We need a new person in charge of the thread so that all the updates get thread marked.
New Deal Coalition Retained III: A New World
- Thread starter Redcoat
- Start date
- Status
Actually I was planning on working on that soon. I have the first post in the thread after redcoat (who's now banned) so I'm the most logical person to compile it.
So Trent Lott and Thad Cochran will serve together, but from opposing parties. Nice. Liking how the Natural Law Party got some allies in congress, while the party coalitions are both anomalous and predictable.
Christine Todd Whitman a Rumsfeld staffer? Lol, not surprised.
So the GOP is basically Bundy's party now. Awesome. Shit's gonna get real
Christine Todd Whitman a Rumsfeld staffer? Lol, not surprised.
So the GOP is basically Bundy's party now. Awesome. Shit's gonna get real
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I've been trying to read this TL since Part One, but I always get so bored with american politics.
(Nothing against the writer, it's an impressive work, it's only about my low interest on some elections detailed over there)
So, could someone tell me the "Stuff you need to know before reading Part Two" thingies?
I saw that part of the TL is the most exciting and it covers more foreign issues, so I'd love to read it, but I tried and there's stuff I do not understand.
I'd appreciate it so much, thanks! ^^
(Nothing against the writer, it's an impressive work, it's only about my low interest on some elections detailed over there)
So, could someone tell me the "Stuff you need to know before reading Part Two" thingies?
I saw that part of the TL is the most exciting and it covers more foreign issues, so I'd love to read it, but I tried and there's stuff I do not understand.
I'd appreciate it so much, thanks! ^^
Secretary of Commerce-designate Jeffrey Skilling - former COO of the Enron Corporation (number 8 in the Fortune 500) and top level donor in the Texas GOP - at his confirmation hearing in Washington DC explaining to senators his vision for the Bundy commerce department. Many pundits label Skilling as one of the top gets in the Bundy "Dream Cabinet" including Georgia Governor Clarence Thomas, Senator W. Mitt Romney, and fellow business magnet Donald Trump. Skilling was succeeded as Enron COO by CFO Andrew Fastow.
You're right, I need to find out how to do the wikipedia-style maps with the stripes insted of different color for each combination of parties.
If someone can tell me how to do it, PM me.
I've already talked to the mods about this and they said that the software make it impossible to make someone thread admin. Soon I'll make an update list instead of threadmarking.
Some pictures of the TL's first ladies:
Joyce Rumsfeld with her husband President Donald Rumsfeld at a state dinner for Kaiser Georg in 1992. The Rumsfelds were aged well beyond their years due to the stresses of the war, but still remain active to this day.
Lee and Patricia Iaccoca arriving at the Al Smith Dinner in 1994. The President was considered a bundle of energy - especially considering his active foreign policy agenda. However, after his heart attack he would be under doctor's orders to take it easy, rigorously enforced by the First Lady.
Being a celebrity of the highest order (ranked as the number 2 TV actress - for Friends - in America by Entertainment Tonight after Mariska Hargitay - for Cheers) and being married to one of the most well-known - be it good or ill - politicians in the nation, Jennifer Bundy drew a huge amount of coverage in the press. Though it would make some segments of the country uncomfortable (such as Jerry Falwell's September speech against Television 'debauchery' in which he declined to endorse a candidate or the Citizens for Rockefeller attack ad in the primary), Bundy campaign chairman Alex Jones and RNC Chair Gov. Leon Panetta (R-CA) both used her stardom as a campaign tactic to connect Bundy with younger voters. Mrs. Bundy proved to be more popular than her husband, and was known as a fashion icon upon moving to the WH.
Lee and Patricia Iaccoca arriving at the Al Smith Dinner in 1994. The President was considered a bundle of energy - especially considering his active foreign policy agenda. However, after his heart attack he would be under doctor's orders to take it easy, rigorously enforced by the First Lady.
Being a celebrity of the highest order (ranked as the number 2 TV actress - for Friends - in America by Entertainment Tonight after Mariska Hargitay - for Cheers) and being married to one of the most well-known - be it good or ill - politicians in the nation, Jennifer Bundy drew a huge amount of coverage in the press. Though it would make some segments of the country uncomfortable (such as Jerry Falwell's September speech against Television 'debauchery' in which he declined to endorse a candidate or the Citizens for Rockefeller attack ad in the primary), Bundy campaign chairman Alex Jones and RNC Chair Gov. Leon Panetta (R-CA) both used her stardom as a campaign tactic to connect Bundy with younger voters. Mrs. Bundy proved to be more popular than her husband, and was known as a fashion icon upon moving to the WH.
