Article 8

7/30/07

This is my proposal as an alternative to the National Initiative:

Amendment XXVIII

We the People, hereby establish this Eighth Article to the US Constitution.

Article VIII.

Section 1. The House of the People

Clause 1: The legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in an additional House of the Congress of the United States; the House of the People.

Clause 2: The House of the People shall be composed of the entirety of We the People.

Clause 3: No Person shall be a member of the House of the People who shall not have attained the Age of eighteen Years, and been ten Years a Citizen of the United States.

Clause 4: Each Citizen in the House of the People shall have one Vote.

Clause 5: The House of the People shall in all times be Sitting, and shall not adjourn for any Reason, but does not need to gather physically in order to proceed in Session; nor shall The House of the People have any requirement to call a Quorum to do Business.

Clause 6: The Numbers comprising the Majority and two thirds of The House of the People shall be determined by the most recent Census, or by other method that The House of the People may prescribe by Law.

Clause 7: The House of the People shall choose to expel a Member, but only with the Concurrence of two thirds; however, expulsion from The House of the People shall not be construed to deny or disparage other Rights retained by the Person in question, including, but not limited to, Rights of Citizenship.

Clause 8: The House of the People shall choose the manner by which they will conduct its Rules of Proceedings, and shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same.

Section 2. The Powers of The House of the People

Clause 1: Any Member of The House of the People shall have the power to propose Laws, which upon Majority Vote shall become the Law of the Land, but may not enact any Law in violation of this Constitution, and all Laws enacted Thereof shall be subject to Judicial Review to Test the Constitutionality of such Laws.

Clause 2: The House of the People shall have the Power to overrule any Legislation, Rules, Appointments, Treaties, or Executive Orders issued by the Senate, House of Representatives, or the President of the United States upon reaching a Majority Vote.

Clause 3: The House of the People, as an equal House of Congress, shall have the same legislative Powers as both the House of Representatives and the Senate; but shall not have any of the legislative Powers that are solely reserved to the House of Representatives, or solely reserved to the Senate.

Clause 4: The House of the People shall have the sole Power of Recall of any executive, legislative or civil Officer, but may only Recall such an officer upon reaching Majority Vote; and the power to Recall any elective Officer shall be reserved solely to the Constituents for which the Officeholder in question serves; however, the Power of Recall shall not extend further than the removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party recalled shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Clause 5: The House of the People, whenever two thirds Concur, shall have the Power to enact Amendments to this Constitution.

Clause 6: The Members of the House of the People shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

The Eighth Article Papers, I.

Here I will expand upon some of the language in this proposal.

The Majority of the Language used in this Proposal is lifted directly from the US Constitution, particularly, Article. I. For instance, Section 1, Clause 2 in this Proposal states:

No Person shall be a member of the House of the People who shall not have attained the Age of eighteen Years, and been ten Years a Citizen of the United States.

This Language is taken directly from Article. I., Section. 2., Clause 2 in describing the Requirements for all Members of the House of Representatives:

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

In this way, I searched the entire Constitution for Language to use for this Article. The reasoning being that if similar Language was used, it would not violate the already existing Powers of the Legislature.

Section 1, Clause 1 of this Proposal states:

The House of the People shall be composed of the entirety of We the People.

The reasoning for This should be more than clear. This is to state, as the very first Clause of this Article, that it is the Right of the People to be their own Legislators, and that Right be a Universal Common throughout the United States. At the very least, it should be understood that the Idea and Intension behind the Language of this Clause is for inclusion rather than exclusion.

Section 1, Clause 3 of this Proposal states:

Each Citizen in the House of the People shall have one Vote.

This too, is lifted directly from the US Constitution, in Section. 3., Clause 1:

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

The wisdom of this Language should be clear as well. Establishing a one-person-one-vote prevents against developing a list of Procedures that enables certain Individuals to ascertain for Themselves the Right of Multiple Votes. Such would be a travesty, as it would give undue Power and Influence to Certain People, a problem which is quite a hindrance at Present in our Society at Large. The Fathers of our Constitution were wise enough to prevent this very Thing in their own Houses by establishing a one-person-one-vote limitation, thus preventing the Speaker of the House or People of other positions of Power from gravitating towards unbalanced power or influence.

The Eighth Article Papers, II.

Section 1, Clause 4: The House of the People shall in all times be sitting, and shall not adjourn for any reason, but does not need to gather physically in order to proceed in Session.

The House of the People is an entirely new and truly Revolutionary Idea: to give direct Powers to the People when they chuse to exercise that Power.

However the Idea of a direct democratic form of Government has often been plagued with the limitation of gathering the whole of the People together in one Place at one time. Historically, this has been accomplished by few Societies, but among Them has been the ancient Nation of Athens, and more recently the Sng’ois Peoples of Indonesia.

In a larger Nation, such as our own, consisting of some 300 million Population, gathering such a people over 3,000 Miles from Coast to Coast is likely impossible, and certainly impractical.

