House of America

The "House of America" is the name given to a controversial proposal for a "fourth" branch of the United States government. The idea, founded by author and poet Justin Haskins from Dover, New Hampshire (who wrote the book "November in New England" and "Saving America"), is to create a law that would establish the right for all American citizens 18 years of age and older to veto any bill after it passes through the United States House of Representatives. According to the proposal, American citizens would have 24 hours after any bill passes through the House of Representatives to veto, or stop the bill from being passed. The proposal would require that at least 20% of the American population vote in order for the veto to be considered valid. If the 24 hour period passes and less than 20% of the population has voted, then the bill would automatically be passed to the United States Senate for further voting. In addition to this, if the American citizens imposed a veto on a bill, the United States Senate could overturn the veto by a two-thirds majority vote.

The creation of the idea

Justin Haskins, an author and poet, was said to have created the article while attending a class on Catholicism at Providence College located in Providence, Rhode Island. After the initial idea was written down on an old notebook, Haskins delivered the message to professors at many universities across the country.

Critics of the "Fourth Branch of Government"

Numerous university professors and political analysts have criticized the idea as radical or impossible to accomplish. One problem many find in the proposal by Haskins is that if 20% of the population is required to actually establish a veto on a bill. A number this large would be extremely difficult to produce. Another common criticism is that the proposal only allows for a 24 hour period to cast a vote for a veto. This is an extremely short period of time for large numbers of people to organize against a bill.

Answering critics

Plenty of those who support the proposal have tried to create answers for all of the problems critics may have with the proposal. When questioned about these criticisms, Haskins replied, "Although there are some serious concerns, the spirit of my proposal is still extremely important. I want to spark conversations about this topic and get people to understand that they could play a larger role in their government if they had a fourth branch of government represented solely by the people. I call this idea the "House of America" because it embodies everything that the idea of America is. This proposal is true democracy. When considering the difficulty of organizing a large number of people, I feel the internet would play a massive role in making this happen. Voters could sign in using personal identification such as driver's licenses or social security numbers on government websites that are monitored for voter fraud. I would also support each state having their own system of counting votes to ensure that corruption does not take place. Would all of these measures be a difficult challenge? The answer is yes. But, will these challenges lead to a shining example of true democracy? The answer again is most certainly yes."

Along with Haskins, other supporters of the proposal claim that any problems that would be encountered when trying to establish a "new branch of government" could easily be fixed.

Haskins and others across the country have been discussing a possible referendum to make this proposal a reality.

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References

1. Haskins, Justin. "November in New England", Barnes and Noble, US 2006