The Inauguration and Bundy’s “War on Inflation”
Bundy was officially inaugurated the 43th president of the United States on January 20th, 1997. He promised for an era of change, America First, and cutting down on government’s excesses. Overall he won some plaudits and seemed positively presidential. Half way through the speech he paused unexpectedly, seemingly scanning the crowd. He found the person he was looking for in the crowd, wearing a large grin. He mouthed a few words, probably to his mother in the crowd. It’s unknown what he said, though whatever it was, it was worth pausing his inauguration speech for. He continued on with his speech as if nothing happened after only 20 seconds of silence. He railed against European intervention in Brazil, calling them out for violating the Monroe Doctrine. Now that the Second Interwar period had ended, and the Soviet Menace was gone, there was no use in protecting Europe. “Why bother trying to be on their backs when they’re going back to their colonialist ways in South America, our own backyards? And now they’re angry at the Entebbe Pact, former colonial subjects of theirs who can finally stand up to them! Europe needs to clean up their act!” Bundy’s isolationist stance won him the admiration of the anti-Freyist bloc led by Pat Buchanan, and several Richardson and Weaver voters. Indeed Weaver became a surrogate for Bundy on national TV, while Richardson became a major pro-Bundy campaigner in the Northwest, stripping votes from the Progs. America was getting a taste of Bundy’s presidency, starting with his dedication to ending America’s currency problem.
----
Well well well. She showed up. That bitch was here. It didn’t take long to find her up in the front, what with her stupid white fur coat. He wondered for a while if he knew her sugar daddy, but thought nothing of it. “Fuck you Steffy.” His lips barely moved, and he made not a sound, but she realized he was looking at her, and figured out what he said. She nearly squirmed in her seat. “Look at me, I’m the goddamn president now.” He smirked, and went back to his speech without skipping a beat. He had ideas for Washington.
The Inauguration
---
Bundy knew that the Republicans’ most popular economic attack on the Democrats was their “creation” of inflation through high government spending, regardless of whether true or not. Bundy most definetly believed it, though. That being said, the question of what to cut, and how to cut it without seeming “heartless”, dominated Bundy’s mind. What came to his mind was his political philosophy, Bundyism.
Secretary Trump, meanwhile, had achieved success post-war in construction by cutting costs better than his competitors and watching his margins. He had also grown to hate working with the “Washington Alphabet Soup of Agencies” which were often too small to be helpful, but too big to be ignored.
Bundy decided to focused on privatization, which he believed would kill two stones at once. While eliminating wasteful spending, it also had a positive message. All the privatized industries would be made available to invest on the stock market for any individual. The SEC had instituted under Iacocca (in the Chafee-Byrd Act), certain rules that forced privatized industries to allow a more diverse pool of investors under certain conditions. “The People” would still own these newly privatized industries. In addition, entering the free market would force these companies to be more innovative and competitive, and allow other companies to emerge as competitors. Bundy also planned to use Trump, the successful businessman and dynamic personality, to sell his programs on TV.
Bundy agreed with Trump that the best way to get these privatizations through Congress was to pass through each bill legislation that 7% of all savings would be shifted into AmCare subsidies to support insurance for the needy. While more hardcore liberty conservatives felt squeamish endorsing AmCare, they knew that this would attract more moderate votes, even if some considered this a pittance. This also allowed the administration in official memos to emphasize that “to deal with inflation and the deficit it is better to eliminate wasteful departments than AmCare or CaseyCare”.
Trump explaining the 7% scheme.
Choosing the agencies to “turn private” would be a political task within itself. Some agencies were ready for the chopping block as it was. A report by the “Beautiful New York Times”, found that TVA has rejected minority applicants for any executive positions as indicated in a secret internal memo. While the Tennessee GOP opposed this, Ross Perot and the Progressives, knowing they could never compete in that state and wanting to seem like a uniting force in congress after the last couple idea, wholeheartedly endorsed the idea. Not to mention that this made the Democrats look like defenders of racism, cronyism, and pork, which forced Northern Communonationalists in the house to flip their votes. Newly-elected Senator Bredesen threatened to filibuster, but Left Wing Progressives agreed to vote for cloture, even if they didn’t support the Pataki-Jordan bill in the final vote.
