Chapter 4

I had written few executive orders as President; almost all of those were associated with the West Coast rioting fiasco. Every time I did that, I was reminded I was only a place holder. That was over now with many of those that had called me a place holder were now on their way out.

I directed an aide to get me copies of all the executive orders put into effect by the last 5 presidents. I called in the chief of the White House legal team Alex Crabtree.

‘‘I want to know if there are time limits on executive orders or are they forever. I want to know if previous executive orders are still influencing programs and agency policies,’’ I said.

Congress was in a pickle on funding again. This year - just like last year and the previous 30 years - they had not fully completed the budget funding on time. From October until January there was one continuous funding resolution after another. They would pass this piece then another piece and never the whole piece.

They sent another resolution to get by Thanksgiving so they could go home. I vetoed the resolution and sent a note that the resolution would not be signed in its current state. They needed to send one representative and one senator to the White House to negotiate a binding final solution to the budget crap that they had been dancing around for weeks.

To put more heat on Congress I issued an executive order to freeze to all hiring by the federal government until all budget and revenue issues were resolved and a balanced budget was approved.

I called the Secretary of Defense and the secretary’s of the individual forces and the Joint Chiefs to a meeting at 1300. I was going to rock them to the core.

I then had a letter sent to all agencies to produce concrete plans to reduce their budgets by twenty percent and to submit those plans to the White House in no more than 30 days. Let the fun begin! I figured if I asked for twenty they would come forward with five.

Congress was heading towards another trillion deficit. I was determined there would be no more of them.

I called Secretary of the Treasury Morrison for a 1500 meeting. I told him to bring several IRS people who could think and chew gum at the same time to give me numbers on revenue.

I had Troy set up a series of meetings with the incoming Conservatives, Representatives and Senators and then meetings with the ones that were reelected. I had campaigned for all of them in one way or another and the PACS had paid for a lot for advertizing. I was going to start the process to call in some of those favors.

I sent Harry a press release that the White House would begin hiring investigators and prosecutors for the new White House investigative branch. That branch would have subpoena powers as well as the authority to forward cases to the Justice department for prosecution, the same as Congress.

The branch would be used to develop policy and funding levels and also fret ferret out false and misleading testimony from all the departments and agencies of the federal government that had led to mismanagement and hundreds of billions in the waste of federal funds.

In all the years that Congress had that responsibility, not one federal official had ever been sent to jail or lost their pensions or job for lying to the government or lobbying for special interest positions, conflicts of interest in decisions they had made, personal, party or for profit. Too many had used their position to leverage high paying jobs or huge profits after leaving government.

I had run the idea past constitutional scholars, but there was no firm answer or consensus from them. The only thing left to do was to start it, use it and then let the Supreme Court figure it out.

At 1300 the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense were in the meeting room.

‘‘With the demise of Iran and Russia an ally now, there should be opportunities to combine, reduce and eliminate a number of bases in Europe and the Middle East as well as the US. Some of those forces may need to be moved into a better position to respond to China,’’ I said.

‘‘I want a list of all US bases worldwide and at home. I want to know if they can be closed or consolidated with other bases and closed. I want that list in 30 days.’’

‘‘I am also firmly suggesting that ALL West Coast carriers be moved further west to apply more pressure on China and move several East Coast carrier task forces to the West Coast. Move the carrier task forces to Pearl, Guam, Subic Bay, Japan and hopefully in Russia in an expansion of that agreement,’’ I said. ‘‘I will meet with President Orbatch at the G8 conference next week,’’ I added.

“To allay some of your fears I want the domestic base closings to gain concessions from Congress. I want them to rein in domestic spending. The fear of losing bases in their states might help do that. Given the events of the last six months, I am sure there are places where cuts can be done,’’ I said.

‘‘We knew there would be changes in the military with the threat level from Iran gone and Russia down. We will have everything completed by then that we have been working on and more ideas,’’ General Ingram said.

‘‘The survey of Subic Bay has been completed. What is left of the base is in better condition than we were led to believe. It’s what we need to improve our position in the South China Sea as you directed,’’ Admiral Block said.

