurance policies over $50,000. We need to encourage employers to provide more and one way to do it to raise the cap to $250,000. Though this will not guarantee employers will provide more life insurance, it does remove a key obstacle. If we change this law and just 1 family benefits from this change, it will be worth it but I suspect tens of thousands of hard working families will. That is exactly why I have introduced the Financial Security For Beneficiaries Act. As I have said for some time now, housing has never been more unaffordable. There are many reasons why this is and big one is we simply have a housing shortage. Because of how quickly COVID accelerated work from home, almost all central business districts suffer from high vacancy rates. That is where we have opportunity to add housing units had a rapid pace relatively quickly and cheaply. Some buildings are better suited than others, and some present more of a profit than others for the developers. To encourage the redevelopment of the more marginal properties, I have introduced the Revitalizing Downtowns Act which will provide tax credits for office to residential conversion projects. This will be part of a larger effort this nation needs to make to lower housing costs. Lastly, for generations much of Europe has been dependent on Russian gas to heat their homes and fuel their businesses. When the Ukraine War broke out, many of our European allies were a little hesitant knowing the Russia could do great damage to their economy if they cut off gas. The United States has the potential to help hedge against that threat by exporting LNG. Moving from Russian gas via a pipeline to LNG shipped across the Atlantic isn’t like flipping a switch but there are steps we can take to expedite the process which is why I have introduced the Energy Security Cooperation with Allied Partners of Europe Act. This will greatly reduce the regulatory burden to export natural gas to our allies. And whether you work in Western PA in the natural gas industry, or work in the Philly port, this will grow jobs for Pennsylvania too. Weakening Putin while creating jobs here in Pennsylvania? Sign me up!"