Congressional Oversight and the U.S. Government

Congressional Oversight and the U.S. Government Congressional oversight refers to the power of the United States Congress to monitor and, if necessary, change the actions of the executive branch, including the many federal agencies. The primary goals of congressional oversight are to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, and to protect civil liberties and individual rights by ensuring that the executive branch complies with the laws and the Constitution. Derived from its â€Å"implied† powers in the U.S. Constitution, public laws, and House and Senate rules, congressional oversight is one of the key elements of the American system of checks and balances of power.   Key Takeaways: Congressional Oversight Congressional oversight refers to the power of the U.S. Congress to monitor and change, if necessary, the actions of the executive branch, including the many federal agencies.The main goals of congressional oversight are preventing waste, fraud, and abuse, and protecting rights and civil liberties.Congressional oversight is one of the â€Å"implied† powers granted to Congress by the â€Å"necessary and proper† clause of the Constitution.In empowering the legislative branch of government to oversee the executive branch, congressional oversight forms a key element of the system of checks and balances of power. The scope of Congress’ powers of oversight extends to virtually all programs, activities, regulations, and polices implemented by the presidential cabinet departments, independent executive agencies, regulatory boards and commissions, and the President of the United States. Should Congress find evidence that an agency has incorrectly applied or exceeded its powers, Congress can pass a law overruling the action or narrowing the agency’s regulatory authority. Congress can also limit an agency’s power by reducing its funding in the annual federal budget process.   Oversight Definition Dictionaries define â€Å"oversight† as â€Å"watchful and responsible care.† In the context of congressional oversight, this â€Å"watchful and responsible care† is applied through a wide variety of congressional activities, including detailed investigations of program spending appropriations and re-authorizations requests. Oversight may be conducted by standing and select congressional committees, and through reviews and studies conducted by congressional support agencies and staff.   In Congress, oversight comes in many forms including: Hearings and investigations conducted by the standing or special congressional committees;Consulting with or getting reports directly from the president;Giving its advice and consent for certain high-level presidential nominations and for treaties;Impeachment proceedings conducted in the House and tried in the Senate;House and Senate proceedings under the 25th Amendment should the president become disabled, or the office of the vice president becomes vacant;Senators and Representatives serving on presidentially-appointed commissions; andSpecial studies conducted by congressional committees and support agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office, the General Accountability Office, the Office of Technology Assessment, and the Congressional Research Service. Powers of Congress: When ‘Necessary and Proper’ While the Constitution does not formally grant Congress the authority to oversee the actions of the executive branch, oversight is clearly implied in the many enumerated powers of Congress. The power of congressional oversight is further reinforced by the â€Å"necessary and proper† clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18) of the Constitution, which grants Congress the power, â€Å"To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.† The necessary and proper clause further implies that Congress has the power to investigate the actions of the executive branch. It would be impossible for Congress to apply its oversight powers without knowing whether federal programs are being administered properly and within their budgets and whether executive branch officials are obeying the law and complying with the legislative intent of the laws.   The U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed the investigative powers of Congress, subject to constitutional safeguards for civil liberties. In the 1927 case of McGrain v. Daugherty, the Court specifically found that, in investigating actions taken by the Department of Justice, Congress had constitutionally considered a subject â€Å"on which legislation could be had or would be materially aided by the information which the investigation was calculated to elicit.† Statutory Mandated for Congressional Oversight Along with the necessary and proper clause of the Constitution, several important laws provide broad mandates for the power of congressional oversight. For example, the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 requires the executive agencies to consult Congress when developing their strategic plans and report on their plans, goals, and results at least annually to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).   Perhaps the most impactful, the Inspectors General Act of 1978 created within each executive branch agency an independent watchdog Office of Inspector General (OIG) assigned to investigate and report on problems of waste, fraud, and abuse to Congress. The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 requires the OIGs to identify and report the most serious management and performance problems within the agencies they monitor.   Indeed, one of the first laws passed by the First Congress in 1789 established the Treasury Department and required the Secretary and the Treasurer to report directly to Congress on public expenditures and all accounts. Congressional Oversight Committees Today, as in the earliest days of the Republic, Congress exercises its power of oversight largely through its congressional committee system. The rules of both the House and Senate allow their committees and subcommittees to practice â€Å"special oversight† or â€Å"comprehensive policy oversight,† on issues relating to legislation under their jurisdiction. At the highest level, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, have oversight jurisdiction over virtually every area of the federal government.   In addition to these and other standing committees, Congress has the power to appoint temporary â€Å"select† oversight committees to investigate major problems or scandals within the executive branch. Examples of inquiries conducted by select committees include the Watergate scandal in 1973-1974; Iran-Contra affair in 1987; and the suspected acquisition of U.S. nuclear weapons by China in 1999.  Ã‚   Famous Examples of Congressional Oversight Over the years, government officials have been exposed and ousted, major policies have been changed, and the degree of statutory control over the executive branch has been increased as a result of Congress’ oversight powers. In 1949, a select Senate subcommittee discovered corruption within the administration of President Harry S. Truman. As a result, several agencies were reorganized and a special White House commission was appointed to investigate evidence of corruption in all areas of government.In the late 1960s, televised hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the so-called Pentagon Papers solidified public opposition to continued U.S. participation in the Vietnam War, hastening the end of the conflict.Less than a year after details of the 1973 Watergate scandal were exposed, the House Judiciary Committees impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon resulted in his resignation from office.  More recently, during 1996 and 1997, the Senate Finance Committee investigated and confirmed whistleblower reports from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax collection agents that they had been pressured by their supervisors to harass citizens who claimed they had been wrongly accused o f owing unpaid taxes. As a result, Congress, in 1998, passed legislation to reform the IRS by creating a new independent oversight board within the agency, extending the rights and protections of taxpayers, and shifting the burden of proof in tax disputes from taxpayers to the IRS. In these and countless other cases, the power of congressional oversight has been essential in monitoring and checking the powers of the executive branch and helping improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of federal government operations in general. Sources Halchin LE (2012). â€Å"Congressional Oversight.† CRS report to Congressâ€Å"Congressional Oversight of the Executive.† Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. US House of Representativesâ€Å"McGrain v. Daugherty.† Oyez.org

