Theodore Vohoffsky

Dr. Theodore Vohoffsky (Fy-odo Vo-hoff-sky) ScD PhD (Born 3rd of March, 1966) is an American politician, currently serving as the Congressman for the 45th District of California (2014-), and was formerly CEO of California Technologies\* (1989-2003), California Business\*(1993-2003), California Industries\* (1999-2003), California Credit\*\*(2001-2003), California Online Conglomerates\*\*\*(2003-2008) and is currently CEO of Vohoffsky E-Holdings (2008-)

\*These companies were - and are - still under Vohoffsky's management, albeit this was indirect after the formation of California Online Conglomerates..

\*\*California Credit collapsed in the .com crash and was not listed as part of the California Online Conglomerates portfolio after the reorganisation post-.com crash.

\*\*\*Renamed to Vohoffsky E-Holdings in 2008

NS Nation Name: The World Capitalist Confederation
Character Name: Dr. Theodore (Pronounced Theodo as it's intended as an anglicised variant of Fyodor) Vohoffsky
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 53
Character Height: 180cm
Character Weight: 66kg'
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative of the 45th District in California.
Appearance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pavel\_Kolobkov\_2015\_WCh\_FS-IN\_t204259.jpg
Character State of Origin: California
Character State of Residence: California
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Main Strengths: Very rich, has lots of Washington connections thanks to his father, very popular with the 'nouveau riche' of Silicon Valley Techs, being one himself.
Main Weaknesses: Suspected of being a Russian spy (despite being a 3rd generation immigrant), low popularity among those who see themselves as 'working-class' (which would make him bleed votes in both the Midwest and Flyover Country), married to his second cousin.
Biography: Born to rich white emigres (white emigre here meaning those who fled Russia during the Civil War due to their support of the white cause) who owned large amounts of stock in real estate, Theodor attended Harvard-Westlake school, and - despite being keen with business - decided to take programming, soon taking it up as his fashion as he found computers and systems interesting, instead as his elder brother was set to receive management of the company instead of him. He soon took his doctoral degree in computer science from MIT, and began to set off, using about $20 million in capital from his family, to establish California Technologies, which focused on establishing internet infrastructure as Vohoffsky was credited with the title of "Civilian Inventor" of the Internet, working with entrepreneurs and techies across the world to push for mass civilian internet use, doing PR and expanding the idea of the World Wide Web across the world outside of scientific circles in what was known as the WWW Tour, helping to popularise the internet to the civilian popular, all funded by California Technologies, which mostly did website hosting and web infrastructure at the time. Of course, CT was still in the red thanks to the large expenses of the WWW Tour and the lack of inflow.

However, Theodore used a $50 million loan from his brother to keep CT in business, along with expanding operations to ISP and router networks. Coinciding with the beginning of the .com bubble, the extra flow of websites and traffic to the internet gave CT a new lease on life, making hundreds of millions in profits every year, ever expanding. Soon enough, California Industries and California Business opened up, with one opening up gaming to the casual gamer, and the other helping businesses transition from the old world to the new, at one point becoming the largest supplier of beenz, as it offered businesses large amounts of beenz (somewhere between the thousands and the millions) to sign up, depending on how big and stable they were. In 2003, a short-lived "California Credit" service opened up, being wiped out at the .com crash. In fact, the .com crash was particularly devestating for California Online Conglomerates (as it was now called), with California Technologies on the brink of collapse with its stock price collapsing from $55 to $10 in one day. California Industries, and California Business held their own however, retaining about 80% of their original holdings.In that day, Theodore lost a whopping $1 billion in assets, with the burgeoning California Technologies spiralling towards collapse, and which also marked bad news for California Industries and California Business, as the COC mostly relied on California Technologies. However, as recoveries were made, California Technologies (which relied on the general internet traffic, along with residential use) began to recover, albeit not by too much, only having recovered to $36 in 2010 and $75 today. The California Online Conglomerates, after braving the crash, decided to continue aggressive expansion, buying several search engines (California Search), set up an email service (CMail) and even the (short-lived) return of California Credit, which only burgeoned Theodore's wealth further.

This rapid expansion came to a screeching halt in 2008, with California Credit and California Business(as it was a bank-caused recession, after all) causing a contraction in California Online Conglomerates' other holdings. Theodore, in order to promote his self-image (as California Online Conglomerates was probably more well-known than Vohoffsky Real Estate), changed the names as follows:

California Online Conglomerate: Vohoffsky E-Holdings
California Technologies: Vohoffsky Servers/Vohoffsky Internet (the two were split, into the hoster and the ISP respectively)
California Industries: Vohoffsky Gaming
California Business: Vohoffsky Business Advancements
California Credit: Cancelled Altogether.

Whilst always holding libertarian political views, Vohoffsky decided to make his first folly into politics with an anti-monopoly bill being introduced by [not-Scott Peters] at the eve of the 2014 midterms as an attempt to increase liberal turnout, which would rip apart Vohoffsky E-Holdings and effectively destroy his fortune. Thanks to Republican influence, he was able to testify, and gave one of the most 'earth-shaking, heart-ripping, spine-chilling' speeches ever given. His testimony was rather short, yet powerful.