For this reason, it would seem that a House of the People should not need to gather physically in one Place in order to participate as Legislators. Because of modern Technology, this could quite easily be accomplished in each and every one of our Homes, participating when We see fit, and not when We are inclined to do so.

However, such a House, existing as such, since it would not gather physically, would not necessarily conduct Itself as the House of Representatives or Senate, such as calling forth a Quorum, and such. Such Procedure would be impractical itself. For this reason, it seems that the House of the People should be in all times sitting, always ready to conduct it’s own Business whenever it sees fit.

However, as the House of the People is a third House of Congress, this runs into some problems of already existing Constitutional Powers. For most appointments by the President, they need be approved by the Senate. The Fathers of our Constitution were wise in that they permitted the President to make short-term appointments for such Persons if the Senate was not in Session. This was established as an emergency Procedure, in case Congress needed to escape Washington in times of War.

Despite the obvious misuse of this Power of the Executive in recent times, it should be concluded that this is a very precise and much needed Safeguard to guarantee the smooth functioning of our Government in times of uncertainty. For this reason, The House of the People, being that they shall always be sitting, does not infringe upon the Executive to exercise such a Power, but it does give the People’s House the ability to reject such an exercise, in case the Executive oversteps it’s bounds.

The Eighth Article Papers, III.

Section 1, Clause 5: The Numbers comprising the majority and two thirds of The House of the People shall be determined by the most recent Census, or by other method that The House of the People shall deem necessary.

A House of the People, consisting of the entirety of the People has certain drawbacks that should be understood, and at the very least, attempted to be overcome.

One of those very drawbacks is the vary Numbers of the People’s House. While the House of Representatives can easily find the majority for their present Members at any one time, this is not the case with the House of the People. One would have to assume that the a House consisting of the entire US Population would grow in size on a daily basis.

The Fathers of our Constitution found themselves in a similar Query, as the House of Representatives is structured to represent the People in an even manner. This is not possible if the State of Vermont, with a 600,000 Population is given the Representation of 10 Seats in the House of Representatives and the State of California, with a 36 million Population is given the Representation of just 2 Seats.

To avoid this dilemma, the Fathers of our Constitution established for the counting of our Population from time to time in order keep the Representative Seats per Population ratios equal. This is established in Article. I., Section. 2., Clause 3:

…The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct…

Since the Constitutionally established Census has been used to no small degree of success for the last 230 Years, it makes sense to utilize this very same method for establishing certain thresholds required by The House of the People in order to determine if the majority of the People have agreed upon the business before them.

In the last Census, taken in the Year of our Lord, Two Thousand, the Census Bureau counted 281,421,906 total US population. If we were to presume that this proposal were in effect, The House of the People, voting 140,710,954 would constitute a majority, while voting 188,552,677 would constitute two thirds.

Calculating precisely what would be needed to reach those numbers is vital to guaranteeing that the will of the People is carried out. Therefore, it is equally as important to structure and stipulate exactly how those requirements are met.

The Eighth Article Papers, IV.

Section 1, Clause 6: The House of the People shall chuse the manner by which they will conduct its Rules of Proceedings, and shall chuse to expel a Member, but only with the Concurrence of two thirds.

This Clause is separated into two Parts, the first giving the House of the People the ability to chuse the Manner by which it may conduct Itself. This is important simply because different Circumstances and Times may call for different approaches towards carrying out its Duties. Similarly, the US Constitution states in Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2:

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

This Power has been available to the other Houses of Congress, and it has served these Bodies well.

Additionally, just as The House of Representatives and The Senate, The House of the People has the ability to expel a Member. This is equally important, to maintain the stability of the Body. Should a Member attempt to corrupt the Processes and functioning of the House of the People, the ability to expel that Member would wisely be made to insure the People’s House continues to Function properly. It would not be wise to give the People’s House the ability to dispel a Member with a simple Majority Vote, as this could very quickly become a Tyranny of the Majority, expelling large Numbers of the Minority opposition in order to gain a stranglehold of Power. For this reason, expelling a Member is no unimportant action, and prudence should always be exercised when deciding such an action. The requirement of two thirds of the Members chusing the expel one Member ensures this prudence.

Unlike the Constitutional Powers of Congress, the House of the People does not have the ability to punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour. One can only estimate that with a Body of 300 Million Members, this Power would be unwieldy at best, and a refuge for Despots at worse. It would be further complicated to determine how such Punishment would be met without infringing upon the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution protection against “cruel and unusual punishments”. For these reasons, this Power is excluded from the House of the People.

Section 1, Clause 7 of this Proposal states:

The House of the People shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same.

Again, this language is lifted directly from the Constitution, here in Article 1, Section 5, Clause 3:

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Obviously, any Language pertaining to some 300 Million Persons exempting Language for reasons of Secrecy would be a very poor kept Secret indeed. A House of the People should have no ability to operate in Secret, but rather should operate in complete Transparency. This is why the People’s House should publish a Record of all it’s Proceedings, so that all its Members may refer to it in order to give them the Wisdom to carry out their Duties.

