The Loudenia Crier

While speculation suggested that The Loudenian Crier would be brought to its knees by the news shortage caused by the sudden dissolution of Loudenia’s parliament by former head of state Allen Louden, we would like to inform our readers that our devotion to reporting goes far beyond such petty difficulties.

If you’re still reading, we’ll keep writing.  If you’re not, well, what do we have to lose?  This paper will survive!

 (At least until we get bored or distra…oh, look, a butterfly!)

The gavel has come down to signify the official end of this session of Loudenia’s parliament. For a detailed summary of proceedings, visit the comment section of our live blog, maintained artfully by LC Media correspondent Matt Westwood. For a dash of spice, sample the personalities live blog kept lively by our own Kenneth Sydhagen. Live blogs from earlier sessions of parliament are here and here.

Thomas Rawski, Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh, weighs in on the Loudenian Euro Conversion Bill with testimony that comes after the bill’s passage, yet is sure to deepen understanding of this important issue for all Loudenians who are making the transition from the Louda to the Euro:

1. Currency is now fixed at L$1 = US$1. If the proposal is approved, the L$ will be pegged to the Euro, which now trades around E1 = US$1.56.

2. The initial shift may have little effect on the L economy. However
if the Euro continues to appreciate vs. the US$, exports to USA could
suffer (or benefit, if the E depreciates).

3. Tying national currency to an external standard has both benefits and
costs. The benefit, as mentioned in the proposal, arises from the
stable relation to a major currency bloc. This comes with a sacrifice -
of independent monetary policy. If the European authorities decree
tight money when L faces recession (analogous to the current situation
confronting Spain, for example), L may come to regret its lack of
monetary independence. If L government lacks economic discipline,
strong links to the Euro may benefit the L economy over the medium-long
term. If Euro managers lack economic discipline (note massive recent
increases in Euro money stock), the links could have unfortunate
consequences.

Dr. Karma Chavez, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication & Journalism at the University of New Mexico, has written widely on immigration policy. In this virtual testimony, she offers her expert assessment of the Immigration Reform Bill recently approved by the Loudenian parliament:

1) Work Permits are given to either highly-qualified refugees or to those who live below the poverty line in their home countries. The work permission lasts for 2 years and has to be renewed.

As has been shown around the world, temporary worker programs create an oppressed class of workers who cannot organize because they can easily be fired, they are generally tied to one employer who has immense amounts of control over them, and they are not citizens and generally have no chance at attaining citizenship, so they are completely disenfranchised from democratic processes outside of work. Temporary work programs reduce immigrants to economic units and do not provide them with opportunities to flourish culturally or personally, nor do they provide immigrants with an opportunity to contribute to society outside of their economic worth. Providing more legal pathways for unskilled workers to become permanent residents and eventually citizens is a more humane and ethical approach. This resolution is especially troubling as it completely ignores unskilled workers, instead focusing only on “highly qualified” and those “below the poverty line.” [Read more →]

At a backyard barbeque, everyday Loudenians discuss the China Free Trade Bill while members of parliament deliberate within sniffing range of the sizzling pineapple and chicken skewers.

Today the Committee of Energy and Business Affairs debated on issues concerning the Clean Air and Energy Sustainability Act. The document was quite exhaustive in explaining the policy the L.E.D.U party supports. To everybody’s surprise an almost absolute agreement between the parties’ representatives in the committee was achieved.

Unlike the Bill of Trade Relationships with Russian Federation which was accepted yesterday, the Clean Air and Energy Sustainability entered parliament with only small “cosmetic” amendments.

The most important difference made by this discussion was that the period of establishing office of renewable energy was shortened from ten to five years, funds starting from 2009.

In the last day of the committee meetings concerning the bills, The Committee of International Affairs discussed today “The Resolution to Promote Human Rights in China.” After long-term negotiations with the representatives of other parties the press-secretary of LEAR achieved the reconciliation of the resolution. The committee members voted in favor of it passing the resolution to the parliament where it’s being discussed at this moment.

The parliament just passed the “Euro Adaption Bill.” For background information related to the bill here is Ana-Daria Moga’s report on its passage through the internal affairs committee:

After a long debate about the “Euro Adoption Bill” the committee decided that the bill must be presented in front of the parliament the result being an open debate on this topic at this moment. The bill passed for the parliament discussion by suffering a change which consists in the following statement: “During the 3 years while you can exchange Loudenian dollar to euro there is a constant exchange rate.” Some of the committee members consider that they need to keep the prices at the same level in order to avoid an economic lack of balance.

For further information related to the discussion of the bill in the parliament prior to its pass please check our Live Blog Coverage!

The Committee on Environmental Affairs passed the “Bill for a More Environmentally-Friendly China” Tuesday morning. The leader of the Committee, Andrea Ruiz expressed her profound enthusiasm for the bill. While none of the members of the committee opposed it, it’ll be up to the parliament members to decide about it’s pass or not this afternoon. According to its authors, the bill will encourage and help China to approach a more environmentally-friendly future while the businesses of Loudenia will benefit from the actions proposed.

-Kenneth Sydhagen

Crier Correspondent Kenneth Sydhagen will provide continuing coverage on Parliament’s movers and shakers.