Lloth

Weekly World News has prepared a short article explaining and illustrating partial-birth abortion. Is there anything to be done about it?

What sort of amendments did you have in mind?

The Pro-Choice movement has become aware that one of the tabloids are about to run out an article on intact D&C, currently tagged as "partial-birth abortion". Is there any way to block this article?

Kinda thought.

All transfers and contributions from one account to another are to be entered here.

Please make a post here, noting what account it is being transferred from, and who it is being transferred to, preferably with the specific account.

We will update your post when the transfer is complete, so we don't accidentally lose anyone's money, or multiply it in transit.

Complying with Campaign Finance Laws and Regulations is your responsibility.

Karl Kolchak, INS:

Does the withdrawl of Congressman Baudin have anything to do with reported problems with anemia?

For those who are maintaining voting records, they should start fresh at the beginning of each Congress, normally by starting a new post to the voting record thread.

If you have one of the few experienced characters and have not inserted such a break, please do so now.

Can do this evening.

Supplemental note, if your voting records are not up to date, you will probably be losing out on money.

I will start working on SIG Congressiinal contributions this morning. Those with threads in the K Street Back Door will get priority. Those who do not will have their contributions posted in the K Street forum.

Players are reminded that fundraising information posted to bank accounts is not considered public information until the 3rd quarter of the next year. This does not apply to K Street open posts.

Contributions to those without PACs may be limited due to Fundraising laws. PACs, like warchests, start with a balance of $300,000. This also applies to party and committees(House and Senate) as well.

Those who did not know of the $300,000, please do a supplemental post, referencing "Lloth 1126".

PACs are placed in the same forum as warchests. They are assumed for all purposes to be controlled by you, so you do not have to sign a persona in to handle it. Please include on the second line who the PAC is controlled/affiliated with. A mission statement in the first post is very helpful.

Finally, players are reminded that rewards are offered on finding and reporting to the AB illegalities in the accounts.

Addition and Correction

Fong - American Dawn PAC - $1,640,625

Supplemental

Baudin - Imperial Klans of America(IKA) - $5000(H)

Apologies for how this is posted, folks. I couldn't get it to paste in, so I finally had to take a screen shot of it and paste that. I'm hoping to actually be able to post it in HTML next time around, which should make it easier for everybody to read.

The following contributions are denoted as (H)ard and (S)oft. Hard money contributions are eligible for Federal Matching, if applicable and may be spent on all campaign expenses. Soft money contributions are NOT eligible for matching, and may not be spent on most campaign expenses, although they may be used on Get Out The Vote and Issue Advertising (no mentioning your name).

*YOU* are responsible for ensuring your compliance with Federal Election Laws as laid down by the K-Street Admin and the Elections Admin.

Baudin

Federalist Society(Lawyers/Law Firms) - ENDORSEMENT. $50,000(H),$10,000(S)

Christian Coalition(Social Conservatism) - $300,000(H)

Committee on the Present Danger(Neoconservative) - $10,000(H)

Defense Aerospace - $10,000(H)

Fong

National Rifle Association - ENDORSEMENT $60,000(H),$15,000(S)

Main Street Alliance(Traditionalists) - $50,000(H),$100,000(S)

AIPAC(Israel lobby) - $10,000(H)

NAACP - $5000(H)

Grayson

National Education Association(unions) $10,000(S)

Building Trade Unions(unions) $15,000(S)

American Medical Association(Health Professionals) - $40,000(H)

NAACP - $5,000(H)

Thomas

Main Street Alliance - $10,000(H)

NAACP - $5000(H)

Industrial Unions(unions) - $15,000(H)

Public Sector Unions(unions) - $15,000(H)

(to head off the nearly inevitable claims, the national poll numbers were not of my creation, but commissioned from a neutral party on the AB who has been uninvolved in the Senate. This does not stop any claims for PR purposes, but felt I should note it before anyone goes running to the CA claiming prejudice in the article. Honestly, I was a bit surprised at the numbers myself.)

Senate Considers Removing Morris as PPT

WASHINGTON(AP) -- The Senate today took up a motion to declare the position of President Pro Tempore vacant, effectively firing Senator Rebecca Morris(R-MO) from her position as acting Chair during the normal absence of the Vice-President.

The motion, made by Senator Anderson Sherman(D-CT), declared that " On behalf of members of both parties, after consultation with members of the majority caucus, I believe we can effectively say that the President Pro Tempore has wielder her power in a way unfit for office. "

Vice-President Albert Gore, in an unusual ruling, stated that such a motion, not covered in the Senate rules, would require consent of the Senate as a whole, in order to protect the rights of Senator Morris.

Polls commissioned by the AP during the recent Holiday Season, show that nationally, a majority of all Americans feel Senator Morris should step down, and many feel that she should resign.

Polls in the Senator's native state of Missouri are more favorable, but 1 out of 3 potential voters still feel the Senator should step down as PPT.

