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FOA: "They will not be pushing on
a string; rather picking up the ball of twine and throwing it!"
I may be crazy, but if there was a contingency plan/how-to manual on throwing
the world's largest ball of twine, it might just look like this:
And here are a few twine throwing excerpts from our brain-trust of central
planners:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States of America, including the Defense Production Act of 1950
[...] it is hereby ordered as follows:
...
Sec. 103. General Functions. Executive departments and agencies
(agencies) responsible for plans and programs relating to national defense
(as defined in section 801(j) of this order), or for resources and services
needed to support such plans and programs, shall:
(a) identify requirements for the full
spectrum of emergencies, including essential military AND civilian
demand;
(b) assess on an ongoing basis the capability of the domestic industrial and
technological base to satisfy requirements in peacetime AND times of national emergency,
specifically evaluating the availability of the most critical resource and
production sources, including subcontractors and suppliers, materials,
skilled labor, and professional and technical personnel;
...
Sec. 201. Priorities and Allocations Authorities. (a) The authority of
the President conferred by section 101 of the Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2071, to require acceptance and priority
performance of contracts or orders (other than contracts of
employment) to promote the national defense over performance of any other contracts or orders,
and to allocate materials, services, and facilities as deemed necessary...
(b) The Secretary of each agency delegated authority under subsection (a) of
this section (resource departments) shall plan for and issue regulations to
prioritize and allocate resources and establish standards and procedures by
which the authority shall be used to promote the national defense, under both
emergency AND
non-emergency conditions.
...
PART III - EXPANSION OF PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY AND SUPPLY
Sec. 301. Loan Guarantees. (a) To reduce current or projected
shortfalls of resources, critical technology items, or materials essential
for the national defense, the head
of each agency engaged in procurement for the national
defense, as defined in section 801(h) of this order, is authorized pursuant
to section 301 of the Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2091, to guarantee loans by
private institutions.
(b) Each guaranteeing agency is designated and authorized to: (1) act as
fiscal agent in the making of its own guarantee contracts and in otherwise
carrying out the purposes of section 301 of the Act; and (2) contract with any Federal Reserve Bank
to assist the agency in serving as fiscal agent.
...
Sec. 302. Loans. To reduce current or projected shortfalls of
resources, critical technology items, or materials essential for the national
defense, the head of each agency engaged in procurement for the national
defense is delegated the authority of the President under section 302 of the
Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2092, to make
loans thereunder. Terms and conditions of loans under this
authority shall be determined in consultation with the Secretary of the
Treasury and the Director of OMB.
...
Sec. 303. Additional Authorities. (a) To create, maintain, protect,
expand, or restore domestic industrial base capabilities essential for the
national defense, the head of each agency engaged in procurement for the
national defense is delegated the authority of the President [...] to make provision for purchases
of, or commitments to purchase, an industrial resource or a critical
technology item for
Government use or resale, and to make provision for the
development of production capabilities, and for the increased use of emerging
technologies in security program applications, and to enable rapid transition
of emerging technologies.
...
Sec. 304. Subsidy Payments. To ensure the supply of raw or nonprocessed materials from high cost sources, or
to ensure maximum production or supply in any area at stable prices of any
materials in light of a temporary increase
in transportation cost, the head of each agency engaged in
procurement for the national defense is delegated the authority of the
President [...] to make
subsidy payments, after consultation with the Secretary of
the Treasury and the Director of OMB.
...
Sec. 306. Strategic and Critical Materials. The Secretary
of Defense, and the Secretary of the Interior in consultation with the
Secretary of Defense as the National Defense Stockpile Manager, are
each delegated the authority of the President [...] to encourage the exploration, development,
and mining of strategic and critical materials and other materials.
...
Sec. 308. Government-Owned Equipment. The head of each agency engaged
in procurement for the national defense is delegated the authority of the
President [...] to:
(a) procure and install
additional equipment, facilities, processes, or improvements to plants,
factories, and other industrial facilities owned by the Federal Government AND to
procure and install Government owned equipment in plants, factories, or other
industrial facilities owned
by private persons;
(b) provide for the modification or expansion of privately owned facilities,
including the modification or improvement of production processes...
(c) sell or otherwise
transfer equipment owned by the Federal Government and
installed under section 303(e) of the Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2093(e), to the owners of such plants,
factories, or other industrial facilities.
...
Sec. 310. Critical Items. The head of each agency engaged in
procurement for the national defense is delegated the authority [...] to take
appropriate action to ensure that critical components, critical technology
items, essential materials, and industrial resources are available from
reliable sources when needed to meet defense requirements during peacetime, graduated mobilization, and
national emergency. Appropriate action may include
restricting contract solicitations to reliable sources, restricting contract
solicitations to domestic sources (pursuant to statutory authority),
stockpiling critical components, and developing substitutes for critical
components or critical technology items.
...
Sec. 312. Modernization of Equipment. The head of each agency engaged
in procurement for the national defense [...] may utilize the authority of title III of
the Act to guarantee the purchase or lease of advance
manufacturing equipment, and any related services with respect to any such
equipment for purposes of the Act. In considering title III projects, the
head of each agency engaged in procurement for the national defense shall provide
a strong preference for
proposals submitted by a small business supplier or subcontractor...
You can read the full 11-page Executive Order here.
Sincerely,
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