And Now the Governors Get It
It's been pretty clear that right from the start the current regime was going to do everything possible to make the White House the center of all power. It has effectively bullied the Congress into a rubber stamp, and with various appointments at all levels of the federal judiciary is well on the way to reducing the courts to the same status. The next step is clearly the states, and one of the moves intended to take over power at that level has to do with the National Guard. From today's Washington Post:
The nation's governors on Saturday launched a bipartisan drive to block a move to expand the president's authority to take over National Guard troops in case of natural disaster or homeland security threats.
At a closed-door luncheon on the opening day of the annual summer meeting of the National Governors Association, the chairman, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), told colleagues that a provision in the House-passed defense authorization bill would end the historic link between the states and their Guard units.
...Huckabee told reporters that the move to shift control of the Guard to the president during national emergencies "violates 200 years of American history" and is symptomatic of a larger federal effort to make states no more than "satellites of the national government."
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, the senior Democrat, called the proposal "one step away from a complete takeover of the National Guard, the end of the Guard as a dual-function force that can respond to both state and national needs."
The provision was tucked into the House version of the defense bill without notice to the states, something Vilsack said he resents as much as the proposal itself.
Under the provision, the president would have authority to take control of the Guard in case of "a serious natural or manmade disaster, accident or catastrophe" in the United States.
Huckabee said he does not know if President Bush wants that authority, but said "the administration is supporting this." [Emphasis added]
Governor Huckabee is disingenuous if he thinks that the Emperor might not want that authority. Either that, or he is being politically careful with his language. The fact that the administration is supporting the bill is evidence that the White House does in fact want all military authority centralized and under the thumb of the president. The military completes the trifecta of governing power.
So much for the conservative mantra of "states' rights," eh?
The nation's governors on Saturday launched a bipartisan drive to block a move to expand the president's authority to take over National Guard troops in case of natural disaster or homeland security threats.
At a closed-door luncheon on the opening day of the annual summer meeting of the National Governors Association, the chairman, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), told colleagues that a provision in the House-passed defense authorization bill would end the historic link between the states and their Guard units.
...Huckabee told reporters that the move to shift control of the Guard to the president during national emergencies "violates 200 years of American history" and is symptomatic of a larger federal effort to make states no more than "satellites of the national government."
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, the senior Democrat, called the proposal "one step away from a complete takeover of the National Guard, the end of the Guard as a dual-function force that can respond to both state and national needs."
The provision was tucked into the House version of the defense bill without notice to the states, something Vilsack said he resents as much as the proposal itself.
Under the provision, the president would have authority to take control of the Guard in case of "a serious natural or manmade disaster, accident or catastrophe" in the United States.
Huckabee said he does not know if President Bush wants that authority, but said "the administration is supporting this." [Emphasis added]
Governor Huckabee is disingenuous if he thinks that the Emperor might not want that authority. Either that, or he is being politically careful with his language. The fact that the administration is supporting the bill is evidence that the White House does in fact want all military authority centralized and under the thumb of the president. The military completes the trifecta of governing power.
So much for the conservative mantra of "states' rights," eh?
posted by Diane at 4:27 AM
2 Comments:
Your Blog is right on. We have had a constitution that protects the rights of the people for hundreds of years. Now we have a republican Prsident and his Congress and Senate changing that Constitution to suit their needs for more power while taking away the very foundation of Democracy. Hitler did the same thing in Germany and he and his nation fell into final disaster. Isn't there a lesson to be learned here? History says so.
republican rights is how it should read.
Power consolidation, Tom DeLay style, and it's been working.
It's also falling apart.
It can't fall apart fast enough for me.
I noticed there was no reference to The Arnold, but I think recent news in California tells us he's still pushing back on the Rethugs, at least somewhat.
The thuggery of the last six years is incredible.
Basic freedoms: gone gone gone
Oh, and I'm waving hi to the NSA and the other shameless brownshirts who monitor the "free" internets.
CTheGee
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