State of the Union VI

Written by: Arnold Ogamon, Major Executive, Chief Attorney, Senior Executive

Released: 1/24/12

**Universal Triumvirate State of the Union VI**
Good evening people of the Triumvirate, before I go on – let’s be honest – I’m not as good at this as Zerouh was, but I hope I can still speak for the union and the Executive Branch well enough. It’s an honor to be chosen to do the State of the Union again, and it’s neat that I get to do it on the same night that President Obama is giving his State of the Union. It’s been a long time since I talked to all of you, at least in a happy tone, so let’s get this one off right! We have a lot to do over the next few months so I will ask for a lot of help from some of you as well as every Executive. We all need to put a foot forward and help out; I know Zerouh was able to inspire you to do it once before so I’m hoping you’ll give me the same pleasure and do it again!

Come May first, the first ever session of the Administrative Branch will begin. Starting in April I’ll come around individually to request many of you to participate in this first session. You will elect your speaker and the entire Triumvirate will watch as the future unfolds.

One of the greatest tools left to us by Zerouh is our own wiki. Many of us have already seen it and created accounts, now all that’s left is to encourage regular use. Add information and update your profiles! It’s a community project, and a great chance for us to grow together. There is so much we can do with it and we owe it to Zerouh that we have this really useful site at our disposal. Red has put a lot of time into writing an article about our history during the Army of Saradomin Conflict and Stavrok has built up a really simple way to apply for all the sorts of financial things possible and explain how our economic system works really well.

The Executive Branch has done some huge things recently: passing nearly a dozen full laws (one of which, I’m very proud of: the longest ever in Triumvirate history), electing several new Executives as well as welcoming back an old friend from our younger days, and as always, bubbling up with politics, debate, and opinion. A few weeks ago I told our ally, Emperor Hester, that if there’s one thing the Triumvirate is really good at, it’s politics. Sorry for going out of speech here but I’ll hold for laughter.

One of the greatest things I’ve seen in the last six months is our independence from original restrictions and our establishment as our own, unique community. With this the Military Abolishment movement and the Independence Act. Both of these demonstrated that our way of government works well, the people got involved, the Executives acted, and we accomplished our goals. One of the last steps on this path is our financial independence. Surely you’ve been reading about this highly anticipated and new economic system that Stavrok has developed. The legislation needed to put this into effect has moved through the Executive Branch and will go into action on the 28th of this month. Stavrok, being the father of our economic system intends to do very well in his position as the Head of Finance. He will have a lot of work to do for the next few months strengthening, building, and expanding our soon to be incredible economy. There will be so many new opportunities in this economic system – starting your own business, foreign involvement, and great plus sides like a near totally unregulated market system and absolutely no taxes. You will be able to buy goods from the government so that the government can raise revenue and the government will pay for the projects or products it wishes to purchase from you. Everybody wins in the end and the economy grows. Big projects and ideas might crop up like a stock market, and something Stavrok hinted at during his application to rejoin the Executive Branch: Government bonds. I’m sure I speak for everyone in the Executive Branch when I say this will be one of the most exciting and rewarding things the Triumvirate has ever done; Zerouh would be very proud.

One of the biggest things we’ve done since Zerouh left is ensuring the historical protection and security of our past. With my Historical Protection Act and several other measures passed by the Executive Branch including the Legal Format Act, we will preserve our history, culture, and tradition so we can always look back and learn from the past. Zerouh entrusted me with about 150 of his notes on various subjects before he left. The content of some of these has already been made public knowledge but a majority of the information has been kept between a select group of people. What thoughts he had about matters we would be curious about, that would be useful to us, on such topics as what he thought our last election of Major and Minor Executive, his views on what should be done in an attack, and even his predictions for what would happen In the future, which have, so far, been pretty accurate. Eventually, probably starting sometime soon, I think it is only fit that we release some of these so we can all benefit from his knowledge.

Before I wrap up here, I’ll explain some of the plans and ideas I have for the next few months. As Chief Attorney it’s important I finish and table the rules of civil and differed inquiry procedure to the Executive Branch to accompany the already passed Rules of Criminal Procedure. Besides all those court priorities I will be helping Stavrok to write laws for the things that will come out of the new economic system like businesses, banking, and investment. If I have time, there are some other laws I want to get out like one I’ve had waiting for a while: the Seal and Motto Policy and another that Ehtya is writing and planning but I’m helping organize: the Executive Ethics Act. More details on these will be out soon but for now the main focus needs to be the economy.

Thanks for listening and thanks for all the things you’ve done to help. It has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done to serve as your Executive and to follow in the steps of Zerouh. Every time I look at all the work the Triumvirate has done I remember how happy I am to play part in it. To know I helped make us what we are today and to know that hundreds more will follow in my steps is more than I could ever ask.

-*Major Arnold Ogamon, Chief Attorney, Senior Executive*