ANA: 13 - NEGATIVE

NEW TEXT: BREAK GROUND FOR LIBERTY , VOTE L&D FOR A PROSPEROUS FUTURE"

Quote:I’m a numbers guy. I like to see the facts, figures, and all arguments on the table. They tell the truth and take no prisoners. Our country’s economy is growing, getting more advanced. If we have a government at the helm that knows this, we can put in place policies to help with the changes technology will bring while tackling income inequality.

The ANA is going to establish a basic income guarantee. You will file your taxes, a flat rate, with a deduction that will make the flat tax progressive. Anyone making under 30,000 ecus a year will get money back. Anyone making more than that pays taxes on the income beyond 30,000 ecus a year. I am committed, and so is every politician in the ANA, to end the trickle-up economy of the LDP. We’re going to hold our people, our families, and our communities high. This is the way we can do it. 

The other parties are either completely uninterested in helping you or prefer to create a complicated government bureaucracy instead. What we need is a government interested in serving the people, not ignoring them. The LDP believes that leaving you alone is their selling point, but they really leave you alone. Alone, penniless, and on your own. The DSP believes that socialism and government will fix everything for you.

We offer a new alternative: empowering you to make your own decisions and lifting folks out of poverty. This election, please vote for a basic income guarantee. Vote for the Aldurian National Alliance.

Quote:Education is the biggest civil rights issue we have in this country. Let’s not kid ourselves – we are in a National Education Emergency. The only reason we don’t hear more about it is because we have other concerns too – health care, wages, national security, unresponsive government. It’s easy to see that the distance and incapability of this government has resulted in this crisis. To this day, they refuse to offer a meaningful plan to address education, hiding behind the chants of local control.

I don’t like the direction of Aldurian education has taken under this government, and as Prime Minister, I will do everything in my power to reverse this decline.

I will give the parents and students the chance to choose where to go to school. There will be a sea of options for them – public, private, and not-for-profit.  Education funds will be linked to each student, so that parents can send their child to any public, not-for-profit, or private school, where permitted.  And I will make that choice meaningful by ensuring there are enough options to exercise it. 

Parents need a clear and standardized evaluation system to figure out how their kids’ schools are performing.  States must provide a simple-to-read and widely available public report card that evaluates each school.  These report cards will provide accurate and easy-to-understand information about student and school performance.  We will take bold steps to ensure our new system welcomes and rewards the best teachers.  I will make it my goal to ensure that every classroom has a quality teacher.

Finally, since we live in a twenty-first century economy that increasingly demands a college education, efforts at improvement can’t stop at high school’s end. Students must have access to a wide variety of options that will give them the skills they need for successful careers.  We must stop fueling skyrocketing tuition prices that put higher education out of reach for some and leave others with crushing debt.

These are bold initiatives that will produce better outcomes for our parents and teachers and students.  But accomplishing real change won’t be easy.  Efforts to truly reform our schools always meet strong resistance from entrenched interests. 

Education is one issue where it should be easy to find common purpose and common solutions.  And I believe the Prime Minister must be troubled by the lack of progress since he took office. But I’ll tell you the difference between us – I’d do something about it and have a plan for it. The Prime Minister and his party are simply too unwilling to stand up for our kids and their future.

Prime Minister Velez has made his choice, and I have made mine: As Prime Minister, I will be a champion of real education reform in Alduria, and I won’t let any special interest get in the way. A choice for every parent means a chance for every child.  That can be more than our hope – it can be our future.  It can begin this year, in the choice you make, so I ask for your help, your support, and your vote in this election. Vote for the Aldurian National Alliance.

Quote:What do we want from our government?

It’s a question that is worth asking. Especially in this election.

Ultimately, we cannot win any major fight on the economy, health care, or civil rights—and secure that victory—unless we have an effective, well-resourced, and responsive government. I am a member of the Aldurian National Alliance. I believe that government should do for people only what they cannot do better on their own, and nothing more. The government has a role to play in education, in health care, in defense, in infrastructure – because that is what we have determined democratically when we ratified our Constitution. That document outlines the roles of government and they are clear.

On the other hand, when one looks at the LDP, they complain about government spending and government’s expanding role, but they support national financed defense, infrastructure, water supply projects, and more.

