NationStates Jolt Archive

THE VAARSHIRE TIMES
Vaarshire's English-language Newspaper

Prince's Budget: Military Spending up 10,000%
TEN EYCK, VAARSHIRE- This fiscal year has been one of utter chaos. Princess Anne opened it, Communists took over six months in and increased Vaarshire's deficit by still officially classified amounts, mainly by purchasing ships for the Navy and fighters for the Air Force. When Prince Johannes was elected, he returned the government to its previously stated budget, though apparently he liked the Communist regime's idea about the military.

Vaarshire's miltary budget for the fiscal year 2008-2009 was Ĝ28,000,000, or 7 million Universal Standard Dollars (USD). The Prince's proposed budget for 2009-2010 includes an alotted Ĝ2,800,000,000, or 700 million USD. To pay for this enormous increase, he plans to raise income taxes by 8%, reinstitute the tax on tobacco and alcohol, at a rate of 9%, and raise the gasoline tax to 7.9%. He also plans to cut spending in almost all other areas, with the most cuts going to the health care system. He has also drastically decreased the salary of elected officials, nearly halving his own salary, and those of MPs and Cabinet members.

What some- especially many of the farther-left MPs- see as the most controversial part of the budget is the attached legislation that would lift the ban on all guns that has been in place since Vaarshire achieved partial autonomy in 1923. However, there will be a Firearm Tax of 30%, and an additional Ĝ600 fee to purchase a License to Bear Arms. Also attached to the budget is the Military Reform Act of 2009, which abolishes the 100,000 member cap on the Royal Vaar Armed Forces and turns His Majesty's Guard- currently the government security service- into a much larger national police force called His Majesty's Marechaussee, among other things.

This is widely seen as the most controversial budget in Vaar history, and it marks a sudden, visible shift in the policies of the government. Prince Johannes has outlined his plan to make Vaarshire safe from any further internal security threats and prepare it to handle any external threats. The budget, in years past, has tradtionally been passed by Vaarliament without opposition, but with members of the Leftist Party majority wary, it may barely pass, if it all. The Leftist Party holds a supermajority in Vaarliament, though some Leftist MPs have expressed their support for the budget. The Green Party, the second-largest in Vaarliament, has expressed its uniform disapproval of the budget, and Libertarians may dislike the attached legislation and increase in taxes, so it may all come down to the Conservatives and the Centrists, the latter of which the Prince was a member before his election. The Vaarshire First Party, the resident fascists of Vaarshire who have never had parliamentary representation, has expressed its rousing approval of the increase in military spending, and its leader stated "The proposed lift on the handgun ban with the horrendus tax is, I must admit, a great start."

The new fiscal year begins on the first Monday after the first Sunday in April, which this year is April 6th. Vaarliament has until 11:59 on the previous day to vote on it. If they do not, Vaarliament is automatically dissolved and elections are called. This includes all cabinet members who are MPs. Vaarliament has never dissolved due to a budget dispute.

Astholm would like to trade with Vaarshire, importing our Sulyan Eastnor sedan and wagon automobiles to your nation.

OOC: Suppose I should have mentioned, but I meant for this to be a place for me to announce happenings in my nation, not for them to actually occur. For trade agreements and other diplomatic matters, this is better suited: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=567354

Vaarliament passes budget, is dissolved by Prince
TEN EYCK, VAARSHIRE- There were three votes on Prince Johannes's controversial budget since it was proposed on the Thursday before the deadline- the latest it has ever been proposed. The first vote, held on Friday, was a tie, at 75-75. The second vote, held on the same day, was scarcely better at 77-73. After much deliberation, a third vote was held at 11:40 PM on Sunday, and ended at 11:55. If that vote failed to reach the 100 vote two-thirds majority needed, Vaarliament would be dissolved. The vote was 100-50.