Supplemental to Senate 2nd-4th quarters:

Miriam Schultz    OR        R                    $552,602        

The initial approval rating is based on the alignment of the district or state (depending if a Representative or a Senator) and the party of the character. A Republican in a state with a hard right stance is going to do better then a Democrat, all other factors being the same.

Using the initial number as a base, the AR is updated on a semi-regular basis, based on both game time and real time. Factors calculated into the AR include:

Press Releases Most constituents have a favorable view of their Congressmen, if they know who they are. It also provides a means of selling your viewpoint to your constituents, even if they don't initially agree with it.

Activities Press Conferences, Town Halls, Meet and Greets, these all help to let people know who you are, and to give a favorable impression. This also includes editorials in the major newspapers, which are a much better way to make long arguments then a press release.

Issues Your stance on several main issues, mostly of your choosing, along with the emphasis you place on them. Keep in mind that, for the standard AR, this is being graded against your district (for a Representative) or state (for a Senator). A batch of PRs in favor of hunting polar bears would probably go over badly in Connecticut; however, Alaskans would have a different view.

Media Coverage Coverage from both admin and player media is, generally, a good thing. Both are scored separately, then added in.

Party Bonus A position of leadership in your party and/or the House and Senate, will get you a certain amount of attention all in itself.

Admin Bonus This covers any plus or minus entries that exceptional events may invoke that are outside the range of everything listed above. Quite honestly, it is rarely used, and generally applies to scandals, being the subject of massive PR attacks, or a spectacular action that catches the attention of the nation. (think President George W Bush in NYC post-9/11 with the bullhorn, as an example)

AR Decay You never get to rest on your laurels. If you do nothing, then your AR will start to drop toward that low initial AR that you started with.

The calculated AR, in turn, affects your influence on NPC votes in your House of Congress and fundraising. It may affect other factors as well, although this will tend to be determined on a case by case basis.

The one word you do not want to see explaining your AR score is "Inactive." That means no activity, even voting, was found on behalf of your character. See that a couple of times, and odds are, your character will be signed out for inactivity.

The Approval Rating is an indication of what your constituents think of you and your job. For a politician seeking reelection, or to get their programs passed, there are few numbers as important. Don't ignore it.

Karl Kolchak, INS: A follow up, ma'am, what would be the positive aspects you believe we should emphasize?

Vice-President Responds to Senator Morris's "Witch Hunt" Claims

WASHINGTON(AP) -- Vice-President Albert Gore, Jr, sat down with reporters from the major Washington newspapers last night to respond to recent claims made by Senate President Pro Tempore Rebecca Morris about "hyper-partisan Democratic Attacks".

Gore noted that the PPT might be following the rules technically, when it suited her, but she certainly was not following the spirit. "It is general policy in the United States that we count every last vote. The Senator admits on at least one occasion to throwing out votes that were valid at the time they were cast, because the members had since moved on. That's not the way Democracy works."

As for the alleged disregard for the Senate's rules, the Vice-President noted that the rules Morris claims to have written allow for debate on amendments, but on at least one occasion the Senator, acting as Chair, failed to do so. "The Senate is intended to ensure the voice of the minority to be heard. You don't get to quash it because you have a majority of colleagues who will back you", referring to Republican votes to support the PPT's rulings.

The former Senator also noted the PPT's "simple rules" did not allow for something as basic as asking for a vote recount. "There was not only no provision for allowing the motion, but the PPT immediately opposed it, expecting I would be overruled in an appeal to the Senate as a whole. A Chair is required to keep to the spirit of the rules, as well as the letter, and the spirit is to allow deliberation and that the whole body be certain that its will be done."

In response to a question about going out of the Senate for an investigation, Gore noted that the PPT clearly expected, with good cause, that the Republican majority would back her in running roughshod over the Democratic minority. With no expecting of a Republican dominated committee being able or willing to clean house, he had "regretfully" invoked the Special Counsel request.

"The Attorney General will be announcing the appointment within a few days", the Vice-President ended with. "Hopefully, then the truth will come out."

VP Gore admitted he would find the claims amusing, if it was not for the people who would actually believe them.

Possible NH Election Scandal

CONCORD, NH(AP) -- Two employees of the New Hampshire Elections Division, Dept of State,  were arrested this morning for "unlawful providing of information to a campaign."

The employees have not yet been identified, but a spokesman said the agents had had a report of a possible deal of an endorsement for an eventual cabinet position in the Democratic Presidential primary just held.

Such a deal would be a violation of both State and Federal criminal law.

"So, being somewhat naïve, the agents went down to the DuBois campaign and asked, point blank", stated the spokesman for the Department of State.

The spokesman went on to explain the campaign did not solicit the information, and they did cooperate with the eventual investigation, but did not report the incident at the time.

There is no expectation at this time of the certified election results being changed.

The Elections Division has no proof of wrongdoing at this time by the campaign, but the inquiry is ongoing.

Update to end of 1999 contributions.