Marlene Dietrich Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marlene Dietrich - Essay Example She was able to cultivate an image that people easily identify as her persona and, most importantly, an image that created a need based on the desires of the audience. Through the manner by which her image was carefully defined, scripted and invented, Dietrich was able to hold onto the material and spiritual power which allowed her image to exemplify â€Å"society producing the impasse into which it casts its members on the level of the libido as much as on the level of economics: the desire for what cannot be avoided without a radical rupture with the world that has formed us.† Consider how some critics point out that the success of The Blue Angel was not because of an excellent storyline or the genius of neither its director, Josef von Sternberg nor its sexual context. If one says that the film succeeded because of Lola’s legs, then those that featured the same theme with different actresses exploiting equally excellent thighs could have been as effective. But that is not the case. With the film, men were given an object of desire that is mostly according to what Dietrich had to give. Lola’s legs and her character did not merely become the foundation of the Dietrich image that movie audience carried in their heads. It was Dietrich’s acumen and sense of what she wanted and how she wanted to be seen and perceived that made the difference. As she made her films, Dietrich learned how to best represent herself, highlight her assets or make an aspect of persona prominent.... Lola’s legs and her character did not merely become the foundation of the Dietrich image that movie audience carried in their heads. It was Dietrich’s acumen and sense of what she wanted and how she wanted to be seen and perceived that made the difference. As she made her films, Dietrich learned how to best represent herself, highlight her assets or make an aspect of persona prominent. This is demonstrated, for instance, in the invention of the so-called â€Å"Dietrich face.† In the earlier photographs of Dietrich, her upturned nose is quite obvious. As a matter of fact, this minor flaw has earned her the moniker "Ducknose" because it is stuck up like those of the duck’s.3 Critics were particularly focused in this aspect during Dietrich early career that is why she learned how to work around it. Later photographs would no longer show this weakness prompting some sectors to say she underwent facial surgery. This, of course, was not true because it was Dietr ich herself who discovered how she could address the problem. Bach explained this in detail: She found it in an automatic photo booth in Berlin, the kind that prints out cheap photograph on strips. She stepped into one to pose, actively searching for a look, and discovered that with a single overhead lamp, her hair went light, she had cheekbones, her pale blue eyes went dark, the upturned nose became straight. There would be sophisticated refinements of makeup and technique, but now the difficulty was getting cameramen to light her her way.4 One can say that Dietrich became a technician in this way. She would go against directions if the lighting is against her wishes. This â€Å"stubbornness† actually paid off. Besides appearing more pleasing, the