The entierety of the Green Party (34 seats) voted against the budget, even though it contained a tax on carbon emissions, a proposal they have made several times. The remaining 16 votes were Leftists, including Chancellor of Parliament Jeffery Roosa. He said of the budget "Vaarshire must not neglect the people for the sake of having bigger guns on bigger ships." However, the remainder of the Leftist Party, which had 91 seats, and the whole of the opposition disagreed. All 12 of the Party for Liberty (including pro-gold standard crusader Paul van Rijn), all 10 Centrists, and all 3 Conservatives voted for the budget. The 75 Lefitsts- that's half of Vaarliament- who voted for the budget released a statement saying "Vaarshire's security is essential. This budget was hard to swallow, but the fact is that we need a safe nation, and this budget will bring that, as well as a surplus of exactly four Guilder-Sterlings. No budget in Vaar history has increased both spending and revenue so much."

While Vaarliament did pass the budget, Prince Johannes immediately dissolved it, which is one of his constitutional powers. He said "This Vaarliament seems to vote mainly for its own desires rather than for what is best for Vaarshire. We need a Vaarliament that represents the people, not a Vaarliament that represents Vaarliament." This move has shocked the nation, though it seems to be popular. "It's good that he wants a Vaarliament for the people," said local 12th-grader Benjamin Jones-Zeldenthuis. "They're supposed to represent the people, but recently all they do is pass bill after bill for the Leftist Party agenda." Jones-Zeldenthuis, who will be 18 by the next election, says he plans to vote Centrist.

It is widely believed that in the next election- which must be held within 90 days- the Leftist Party will lose a great deal of seats, and the Greens are also expected to lose a few seats. The Centrists will most likely gain many of the seats the Leftists lose, and the Conservatives and the PfL will most likely gain a few seats. The Vaarshire Election Commission is already in session and working to organize the elections. The Director of the VEC said "We're overclocking here, working overtime to make sure these elections can happen as fast as possible. We've got a tentative date set for June 25th."

Prince Johannes now finds himself without a Vaarliament and short several Ministers (as all Ministers who are also MPs must step down). He will now need to appoint six Acting Ministers. Two Ministers, Minister of Diplomacy Henrietta van der Pohl and Minister of Intelligence Operations Francis Sanderson, will remain. The Ministries of Finance, Science, Education, Infrastructure, the Environment, and Health will now need acting leaders. The Minister of the Armed Forces, the civilian head of the Royal Vaar Armed Forces, will remain vacant. The Grand Marshall of the Royal Vaar Armed Forces, along with the respective Heads of the Departments of the Navy, Army, Air Force and His Majesty's Guard, will assume total command over the Armed Forces for the time being.

University of Kingsburgh President resigns due to sex scandal
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g232/BLJ_422/UKvaarshire.png
KINGSBURGH, VAARSHIRE- The University of Kingsburgh, usually known for its academic presitge, excellent basketball team and rivalry with Jan Ten Eyck University, has another item of notoriety to add to its list. 57 year old Niel Sørensen, Danish immigrant and President of UK, has resigned to due accusations that he brought students into his office and asked them to engage in sexual activities with him, saying if they did he would have the University pay off their student loans. "We recieved eight seperate reports of sexual harassment over a week-long period," says Chief of UK Police Hildebrant Weston. "Six from females, and two from males. Most of them were first-year students. That's all I can release at this time."

When the results were made public yesterday, President Sørensen released a first statement on paper, which read, in part "I have not taken part in any kind of inappropriate sexual activity while in office. As President it is my job to uphold the reputation of this prestigous university and I have done my best- and will continue doing so- to do that." However, three hours later, Sørensen made a public announcement to the press. "I am confident in my innocence. I am confident that these accusations are false. But I am not confident in that my continued presence here as President of the University of Kingsburgh is what is best, whether I am innocent or not. Therefore, effective at the end of classes today, I am resigning as President. I will work willingly with the investigation to ensure that I am rightfully found innocent."

One of the students released a statement through a lawyer under the false name "Jan Gansevoort" (the birth name of Prince Johannes), in which is said "He invited me into his office, saying he needed to talk to me about finances. I thought something was wrong with my payments. But he said that if I had sex with him, my loans would be completely paid off." (The entire statement can be read at our website at www.thetimes.vs) The statement also says that "There were several empty beer bottles on his desk."

