We are working on a brand new version of the game! If you want to stay informed, read our blog and register for our mailing list.
Bill: Away with Red Tape
Details
Submitted by[?]: Grand National Party
Status[?]: defeated
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: February 3457
Description[?]:
| Madam Speaker, our businesses are confronted with a ridiculous range of regulations, restrictions, requirements and even price controls, all of which is extremely crippling to job creation, damages production and drives up prices. This bill provides a comprehensive set of reforms that will free companies from governmental stranglehold and allow our economy to regain its former competitiveness. Colette Callahan MP Member for Loren GNP Trade and Industry Spokeswoman |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Exchange rate regime
Old value:: The exchange rate of the national currency is allowed to float, but the government is permitted to intervene when necessary.
Current: The exchange rate of the national currency is allowed to float, but the government is permitted to intervene when necessary.
Proposed: The exchange rate of the national currency is allowed to float, and the government does not intervene at all.
Article 2
Proposal[?] to change The right to gamble.
Old value:: Gambling is legal, but only in private homes and casinos with special licences.
Current: Gambling is legal, but only in private homes and casinos with special licences.
Proposed: Gambling is legal across the nation, no regulation whatsoever.
Article 3
Proposal[?] to change The government's policy concerning phone services.
Old value:: The state regulates the rates providers can charge for phone service.
Current: The state subsidizes the phone service of low income families but does not regulate the rates providers can charge for phone service.
Proposed: There are no regulations on phone service.
Article 4
Proposal[?] to change Positive discrimination.
Old value:: No form of positive discrimination is permitted.
Current: No form of positive discrimination is permitted.
Proposed: The government does not regulate hiring policies.
Article 5
Proposal[?] to change The government's position towards the stock exchange(s).
Old value:: Stock exchanges are allowed but are regulated.
Current: Stock exchanges are allowed but are regulated.
Proposed: Stock exchanges are allowed and are unregulated.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 18:22:18, March 17, 2013 CET | From | Gukmindang | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr. Speaker, we would support Article 2, but not the rest of this Bill. Yet again, the Grand National Party seem obsessed with deregulation and have no regard for the consequences. Haneul Han MP General Secretary of the Gukmindang |
| Date | 18:28:31, March 17, 2013 CET | From | Popular Action Party 인기있는 행동 | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr Speaker, We will never vote for allowing currency speculation and given the banking crisis, we feel that we should have good if lean regulation. Carlos Kim Prime Minister |
| Date | 18:29:02, March 17, 2013 CET | From | Grand National Party | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr Speaker, it is exactly the consequences of greater economic freedom that make up our support for deregulation - lower prices, greater competition, more choice for the consumers and, most importantly, more jobs. Colette Callahan MP Member for Loren GNP Trade and Industry Spokeswoman |
| Date | 22:37:35, March 17, 2013 CET | From | Popular Party | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr Speaker, This bill is not extreme or ridiculous in any way. What is so obsessive about letting a commercial business set its own price for an optional service? We would not see a sudden surge in phone rates as a result of article 4, as companies would be able to compete for customers, something the are currently banned from doing. If a customer felt the rate they were being charged was too high, they could simply move to one of many new companies that would spring up as a result of deregulation in this area. Melissa Hargreaves MP Popular Party Leader |
| Date | 22:41:42, March 17, 2013 CET | From | Gukmindang | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr. Speaker, I agree with Melissa Hargreaves on the benefits of promoting competition between telephone companies. However, I remain convinced that the market is not competitive enough to justify removing the pricing limits. The direct consequence of passing this Bill would be that consumers would be exploited by the big telecoms oligopolies. Haneul Han MP General Secretary of the Gukmindang |
| Date | 22:46:58, March 17, 2013 CET | From | Popular Party | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr Speaker, I agree with Mr Han that the telecoms market is currently not competitive. It is not competitive because of the price controls imposed by government! If these controls were lifted, we would soon see many new companies keen to provide competitive, innovative services to customers. Melissa Hargreaves MP PP Leader |
| Date | 22:52:46, March 17, 2013 CET | From | Gukmindang | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr. Speaker, if price controls were abolished, is it not more likely that prices would go up than that they would go down? It is the people on low incomes who I am most keen to protect, here. They should not be priced out of having access to a telephone. Haneul Han MP General Secretary of the Gukmindang |
| Date | 23:55:13, March 17, 2013 CET | From | Grand National Party | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr Speaker, the purpose of prices is to indicate economic reality, which is suppressed by the regime of price controls. For example, price controls can create the absurd situation of simultaneous high demand and low prices, which will destroy incentives to increase production to satisfy growing demand while temporarily raising prices to compensate for losses. Price controls create shortages and a decline in business activity, which cannot be the goal of those wishing to help lowering the cost of daily expenses of the people. Colette Callahan MP Member for Loren GNP Trade and Industry Spokeswoman |
| Date | 00:00:14, March 18, 2013 CET | From | Gukmindang | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr. Speaker, when a telecoms oligopoly charges its customers extortionate prices that bear no relation to the cost of providing the service, does that really "indicate economic reality" or does it simply indicate that something very unfair and exploitative is going on? The market does not always work according to how it is meant to work in textbooks written by neo-libertarian economists. In reality, when companies can get away with it, they will rip off consumers. Which side are the GNP on? That of the consumers, or that of the big corporations? Haneul Han MP General Secretary of the Gukmindang |
| Date | 00:04:26, March 18, 2013 CET | From | Grand National Party | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr Speaker, we are on the side of the individual, whether it be a customer or a businessman. Class politics has always been what we abhor and fight vehemently. In any way, a company can never ignore reality but must adjust its prices according to the market environment. Unless governmental arbitrariness prevents them from doing so, other contenders will immediately emerge to draw profit by challenging the alleged 'oligopols' excessive prices. It is utterly ridiculous to portray Dranish businessmen as evil bloodsuckers whose only objective is to exploit helpless customers. This is not the way a free market works, and I am disappointed to find out how far on the left the Gukmindang really stands. Colette Callahan MP Member for Loren GNP Trade and Industry Spokeswoman |
| Date | 00:12:10, March 18, 2013 CET | From | Gukmindang | To | Debating the Away with Red Tape |
| Message | Mr. Speaker, I have never, ever portrayed Dranish businessmen as "evil bloodsuckers", and I bitterly resent Colette Callahan's attempt to put those words in my mouth. The Gukmindang is passionately in favour of private enterprise; in fact, many of our MPs and many of our supporters are private businessmen. Being pro-enterprise, however, does not mean that you have to be in favour of a free market with no rules or the running down of our great public services. Neither I nor my party are "far left", although we are most certainly not in favour of the extreme neo-liberal voodoo economics that the Grand National Party so passionately embraces. The free market is all very well, but the market must serve the people and not the other way around. Haneul Han MP General Secretary of the Gukmindang |
subscribe to this discussion - unsubscribe
Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 192 | |||||
| no |
Total Seats: 208 | |||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 0 |
| Random fact: Zardugal is a nation based on the old Byzantine Empire, with a modern twist and the Esperanto language. Zardugal is located on the continent of Majatra. |
| Random quote: "A politician who is poor is a poor politician." - Carlos Hank Gonzalez |