STATE(s) of EMERGENCY

Donald J. Trump, the pretend president, is evidently preparing to declare a “national state of emergency” in order to fund his wall along the southern border of this nation. Can he legally do so?  According to the Washington Post, he definitely can, and has legal authority to do so.

“In 1976, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act (NEA), which permits the president to pronounce a national emergency on a whim, at his discretion. The act offers no definition of “emergency.” It lays out no required criteria; it demands no showing of evidence by the president.  Declaring a national emergency also gives the president access to dozens of laws with specialized funds he otherwise would not have.”(Wikipedia)

The National Emergencies Act (Pub.L. 94–412, 90 Stat. 1255, signed by the 38th President, Gerald R. Ford, on September 14, 1976, codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1601-1651) is a United States federal law passed to stop open-ended states of national emergency and to formalize the power of Congress to provide certain checks and balances on the emergency powers of the President. The Act of Congress imposes certain procedural formalities on the President when invoking such powers. The perceived need for the law arose from the scope and number of laws granting special powers to the executive in times of national emergency. (brief summary from Wikipedia)

USA TODAY summarizes it this way: “A national emergency is a national crisis or a situation where circumstances threaten the country and call for an immediate response. What actually constitutes an emergency, though, is up for debate and requires the president to use existing law to justify a declaration.”

The WASHINGTON POST also reminds us that “There are several significant caveats and, while it may be easy to declare a national emergency, Trump cannot just do whatever he wants.”

 “Although no statute automatically allocates additional funding to the president during a national emergency, legal experts pointed to two emergency powers that could allow Trump to use Defense Department funding.

1.  One federal statute makes available any unobligated funds originally set aside for military construction projects. The catch is that the national emergency must require the use of armed forces.”  [Comment:  Trump's legal advisers (such as they are!) evidently told the Donald to make sure troops were sent to the border to "work" on the wall that exists and to be military back-up for possible "invasion" by those "hordes of criminals" in caravans preparing to "invade" our country] 
2. The second statute permits a president to divert funds from Army civil works projects and reprogram them.  “Any military construction projects have to be both specifically authorized (Congress says, ‘DoD has the authority to build ‘x’’) and funded (Congress provides money for that purpose).”

“When a president activates his authority under the National Emergencies Act, he is required to notify Congress and specify which power he intends to use. Congress can then block it by passing a resolution in both chambers.”

Although Trump has the National Securities Act for legal support for calling a national emergency, there isn’t an easy path to realizing the outcome he seeks, i.e. building that wall.

The NEA allows the executive branch to declare a national emergency, but the president must cite the specific emergency powers he is activating to make the declaration under existing statutes. There are hundreds of provisions of federal law that delegate the president "extraordinary authority in time of national emergency," according to the Congressional Research Service. The 2007 CRS report notes, "the vast majority of them are of the stand-by kind — dormant until activated by the President."

According to the CRS report: "Under the powers delegated by such statutes, 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."

Congress, however, can check the executive branch and overrule the president's use of the act by passing a joint resolution out of the House and Senate. Like a law, the resolution would require a simple majority in each chamber and require the president's signature, or, require Congress to override his veto.  The Courts are another avenue for invalidating this declaration of 'national emergency.'  Trump's remarks about all this being about the election of 2020, and that he "didn't need to do this," admit the possibility that this is not a national emergency, but a political strategy.  Hopefully, the Court(s) will consider his own words as crucial to their decision.

However, the Des Moines Register presents some historical facts that may have some positive bearing on Trump’s chances of succeeding with this ‘emergency’ ploy:

“Other presidents have used similar authority. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter declared that a state of emergency existed with Iran and blocked Iranian assets.  Until recently, that state remained in effect, along with 31 others issued by presidents since.  Presidential declarations of states of emergency have transpired since Abe Lincoln’s administration. Under the 1976 National Emergencies Act, Congress can override such actions with a two-thirds vote in the U.S. House and Senate.  However, in this case, that’s not in the cards.

“Congress didn’t specifically define what is and isn’t a national emergency, says Professor Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas Law School. In an interview with NPR, he said, “it’s hard to imagine what criteria a federal court could use in trying to decide whether a national emergency was properly declared, or not.” 