The TVA would become the first privatized agency, and would enter the NYSE as the Tennessee Energy and Investment Corporation. Under the leadership of Paul Allen, it would become the dominant nuclear and hydroelectric power corporation in the United States and the Tennessee Valley would not be negatively effected by the privatization, as some had feared.
Paul Allen visiting one of his plants
Many Southerners were furious about the TVA, the Pride of FDR, being privatized. They complained that while poor Tennessee was being abandoned, wealthy New York after all was being supported with the St. Lawrence Seaway Corporation, and Republicans just wanted to “Keep the South Poor” (Al Gore 1996). Jesse Helms said, “We should eliminate the Eisenhower Baby St. Lawrence Seaway Corporation while we’re at it”. Bundy challenged these Democrats “You keep screaming that, to be fair, we have to privatize the SLSC. I agree, why should the South be the only home of innovation? Let’s keep moving forward!” Secretary Trump said “the Empire State makes New York Great, the SLSC sucks, and it makes New York suck, like those knockoff watch sellers in Manhattan”.
Led by Jesse Helms in the Senate, the “Robertson Democrats” or as some derogatorily called them “Bundycrats” and “DINOs”, worked with the Republicans to move forward with the Helms-Buchanan Bill (originally to be the Helms-Pataki bill, but Pataki feared a local backlash). This new corporation, named the New York Infrastructure FIRM, would prove far less successful than the TVIC, eventually folding in 2007, but the deficit was still cut.
But Bundy was far from done.
According to research done by Joseph Wilson, the US Trade Rep, government subsidies both in the US and abroad were contributing to the length of the trade war. One very demonstrative example emerged in the summer of 1996, when a trade agreement between the UK and India had completely fallen apart due to Indian refusal to end export price supports for a small emerging scooter industry and British refusal to end loans towards exporting lorry firms. Subsidies helped keep the world trade network closed thanks to retaliatory tariffs that they evoked in response.
Subsidies helped Indian scooters like these dominate the market, but caused other headaches
Joseph Wilson and Bundy believed that the best way to end trade warfare was to end government involvement in trade, period, and that meant privatizing the Export-Import Bank. The Export-Import bank also was notorious for avoiding loans to smaller businesses in favor of large corporations with donor power, especially after the GM Scandal. In addition, it had been greatly sidelined by the IDFC (International infrastructure Development Finance Corporation) which had administered the Schwartzkopf Plan.
The IDFC focused on supporting US firms in their attempts to win project contracts in the fields of transportation, electricity generation, and telecommunications in poorer/developing American allies, although its budget and mandate were slowly shrinking with the winding down of the Schwatzkopf Plan, as planned by Iacocca. Since the larger Schwartzkopf Plan was not finished, IDFC was not touched. It also had an incredibly specific mandate, which Bundy liked. In addition, Bundy wanted to keep the remaining independent South American states to remain close to the USA and the IDFC kept many countries “Attached to the Hip” with the USA. Lastly, many liberal R’s had been pushing for a more broad and values-focused replacement, which Bundy was vehemently opposed to, and thus wanted to keep the IDFC out of the picture.
Dam built in Venezuela using financing from the IDFC to secure a contract
Bundy spoke at the Southern Steelworkers’ Convention in Tallahassee in 1996 and attacked the Export-Import bank as “a tool of the DC cronies that will rob from the working man to give to the managerial class, who will use this money to ship your jobs overseas”, which was greeted with the chant “No More Handouts” by a crowd that mostly didn't like international trade, period. This televised spectacle shocked many southern senators. While Bundy faced rather united opposition from Big-Money Republican Moderates lead by Christine Todd Whitman. In an odd twist, Southern Communonationalists and "Conservadems", lead by Trent Lott, ever protective of the “Solid South” pushed the privatization of the Export-Import Bank into the American Trade Bank (as a private corporation) in the Buchanan-Lott Bill harder than many Republicans. While some believe that this move hindered US exporters at the time, it was seen as a sign that Bundy might just end the trade war.