CEATIVE WRITING SHORT STORY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CEATIVE WRITING SHORT STORY - Essay Example Professor Sam dedicated his entire inheritance to his project of finding aliens and other intelligent being in deep space spending millions of dollars in telescopes, communication equipment and other scientific devices. He was mocked by the scientific community and the academe doubted the professor that he was seldomly invited for any speaking engagement nor asked to lecture in the universities. Still, Professor Sam insisted that an intelligent being exists in deep space and may also be equally curious to find other intelligent beings in the same manner that we do or in his case, he does. Professor’s daily ritual involves checking the log of his interspace radar for any signs of unidentified flying objects. He also adjust his telescopes from time to time as he try to explore the deep skies. It has been like these for years and for years, the poor professor has been mocked. If not for his inheritance, the good professor may have been sleeping in the streets because his projects were funded by his inheritance. Until one day his radar registered an unusual bleep. At first Professor Sam did not take it seriously but it became persistent for weeks. Then on a sunny Monday morning, the Professor heard an audible voice on his com. At first they were not able to understand it but the Professor became ecstatic because the voice came from an intelligent being. Months have passed and they were able to developed a decoder and for the first time they understood the voice on the com. It said â€Å"This Captain Explorer of Planet XYZ in the Obscura Galaxy, if anyone can hear me please respond†. Professor Sam ecstatically replied and two communicated for months until an arrangement of a visit was finalized. The world was captivated by the Professor’s discovery. Suddenly, the world’s attention was now focused on the Professor and it made him an instant celebrity. From being a weird, unknown, obscured and even a loathed scientist to popular, well-loved

The accidental investment and Mans search for meaning compared Essay

The accidental investment and Mans search for meaning compared - Essay Example These themes revolve around ethics, morality, values and motivation. Ethics is the differentiation of good and bad and so is morality. Morality however has an aspect that revolves around the background the individual or people have been brought up in and the morals that were instilled in such individuals. It is therefore not a wonder then that in the first book which solely deals with bankers, the author describes in detail how some bankers shamelessly and in most cases surreptitiously swindle their clients finances by lying about investments and especially those made through the internet. The author who was also in that business but later due to the lack of ethics and morality of the colleagues left explains how those bankers are self-centered thinking only about their future and not of those clients. This may be termed as a lack of morality, self-value and even ethics. The theme of motivation in this book becomes evident where it the motivations of the bankers to make ends meet and avoid having a poor future that make them swindle and lie to clients about investments. The same can be said about the second book whose concept of lack of morality, values and ethics revolves around the Nazi soldiers whose lack of the above mentioned themes led to them treating the Jews inhumanely and subjecting them to unbearable torture. It is this torture that made the author of the book decide to introduce a motivator through counseling the rest of the prisoners to keep their hopes and dreams alive and avoid them losing touch and giving up in life despite them being in the concentration camp. In the first book about investment, the author gives first-hand experience of what really goes on in the investment business that the rest of the population do not know are simply too ignorant to understand. The ethics and morality by bankers in the investment business has simply evolved from being that based on truth and deep care for the client to that of making money and generating rev enue regardless of how they will do it. Their values are not in customer satisfaction or benefit like it used to be the case in other previous decades, they simply think about themselves and their future which is uncertain and hence will fleece the innocent investors of their money without flinching an eye. Their motivation relies on internet and it superb working to connect many investors and at the same time remain faceless hence avoiding feelings of guilt in the end. The other book â€Å"Man’s search of meaning† is simply a personal experience about the author’s time spent in Nazi’s concentration camp, the hardships they faced, the inhumane treatment, the lack of morals and values by the guards running the camps and in the end the motivation behind survival in the camps and not giving up hope in spite of all the mistreatment. The theme of the first part of the book is about ethics and morality and how the guards in the concentration camp just like the bankers in the above book think about only themselves and hence step down harder on the rest of the people to achieve their goals and objectives at the end of the day. The motivation in the second part where logo therapy is employed by the author in a bid to keep alive and survive all that is interconnected with the motivation behind the banker’s use of internet to benefit themselves and feel less guilt or sad emotions for what they are doing. 2 How do the themes connect with my own ethics, values, interests and motivators? Ethics enable a person differentiate between the good and the bad and therefore make one avoid or correct the things that are deemed bad by the individual or society and concentrate on the good or work towards the good. The