“In the 43 years of this law’s existence, no Congress has ever voted to terminate a declared state of emergency, and no court has countermanded any such presidential decree.  Should Trump declare an emergency to build the wall, he’ll likely tap funds already appropriated by Congress for other military construction projects.  Statutorily, presidents can redirect already-appropriated funds, and lacking clear statutory definition of what constitutes an emergency, any legal challenges to such a declaration will likely fail.”

It might be worthwhile for the Democrats in the House to consider amending the NEA to lay out specific criteria for declaring a “national emergency,” including conditions giving rise to the emergency and the thorough documentation of those conditions along with documented reasons why those conditions cannot wait for congressional action.

We are drawing ever closer to allowing the invocation of special powers and budgetary manipulation to build a wall across nearly 2,000 miles of border, invoking the lie that such foolishness is equivalent to dealing with a national emergency.  There has been no proof that such an emergency exists; no statistics that show that domestic terrorism, crime, drug traffic, human trafficking or other crimes are on the rise in our nation due mainly to immigrants who cross our southern borders supposedly threatening our national security and safety. 

In fact, just the opposite has been presented by those in government or private sector entities who have conducted studies or surveys of documented and undocumented immigrants and finding that a greater percentage of american-born white citizens commit such crimes than do immigrants.  There is no crisis; there is no emergency; there is no national threat.  There is only a campaign promise made-up to win votes of xenophobes and white nationalists to whom this pretend president continually caters.      

On the other hand, there are true national emergencies going unaddressed by the Trump administration, by his followers in the Republican Party and by many of that Party elected to the Congress.  Because I have written in some detail about most of the following, I will refrain from doing so again, except to present some data that most clearly reveal the depth of four such emergencies.

1. Climate Change, Global Warming and Environmental Destruction – leading private groups of scientists, a United Nations panel and departments of a government that otherwise avoids this crisis, have told us in thorough reports that we have little time left to address this emergency.  Our very existence is on-the-line.  We have no choice but to use extraordinary powers of government and support of the private sector to prevent a looming disaster. 

Indications:  if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above preindustrial levels by 2040, inundating coastlines and intensifying droughts and poverty. The new UN report, however, shows that many of those effects will come much sooner (perhaps by 2025) at the 2.7-degree mark.

As the planet continues to warm, some vector-borne diseases and the environments in which certain microbes and diseases multiply are also expanding. Extreme heat elevates the rate of death from illnesses like heart attack and heat stroke. And the same carbon pollution that causes climate change can indirectly aggravate respiratory concerns like asthma and allergies by causing increased pollen production in certain plants.

According to the World Health Organization, “Climate change is among the greatest health risks of the twenty-first century. Rising temperatures and more extreme weather events cost lives directly, increase transmission and spread of infectious diseases, and undermine the environmental determinants of health, including clean air and water, and sufficient food.”

2.  Threats of Violence, especially against our Children – allowing our air, waters, foods and lands       to be polluted by chemicals and fossil fuels, plastic and garbage to the detriment of our species --       especially to innocents like children-- is one major form of violence in our society. 

Another forceful reminder of endemic violence is the anniversary of the Parkland, Florida shootings of teenagers and adults at the high school in that location.  Thank goodness many of the parents and students have not let this rest, but continually remind us of what is at stake.

“As the nation marks the one-year anniversary of the Parkland mass shooting, hundreds of psychologists and other experts in child development have signed an open letter calling for major policy action on gun violence. The group…said it was sounding the alarm about the negative effects that the “constant threat of violence is having on the children of our nation.” They cited connections between gun violence exposure and long-term stress and issues like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder...not(ing) that “the wider impact of gun violence on children is lesser known outside the psychology community.” Constant threats of violence can impair children’s neurological, social, and cognitive development.” (Mother Jones)

Gun violence is a national emergency (see some indications below from The Trace), and it’s unrestrained support by the NRA, gun manufacturers and merchants, as well as office-holders is a total threat to our inherent right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. 

