[Karl_Bonner_1982]

Demosthenes, forgive my ego but do you have any articles partly pertaining to me?

[Cheesecake_Marmalade]

A coalition of moderation in the works
The parliament has seen a great transformation before the parliament has even started

Pofoland had hoped that the mud slinging would be kept to a minimum and that Pofoites could enjoy their newly found democratic freedom and that we could all be civil about politics. Unfortunately, it appears that civility is not the most important issue in this increasingly intensified race for popular support.

The election turned ugly as Demo, a crypto-revolutionary member of the SLD, was absorbed into the SN's ranks. The defection was so expected that it was met with understanding and almost approving words from his fellow SLD members. When asked to comment, SLD party member Samuel Crowley shrugged. "He had to do what he had to do." Still, Demo had nothing good to say. In a town hall meeting directly following the split, Demo accused the SLD of "being in bed with racists" and abandoning what he saw as central tenants of the party.

That same day, a more moderate, but equally paranoid Falx took his split with the party and formed a secular humanist party named the Human Party. Fellow secular humanist the Zyx formerly known as noble accused Falx of being a copycat of Zyx's TLP. At a rally for THP, Falx was asked to differentiate between the two parties and he simply answered, "No pedophilia," and moved on. Falx's split with the SLD was not an amicable one, accusing the SLD of becoming a center right party marginalized by the other members of the coalition it wishes to seek.

Although they responded in different ways, they both listed the same reason for the split: the SLD's choice to ally itself with centrist [PUC] and center right [PNL] parties. The two accused the former party of being simple neoliberals and the latter party of being racist (perhaps fueled by Attica's resignation as party chairman due to what he perceived as "irreconcilable internal conflicts").

Continuing this theme was the RF's propaganda artist, Wiam. He blasted across the Revolutionary Party Radio station (RPR) and conglomerates with what they addressed as a public service announcement. "The party is not but a bunch of Daveists, and he is nothing but a bigot, a racist bigot," he proclaimed. "Furthermore, the SLD has lost touched with the average laborer, and this policy of slow reformism shall NOT be tolerated!"

"The accusations are less than baseless. I would call for his head if I didn't know it would just fuel their Marxist rage," said Mr. Marmalade, a staunch supporter of the PNL and vocal activist for a centrist alliance, in a telephone call with the Foxatoria Review. "I invite anyone, anyone at all to look through our party's message and find something remotely racist about it."

Indeed, he has been issuing the challenge for a full day now without any serious responses. "Do you want to know why?" He asked. "Because the accusations are baseless. They expect the uninformed SLD member to see that and to accept it unquestionably, all based on rumors and speculation about our party head, and absolutely marvelous chap I might add, Dave." Mr. Marmalade considers Dave the cornerstone and designer of the PNL. "Sure, he had a couple of controversial views in the past, but that's all behind him, and the PNL in general. Dave has heard input from everyone and is designing an expert platform based on the widely available first draft as we speak."

That won't stop question aimed at the PNL's credibility from coming. In a public letter to a fellow SLD member, Donald Lieberman, Ombrageux questioned the PNL's dedication to a moderate cause. "They may well be closet fascists, but we can wait till after the government forms to find out what they are." Such sentiments were echoed by fellow party member DDave3, who was even unsure of the SLD's alignment with the centrist party, PUC.

PNL party leadership welcomes discussion on the party's platform, but stresses that it should not be judged by the individual member's past opinions. When asked to comment on the talks between the SLD and the PNL, Dave replied that he could not comment on any ongoing negotiations. He did say, however that if "[he is] affecting the negotiation process, [he would] step down."

SLD party leader Paradigm is very optimistic about a coalition involving the two parties. "I'm actually broadly in agreement with their platform," he said enthusiastically in an interview with the New Clausewitz Daily. "There are a few policy issues I'd like hammered out, including but not limited to increased coverage in a few healthcare and welfare related areas, but other than that a coalition between the three big centrist parties seems to be on the up and up."