Anti EXIM campaign button
Wellstone, while left-wing economically, was furious about the past administrations policies regarding the separation of the church and state with regards to the Endowment for the Arts (whose main funding had gone towards rebuilding churches), Endowment for the Humanities (which had moved towards Bible History), and the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which had featured messages Wellstone considered “overtly religious”. Wellstone worked with Senator Margaret Heckler, Mitt Romney’s replacement,to draft a bill titled the “Freedom of Information Act” which would end support for the arts and humanities and sell the assets of the CPB (thus avoiding the privatization requirements put into place by Iacocca). It also established the National Archives Media (Audio and Visual Recordings collected and donated to the National Archives) as within the public domain. Many ardent Communonationalists, led by George Wallace Jr. fought tooth and nail in the House and Senate. However, Perot, seeking to “patch up” relations with the Left Wing of the Progressives and build relations with the President, whipped up near total support in the progressive caucus, that stopped a George Wallace Jr. filibuster.
Many feared that without PBS and NPR the airwaves would be devoid of educational and children's programming. Many mothers started wondering whether TV was safe for their children. However, these fears were muted when the PBS assets were bought up by MGM to help build the “Fifth Network” in a partnership with Ted Turner, named MGM TV. This Network would emphasize “quality entertainment”- Educational content for children and adults alike, classic MGM movies, BBC-Style Miniseries, and Sports (with arrangements with Turner to ensure competition was family friendly). Soap Operas, Dramas, and Comedies, while classic TV staples, would be avoided, as there was already too much competition in these spheres and hits were unlikely, especially with viewers moving towards cable. Thankfully for MGM, there was a “hidden viewer” who according to the NYT “was sick of the trash on TV”. A movement to “educate oneself” had emerged post-war, and this greatly benefited MGM TV. Individual PBS stations like WLIW and WNET in New York City, and to a lesser extent a semi-successful KCET in LA, (though for the latter that was based on the city’s economic condition), were able to stay solvent as educational television with PBS branded shows. Popular shows like Nature and Frontline continued being aired on other publicly funded (though now private) sources.
The Logo of MGM TV, The Fifth Network
AmeriRail, the Nationalized Passenger Train Service established under Wallace, was failing. WWIII had destroyed many rails, and since freight traffic had priority, service stopped to a halt. Iacocca, decided to focus on roads, highways, and bridges over railways. A bipartisan coalition and built around local public transit, like with Governor Rockefeller in New York, but interstate rail did not seem viable, especially outside of the NorthEast Corridor. Bundy knew that AmeriRail was bleeding money, unpopular, and dying. However, because of opposition from Northeast Republicans in the senate, it looked like privatization would finally halt as the final vote tally looked to be 51-49 against. However, Bundy had an odd ally who showed up in his time of need: Owen Bieber. As a representative of the Auto Workers’ Unions, Bieber had feared the prospect of a post-war public transportation boom. Bundy made a last minute phone call with the man out of desperation, and reminded him of their mutual interest. The “Liberal’s Liberal”, who had, and would, vote against every other privatization bill, voted in favor of this bill. AmeriRail would be split by various investment firms. High capital costs would keep passenger rail out of business during the early 00’s, but freight rail would see a renaissance, transporting the raw materials and goods needed for the industrial boom, in part because of less time competition with passenger traffic and deregulation. Mass transit would be relatively unaffected, as it was, and remained, a primarily state-wide issue, with limited coordination between states.
Trains like these were re-purposed by local governments for mass transit
This “selling spree” would follow with the elimination of the Small Business Administration, created by Eisenhower in 1952. This agency would give loans to small businesses that couldn't receive loans from private lenders. However, post war it had continued to fund unsuccessful business ideas and reports on its success rate made it look pathetic. In addition, labor leaders disliked that it had a record of favoring non-union firms. It also had a reputation for subsidizing banks, which had done quite well thanks to the housing boom post-war, unlike other secotrs. While Democrats were nearly unanimously opposed at first, Bundy managed to convince the entire Republican Caucus, and the non uber-left Progressives to vote in favor of abolishing the agency, after attaching a rider that legalized the sale of US Oil overseas (which the energy lobby had desired greatly). The issue of post-disaster loans nearly derailed the process, but Mark Warner attached an important rider. Post-disaster loans were to be designated as the responsibility of individual states and their “rainy day funds”. However, voting was tight throughout, as some centrist Progressives wavered. But then, a few Southern “BundyCrats” allowed the bill to survive in the house, especially after Zell Miller, who supported the measure, reminded them that it was Ike, the man who enforced Earl Warren’s commands, who created the agency in the first place. This was enough to signal the death of the SBA. Of all the privatizations, the SBA had the largest effect on the budget.