"Mr. Speaker, let me tell you about my great-grandfather's brother, Boris Vohoffsky. Like many, he lived under the gun, fighting in the First World War honourably against the German invaders. He was there at Osowiec Fortress, one of the dead men who had charged at the Germans, coughing up his own blood and lungs as he charged at the enemy. The gas was so toxic that he barely survived, almost dying. That was the extent of his bravery. He barely lived, the gas cleared just in time. And yet when the Bolsheviks came, he did not weep for all his suffering. He did not join those traitors who wished to sign peace with those who had killed 5 million of my countrymen.

He did not die at the hands of the Germans, but he died at the hands of Bolshevik monsters, with their teeth of iron and swords of steel. He was beheaded and hung as a 'counter-revolutionary'. My great-grandfather died against socialists...as a last breath to extinguish communism. He said to my great-grandfather: "Let socialism die as long as freedom shall live.", and that is what I am here to do. This Bolshevik...this socialist bill, endorsed by such figures as [insert 'democratic socialist' 1 here] and [insert 'democratic socialist' 2 here], here to take away what I have earned. What many have fought for. All those who stand in favour of the bill, you shall be counted no better than the Bolsheviks or than Stalin! Damned if I live to see this great country, the beacon of liberty, fall into the curse that my family escaped from so long ago...

And let me tell Mr. Peters something...If he thinks he can just walk in here and start promoting socialism in the land of the free, he'll be a 1-term Representative. I'll make sure of that myself."

[Vohoffsky steps down, with angry muttering heard from the Democratic side]

That is what really put Vohoffsky on the map. The Republicans saw him as a hero who fought against socialism, the Democrats saw him as a dangerous iconoclast who lusted over wealth.Seeing the Republican primaries as no more than a formality (he won 45-35-10), he began to build up a massive warchest from his own wealth and his contacts, promising a bill for large subsidies to tech companies (suspicious yet?) and tax cuts to 'developing industries' (if you're not seeing him as corrupt now, there's something wrong with you), which made him popular, roundly defeating the incumbent 55-45. He used this influence to bring his promises to fruition, keeping the Silicon Valley Techs, upper-class, young people and the tech community on his side. He continued fighting for tech companies, once attracting the ire of the Republican mainstream by rebelling against the whip on SOPA and PIPA, commenting that:

"80-year-old men in suits have no business telling the internet how to operate. I've run my business for two decades now, and let me tell you: this bill is dangerous. I rebelled against it not merely because it was wrong, but also because it was irrational. I am disappointed in my colleagues who voted in favour, as, even if they do not agree with my morals, it is clearly a destructive and ill-intentioned bill designed to enforce copyright at the expense of getting rid of memes, parodies and all the other things that makes the internet the internet."

He has always fought for the tech community, but he has also taken libertarian stances on abortion, gay marriage and even war. Any Republican whip will have trouble with Vohoffsky, particularly if he gains an ally or two...
Other Info: Net worth $300 million. Apps are open for his older brother. Political views:

Political compass: -9, -6
Housing: End all public housing programs, focus on veterans instead.
Healthcare: Private healthcare. No restrictions.
Student Loans: Let the status quo continue, but provide large subsidies for STEM education.
Minimum Wage: Abolish the minimum wage.
War: End arms sales to Saudi Arabia, reinvest the money spent on foreign interventions into increased cyberdefence and the protection of American assets, along with combatting Russian imperialism. Soft-power foreign policy, attempt to enforce power over the UN. Cut down nuclear weapons to 2,500, but update them all.
Climate Change: Switch to nuclear power, angrily blame it at India and China.
Money In Politics: Remove all restrictions.uphold Citizens United vs FEC.
Trade: Pro-NAFTA, pro-WTO, pro-TTIP, reduce all tariffs to 1%, basically release the gates on trade.
Immigration: Loosen immigration restrictions for working immigrants, increase screenings, promote immigration and make work visas easier to get.
Corporations: Cut the corporate tax rate, push back on anti-trust laws in secret.
Taxes: Abolish all taxes in favour of a 15% consumption tax + a 10% flat income tax (yes, CGT will be abolished)
Transport: Cut down on public transport, spend more on car infrastructure
Voting: Lower the voting age to 16, have electoral votes be given based on Congressional Districts vs States.
Guns: Mild background checks.
Education: School choice and school vouchers.
Criminal Justice: Abolish public prisons, subsidise private prisons, castrate rapists. Focus on rehabilitation and community re-integration. Fund a large cybercrime taskforce.
Science and Technology: Give an extra $100 billion boost in the NASA budget, promote it to a Department, increase funding for science education, technical colleges and research massively.
Drugs and Alcohol: Legalise marijuana and all other hallucinogens recreationally on the federal level, and decriminalise all other drugs. Tax them by health risk, and use the taxes to fund rehabilitation programs.

I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: The World Capitalist Confederation