The Eighth Article Papers, V.

The Powers granted to The House of the People are few in Number, but are in no way minute, fore the People’s House is designed to serve as a check on the Houses of the Senate and Representatives, as well as a check upon unbridled Executive Power, while leaving the Powers already existing in these Fields of Government unhindered from their current Status.

To serve as a Check upon the People’s House is the Judicial Field of Governance, which is completely free to serve as is, and who the People’s House has no ability to interfere. The Court System, for all its flaws, is the least powerful, but the most important Field of Governance. The Judicial system may only react to the Laws passed by Congress, and how those Laws are carried out by the Executive. For this reason, the Courts have served as the primary Arbiter and Protector of Constitutionally guaranteed Rights. For this reason, the Courts stand alone in that they are not touched in any way by this Proposal.

The Houses of the Senate and Representatives has historically faired far more poorly in responding to the needs of the People as the Courts have. Today, Congress is a mockery, filled with a Den of Thieves with Bribes taken without remorse or a moment of pause. For Decades the American People have made many Demands upon their Legislators, only to have their Demands fall on deaf Ears. When the People are properly riled enough to find new Men to fill these roles, the same result occurs: the monied Interests move in, and the Will of the People are once again ignored, if not eviscerated.

The Executive has had a similar Fate, yet is far more troubling, as it has the Power to carry out the Law. This Dynamic has given Presidents of the Past the desire to increase their own Power, at the detriment of the People. Today the American People see a President with the Power near that of a Monarch, the very kind of Tyranny the American People sought to escape when We sought a different Path in 1776 when We did the noble and extraordinary thing of separating from our Mother Country.

For these Reasons, The American People must seek to reestablish the very idea of self-governance: To ensure to Ourselves and our Prosperity, that a Government that truly is “of the People, by the People, and for the People” will never perish from this Earth.

Therefore, Section 2, Clause 1 of this Proposal states:

Any Member of The House of the People shall have the power to propose Laws, which upon Majority Vote shall become the Law of the Land, but may not enact any Law in violation of this Constitution, and all Laws enacted Thereof shall be subject to Judicial Review to Test the Constitutionality of such Laws.

This monumental Power gives the American People the ability to enact their own Legislation without the need of the other Houses of Congress, and without the Signature of the President. The American People can establish the Laws they Demand simply by their own Will; Yet it gives the American People no ability to violate the Rights of the Minority, protected by The Bill of Rights, and while such Laws are legal and binding, they do not supersede the Constitution.

This Power alone has many consequences, and should be used with Prudence, but it virtually eliminates the undemocratic and corrupting Nature of our current Representative Government. It is said that, “Power corrupts; and absolute Power corrupts absolutely,” but it should be noted that the inequality of Power is the Corruptor, and the further that inequality grows, the further the Corruption. The People having a large degree of Power that They can wield above and beyond the current Legislative and Executive Branches can only have a humbling effect upon Them.

The Eighth Article Papers, VI.

Section 2, Clause 2: The House of the People shall have the Power to overrule any Legislation, Rules, Appointments, Treaties, or Executive Orders issued by the Senate, House of Representatives, or the President of the United States upon reaching Majority.

This Clause of this Proposal is equally important as the Previous; While an unrepentant and disloyal Executive may veto Legislation without just cause, the People have virtually no recourse to this Power, particularly when the balance of Power in the Houses of Congress are evenly separated in their Numbers. When one particular political Party holds loyalty to their Party above loyalty to their Country, a President may block Legislation with the veto Pen, and a with Congress not having the Numbers in the Houses of Congress to address the People’s needs, the Nation is left at peril and is forced to wait for the next Election, hoping their Numbers in the Houses of Congress will improve. For this reason, many of the needs of the People go unmet, while the needs of certain Interests are more than satisfied at the expense of the Citizens’ Dime.

Still further, Members of Congress, eager to boast to their Constituents that they have provided federal Funds to their District, have raided the Treasury, resulting in untold Dollars being spent in mindless inefficiency, which at best can be simply reserved as “Pork Barrel”. A Decade ago the Executive sought to establish a selective veto Pen, in what was called, “The Line Item Veto”, in order to cut such inefficiency from Federal Budgets. This was a poor way to manage this Problem, as it would only increase the Power of the Executive. Worse still, this Problem has remained undressed at all, as the Courts have declared this Power unconstitutional.

The only rational solution for this problem would be for the People to address it Themselves, by taking it upon Themselves to have their own veto Pen on any Decision made by the Legislative and Executive. This has several practical applications, such as preventing of such Pork Projects, but additionally, such a Power being held by the People reaches much farther in its importance: fore it establishes The Governed above the Government. Such a power will be the primary way to end all threat of Tyranny and Corruption within Government, and to finally ensure the Happiness of the People.