To the President and the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee:
My staff have been reporting disturbing whispers about foreign conspiracies. Might I recommend that our new chief of intelligence direct the FBI to investigate and neutralize the sources of this unrest, to help unify our nation?
- Gen. MacArthur
((Between random events and the "fractured government" penalty, our National Unity has taken a decent-sized hit this year. If we ever want Heavy Industry Emphasis, we probably need to switch our domestic spies to the Raise National Unity mission. Not my department, I know, but I haven't seen anyone else address the issue yet.))
Senator Thomas, I would support your bill if you instead of Cancelling our current IC and boat builds you moved them down the production list so that we won't lose the process we currently have on them.
"I'm glad to see the Senator believes he knows better than the US Military's Chiefs of Staff what the Military requires!"
~Admiral Standley
((Edit the name of the bill. My character's surname has an e on the end.))
"I'm glad to see the Senator believes he knows better than the US Military's Chiefs of Staff what the Military requires!"
~Admiral Standley
Senators Rudolf and Sinclaire,
Though I am generally pleased with your budget thus far, I have several issues which I need resolved before I can endorse it.
Industrial Policy: I'm sure that you have already considered this approach, but I would like to remind you that subsidizing factories to produce consumer goods would save us 24.48 IC and enable us to construct more bases in the Pacific - or my RRC (see below).
Intelligence Policy: Given the steady erosion of our nation's unity over the past year, it would be advisable to direct the FBI to increase our national unity by disrupting conspiracies - both foreign and domestic - against our democratic system of governance.
Research: I have no quarrel with the technologies you recommend - indeed, I plan to research them myself once we have sufficient resources; my main concern is that I was not consulted in this process. If you intend to publish such a detailed research schedule in future budgets (which I personally advise against, as , could you please consult with me and the other Chiefs of Staff beforehand? Doing so would help us better align our needs with your budgets, and would help you gain our endorsements (and thus, Congressional support) more easily.
Production: My main issue with your budget bill is that the second RRC that I requested is not mentioned in your budget, and I can only assume that you have no plans to produce it this year in light of your statement that "we should only produce airplanes and buildings" this year. While I am willing to delay the production of the second RRC's armored brigade until we have better designs available, I must insist that you permit me to build the infantry and artillery components of the RRC.
These 4 divisions - each consisting of 3 infantry brigades and an artillery regiment - would provide us with significant practical experience, greatly speeding our research. furthermore, if you subsidize industrial production of consumer goods (as I have recommended above), the IC necessary for the production of these brigades would be almost entirely offset by the cost savings from subsidizing consumer production (this would cost 24.71 IC over 280 days, producing 2 series of 2 divisions).
I ask that you carefully consider my requests - particularly my request for my second RRC - so that I can support the final draft of your bill in good conscience.
Sincerely,
General Douglas MacArthur,
Chief of Staff, United States Army
General MacArthur,
Thank you for your feedback, with regard to the issues you have raised
Industrial Policy: Actually I was unaware of this approach, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with how we would go about subsidizing factories. However, if it produces a net gain in IC available for production it has my full support.
Intelligence Policy: Agreed
Production: If the subsidization of production does produce the net 25 IC gain I would be happy to devote it to your RRC. However, as mentioned both our Artillery and Armor need time to be modernized before we produce more. Would it not be wiser to spend this year planning better ways to construct these units while focusing on strengthening our modern air force? In conclusion, we could produce more infantry, but I would be opposed but persuadable to producing armor and artillery.
My apologies if I have offended the Chiefs with this budget, my intent was not to pass then by. I will be sure to keep this in mind in the future. As always, feel free to contact me with suggestions.
Thomas Rudolf [R-OH]
Senator Rudolf,
I recognize your concerns about the inefficiency of producing obsolete artillery. That said, we ultimately plan to upgrade these artillery regiments to use self-propelled guns rather than traditional, stationary pieces; Army engineers have assured me that we can outfit these new regiments with the latest weaponry for no extra charge during the upgrade process. Our primary concern, besides obtaining the practical knowledge necessary for the development of these new artillery guns, is to ensure that we have a base of trained artillerymen ready for deployment when we do obtain these new weapons.
- General MacArthur
((The "subsidization of factories" is just my term for switching to Consumer Product Orientation under Industrial Policy. I'm honestly not sure how it logically frees up more IC - presumably, you become more efficient at making consumer products, and thus need fewer factories to make the same amount of goods - but that's why I'm the Army Minister and not the President. :laugh)
After consultation, I agree that a Consumer Product Orientation would increase our available IC by ~25. As for the artillery, I'll trust in your expertise in this matter. The RRD and Consumer products focus will be added to the final version of the bill.
-Sen. Thomas Rudolf, [R-OH]
((doh! I've never even bothered looking at the policies! We should have done this last year!))
To the President and the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee:
My staff have been reporting disturbing whispers about foreign conspiracies. Might I recommend that our new chief of intelligence direct the FBI to investigate and neutralize the sources of this unrest, to help unify our nation?
- Gen. MacArthur
((Between random events and the "fractured government" penalty, our National Unity has taken a decent-sized hit this year. If we ever want Heavy Industry Emphasis, we probably need to switch our domestic spies to the Raise National Unity mission. Not my department, I know, but I haven't seen anyone else address the issue yet.))