What Alduria needs is a smarter, more effective government. Not a government that does nothing. It is the duty of the government to serve the people. The key question isn’t big government versus small government - it’s who government works for.

An effective government must be adequately resourced through appropriate fiscal policies. And such a government must facilitate and support the well-being of its members. Promoting well-being entails more than ensuring the requirements for survival and extends to that which is necessary to participate effectively both in civic society and in the economy. An effective government is not only a well-resourced government, but it is also one that has the power to enact the will of the people.

This is only possible when society is governed by the principles of morality and justice, law and order. The government should be responsive, effective, and inclusive, helping shape the market and politics for all. This is not the government we have now. 

The Aldurian National Alliance understands that there’s a role for government to play. Our platform describes it well. We want a government that works for you. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of Aldurians barely get by, or we can build an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.

The Prime Minister likes to talk about freedom, but real freedom isn’t living under the thumb of an uncaring government. Real freedom isn’t living deep in debt, one health scare or broken car transmission away from disaster. Real freedom isn’t watching while more and more opportunities get snatched up by the rich and powerful. Real freedom comes when government enforces fair rules and when smart investments give every Aldurian the opportunity to prosper.

We must not give up on the ideal of a government for the people, of the people, and by the people. This election offers us a chance to make that a reality, this ideal deserves to be fought for. Vote for the Aldurian National Alliance, and we’ll get the right government in place.

Quote:

Good afternoon, Aldurians,

The Aldurian Investigator has revealed today allegations about an affair I had several years ago that are not giving you the full truth.

Aldurians deserve a government that is honest and open. I know that I expect that from everyone who serves in office, and I must bear this as an opportunity to act in accordance to my conscience after consulting my wife and family.

Five years ago, I carried on an affair that lasted eight months with a work colleague. I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. We both worked with our pastor and with a marriage counselor to navigate this horrible betrayal from my part.

I must stress, however, that my brief affair did not result in a child. While it is true that I was unfaithful to my wife, there was no child borne from the relationship. This is a gross and horrible lie, surely, that is fueled by the interests in this election that want to see me and the values I stand for fail.

I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions then and today I take full responsibility publicly. The affair took place for a short period. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby.

It will always be inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. I still am sorry and know that I will always live with the consequences of my betrayal. If you want to beat me up for this, feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself.

I've been in love with the same woman for several decades and as anybody who's been around us knows, she's an extraordinary human being, warm, loving, beautiful, and as good a person as I have ever known.

If anything this just reveals that I have made mistakes. I have taken the love of my wife and family for granted. With every apology I give, I try more and more to be a better husband and a better father.

Thank you.

(04-07-2020, 04:58 PM)Alfonso Velez Wrote: Velez on a campaign stop in Punta Santiago, asked by a reporter about the Aldurian Investigation report about Mr. Beaumont

"Well, look--I strongly believe in the right to privacy--and that includes my campaign opponents. Just because Mr. Beaumont believes he should be able to legislate what happens in my bedroom doesn't mean I'm going to say that I should have a care for what happens in his provided it only involves consenting adults. This whole incident highlights the trouble with the 'values campaign' that Mr. Beaumont and the rest of the ANA is running. The Government has no business getting involved in this sort of thing, and we certainly aren't in a position where we should be judging Mr. Beaumont by our standard of sexual ethics. Whatever actually happened, I hope Mr. Beaumont comes away from this incident with a fresh perspective and gives a greater care to the right to privacy for others--and the right to love, even if that love might not be morally acceptable to some people."

Quote:Calling for a values-driven government in Punta Santiago does not mean that one must be perfect and blameless to aspire for better things. Indeed, my God and my faith calls for compassion, for forgiveness, and above all, for redemption.

I'm not campaigning or seeking leadership because I think I am on a morally higher plane than anyone else. I don't call for our country to stand up for the sanctity of life or for the conservation of marriage as one man and one woman because I am perfect. It is because these are things that our government must support. It is because a government where values does not matter is a government that cannot have any full legitimacy.

It's not my business to comment on anyone's private matters, but it is everyone's business to expect a government that is better and serves them well.