Zell Miller announcing that the Democratic Georgia Delegation would endorse the privatization of the SBA, many suspected that his public position on this was the result of Bundy signing an executive order two days into his administration approving Coca Cola as the exclusive beverage provider on federal property
While Bundy had other privatization ideas, he knew that he did not have enough of a mandate to execute them immediately, after the tight votes. He would have to remember “Triangulation First” and started up drawing plans to deal with the drug crisis. Also, most government expenditures were either for entitlements or in the military budget. Bundy now looked towards the “Military Industrial Complex", for further budget, and more importantly currency, relief…
In a speech at Gettysburg College, Bundy cited Eisenhower’s farewell speech and attacked the military industrial complex. “We must give up the gun for the ploughshare...Every dollar spent on death could be invested in new and innovative solutions to end hunger, poverty, and joblessness instead of dumped into a soulless, wasteful, and ancient military procurement budget”.
(coming soon…)
Bundy was officially inaugurated the 43th president of the United States on January 20th, 1997. He promised for an era of change, America First, and cutting down on government’s excesses. Overall he won some plaudits and seemed positively presidential. Half way through the speech he paused unexpectedly, seemingly scanning the crowd. He found the person he was looking for in the crowd, wearing a large grin. He mouthed a few words, probably to his mother in the crowd. It’s unknown what he said, though whatever it was, it was worth pausing his inauguration speech for. He continued on with his speech as if nothing happened after only 20 seconds of silence. He railed against European intervention in Brazil, calling them out for violating the Monroe Doctrine. Now that the Second Interwar period had ended, and the Soviet Menace was gone, there was no use in protecting Europe. “Why bother trying to be on their backs when they’re going back to their colonialist ways in South America, our own backyards? And now they’re angry at the Entebbe Pact, former colonial subjects of theirs who can finally stand up to them! Europe needs to clean up their act!” Bundy’s isolationist stance won him the admiration of the anti-Freyist bloc led by Pat Buchanan, and several Richardson and Weaver voters. Indeed Weaver became a surrogate for Bundy on national TV, while Richardson became a major pro-Bundy campaigner in the Northwest, stripping votes from the Progs. America was getting a taste of Bundy’s presidency, starting with his dedication to ending America’s currency problem.
----
Well well well. She showed up. That bitch was here. It didn’t take long to find her up in the front, what with her stupid white fur coat. He wondered for a while if he knew her sugar daddy, but thought nothing of it. “Fuck you Steffy.” His lips barely moved, and he made not a sound, but she realized he was looking at her, and figured out what he said. She nearly squirmed in her seat. “Look at me, I’m the goddamn president now.” He smirked, and went back to his speech without skipping a beat. He had ideas for Washington.
The Inauguration
---
Bundy knew that the Republicans’ most popular economic attack on the Democrats was their “creation” of inflation through high government spending, regardless of whether true or not. Bundy most definetly believed it, though. That being said, the question of what to cut, and how to cut it without seeming “heartless”, dominated Bundy’s mind. What came to his mind was his political philosophy, Bundyism.
Secretary Trump, meanwhile, had achieved success post-war in construction by cutting costs better than his competitors and watching his margins. He had also grown to hate working with the “Washington Alphabet Soup of Agencies” which were often too small to be helpful, but too big to be ignored.
Bundy decided to focused on privatization, which he believed would kill two stones at once. While eliminating wasteful spending, it also had a positive message. All the privatized industries would be made available to invest on the stock market for any individual. The SEC had instituted under Iacocca (in the Chafee-Byrd Act), certain rules that forced privatized industries to allow a more diverse pool of investors under certain conditions. “The People” would still own these newly privatized industries. In addition, entering the free market would force these companies to be more innovative and competitive, and allow other companies to emerge as competitors. Bundy also planned to use Trump, the successful businessman and dynamic personality, to sell his programs on TV.
