race picks...........

[vmxa1]

I only said it will hurt, not that you could not over come it. I would never pick -pop or money, but money is the lessor of the two evils.
Why would I use them when I have such a painless set of negs to use?
Rep - SD -GC or even LowG -Spy -GC. LowG is not without some costs there so few LowG planets. The Generator is not all that close at 1150RP. It is best for a creative race that is not going to grow all that fast and can wait for the generator.

[vmxa1]

The picks I mentioned will not require you to adjust any proiduction at all. Two of them only impact combat and teh Rep only relations, which you don't need. I have not seen it be much of a hinderance to Leaders.