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On Wednesday, December 10, Congress passed a bill called the "Intelligence Authorization Act for 2015." Not very many people have heard of this bill, much less its passage since the media's main focus is on the CIA torture report. However, the Act contains language that U.S. Representative Justin Amash (R-Mich) calls "the most egregious sections of law" he has encountered during his time in Congress. "It grants the executive branch virtually unlimited access to the communications of every Amer

Although the midterm election fever has largely subsided, the courts are heating up over the issue of redistricting and gerrymandering lawsuits. For the 2014 term, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear three cases on redistricting commissions, and the Florida Supreme Court has also heard its own case over redistricting. Elections are contentious contests and at the heart of these arguments is who has the power to draw district lines that influence the outcomes on Election Day. All of these case

Redistricting is a process that occurs once every ten years, where census data is utilized to redraw the boundaries of each congressional district, so as to keep the representational power of each district relatively even. The underlying rationale for redistricting is to ensure that the "one man, one vote" ethos stays meaningful. Yet a political party can redraw districts in a way that favors itself at the expense of the others. By packing voters from other parties in a small number of district

As the protests in Ferguson, Missouri continue, the U.S. Congress recently blocked a vote on a bipartisan bill that would have restricted the transfer of military-grade weapons and vehicles to local police. The August killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson sparked outrage not only in Missouri, but across the country. Even among many who believed Officer Wilson's actions were justified, the presence of a militarized police force may have helped turn public opinion against the police. Introduced d

According to a recent report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a think tank based in Washington, D.C., Kansas had the fourth biggest drop in per-student funding (total dollar amount) for schools in the United States since the beginning of the recession. In terms of overall percentage, Kansas is tied with Wisconsin for fifth largest decrease at 14.6 percent. The three states with larger spending cuts to K-12 education were Alabama, Wisconsin, and Idaho. While state lawmake

Two federal district courts are expected to rule on the constitutionality of ag-gag laws, laws which make it illegal for undercover investigators -- often from established animal rights groups -- to enter agricultural operations under false pretenses and make audio or video recordings documenting animal abuse. A coalition of animal rights groups, including the Center for Food Safety and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, joined the American Civil Liberties Union and nearly a dozen other litigants i

It’s no secret that the Keystone issue is a political powder keg. Neither is it a secret that it’s a controversial topic pitting two traditional foes: environmentalists versus big oil. Very murky, however, is what benefit Keystone XL offers the United States.As in so many situations, in order to understand the present, we need to understand the past and Keystone has a bit of a checkered and rapidly evolving past. With blinding speed, progress on the Keystone project began in 2005 when it was pr

A March 7 Pew Research article found that 50 percent of Millennials consider themselves independent. When compared to the 39 percent of Gen Xers, 37 percent of Boomers, and 32 percent of Silents who say the same, a trend becomes clear: as generations come and go, the number of independents continues to increase. Will Millennials be the generation to finally end partisanship? For some, the answer is a definite yes. "I think there's a good empirical and theoretical basis for saying that this ver

Demonstrating a national sea change in views toward same-sex marriage, Pennsylvania is the latest state to see its ban on same-sex marriage ruled unconstitutional in federal court. This time the law was overturned by a Bush-appointed judge, a decision supported by the state's Republican governor, Tom Corbett. Corbett has even been outspoken in his views that marriage should be between one man and one woman. The ruling also took an added step in striking down the law than other previous states.

For the 46.5 million Americans living below the poverty line, 16 million of which are children, life has become a consistent struggle. This struggle does not simply begin and end with monetary concerns, but in fact surrounds both a physical and mental exertion of the individual.Using the national U.S. census and NCCP, researchers found that in 2013, the poverty line rested at $11,490, a number which equates an individual working full time while only making $5.00 – far below the national minimum