[Demosthenes]

PoFo Parliamentarian Michael Ombrageux Caught in Hooker Scandal

Amid high minded talk typical of any elitist politician PUC hopeful Michael Ombrageux finds himself beset on all sides with an untimely brush with the law! At an after hours club outside PoFo parliamentary HQ Ombrageux became inebriated and was thrown out of club while bellowing something about evil commies hiding behing the bar!

It is thought that Ombrageux then solicited sex from a group of "street walkers" who he then brought to his parliamentary quarters for a night of wanton romping and carousing that would have made Andrew Jackson blush. One can only speculate as to the moral terpitude Mr.Ombrageux possesses at this point. It is said that the parliamentary police were called when screams were heard emanating from his chamber.

Police, responding to the 4 am call to the residence, were forced to burst through the doors and found piles of cocaine, heroine, and what police think must be GBH. Three of the hookers were found spread eagled on the floor unconscious, in what appeared to police to be some preparation for ritual sacrifice or other. Indeed, pentagrams adorned the floor, drawn in goat's blood! The three helpless women's lives were likely spared by the police intervention. The fourth was found in Ombrageux's bedroom bent over the footboards and was being administered "discipline" by the rowdy and clearly "coked up" Ombrageux.

Ombrageux faces six counts of assault, 4 counts of possession, 12 counts of attempted sodomy and 2 counts of felony jay walking. Bail had been set at 100,000 PoFo pounds and Ombrageux was overheard saying "My lawyer will have me out within two hours! You can't make this crap stick to me, I'm the King of Teflon! My buddies at Exxon-Mobile pay $100,000 just to shine my shoes, they won't even blink at this paltry little incident!"

Indeed, When reached for comment officials at Exxon-Mobile replied "Mr. Ombrageux has our full confidence. We're quite positive that this scandal will all blow over quite rapidly. We have enough money to work the system and Ombrageux has been in our pocket for years. His unbending service to us has never tired, never faltered, and never wavered. That's why we regularly throw him 'money to burn' parties where we stand around burning $100 bills for fun!"

Members of the Irish workers party were incensened when told of the news. Said one member of what Ombrageux and his ilk would likely term "Cheap Irish Rabble" "This is a farce. PoFo is becoming exactly what every other western nation has become, a house of wanton debauchery and decandence for the politicians, and a shitehole for everyone else!" His accent thick with Irish Whiskey, his tone was unmistakable as the group promised to picket parliament by tomorrow morning. Promising to call 100,000 of his closest friends and neighbors for what he called a "Parliamentary Barbecue".

Of further note are the lies Ombrageux has spread about the people's dissatisfaction with the only party to truly represent them: The SN. In an article apparently pushed through without editorial oversight, Ombrageux mistakenly claimed that 15,000 people had marched on Parliament. We're not sure what he was smoking (Oh wait...it was crack actually) but our sourses are telling us that the number was much closer to 150, and had to do with jobs being shipped overseas. Apparently a local retailer had decided to move his shop to Mexico, taking with it the 150 jobs these people lost. They had marched on Parliament to demand that their livihoods not be stripped away by selfish, greedy politicians. The leader of the SLN, Dave's, only comment was that the lost jobs were "Trivial

More on this shocking story as it develops...

In association with AP/Reuters Newsservices
14/04/09

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

Bonner seeks center-center-left consensus on economic policy
Professionally trained MP wants to build an open three-party roundtable council to work on recession, corporate corruption, inequality

For the young professor, Dr. Karl S. Bonner, the situation in PoFoland could not be more serious.

A brutal recession has ravaged the provinces of the newly-united nation, leaving more than one out of ten workers without a job and millions impoverished, uninsured and afraid of homelessness and destitution. The business community has lost its once-mighty prestige, and populist rage is sweeping the cities and towns. And decades of steadily rising income and wealth inequality seem to have finally met their day of reckoning.

But Bonner is optimistic that a new three- or possibly four-party coalition in the PoFo Parliament will create a grand opportunity to fix the nation's terrible economic woes while advancing the cause of sustainability and climate management.