In the two(2) novels, analyze how the science in Science Fiction is Essay

In the two(2) novels, analyze how the science in Science Fiction is essential to making Science Fiction a literature of cognitive estrangement - Essay Example Individuals will then believe, that confidence, to be a sense of power. So, we can see the link between science, psychology and power, with science being the initiator. But, some times the acquired power could be a false sense of power as well. This paper will discuss this link and the role of science through the characters, Case and Armitage in Neuromancer written by William Gibson and through Androids in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, written by Philip K. Dick, and thereby analyze how the science in Science Fiction is essential to making Science Fiction a literature of cognitive estrangement. The environment in Neuromancer is full of science in the form of cyberspace. In that environment, the central character of Case, a computer hacker was recruited by a shadowy character, Armitage along with Molly to complete a series of missions. And in the course of the story, that mission control gets transferred to an Artificial Intelligence entity, named Wintermute, which uses Case’s services and science to integrate with another AI entity, Neuromancer. The mind of Case is an addicted one. Apart from the drug addict ness, which he suffered due to his low life; Case’s mind was also addicted to an entirely different entity, the entity of Cyberspace. That is, Case’s desire to connect to the cyberspace was thwarted by the injections of neurotoxins administrated by his corporate employers for his act of stealing. So, this injection of neurotoxins destabilized his nervous system and made him ‘handicapped’ to jack in the cyberspace. This of inability of Case to connect to the cyberspace created a sort of craving for the cyberspace and which only transformed into addiction. â€Å"For Case, whod lived for the bodiless exultation of cyberspace, it was the Fall. (Gibson p.12)†. And, this addicted mind got a new thought process when Mr. Armitage, wanted to utilize Case’s hacking abilities. So, using the computer technology and