Subic Bay Naval Base and the Clark Air Force Base had been big military bases for the US since the big war. Political corruption and a declining Philippine economy had been the beginning of the end of the bases there. The corruption started with the Marcos family and grew.

The result was massive cash payment demands for the US to continue to have bases there. The military and the US government balked at the demands which resulted in lengthy negotiations that went nowhere.

The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1990 resulted in heavy damage to both bases, making them too expensive to rebuild and pay the lease demands. The US walked away and expanded other Pacific military bases.

Philippine presidents since then had a love - hate relationship with the US, bordering on insanity at times.

China was back to claiming every sand bar shoal waters as theirs, based on centuries old hand drawn maps already dismissed by the treaties of the seas courts. They were making man-made islands into military post to reinforce their claims on total sovereignty over the South China Sea and everything it touched.

I had intervened in some of the disputes by sending the carriers to spend several weeks in the South China Sea in support of the Philippine position. Two carrier task forces were still there doing operations in the area.

‘‘President Santos will be here for a summit in a few days. Will the survey be completed on the old Clark Air Force Base by then and will you have estimates for the hangars?” I asked.

‘‘Both should be completed. I will check on it and put a rush on it,’’ General Ingram said.

‘‘The notice to Congress will be sent out today on the base consolidation and Harry will give a media briefing later today,’’ I said.

I called Prime Minister Attenborough to give him a heads up so he would not be blindsided by the base cut-back announcement. Then I called German Chancellor Hermann where we had the most bases. All agreed to discuss further at the G8 meeting.

I received a note from Harry that my appearance would be appreciated.

I ordered an emergency delivery of donuts and coffee from the agents favorite donut shack. They set them up on a table behind the divider. I took one glazed donut and my coffee mug and sat on the edge of the stage in front of Harry and ate the donut while Harry continued to give the daily briefing.

The reporters became fidgety, looking around, expecting agents to bring donuts from behind them.

When they didn’t, ‘‘Madam President, did you forget something,’’ one of them in the back said.

‘‘That was a great donut! I think I will have another,’’ I said as the agents brought the table and the donuts out on cue.

‘‘Harry will you join me in a donut and coffee,’’ I said.

Harry got himself two donuts and a cup and then sat down beside me.

‘‘You know, you play this group better than anyone I have ever seen,’’ he said.

‘‘Possibly, but I expect things to get heated up from here on out,’’ I said.

‘‘That was good. But I’ll have to add an hour in the fitness center tonight to make up for it,’’ I said standing behind the podium.

‘‘Harry says you have some questions for me. Who wants to start the inquisition?” I said.

‘‘You sent notice that there may be a military base realignment and possible closures both in the US and abroad. Would you expand on that? Multiple state governments are already ringing alarm bells,’’ a reporter asked.

‘‘Europe and the Middle East are prime candidates for closures, realignments and reductions. Africa and the West Pacific are candidates for expansion. All of those will require lengthy negotiations, ‘‘ I said.

‘‘Even with the elimination of Iran, the terrorist threat continues to grow. New groups pop up every day in Africa and South America with all of them looking to be the next ISIS. The long term challenges are huge and never ending,’’ I said.

‘‘As far as domestic bases go, I’m looking for substantial reductions. West coast training costs are three time higher than southern east coast facilities,’’ I said.

‘‘With reduction in troop levels comes a reduction in recruit training, so some things need to be closed,’’ I said.

“Some members of Congress are saying that you do not have the authority, that bases come under Congress’s authority,’’ a reporter said.

‘‘The President is Commander In Chief of the military and I think that throws a broad blanket over the bases that house and support them. Congress will certainly have input, but the final decision will be mine and the Joint Chiefs, also costs are going to figure into it. We need to get every pennies worth from every dollar,’’ I said.

‘‘While Congress controls the funding to build new bases, the decision to adjust bases to fit the needs of the military will be decided by the military. Excess monies from base realignment will be used as necessary to make the changes or returned to the Treasury,’’ I said.