While it was not included in his official statement, Sørensen has filed for divorce with his wife of 17 years, and was arrested thrice (before he went to work at UK) for driving under the influence of alcohol. Sørensen has been a strong voice for making UK a totally dry campus, and has spoken to student anti-alcohol groups about "overcoming his addiction." A psychologist from the Vaarshire Mental Health Professionals Association, headquartered outside of Kingsburgh, said "It's quite obvious that Mr. Sørensen is going through a rough time in his life. Perhaps he has turned to these activities as a release." The psychologist also noted that "His libido seems to be quite healthy for his age."

Prince Johannes, himself a graduate of the University of Kingsburgh, said of the event "It is saddening that the reputation of one of our nation's best schools has to be tarnished by this. And to all those JTEU people out there, don't get uppity. I remind you that nine out of 18 Monarchs have graduated from UK." The Chancellor of Jan Ten Eyck University had only this to say: "Go Admirals." The JTEU Admirals are the favorite to beat the UK Lynxes in next week's college cricket opener.

OOC: Let’s pretend that some magical time wizard sneezed and pushed Vaarshire forward a few months. The date in Vaarshire is now June 25th, so that’s 80 days ahead of the present, give or take.

The votes are in!
VAARSHIRE- The 29th Vaar Parliament has been elected. The Leftist-Green Coalition, which has held a supermajority (two-thirds or greater) since the Green Party’s formation in 1985, has lost its super-majority. The Leftist Party lost 27 seats, and the Greens lost 15 seats. The Leftist Party lost all five districts in Ten Eyck, and the four it had in Kingsburgh. All of these seats were picked up by the Centrist Alliance, which now has 46 seats, up from merely 10. The Party for Liberty lost only one seat- that of Paul van Rijn, known for his dislike of the nationalized Royal Bank of Vaarshire and support for putting the Guilder-Sterling back on the gold standard. The Conservatives now have 10 seats; the first time in their history they have had representation in the double digits. The Conservatives gained the long-time Green Party stronghold of Kingsburgh West, home to the University of Kingsburgh.

The Green Party is now a party limited to the environmentally-conscious rural interior of Vaarshire, while the PfL and Conservatives seem to have picked off what seats it had from the cities. The Centrists gained nearly every seat the Leftists lost, though the long-time Centrist holding of Noordendam is now held by a Leftist. The Worker’s Front (formerly the Party for a Communist Vaarshire), which has never held a seat in Vaarliament, did worse than it ever has, getting only 307 votes. The Anglophone Alliance of Farshire, usually the last one in the race, had 892 votes. The fascist Vaarshire First Party came within a thousand votes of gaining its first ever seat, from the city of Blauwplas in the interior. There were also seven votes, all from Ten Eyck Port district (home to Jan Ten Eyck University), for “Neil ‘Viagra’ Sørensen”. This is a reference to Neil Sørensen, the disgraced former President of the University of Kingsburgh.

Voter turnout was the highest since the election of the 17th Vaarliament in 1969, at 83% of registered voters. The last election, in 2007, reported a 79% turn out, which was up 9% from 2003. It is believed that these jumps can be attributed to the increase in voters in the 18-25 age group. The 18-25 has traditionally been a Centrist group, which has explained their rise from 1 seat in 1999 (which was held by Jan Gansevoort, now known as Prince Johannes) to the major opposition party today.

Jeffrey Roosa, who kept his seat (Henristad, a suburb of Ten Eyck), will remain Chancellor of Parliament. He released a statement saying “The Leftists and Greens still hold a majority, and we will work as we always have to make this country environmentally safe, physically healthy, and protected.” Chancellor Roosa, who was Acting Head of State after the assassination of Princess Anne, received 99% of the vote from his district, and is seen as the most popular MP in Vaarliament. Five of the six Cabinet members were re-elected and will take their posts back, while Minister of Infrastructure Henry Binford lost his seat of Kingsburgh Central. It is widely expected that long-time infrastructure improvement spokesman and longest-serving Centrist in Vaarliament Walter Timmerman will be appointed to the Infrastructure Ministry.

