Richard Parsons

NS Nation Name: Pantorrum
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Character Name: Richard Parsons
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Character Gender: Male
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Character Age: 57
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Character Role: US Representative for the 3rd Congressional District of Pennsylvania
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Appearance: (Image)
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Character State of Origin: Pennsylvania 
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Character Party Affiliation: GOP
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Main Strengths: Solid support among moderate Republican base, charismatic, name recognition, party 'Establishment' member, great leader, manipulative
Main Weaknesses: Seen by Conservatives as too moderate (a RINO, even), seen as a political elite and a career politician
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Biography: Richard was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and was raised in a politically divided family. His mother was a well to do Liberal Democrat, and his father was a Conservative Republican. He grew up surrounded in heated political arguments between his parents, arguments that would change his very core beliefs throughout life. His mother and father would both have a profound affect on the future House Majority Whip that would encourage nearly every decision he would come to make. 
After graduating High School he would attend Harvard University, part of the good fortunate of having been born into a rather wealthy family. His father had been a very successful Pennsylvania State Senator, and had himself graduated from Harvard University with an 8 year degree in law. Richard had hoped to follow in his footsteps. And he would, all the way up until he graduated with a degree in Business Law. Unlike his father, however, the young 26 year old law school graduate had little interest in politics at the time. he had grown sick of it over the years of dealing with his politically polarized parents. Instead, he would go on to make his own law practice just a year after graduating. He rented an office in Erie, and moved there with little more than his possessions. He had promised his father that he would succeed without their financial help. 
By the time he was 30, he had a thriving practice. He was well known around the city, representing dozens of businesses in claims, winning 68% of his cases. His big break, however, would come when he turned 31. He was hired by the McDonalds Corporation as a new lawyer on their team, and would gain national coverage when defending them before a Congress. He would go on to defend them in 3 more cases by the time he was 35. And in those 4 years, he would find himself representing Golden Corral and Red lobster in a couple cases. His name had spread across the country as one of the best Corporate Lawyers out there. And has his name spread, so did his fortune. Eventually, though, his aspirations grew. He wanted to be more than a lawyer, representing corporate interests. He wanted to be more than someone who is known only in the court room. 
Upon turning 35, he made the decision to run for US Representative in his district, Pennsylvania's third district. In a tough and bitter primary, he fought back accusations of being a corporate puppet, and claims by his opponent that he might as well have been McDonalds itself running for office. Despite the three term congressman's claims about the up and coming candidate to replace him, Parsons only benefited. He managed to play on the Congressman's mudslinging, capitalizing on it at just the right time. He spoke elegantly and remained constantly composed. As the primary stretched on, however, his opponent seemed only more frustrated. Between Parsons perfectly timed jabs and elegant, charismatic message of a new Pennsylvania, the congressman was unable to hold a lead. Parsons would win the primary in 56% to 44%, and would go on to narrowly defeat the Democratic challenger 51% to 49%. 
The tight victory in '96 would be the first of many wins to come. In the House, he quickly became close with establishment leadership. He was appointed to the House Commerce Committee, where he would forward legislation that would eventually be passed on the house floor. By the end of his first term, the Senate would pass his bill, the American Business Act, but the President would promptly veto it. The bill would give tax incentives to American businesses, and raise tariffs on imported goods over the next 4 years as to encourage more inward investments by American companies. The president stated the bill was unfair to competition, but his efforts were not without reward. His constituency approved of the long 2 year battle he had fought to get the bill to the Presidency, and they rewarded him with a 53% to 47% win in 1998. He would win again in 2000 with 60% of the vote after compromising with Democratic opposition to get the Lake Erie Development Act passed, a bill that gave cities along the Erie coast 700 million dollars to invest in infrastructure and business development. In 2001, he was appointed as Chairman of the newly created House Economic Development Sub Committee, where he would draft dozens of business proposals to help small business in the North East. By 2002, only one of his drafts would make it to the floor and pass, just to be defeated in the Senate. The proposal would have brought the Corporate Tax Rate down 4%. he would win his reelection in 2002 with 56% of the vote.
He would go on to be appointed the House Majority Whip in 2004 after winning a narrow victory with only 49% of the vote, with 4% going to a right leaning independent from Erie. the election would kick him into overdrive as he hoped to rebuild his constituencies faith in him. He would go on to cosponsor almost 6 bills between 2004 and 2006, one of which would become law. It made abortions more difficult to have after 3 months. His success in the House on behalf of the Erie voter would gain him a resounding victory in 2006 as he drew in 52% of the vote in a contested 3 way election. 
He would go on to be appointed as the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee, and would push dozens of bills to house floor before 2008. He was appointed to House Budget Committee, and was an outspoken opponent to raising spending on Defense. It was an odd argument for a Republican to make, but his colleagues would end up raising the Defense budget by less than half of what they had originally wanted to. He was also instrumental in bringing about a 2% tax cut on the middle class. He would go unopposed in 2008. As his party went into the minority, he would become the House Minority leader. He was exactly what the Republican establishment wanted, a moderate willing to compromise to get the job done and appeal to average Americans. He would isolate conservative voters in doing so, but he managed to compromise with the Democratic majority and work hand in hand with the new Speaker to get a number of Republican ideas implements. His bipartisan leadership appealed to his local constituency, but nation wide he was ridiculed by a large Conservative Constituency that thought he was RINO. Fox News would blast him for the entire 2 years until his re-election, while CNN and NBC would talk of his unyielding devotion to compromise. he won re-election in 2010 unopposed, and would continue to serve as the House Minority Leader. His biggest error in his careers would come after he compromised on Abortion, allowing the Democratic majority to repeal prior legislation making it difficult to have post-3 month abortions. In 2011, he would compromise on the budget, allowing the Democrats to cut Defense Spending and implement welfare spending hikes that many on the far right were opposed to. He would quickly become despised by Conservatives, and would resign his Minority Leadership later that same year after his daughter died in a skiing accident.
In 2012, he would go unopposed once again. As his party regained a Majority, Parsons was chosen as House Majority Whip, and went on to push multiple pro-business bills that would ultimately stall on the Senate Floor. He would ensure the passing of almost 37 bills, making that Congress one of the most active in decades. None would pass the Democrat controlled Senate. never the less, in 2014, he won an overwhelming 62-38 election, and once again retained the position of House Majority Whip. He would go on to ensure the passing of a Vocational Education Bill that gave additional funding to vocational training programs, something crucial for a number of jobs in the Erie area. The bill would come into affect in late 2013.
He would run again in 2014, winning 56% of the vote against his first opponent in a long time. His victory allowed him to continue serving as the House Majority Whip, an cosponsored a number of bills that would come to benefit the economy of the North Eastern United States. He now serves as the Chairman of the house Commerce Committee and the House Budget Committee, aside from being the Majority Whip. He would be re-elected again in 2016.