The neo-conservative Bush Administration has been pushing hard to
acquire more power by enacting legislation that would allow the Federal
Government to take control over agency that throughout American History
have been agencies of the states, like the State's National Guard. I
don't think their is enough power in the Universe to satisfy the
Neo-conservative Bush Administration obsession for more power. To make
matter worse, the legislation is buried in another bill in hope the the
Administration could slip it by congress, and the state Governors,
unnoticed. Gosh, will this lust for power by the Bush Administration
never end, and what is the Bush Administration planning on doing with
all that power, should they manage to acquire it?
#----------------------------------------------
Governors Wary of Change on Troops
House Bill would Increase President's Authority Over National Gurad Units
By David S. Broder
<http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/david+s.+broder/>
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 6, 2006; Page A05
CHARLESTON, S.C., Aug. 5 -- 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 and the association's vice chairman, Arizona Gov. Janet
Napolitano (D), plan to ask all the governors at the session to sign a
letter of protest Sunday aimed at killing the provision when House and
Senate conferees meet next month on the bill.
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."
He and Vilsack said they believe the provision was a reaction to
Hurricane Katrina, when Bush debated taking control of National Guard
units from Louisiana and Mississippi to end confusion about who was
responsible for security in storm-devastated areas.
Vilsack called that a "misguided reaction." He said he had long since
proposed an alternative that would give command authority to a federal
official at the site of any disaster, while retaining a governor's
authority over troops in his state.
Calls to a spokesman for the White House National Security Council
staff, where the plan reportedly originated, were not returned.
Huckabee, who is considering a presidential bid in 2008, said Congress
and the administration -- run by fellow Republicans -- have moved far
from what he called the "traditional states' rights position" of
conservatives.
In addition to the National Guard, he cited the new "Real ID"
legislation, requiring states to ascertain the citizenship status of
everyone seeking a driver's license. Huckabee said that, in effect,
"they are trying to make every entry-level employee in our [department
of motor vehicles] offices an immigration officer, and they're giving us
no money to train them or hire them. It is a disaster in the making."
During the afternoon, the governors heard Tommy G. Thompson, the former
secretary of health and human services and former governor of Wisconsin,
warn that the country's health-care system is heading for financial
breakdown within seven years -- unless it is converted to a system of
health maintenance with an emphasis on preventive care. He said
governors must start diet and exercise programs in their states and take
other steps to reduce the cost of chronic disease, because "Congress
will not do it."
Huckabee, who shed 110 pounds two years ago out of health concerns, has
made that issue his theme for his year as chairman of the organization.
#-------------------------------------------
Regards,
LelandJ
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