"Prince Johannes is undoubtebly pleased by these results," says Times political analyst Rachel van Majdau. "Though the Monarch traditonally refrains from making statements about parliamentary elections, there's no doubt that he loves his old party making such an increase. Prince Johannes will certainly have an easier time getting more military budegt increases through Vaarliament, and any fear of the never-used but always secretly dreaded Vaarliament Censure of the Monarch is now totally gone." It is little known that Vaarliament has the power to force the Monarch to resign, if they can get a three-quarter vote. That and a Royal Recall, both of which have never been attempted, are the only ways to remove a monarch from office by political means. However, as the election opinion polls indicate, Prince Johannes has a approval rating of 85%, slightly higher than the average of his precessor, Anne, whose high was 83.8%.

Royal Vaar Armed Forces now 1 million strong
VAARSHIRE-The Armed Forces reported today that the one millionth person to join the Armed Forces did so yesterday, at the base in the city of Noordendam. The recruit's name is Samuel Osterhoudt, and he joined the Royal Vaar Navy. Says Osterhoudt, "I joined because I need money for college. And I've always liked boats." The Armed Forces threw a small party for Osterhoudt at the base in Noordendam, where Grand Marshal Van Dijk awarded him a certificate and medal. Osterhoudt goes to basic training in September.

Vaarshire's military has traditionally been small for its' population. When Princess Anne de Vaar was elected in 1994, the military had around three hundred thousand people. The population was 140 million at the time, so that equated to a little under a quarter of a percent of the population. However, with increased unrest since Princess Anne's assassination, as well as Prince Johannes's campaign to increase the budget and size of the military, the amount of new recruits has boomed. One year ago, the army had 700,000 people. Now, with 1,000,000 people, and with a national population of about 153 million, the Armed Forces accounts for about 0.5% of the population.

The Armed Forces reports that its' ad campaign- known for powerful ads with the slogan "For the Prince, For the Country, and For your Safety"- has accounted for some of this sudden growth. However, Sgt. Richard Voorhees at the Military Recruitment Station in Ten Eyck says that "More often than not, I get people who want to join the Marechaussee, because they don't want another coup, or another assassination." His Majesty's Marechaussee, formerly His Majesty's Guard, was recently reformed into a national military police force, and has increased in active personnel more than any of the other branches. Once seen just around military bases or in the Govermment Quadrant in Ten Eyck guarding the Hall of Legislature and the Royal Residence, Marshals can be seen in many cities, often guarding high profile buildings or responding with the local police to the more dangerous crimes. Their distinctive bright orange cars are now commonplace in the largest cities, but especially in the capital.

Gertrud Keese, head of Disarm Now, a campaign to eliminate the military entirely, is understandably displeased by this turn of events. "Disarm Now is of the opinion that we do not need a military at all! Several countries get along fine without them. A police force is one thing- certainly we need that. But we don't need tanks and aircraft carriers and assault rifles and submarines! All the money they eat up, it's disgusting! 2.8 Billion Guilder-sterlings we're spending on them this year, and probably more than that next year, it's a waste. And it's not just weapons and vehicles they're wasting money on. Building new bases, fuel- all those new cars for the fascist Military Police have to run on something- wages for all these soldiers that probably aren't going to shoot a thing in their entire lives... it's just a huge waste, and it's not healthy for the environment."

A spokesperson for the Grand Marshal said of Disarm Now and others who are upset with the increase in the military "What if, say tomorrow, an army from who knows what country, barges in on Vaarshire, thinking we're vunerable and ready for the taking? Are all the lives in this country worth that risk? Better safe than sorry, that's all there is to it. There are bad people out there, and we need to be prepared. With one million people- and more joining every day- I'd say we're on track to ensuring this nation's security." Prince Johannes has stated that he wants a military of 2.5 million within fifteen years, and while he hasn't stated anything publicly yet, it is widely assumed that he will be upping the military budget once again next year.