Bundy agreed with Trump that the best way to get these privatizations through Congress was to pass through each bill legislation that 7% of all savings would be shifted into AmCare subsidies to support insurance for the needy. While more hardcore liberty conservatives felt squeamish endorsing AmCare, they knew that this would attract more moderate votes, even if some considered this a pittance. This also allowed the administration in official memos to emphasize that “to deal with inflation and the deficit it is better to eliminate wasteful departments than AmCare or CaseyCare”.
Trump explaining the 7% scheme.
Choosing the agencies to “turn private” would be a political task within itself. Some agencies were ready for the chopping block as it was. A report by the “Beautiful New York Times”, found that TVA has rejected minority applicants for any executive positions as indicated in a secret internal memo. While the Tennessee GOP opposed this, Ross Perot and the Progressives, knowing they could never compete in that state and wanting to seem like a uniting force in congress after the last couple idea, wholeheartedly endorsed the idea. Not to mention that this made the Democrats look like defenders of racism, cronyism, and pork, which forced Northern Communonationalists in the house to flip their votes. Newly-elected Senator Bredesen threatened to filibuster, but Left Wing Progressives agreed to vote for cloture, even if they didn’t support the Pataki-Jordan bill in the final vote.
The TVA would become the first privatized agency, and would enter the NYSE as the Tennessee Energy and Investment Corporation. Under the leadership of Paul Allen, it would become the dominant nuclear and hydroelectric power corporation in the United States and the Tennessee Valley would not be negatively effected by the privatization, as some had feared.
Paul Allen visiting one of his plants
Many Southerners were furious about the TVA, the Pride of FDR, being privatized. They complained that while poor Tennessee was being abandoned, wealthy New York after all was being supported with the St. Lawrence Seaway Corporation, and Republicans just wanted to “Keep the South Poor” (Al Gore 1996). Jesse Helms said, “We should eliminate the Eisenhower Baby St. Lawrence Seaway Corporation while we’re at it”. Bundy challenged these Democrats “You keep screaming that, to be fair, we have to privatize the SLSC. I agree, why should the South be the only home of innovation? Let’s keep moving forward!” Secretary Trump said “the Empire State makes New York Great, the SLSC sucks, and it makes New York suck, like those knockoff watch sellers in Manhattan”.
Led by Jesse Helms in the Senate, the “Robertson Democrats” or as some derogatorily called them “Bundycrats” and “DINOs”, worked with the Republicans to move forward with the Helms-Buchanan Bill (originally to be the Helms-Pataki bill, but Pataki feared a local backlash). This new corporation, named the New York Infrastructure FIRM, would prove far less successful than the TVIC, eventually folding in 2007, but the deficit was still cut.
But Bundy was far from done.
According to research done by Joseph Wilson, the US Trade Rep, government subsidies both in the US and abroad were contributing to the length of the trade war. One very demonstrative example emerged in the summer of 1996, when a trade agreement between the UK and India had completely fallen apart due to Indian refusal to end export price supports for a small emerging scooter industry and British refusal to end loans towards exporting lorry firms. Subsidies helped keep the world trade network closed thanks to retaliatory tariffs that they evoked in response.
Subsidies helped Indian scooters like these dominate the market, but caused other headaches
Joseph Wilson and Bundy believed that the best way to end trade warfare was to end government involvement in trade, period, and that meant privatizing the Export-Import Bank. The Export-Import bank also was notorious for avoiding loans to smaller businesses in favor of large corporations with donor power, especially after the GM Scandal. In addition, it had been greatly sidelined by the IDFC (International infrastructure Development Finance Corporation) which had administered the Schwartzkopf Plan.
The IDFC focused on supporting US firms in their attempts to win project contracts in the fields of transportation, electricity generation, and telecommunications in poorer/developing American allies, although its budget and mandate were slowly shrinking with the winding down of the Schwatzkopf Plan, as planned by Iacocca. Since the larger Schwartzkopf Plan was not finished, IDFC was not touched. It also had an incredibly specific mandate, which Bundy liked. In addition, Bundy wanted to keep the remaining independent South American states to remain close to the USA and the IDFC kept many countries “Attached to the Hip” with the USA. Lastly, many liberal R’s had been pushing for a more broad and values-focused replacement, which Bundy was vehemently opposed to, and thus wanted to keep the IDFC out of the picture.
