State of the Union XVII

**Written by:**Lancelot Rice, Major Executive

**Released:**January 27, 2016

Honorable dignitaries of the Executive Branch, mindful representatives of the Administrative Branch, formidable friends of the Union, and righteous citizens of the Triumvirate, we have endured a setback that has been unprecedented in the minds of many. Through the first month of this new year, we have endured the loss of our central forum, and our Facebook page, two of our oldest and central parts of our culture and society. Thanks to the work of a vigilant few, however, the Triumvirate remains alive, and I would go so far as to say the Triumvirate has been injected with a new sense of purpose, and vigor.

First, to alleviate your concerns and keep you up to date, I believe the worst of the Winter Attacks to be over. In my inauguration I spoke briefly on the possibilities of where this attack came from, and why I believe that. Unfortunately, I now am willing to profess the belief that the attacks had to come from a high-ranking member of the Triumvirate, and am 90% certain that this is not an act of foreign aggression. Our forum, uteb.boards.net, may be *"lost"* to us now, but we have rebuilt what the terrorist actions of a few have sought to take away, and we are poised to move past the issue now as things begin to calm, whether we be out of the danger or in the eye of the storm. For now, I turn to domestic policy, and will hope that you place your faith in me to ensure your safety.

For the last four months of our governing, we have been focused on partisan bickering and timeless advance through backroom policy, hiding the public from the true nature of government and its function. With elitist policy and social reform all but absent, we have instead focused on economic advantage and passing a new law, the UCC, designed to make sure that our public can receive a living wage from companies, but must pay an amount totaling 15 Tri every eight months, which is a reasonable cost to pay for the government utilities and benefits. My predecessor Charles Sessions championed its passage, and I will not drop the torch when we are so close to the finish line.

Members of the Triumvirate, you must be wondering, what about the next four months? What will happen now that we have had our beliefs, culture, and government rocked to its core by the recent Winter Attacks? What can Lancelot Rice offer me now that will be wholesome enough to make me weather the storm? It's high time that the Triumvirate offers something more than the standard procedure to its citizens, both government employed and private. It is with unwavering courage in the face of great odds that I commit this Universal Triumvirate to a Superior Deal.

This Superior Deal will be centered around three ideological tenets aimed to revive the citizenship in the Triumvirate, and bring us out of the lull of depression. The first section will be the most simple, open the Administrative Branch to the public eye and let the average citizen know that their government represents their ideals once they have been elected to office. Perhaps the most important reason behind this, however, is to show that backroom politics and corrupt bargains are an incredibly unpopular pastime. With the Administrative Branch now very much transparent, citizens can enjoy watching government process behind the passage of certain laws and really begin to take an interest in the Triumvirate as a physical presence instead of an elusive idea. With this idea being fleshed out, I plan on proposing new legislation in the coming weeks to effectively interpret this idea into law and put in place a system of reasonable government transparency.

The second, and slightly more challenging, will be a reinvestment of the Triumvirate into greater national defense without the cost of liberty in the citizenry. When I first took office, a law was proposed to give the Executive Branch power to usurp the Constitution during times of emergency. I cannot express in words how much I denounce the idea of circumventing a constitution which has given us structure, identity, and a purpose for the last 7 years. Who are we as a people --- as a government --- if we do not meet the challenge with our full capacity when the occasion arises, and instead cut the corners to make it easier on ourselves? From my experience, I find it much easier to meet a good challenge head-on than to let it trounce you into subverting your beliefs. Instead, the government will now focus on a policy of Reasonable Research, aimed to give our Joint Command Council and Head of Intelligence the tools they need to operate with on a more effective scale, but at the same time, assuring the public that their private information and actions are safe. This idea is one that we as a community need to rally behind, as the Winter Attacks have shown us. My Major Orders have given us the tools to make this possible so far, but to more effectively articulate this idea, I will be looking for cooperation from the Administrative Branch and my own counsel to get behind new legislation to be proposed, likely in small segments to ease the Triumvirate into the period of protection which I envision. The first of these few small bills will be known as the RDA, or Reasonable Defense Act. The timetable for proposal of this certain bill can be anywhere from 1-2 weeks, as I would like to get it out quickly following the recent predicament.

The third and final leg of the Superior Deal will be passage of the final version of the Universal Citizenship Charge and component ideals to reinvigorate the Triumvirate economy, and encourage private sector productivity as well as government. This idea is by far the largest component of the Superior Deal, and will by far have the most impact on the Triumvirate for years to come. Building on my predecessor, Charles Sessions, I plan on instituting a flat charge of 10 Tri per 8 months, and protecting new members by giving them a grace period of 8 months before their first charge. This plan will be difficult to administer, as members do not join at the same time and would therefor have different payment dates, but to solve this issue I'm proposing a new idea to ease the burden on the working citizen and Department of Treasury. If a Citizen joins at any point from the beginning of the first 8 month cycle to the beginning of the third month prior, they will be grouped with the current slate of citizens set to pay at the end of the Trimester; however, if a citizen joins from any points from the beginning of 3 months prior to payment to the date of payment, they will be given an additional Trimester to pay the Charge, meaning there will eventually be three classes of payments over time at the end of every Trimester to help the government maintain steady revenue.
The next part of this idea is a living wage, a minimum payment amount of 15 Tri per Trimester, to ensure that anyone who obtains a private sector job or one on the government payroll will be able to afford the UCC and still maintain a comfortable habitat for themselves. This will be included in the UCC bill as one idea, and the two shall not be separated due to their dependence on one another.
The final part of the third leg will consist of an introduction to Executive payment, something that has long been debated in the minds of this Union since its conception. Executives, who dedicate their time to a specific job, have not been given a single dime of compensation for their work in the entire history of the Triumvirate, and this needs to change. I will champion the introduction of a fair wage of 25 Tri for Freshmen Executives, with bonuses based on position work and seniority. Due to the extremely contentious nature of this topic, it will be proposed as a separate bill during the time period of when these ideas are proposed.

As I look at the Triumvirate now, I see a future that we can mold for ourselves. It is now up to us whether we want to lay down and quit, or fight courageously forward into the darkness. When Zerouh founded this Union 7 years ago in 2009, he did not envision a time when his greatest creation would ever be perched on the edge of a cliff such as this. Many great figures such as Arnold Ogamon, Elliot Neil, Ehtya, Ascencia, Nathan Maine and many others put in a great amount of work to ensure that this Union continued long after it was not in the forefront of their minds. It is up to us now, as one nation, one people, to embrace the ideals of an intellectual nation, to embrace the ideals of the Superior Deal, and embrace the ideals that we will not be known as the generation to fall just short of the finish line and instead stride past it and complete another lap.

Thank you everyone, god bless the past, present, and future, and god bless the Universal Triumvirate.

*Lancelot Rice, Ninth Major Executive of the Universal Triumvirate*