Posted on 05/24/2007 3:20:05 PM PDT by Remember_Salamis
Bush makes power grab Posted: May 23, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern
President Bush, without so much as issuing a press statement, on May 9 signed a directive that granted near dictatorial powers to the office of the president in the event of a national emergency declared by the president.
The "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive," with the dual designation of NSPD-51, as a National Security Presidential Directive, and HSPD-20, as a Homeland Security Presidential Directive, establishes under the office of president a new National Continuity Coordinator.
That job, as the document describes, is to make plans for "National Essential Functions" of all federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments, as well as private sector organizations to continue functioning under the president's directives in the event of a national emergency.
The directive loosely defines "catastrophic emergency" as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions."
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When the president determines a catastrophic emergency has occurred, the president can take over all government functions and direct all private sector activities to ensure we will emerge from the emergency with an "enduring constitutional government."
Translated into layman's terms, when the president determines a national emergency has occurred, the president can declare to the office of the presidency powers usually assumed by dictators to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over.
Ironically, the directive sees no contradiction in the assumption of dictatorial powers by the president with the goal of maintaining constitutional continuity through an emergency.
The directive specifies that the assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism will be designated as the National Continuity Coordinator.
Further established is a Continuity Policy Coordination Committee, chaired by a senior director from the Homeland Security Council staff, designated by the National Continuity Coordinator, to be "the main day-to-day forum for such policy coordination."
Currently, the assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism is Frances Fragos Townsend.
Townsend spent 13 years at the Justice Department before moving to the U.S. Coast Guard where she served as assistant commandant for intelligence.
She is a White House staff member in the executive office of the president who also chairs the Homeland Security Council, which as a counterpart to the National Security Council reports directly to the president.
The directive issued May 9 makes no attempt to reconcile the powers created there for the National Continuity Coordinator with the National Emergency Act. As specified by U.S. Code Title 50, Chapter 34, Subchapter II, Section 1621, the National Emergency Act allows that the president may declare a national emergency but requires that such proclamation "shall immediately be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register."
A Congressional Research Service study notes that under the National Emergency Act, the president "may seize property, organize and control the means of production, seize commodities, assign military forces abroad, institute martial law, seize and control all transportation and communication, regulate the operation of private enterprise, restrict travel, and, in a variety of ways, control the lives of United States citizens."
The CRS study notes that the National Emergency Act sets up congress as a balance empowered to "modify, rescind, or render dormant such delegated emergency authority," if Congress believes the president has acted inappropriately.
NSPD-51/ HSPD-20 appears to supersede the National Emergency Act by creating the new position of National Continuity Coordinator without any specific act of Congress authorizing the position.
NSPD-51/ HSPD-20 also makes no reference whatsoever to Congress. The language of the May 9 directive appears to negate any a requirement that the president submit to Congress a determination that a national emergency exists, suggesting instead that the powers of the executive order can be implemented without any congressional approval or oversight.
Homeland Security spokesperson Russ Knocke affirmed that the Homeland Security Department will be implementing the requirements of NSPD-51/ HSPD-20 under Townsend's direction.
The White House had no comment.
I'm sure most FReepers don't have a problem with it though, because it might be a republican in power.
Hillary must be dancing in the streets.
More like we don’t trust Corsi’s accuracy in reporting.
The word Congress isn't even in the directive. All three branches of government are listed, but it says that the President will coordinate among the three to direct policy.
Yet Jerome Corsi and World Net Daily found out about it somehow.
Ironic indeed.
That's unbelievable, since the moonbats continually claim (as John Edwards did) that 911 was simply an excuse for an Executive Branch power grab.
This plays into such suspicions. Bad politics.
I’m disappointed in Corsi. He usually does better than this. I read the act and it clearly specifies that it only applies to the EXECUTIVE BRANCH of govt. Last time I checked, he already was the “dictator “ of the exec branch as are all POTUS.
Read the directive; that’s all he’s reporting.
Doesn't that just give you the warm & fuzzies? Especially if someone with a black heart (and ugly calves) were to become President.
BTW, if my guns and ammo get requisitioned/seized under this act, then the ammo will get turned in first.
They posted it on the website; all new WhiteHouse postings come up on the website; that’s where the blogs picked it up at.
I read it as that the Executive branch will consult with the other two as a courtesy ("comity"). That's how I read it.
Here is the non=existant press release:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html
(hehe, he even linked to it!)
Hasn’t something like this been around since the 1930s?
So, unless we have been living in a dictatorship for almost 75 years, this article is nothing but alarmist moonbattery.
“Same order has been around for 50 years.”
It’s been around since the dawn of the Nuclear Age, but they don’t teach history anymore in Public Schools.
The Federal Civil Defense AdministrationOffice For Emergency Management was established in 1950 by HARRY TRUMAN!
And to think—WND used to be a source of information.
Corsi needs a king size roll of foil.
Right; because Bush would never do anything wrong.
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