Obama Executive Order would seize US infrastructure, citizens for nat'l defense

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Joe NewbySpokane Conservative Examiner

March 18, 2012

On Friday, President Obama signed a sweeping Executive Order that would effectively nationalize everything - including food, water and U.S. citizens - in order to prepare for national defense.
Worse yet, the order would also allow for a civilian draft - the conscription of “persons of outstanding experience or ability” without compensation.
A post at Current.com adds:

The EO also states that the President and his Secretaries have the authority to seize all transportation, energy, and infrastructure inside the United States as well as forcibly induct/draft American citizens into the military. The EO also contains a vague reference in regards to harnessing American citizens to fulfill “labor requirements” for the purposes of national defense.
Not only that, but the authority claimed inside the EO does not only apply to National Emergencies and times of war. It also applies in peacetime.

"The National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order exploits the “authority” granted to the President in the Defense Production Act of 1950 in order to assert that virtually every means of human survival is now available for confiscation and control by the President via his and his Secretaries’ whim," Current notes.
Oddly enough, the order does not say these are actions to be taken “in the event of a national emergency.” Instead, it uses the term “purposes of national defense.”
Under the section dealing with labor, the order says:

Sec. 601. Secretary of Labor. (a) The Secretary of Labor, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the heads of other agencies, as deemed appropriate by the Secretary of Labor, shall:
(1) collect and maintain data necessary to make a continuing appraisal of the Nation's workforce needs for purposes of national defense;
(2) upon request by the Director of Selective Service, and in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, assist the Director of Selective Service in development of policies regulating the induction and deferment of persons for duty in the armed services;
(3) upon request from the head of an agency with authority under this order, consult with that agency with respect to: (i) the effect of contemplated actions on labor demand and utilization; (ii) the relation of labor demand to materials and facilities requirements; and (iii) such other matters as will assist in making the exercise of priority and allocations functions consistent with effective utilization and distribution of labor;

In order to prevent shortfalls in resources, the order also gives various cabinet-level secretaries the authority "to guarantee loans by private institutions," and gives the Treasury Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget complete authority to set terms, interest rates and maximum amounts to be paid.
If you think you can move to a farm in the country in order to escape the long arm of the regime, think again.
According to the "Definitions" section of the order, absolutely everything - including farm equipment, all food, water and medicine, energy, fertilizer and all forms of "civil transportation" - would be seized by the government. Even repair parts for farm equipment would fall under government jurisdiction.
The order does note, however, that "'[c]ivil transportation' shall not include transportation owned or controlled by the Department of Defense, use of petroleum and gas pipelines, and coal slurry pipelines used only to supply energy production facilities directly."
'Energy, for example, is defined as: "...all forms of energy including petroleum, gas (both natural and manufactured), electricity, solid fuels (including all forms of coal, coke, coal chemicals, coal liquification, and coal gasification), solar, wind, other types of renewable energy, atomic energy, and the production, conservation, use, control, and distribution (including pipelines) of all of these forms of energy."
The post at Current asks:

Nevertheless, some have no doubt begun to wonder why the President has signed such an order. Not only that, but why did he sign the order now? Is it because of the looming war with Iran or the Third World War that will likely result from such a conflict? Is it because of the ticking time bomb called the economy that is only one jittery move or trade deal away from total disintegration? Is it because of a growing sense of hatred of their government amongst the general public? Is there a coming natural disaster of which we are unaware? Are there plans for martial law?

Finance Examiner Kenneth Schortgen, Jr., notes that previous administrations have taken actions limiting individual rights in the past. During the Civil War, President Lincoln suspended Habeus Corpus and Woodrow Wilson used an Executive Order giving him authority "over businesses, industry, transportation, food, and other economic policies" during World War 1.
"In both cases," Schortgen wrote, "it was only after the death of each President that full Constitutional powers were restored to the citizens of the United States."
This order, however, goes far beyond what either Lincoln or Wilson did, and if invoked, would basically turn the United States into a totalitarian regime with Obama as its dictator.
In June, 1966, Robert Kennedy said:

There is a Chinese curse which says 'May he live in interesting times.' Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history.

Indeed, we seem to be living in very interesting times.
Update: A number of people have commented that this is simply an update of an existing Executive Order (EO 12919) dating back to 1994, but that does not negate the fact that President Obama signed the order on Friday, nor does it change the contents of the order, which can be seen at the White House website here, and about which Ed Morrissey of Hot Air says is "really nothing to worry about at all." We'll let the reader be the judge of that.
Updaye 2: One of the criticisms that has been leveled is that the Executive Order supposedly does not allow the President or one of his Secretaries to hire civilians without compensation, however, Section 502 reads (emphasis added):

Sec. 502. Consultants. The head of each agency otherwise delegated functions under this order is delegated the authority of the President under sections 710(b) and (c) of the Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2160(b), (c), to employ persons of outstanding experience and ability without compensation and to employ experts, consultants, or organizations.

Be sure to check out the case against re-electing Barack Hussein Obama:
Part 1: Who is this Barack Obama person, really?
Part 2: The fight of the century: Obama versus the Constitution
Part 3: The cult of Barack Obama
Part 4: The Imperial Presidency of Barack Obama
Part 5: The many gaffes of Barack Hussein Obama
Part 6: Barack Hussein Obama: The destroyer of the American Nation
Part 7: Barack Obama's legacy: Incompetence and downgrade
Part 8: Barack Obama: Lord of the Mobs
Part 9: Barack Obama: The class warfare President
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Spokane Military History Examiner
National Computer User Examiner

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