Oldest Member of Parliament turns 100
TEN EYCK, VAARSHIRE- The Honorable Agnes Mayberry-Naaktgeboren, MP from Garden Park, a district which contains many smaller cities on the east coast, turns 100 years old today. Elected at 30 years old in the Election of 1939, Agnes is the only current member of the goverment of Vaarshire who was alive when Vaarshire was called the Dutch Colony of Vaarland. (Vaarshire gained status as an "autonomous dominion", and the name Vaarshire, in 1923.) A member of the Liberal Party, she was the Chancellor of Parliament from 1952 to 1958, and ran in but lost the Royal Election of 1964. Every six months, since 1980, she has a mental and physical checkup and has consistently been declared competent enough to serve as MP, though that is not a requirement by law. She does not drive, however, and has used a walker since 1990. In the Election of 1992, a very close race between her and Alexander de Vries, she famously lifted her walker over her head and shook it, famously crying "I will never concede defeat to a smart-aleck whippersnapper like Alexander de Vries! As long as I live, I will keep the evil kids of ineffective government off of the lawn of Vaarliament!" She won that election with merely 52% of the vote, but since then has never come that close to defeat. She won the Election of 2009 with 61% of the vote.

While she is remarkably healthy for her age, many have called for her resignation. Chancellor of Parliament Christopher Janssen first called for her resignation in 1979 when she had a minor heart attack during a debate over the budget. She has never had any health issues during a session since then, but the call for her to step down has steadily been growing louder since then. "Having a century-old person serving in a stressful environment like Vaarliament is not healthy for either the person or the government," says former MP Paul van Rijn, who never vocalized any desire for Mayberry-Naaktgeboren to step down until after he lost the election. "I respect her. She is a very wise woman, and I'm not saying she's frail or senile. But I do think that she is too old to be serving as a Member of Parliament. It's simply not a safe environment. It's like telling Grandma she needs to stop driving. No one wants to do it, but it has to be done before there is an accident."

Van Rijn, who apparently has paused his gold-standard crusading for the time being, has joined a coalition of politicians and a few doctors who are making the loudest calls yet for Mayberry-Naaktgeboren to step down. They also want Vaarliament to put an limit on how old MPs can be- currently they want the limit placed at 70 years old. Dr. Dedrick de Groot, leader of this coalition, said "Age brings experience and wisdom, this is true. But The Honorable MP is now at an age where her mind and body are at risk of degeneration. She may seem healthy, but there is always the chance that she is not, and the chance is great at such an age as 100." The Minister of Health, Dr. Benjamin Crusher, has not made any public statements about Mayberry-Naaktgeboren, but a source close to him has said that he is "a little concerned".

A celebration was held in Vaarliament yesterday. Vaarliament sang her the traditional "Happy Birthday" song, and passed a ceremonial resolution declaring that "Agnes Mayberry-Naaktgeboren is the Grandmother to Vaarshire, a woman of near-infinite wisdom, wit that can be both charming or sharp, and who is always willing to provide the tough love the government needs." It also stated that "Agnes's famed Chocolate Chip Cookies shall be forever known as the National Dessert of Vaarshire." While a large cake with candles was bought for the MPs to eat, Prince Johannes himself baked a pound cake, Agnes's favorite, for the birthday girl herself. Prince Johannes also gave Agnes a pearl necklace. Vaarliament used a portion the budget it reserves for special events to purchase Agnes a Ĝ1,600 (400 USD) robe, which she is quoted as calling "Wonderful". While many are concerned that Vaarliament took a whole day off to celebrate a birthday, even the coaltion calling for her resignation wished Agnes a "Safe and very happy 100th Birthday."

Today, Agnes is celebrating her birthday with her family, including her three surviving children, eight grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild. Her husband, Jorck Naaktgeboren, passed away in 1989. Agnes released a statement, saying "I thank God for each and every hour, each and every day, and each and every year on this Earth. He has blessed me with quite a few, and as long as I have time to spend here I plan to do something with it. I am healthy in both mind and body and plan to continue working for the people of Vaarshire for as long as I live. To be their representative is my cause, my life's work. As long as my heart beats, and as long as the people of Vaarshire elect me, I will work as hard as I can to keep this nation going strong."