There are other threats of violence, of course (like militarization of police forces, internet bullying and over-prescribing of powerful drugs), that relate to this form of a national emergency.  Governmental leaders are simply failing to grasp the depth of violence in our society and the combined threat posed to our well-being, and that of our children and grandchildren.

• A recent Washington Post report estimated that more than 221,000 students have been exposed to gun violence at school since the Columbine massacre in 1999
• 39,773 -- The number of Americans killed by guns in 2017
• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest gun deaths tally produced two grim milestones:  1) At nearly 40,000 deaths, America recorded the highest absolute number of gun deaths in nearly 50 years. 2) the country’s rate of deaths — 12 fatal shootings per 100,000 residents — also ballooned to its highest point since the mid-’90s…driven by suicides. Sixty percent of gun deaths last year were self-inflicted.
• 2:1 -- The ratio of America kids killed by guns versus the number of American kids killed by cancer. 
• According to…the University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center, the United States’ rate of gun death among children is 36.5 times the overall rate observed in other high-income countries.
• 1/3 -- America’s share of global gun suicides.  Only 4 percent of the world’s people live in the United States, but Americans make up a full third of the people worldwide who die by gun suicide each year. A Journal of the American Medical Association analysis of global gun violence released in August found that there were 23,800 gun suicides in the United States in 2016. India ranked second in the JAMA study at 13,400. 

     3.   Infrastructure Falling Apart – “Our roads and bridges are crumbling, our airports are out of date and the vast majority of our seaports are in danger of becoming obsolete. All the result of decades of neglect. None of this is really in dispute. Business leaders, labor unions, governors, mayors, congressmen and presidents have complained about a lack of funding for years, but aside from a one-time cash infusion from the stimulus program, nothing much has changed. There is still no consensus on how to solve the problem or where to get the massive amounts of money needed to fix it, just another example of political paralysis in Washington.” (60 Minutes – CBS).

The U.S., which used to have the finest infrastructure in the world, is now ranked 16th according to the World Economic Forum, behind Iceland, Spain, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates. It's a fact that's not been lost to the most powerful economic and political lobbies in the country who believe the inaction threatens the country's economic future. Big corporations like Caterpillar and GE say it's hurting their ability to compete abroad.

Indications:  According to the government, there are 70,000 bridges that have been deemed structurally deficient. 

A shortage of airports, runways and gates along with outmoded air traffic control systems have made U.S. air travel the most congested in the world.

When a new generation of big cargo ships begin going through an expanded Panama Canal, only two of the 14 major ports on the East Coast will be dredged deep enough to accommodate them.

There are more than 14,000 miles of high-speed rail operating around the world, but none in the United States. In Chicago, it can take a freight train nearly as long to go across the city, as it would for the same train to go high-speed from Chicago to Los Angeles.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 32 percent of the major roads in America are now in poor condition and in need of major repairs. Yet the major source of revenue -- the federal Highway Trust Fund, which gets its money from the federal gas tax of 18 cents a gallon -- is almost insolvent. Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says it will go broke by next spring unless something is done.  LaHood says public spending on infrastructure has fallen to its lowest level since 1947.

4. Poverty and Homelessness – FamilyPromise.org tells us what we need to know with a disturbing list of facts:

·        The three most cited reasons for family homelessness are: 1) Lack of affordable housing, 2) unemployment, and 3) poverty.

·        2.5 million children will experience homelessness this year in America.

·        1 in 30 children in the United States experience homelessness annually.

·        Nearly 1.3 million school children were homeless in school year 2014-15.

·        Students experiencing homelessness are up to nine times more likely than their non-homeless peers to repeat a grade.

·        51% of homeless children are under age 5 and, therefore, too young for school and are not counted.

·        35% of all homeless persons nationwide are families with children.

·        Homeless families are often hidden from our view—they are living in shelters, cars, campgrounds, or doubled up in overcrowded apartments.

·        Nearly 40 million people (1 in 8) in the U.S. live below the poverty line.

·        1 in 6 U.S. children under age 18, or 13 million, live in poverty.

·        In 2000, 12 million U.S. children (17%) lived in poverty.  By 2017, that number had grown to nearly thirteen million children (17.5%).

