Defining Congressional Oversight of Trump, Supreme Court
“Oversight is usually oriented to successfully investigating a specific issue or creating a general environment of accountability,” states a gov’t review.
Top Democratic Senator May Be Charged With Corruption
By Cliff Montgomery – Mar. 13th, 2015 The Justice Department may soon file corruption charges against Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s ranking member, CNN stated on…
Mass Surveillance And Civil Rights
By Cliff Montgomery – Feb. 26th, 2015Even though “targeted lawful interception [of information about suspected individuals] constitutes a necessary and legitimate instrument of intelligence and law enforcement agencies, mass surveillance…
GOP Official Pleads Gulity To Misuse Of Campaign Funds
By Cliff Montgomery – Feb. 18th, 2015Republican campaign operative Tyler Harber pleaded guilty on Feb. 12th to an illegal misuse of federal campaign funds. The actual charge is said to…
Who Is Regulating Bankers And Traders
By Cliff Montgomery – Feb. 8th, 2015Ever wonder who is supposed to be watching over U.S. bankers and securities traders? A recent, easy-to-understand report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS)…
Oxfam Report On Wealth Inequality
By Cliff Montgomery – Jan. 31st, 2015“80 people now have the same wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population, down from 388 in 2010,” according to a recent…
Justice System Officers And Us Communities
By Cliff Montgomery – Jan. 28th, 2015The current rift between those who make up our justice system – police officers, judges, prison guards – and a number of American communities…
Fusion Center Calls For Greater Police Secrecy
By Cliff Montgomery – Jan. 19th, 2015An intelligence fusion center in Colorado has quietly issued a bulletin intended “to help law enforcement officers and military personnel to minimize their social…
Gao Study On Cost Of Subcontractors
By Cliff Montgomery – Dec. 30th, 2014“Concerns remain that the government [may] overpay contractors that provide no, or little, added value for work performed by lower-tier sub-contractors,” declares a little-noticed…
Human Rights Watch Slams CIA On Torture
By Cliff Montgomery – Dec. 24th, 2014Numerous people and organizations have commented on the recent release of a now-infamous summary to a Senate Report on CIA torture techniques. Perhaps none…
Taxes On Wealthy
By Cliff Montgomery – Dec. 5th, 2014In 2010, the 400 individuals in America’s highest-income bracket forked over only about 18 percent of theiryearly earnings to federal tax officials – down…
Us Looking To Fix Oversight Problems
By Cliff Montgomery – Nov. 30th, 2014Just a few years ago, the Defense Department announced plans to repair problems in the management of its nuclear forces. On Nov. 14th, the…
Domestic Terrorism Spike Attacks Us Officials
By Cliff Montgomery – Nov. 18th, 2014In July, a very interesting land Security report was released without much fanfare. Its matter-of-fact title – Domestic Violent Extremists Pose Increased Threat to…
IPCC Climate Change Report
By Cliff Montgomery – Nov. 7th, 2014Fossilfuel-based power generated without Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)technology must be “phased out almost entirely by 2100” if human beingsare to avoid a dangerous…
Lawful Ebola Quarantine Restrictions
By Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 30th, 2014Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about the ability of federal and state governments to quarantine those who might possess the Ebola virus.…
No Fly List Lacks Due Process
By Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 22nd, 2014The U.S. government still has not provided individuals wrongly placed on America’s ‘No Fly’ list a clear legal means by which they may remove…
No Fly List Lacks Due Process
By Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 22nd, 2014The U.S. government still has not provided individuals wrongly placed on America’s ‘No Fly’ list a clear legal means by which they may remove…
Big Tobacco And Child Labor
By Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 8th 2014Last week, a leading group of U.S. tobacco growers announced that children should not be employed to perform its often dangerous work.It might seem…
Who Is Buying Republican Party
By Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 2nd, 2014The U.S. Congressional Elections of 2014 will be upon us before we know it. We at The American Spark feel it’s only right to…
Who Is Buying Democratic Party
By Cliff Montgomery – Sept. 30th, 2014The U.S. Congressional Elections of 2014 will soon be upon us. It’s time for The American Spark to reveal to its readers who is…
Islamic State No Credible Threat To Us
By Cliff Montgomery – Sept. 26th, 2014A few weeks ago on Meet The Press, President Obama declared he was “preparing the country to make sure that we deal with a…
Iraqi Prime Minister Says No U.S. Troops
By Cliff Montgomery – Sept. 17th, 2014 Iraq’s new prime minister today flatly rejected the notion that American forces – or any other foreign troops – would enter his country…
NSA Spying Federal Appeals Court
By Cliff Montgomery – Sept. 11th, 2014Last week, the National Security Agency’s (NSA) massive phone data collection program began to receive its first test in a federal appeals court. It…
Corporate Taxes Often Lower Than Admitted
By Cliff Montgomery – Aug. 31st, 2014Those who call for a low U.S. income tax rate on corporations often say that the nation’s statutory corporate tax rate of 35 percent…