Dam built in Venezuela using financing from the IDFC to secure a contract
Bundy spoke at the Southern Steelworkers’ Convention in Tallahassee in 1996 and attacked the Export-Import bank as “a tool of the DC cronies that will rob from the working man to give to the managerial class, who will use this money to ship your jobs overseas”, which was greeted with the chant “No More Handouts” by a crowd that mostly didn't like international trade, period. This televised spectacle shocked many southern senators. While Bundy faced rather united opposition from Big-Money Republican Moderates lead by Christine Todd Whitman. In an odd twist, Southern Communonationalists and "Conservadems", lead by Trent Lott, ever protective of the “Solid South” pushed the privatization of the Export-Import Bank into the American Trade Bank (as a private corporation) in the Buchanan-Lott Bill harder than many Republicans. While some believe that this move hindered US exporters at the time, it was seen as a sign that Bundy might just end the trade war.
Anti EXIM campaign button
Wellstone, while left-wing economically, was furious about the past administrations policies regarding the separation of the church and state with regards to the Endowment for the Arts (whose main funding had gone towards rebuilding churches), Endowment for the Humanities (which had moved towards Bible History), and the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which had featured messages Wellstone considered “overtly religious”. Wellstone worked with Senator Margaret Heckler, Mitt Romney’s replacement,to draft a bill titled the “Freedom of Information Act” which would end support for the arts and humanities and sell the assets of the CPB (thus avoiding the privatization requirements put into place by Iacocca). It also established the National Archives Media (Audio and Visual Recordings collected and donated to the National Archives) as within the public domain. Many ardent Communonationalists, led by George Wallace Jr. fought tooth and nail in the House and Senate. However, Perot, seeking to “patch up” relations with the Left Wing of the Progressives and build relations with the President, whipped up near total support in the progressive caucus, that stopped a George Wallace Jr. filibuster.
Many feared that without PBS and NPR the airwaves would be devoid of educational and children's programming. Many mothers started wondering whether TV was safe for their children. However, these fears were muted when the PBS assets were bought up by MGM to help build the “Fifth Network” in a partnership with Ted Turner, named MGM TV. This Network would emphasize “quality entertainment”- Educational content for children and adults alike, classic MGM movies, BBC-Style Miniseries, and Sports (with arrangements with Turner to ensure competition was family friendly). Soap Operas, Dramas, and Comedies, while classic TV staples, would be avoided, as there was already too much competition in these spheres and hits were unlikely, especially with viewers moving towards cable. Thankfully for MGM, there was a “hidden viewer” who according to the NYT “was sick of the trash on TV”. A movement to “educate oneself” had emerged post-war, and this greatly benefited MGM TV. Individual PBS stations like WLIW and WNET in New York City, and to a lesser extent a semi-successful KCET in LA, (though for the latter that was based on the city’s economic condition), were able to stay solvent as educational television with PBS branded shows. Popular shows like Nature and Frontline continued being aired on other publicly funded (though now private) sources.
The Logo of MGM TV, The Fifth Network
AmeriRail, the Nationalized Passenger Train Service established under Wallace, was failing. WWIII had destroyed many rails, and since freight traffic had priority, service stopped to a halt. Iacocca, decided to focus on roads, highways, and bridges over railways. A bipartisan coalition and built around local public transit, like with Governor Rockefeller in New York, but interstate rail did not seem viable, especially outside of the NorthEast Corridor. Bundy knew that AmeriRail was bleeding money, unpopular, and dying. However, because of opposition from Northeast Republicans in the senate, it looked like privatization would finally halt as the final vote tally looked to be 51-49 against. However, Bundy had an odd ally who showed up in his time of need: Owen Bieber. As a representative of the Auto Workers’ Unions, Bieber had feared the prospect of a post-war public transportation boom. Bundy made a last minute phone call with the man out of desperation, and reminded him of their mutual interest. The “Liberal’s Liberal”, who had, and would, vote against every other privatization bill, voted in favor of this bill. AmeriRail would be split by various investment firms. High capital costs would keep passenger rail out of business during the early 00’s, but freight rail would see a renaissance, transporting the raw materials and goods needed for the industrial boom, in part because of less time competition with passenger traffic and deregulation. Mass transit would be relatively unaffected, as it was, and remained, a primarily state-wide issue, with limited coordination between states.