·        In 2018, the poverty line for a family of four was $25,100.

·        A worker needs to earn $12/hour to reach the poverty level for a family of four.

·        A renter needs to earn $21.21/hour to afford a two-bedroom rental in the U.S.

·        In only 12 counties in the country can a worker making the federal minimum wage afford a Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment.

·        11 million households now pay more than 50% of their income for housing–an increase of 20% since 2007.

·        Only 25% of those eligible for federal housing assistance receive help, due to lack of funding.

·        For every ten extremely low-income households, there are only three affordable rentals available on the market.

·        To meet the needs of low-income families, we need 4.5 million affordable housing units added to the current supply.

·        In America, just over 16 million children live in households where they have to skip meals or eat less to make ends meet.

·        Two-thirds of poor children live in families in which at least one family member works

And the List goes on:

5.   Affordable Health Care

6.   Public Education

7.     Racial Hatred (along with homophobia; white supremacy; fascism, etc.)

8.     Civil Rights and Equal Justice

9.     Comprehensive Naturalization/Immigration Reform

10.  Election Reform

11.  Over-crowded Prisons

12.  Lack of preparation for a future full of artificial intelligence, drones, 3-D printing, robotics, etc. that can be harmful and disruptive of many aspects of life and governance.  We do not have a Plan for invasion of privacy, up to 40% unemployment, rising crime rate and other exigencies and outcomes to be expected from this new technological revolution.  As well, we desperately need to have a Plan for using such technological advances to enhance the lives of our citizens and the world population. 

We are in the midst of critical emergencies that are affecting our individual lives and the status of this nation.  Yet they are being ignored by an ignoramus in the White House and his extensive coterie of gutless do-nothings in the Congress and state houses.  As long as citizens and residents allow these real emergencies to go unaddressed, the closer we will approach a new status of an under-developed, non-democratic, regressive and repressive society that is incapable of turning-around the mistakes being made. 

Making America Great Again will not be done by illogical/hateful/denigrating/stupid tweets, executive orders, border walls, or government shutdowns. 

And so, one more authentic national emergency must be addressed. 

“A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to perform actions that it would normally not be permitted. A government can declare such state during a disaster, civil unrest, or armed conflict. Such declaration alerts citizens to change their normal behavior and orders government agencies to implement emergency plans. 

States of emergency can also be used as a rationale or pretext for suspending rights and freedoms guaranteed under a country's constitution or basic law.” (Wikipedia – emphasis mine)

It has been my opinion, expressed numerous times on this Blog, that Donald Trump is not just an authoritarian politician.  He is a dangerous man because his values, such as they are, are grounded not in a democratic philosophy, but in a despotic milieu that is much more related to and conducive to Fascist ideology. 

In fact, Trump has specifically told us that he wants to “deconstruct” the federal government, and he has taken several actions to do so.  He has further demonstrated his identification with despotic values by lauding the actions of dictators like Putin, Un, Xi, Erdogan, and of white nationalists and Fascists at Charlottesville.  

His possible use of powers granted to the President in numerous pieces of legislation to enhance his power, and to reduce the power of the Court and the Congress, is exactly the kind of temptation that this dolt cannot resist.  It could lead easily to a form of dictatorship that a white nationalist like Trump would find tremendously useful in his quest for absolute power.  It could also lead to only one candidate for president in November 2020 as an integral means of maintaining his ‘national emergency’ powers. 

Be overly cautious and totally aware – undefined criteria for a ‘national emergency,’ the historical precedent of no overturning of such declared “emergencies," and the unquestioning attitude of regime followers, lead to words that all progressive democratic thinkers should abhor – government takeover – coup d’etat – despotic regime – oligarchy – tyranny.

I beg you to consider:  this debacle is not about a wall.  It is about power and self-aggrandizement.  It is about Donald Trump who has lived his life trying to out-maneuver competitors or critics by any means possible.  He does not care for checks and balances because he is only comfortable when he is in charge and calling all the shots.  The previous shutting-down of the government and now calling for a national emergency are clear means to that end.  

Trump embodies our greatest national emergency!  He is the major threat to our security and our democracy!