The economist and moderate SLD member seeks to establish a new committee focused squarely on the economic concerns of PoFoland. He hopes that it will be able to reach a broad agreement in six key areas: recession and recovery, financial reform, health care, inequality, climate change and sustainability. Talks are still in the early phases but rumors suggest that the new "Economic Prudence Board" will include representatives from the SLD, PUC, PNL and possibly CA parties. "We will need all the help we can get in fighting these grave problems facing our country today," Bonner noted after an Easter Monday SLD luncheon. "Now is not the time for ideological bickering over minutiae. We think we can reach an agree-all position on the most pressing concerns, and can do so in due time."

Bonner has noted that he is quite pleased with the economic plans proposed by the PUC and PNL, though he is a bit more skeptical of the CA. "Many members of [the CA] still sound a bit like the right-wing pundits in the United States. My only hope is that they can be persuaded to take the path of pragmatism, especially on economic stimulus policy and financial recovery. We can hammer out our disagreements on the other issues later."

He gave special attention to PNL member Dr. House, who has exhibited an "impressive sensibility" in his proposals for health care, tax policy and assistance programs for the poor. "I remember the old squabbles of last year between him and myself," Bonner said with a chuckle. "But recently I've discovered that this famous ER physician thinks just like a Ph.D economist in many ways. He understands the ins and outs of modern capitalism, and knows what kind of shape social policies should take. We may not line up completely -- I tend to be a bit more aggressive in my stances against excessive inequality -- but at least we agree on many of the diagnoses and prescriptive measures."

Prof. Bonner is a long-time friend of American economics professor, columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, and shares many of Krugman's passionate concerns about rising income gaps, health insecurity and financial reform. "PoFoland is not another United States, but it suffers from many of the same problems and has seen a lot of the same free-market fervor over the past three decades. Now it appears that rigid free-market fundamentalism is going the way of the socialists: instead of delivering widespread prosperity and stability it has led to widespread unease among the working classes and a kind of de-facto socialism for big banking."

When it comes to formation of the economic board, Bonner is "cautiously optimistic." "Most members of my own party that I have talked to seem interested in the idea, though our chair Paradigm hasn't given his official word yet. But it's great to see such a renewed interest in the economy among the political arena. Even on climate policy, those who are still doubtful about the full extent of human activity on climate change are still displaying a 'better safe than sorry' approach."

"No official coalition has formed yet. However when one does get declared, I want the economic roundtable to be open to anyone who shares an interest in non-ideological solutions to today's most pressing problems. There shouldn't be any party card checks at the meetings."

[Oxymoron]

Headline in todays New PoFo Times.( I forgot about this thread so this is a duplicate)


[b]THP supported by elements of former regime.[/b]

Joe Falx was consigned to the political shadows after his remarks during the reign of the former regime that "Democracy is finished...", and he remained an intensely controversial figure among PoFo citizens because of his suspect business credentials, his opposition to Freedom, and his support for the dangerous terrorist Millie the Jackal. As a result, his presence in the THP (Falx Jrs party) campaign had to be downplayed. Having him in the spotlight would hurt Falx Jr., making it look as if it were his father who was running for Parliment.

However, Joe Falx still drove the campaign behind the scenes. He played a central role in planning strategy, fundraising, and building coalitions and alliances. Joe supervised the spending and to some degree the overall campaign strategy, helped select advertising agencies, and was endlessly on the phone with local and state party leaders, newsmen, and business leaders. He had met thousands of powerful people in his career, and often called in his chips to help his sons. He would use this to his son's advantage.

His father's connections and ill gotten influence was turned directly into political capital for the parlimentary elections. Joe was influential in creating the THP for the very purpose of attacking the new Republic and its ideals of freedom for the people.

When Falx Jr. was asked about the level of involvement and influence that his father had held in his campaign, Falx Jr would joke that on the eve before the election, his father had asked him the exact number of votes he would need to win - there was no way he was paying "for a landslide." Falx Jr. parlimentary was a victory for Joe. He saw it as a step forward for, not just his son, but the entire old regime. Joe was the former dictators right arm and strategically constructed his new party in that image towards the freedom loving public. He once said,"Image is reality", and the election framed the THP picture.