Trains like these were re-purposed by local governments for mass transit
This “selling spree” would follow with the elimination of the Small Business Administration, created by Eisenhower in 1952. This agency would give loans to small businesses that couldn't receive loans from private lenders. However, post war it had continued to fund unsuccessful business ideas and reports on its success rate made it look pathetic. In addition, labor leaders disliked that it had a record of favoring non-union firms. It also had a reputation for subsidizing banks, which had done quite well thanks to the housing boom post-war, unlike other secotrs. While Democrats were nearly unanimously opposed at first, Bundy managed to convince the entire Republican Caucus, and the non uber-left Progressives to vote in favor of abolishing the agency, after attaching a rider that legalized the sale of US Oil overseas (which the energy lobby had desired greatly). The issue of post-disaster loans nearly derailed the process, but Mark Warner attached an important rider. Post-disaster loans were to be designated as the responsibility of individual states and their “rainy day funds”. However, voting was tight throughout, as some centrist Progressives wavered. But then, a few Southern “BundyCrats” allowed the bill to survive in the house, especially after Zell Miller, who supported the measure, reminded them that it was Ike, the man who enforced Earl Warren’s commands, who created the agency in the first place. This was enough to signal the death of the SBA. Of all the privatizations, the SBA had the largest effect on the budget.
Zell Miller announcing that the Democratic Georgia Delegation would endorse the privatization of the SBA, many suspected that his public position on this was the result of Bundy signing an executive order two days into his administration approving Coca Cola as the exclusive beverage provider on federal property
While Bundy had other privatization ideas, he knew that he did not have enough of a mandate to execute them immediately, after the tight votes. He would have to remember “Triangulation First” and started up drawing plans to deal with the drug crisis. Also, most government expenditures were either for entitlements or in the military budget. Bundy now looked towards the “Military Industrial Complex", for further budget, and more importantly currency, relief…
In a speech at Gettysburg College, Bundy cited Eisenhower’s farewell speech and attacked the military industrial complex. “We must give up the gun for the ploughshare...Every dollar spent on death could be invested in new and innovative solutions to end hunger, poverty, and joblessness instead of dumped into a soulless, wasteful, and ancient military procurement budget”.
(coming soon…)
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I just find the pic hilarious.
Essentially doomsday scenario trolling come true in otl.
So Bundy's privatizing government services, huh? Sure, that couldn't possibly go wrong for anyone...
BTW, was the POV scene of Bundy mentally gloating to his ex really necessary?
BTW, was the POV scene of Bundy mentally gloating to his ex really necessary?
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waiting for the prices to go up, the quality of the services going down and in general people being screwed over more than usual.
Oh boy, Bundy is getting some serious shit done! So awesome, and Trump is probably the best face to sell it.
Things are gonna get so rowdy with the foreign policy updates!
Things are gonna get so rowdy with the foreign policy updates!
Bundy's... personality will shape the modern world in ways even he wouldn't imagine - though he'd be so delighted at how it does. The ones at the top will realize only too late the ramifications of it
Oh we just decided to add a tiny part about that. It refers to Ms. Brooks, Bundy's ex-girlfriend and what some say is the trigger for his murders. All his victims followed her general profile...TTL after she parts ways with him she marries into money and shows up near the front of the inauguration crowd. IOTL after the break up he went to law school and seemingly was on the beginning of a great law career. He even worked on the re-election campaign of Dan Evans. He rekindled his relationship with her, but dumped her after about two months out of nowhere, so she could feel his pain. He stopped going to law school, and his killings began. TTL he continues with law school and becomes a great campaign manager. The rest is history, but Bundy never forgets his rejection by Ms. Brooks...Even when he's president.
So is this all going to lead up to a sitting (or impeached) president being put on trial for being a serial killer, followed by a massive backlash against his policies?
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