Hi Everyone,
I am posting my website, Fourth Branch, http://www.fourthbranch.us, for you to take a look at. I have recently been asking a lot of questions and searching on the forums and have benefited greatly from everyone's input. I figure here is as good a place as any to announce the launch of our website in its beta state. If anyone is interested in seeing how we used Drupal to build a social network around US Legislation, check out the site. A lot isn't done and many things are unrefined, but we went straight for core functionality first just to launch.
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Do you know what is being voted on and passed in Congress?
Do you know what your money is being spent on?
Do you know who the biggest contributors to the political parties are?
The volume of legislation that is voted on and signed is enormous. Often this amount is so large that the necessary government officials are barely able to read it. Recently, not a single member of the US Congress was able to read the entire American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Economic Stimulus Bill), totaling over 1,000 pages in length and costing nearly $1 trillion dollars! This can lead to dangerous "pork barrel" legislation slipping by that benefits only certain groups or individuals and not the people as a whole.
Fourth Branch gives the power to the people. It allows you to easily search through complex legislation, participate in active discussions, and cast your vote on what matters most. You can also see campaign and party donations, US spending of tax dollars, and relative news articles from credible sources. We encourage all people and political officials to be active on our site, including President Barack Obama.
We are calling you to action! Be the eyes and ears for your political leaders! Let no bill go by unnoticed. Sign-up, use the tools, and engage in conversation. Find people with the same interests and rally together. Provide your representatives the information they need to make sound decisions. Support them when they're right, hold them accountable when they're not.
Above all, this is meant to provide meaningful insight back to our government and the people we entrust with decision making. It will be educational, easy to use, and fun. In order for Fourth Branch to be successful and receive the proper funding for continued development, we need a large user base with meaningful discussion and feedback.
Please pass this along to everyone you know! It is vital for our future. With enough users, it will be impossible to ignore our voices or pass any laws without us scrutinizing it first. After all, we are the fourth branch of government.
Thank you, and we can't wait for you to join us in this effort!
"Government should be participatory. Public engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions"
-President Barack Obama
Sincerely Yours,
Kris Neuharth and Ryan Manley
