April 14, 2014

The John Doe

The Supreme Court has been asked by the governor, Scott Walker, to review the legality of the John Doe campaign finance between he and other groups of interest. The term, "John Doe," refers to the grand jury investigation, but it is held in front of a judge rather than a jury. Walker had coordinated with a few electoral groups such as WCFG (Wisconsin Club For Growth) and they had spent over $9 million just for the recall elections; some groups spent more. Other crimes Walker has experienced while in office is the embezzlement of money, campaign finance violations, and political corruption. This time, the dispute was over the interpretations of state campaign finance laws. In this case, the Supreme Court was conflicted. Two of the groups had contributed large sums of money to get four of the justices to their current positions. The court has not yet decided whether or not they will take this case. 

I believe that the Supreme Court should not take up this case. It has become too personal between the interest groups and the Court, and if they rule against these organizations, the organizations may stop funding the justices who they were already supporting. With this in mind, those justices may vote in favor of the organizations that fund them without actually believing in the cause. This situation is a tough one for the Supreme Court; it should not be the one to handle the case. 

CIA Cover Up

April 5, 2014

The symbol of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The CIA made an error of keeping the happenings of
their agency private from the rest of the government. 

The CIA Cover Up

Upon the discovery of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s torture program, many Congressional members were outraged. Feinstein, the Senate Intelligence Committee Chair, claims that what the CIA is doing is unconstitutional and it "never, never, never should have existed." The CIA thwarted the checks and balances system of the government in this way because in secrecy, the CIA has the power to do things without being prevented by other branches of government. It is evident the CIA is intent on hiding incriminating information that interests their opposition. The CIA is believed to have hacked into the computers to rid them of evidence against the bureaucracy.

The CIA is going to be in a lot of hot water for awhile. There will be more talk of the checks and balances system to assure that all parts of government follow the Constitution. Meanwhile, the Whistleblower Protection Act will keep federal employees protected from the CIA for reporting  them. Because the CIA had withheld and destroyed information of their "Detention and Interrogation Program," there are going to be many more in-depth searches of the CIA.