Explain and Contrast Three Major Interpretations of the Fourth Essay

Explain and Contrast Three Major Interpretations of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by the Supreme Court - Essay Example The Warrant Approach Before the 1960s, the courts approached the interpretation of the Fourth Amendment by closely linking the two clauses on reasonableness and warrant. The first is deemed a mere introduction to the second clause, which implies that so long as warrants are employed in conducting the search and seizure, then the principle of the Fourth Amendment is met because the warrant is the embodiment of the reasonableness clause. On the other hand, any search and seizure conducted without the use of a warrant is ipso facto unreasonable and defies the reasonableness clause of said Amendment (Harr & Hess, 2007, pp. 178-179). This approach is underpinned by the idea that unless within established exceptions, warrantless searches or seizures in which there have been no prior approval by the court are unreasonable because they are conducted outside the realm of the judicial process (cited in the dissent of Stewart in US v Edwards 415 US 800 (1974). The conventional Warrant Approach is evident in the cases of Coolidge v New Hampshire 403 US 443-454, US v. Chadwick 433 U.S. 1 (1977), Payton v New York 445 US 573 (1980), Go-Bart Importing Co v US 282 U.S. 344, the dissent in US v Edwards 415 U.S. 800 (1974) and Camara v. Municipal Court 387 US 523 (1967). In Coolidge, the US Supreme Court reversed and remanded the conviction of the defendant on the ground that the evidence supporting it was inadmissible for violation of the Fourth Amendment. The search warrant for the search of the defendant’s car was invalid because it was issued by the Attorney General who was the chief prosecutor of the case and was therefore not a â€Å"neutral and detached magistrate.† Because there was, in effect, an absence of warrant, the search was deemed done outside the judicial process and was per se unreasonable. In Chadwick, the Court ruled that opening a footlocker inside the trunk of a car without a warrant contravened the Fourth Amendment because of the heightened p rivacy expectation attached to it. In Payton, a New York law allows the police to enter a felony suspect’s home and arrest him without a warrant. The Court ruled that this law violated the Fourth Amendment because it allowed a search without prior authority granted by a neutral magistrate. In Go-Bart Importing, the Court reversed again a judgment of conviction on the ground that the search of a desk and a safe and the seizure of evidence therefrom on the basis of a search warrant issued by the US Commissioner were invalid under the Fourth Amendment. Finally in Camara, the Court ruled that searches conducted by government health and safety inspectors are subject to warrant under the Fourth Amendment because they intrude upon the privacy of persons protected by it and unless the owner consents to the search, the same is deemed unreasonable. The Reasonableness Approach In the 1960s, the US Supreme Court broadened its interpretation of the Fourt

Accounting Scandal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Accounting Scandal - Essay Example Due to Enron’s scandal, the core principles of auditing have dynamically changed. This paper will seek to portray the keen principles of Enron’s root cause of its downfall and the potential impact it made that has crippled other companies. Choose an accounting scandal (from the link below) and summarize it.   http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/25/accountingtracker.html   Please include the following in the summary:   1) A brief description/background of the company.   One of the biggest frauds that has ever taken place in the modern 21st century commerce was the case with Enron. Enron’s scandal without a doubt has been the focal point for one of the biggest busts in the history of American entity. The Enron Scandal and the Neglect of Management Integrity Capacity Enron was a very prosperous and prominent firm that was an American energy company established in Houston, Texas. Enron was formed in 1985 by Kenneth Lay after he had acquired two other gas companies in his quest to become a conglomerate in the American history. Nonetheless, after Enron’s biggest scandal, shareholders lost around $11 billion as the company continued on the downward spiral. Enron finally filed for bankruptcy at its $63.4 billion in assets were completely diluted. Many of the stockholders got measly pennies back for the huge investments they had in the company. 2) When the scandal was (or is believed to be) formed.   ... The continuous spiral of modifying the financial statements became a continuous habit and the lead cause of the downfall for the company. Undoubtedly, managers in corporate America have to protect the interests of the corporate executives along with the goals of the stakeholders. The management clearly neglected responsibility of overseeing the unethical practices that were plaguing the corporation. The Enron scandal continued to grow worse every year as it became a problem that was out of control. The primary motivation for Enron was to keep their gross income high along with cash flow while diminishing their liabilities and long-term debts. 3) An in-depth analysis of the accounting scandal.   As mentioned before, Enron ran a Ponzi scheme that continued to over-inflate the revenues that they were actually earning. Enron and other energy suppliers earned sales by providing services such as electricity, natural gas and providing other risk management products. Traditionally, compani es similar to Enron such as Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch used simple pure â€Å"brick and mortar† model for reporting income. However, Enron took upon a new model known as â€Å"the merchant model.† This model was however not adapted by Enron as they utilized the merchant model, which was aggressive, risky and was based on a subjective representation of revenues that were estimated. Although the system did thrive as Enron continued to promise huge compensations for its executives, it also lead to the downfall for the company. For instance, the company’s revenue from 1996 to 2000, Enron’s revenues were grossly inflated to be increased by 700%. This extensive inflation was highly unjustified as the market for