why does this scare me???? Original Article Bush pushes putting military in charge President wants to take authority from local officials in responding to disasters Ken Herman Cox News Service Sept. 26, 2005 12:00 AM SAN ANTONIO - President Bush on Sunday advanced his call for putting the military in charge of responding to catastrophic disasters now under state and local control, a change some critics contend could have dangerous implications. During a Randolph Air Force Base briefing at which military leaders detailed problems in the Hurricane Katrina response, Bush said a key part of his weekend trip, which included a Saturday briefing at U.S. Northern Command in Colorado, was to find out if there is "a circumstance in which the Department of Defense becomes the lead agency." "Clearly, in the case of a terrorist attack, that would be the case, but is there a natural disaster . . . of a certain size that would then enable the Defense Department to become the lead agency in coordinating and leading the response effort?" Bush said. "That's going to be a very important consideration for Congress to think about." Such a change could require revision of an 1878 federal act that bans the use of the military for law enforcement. Military expert Gene Healy of the Cato Institute, in an analysis published Sunday, warned against tinkering with that law. "Having already wrecked a legendary American city, Hurricane Katrina may now be invoked to undermine a fundamental principle of American law," Healy wrote, concluding that "when it comes to domestic policing, the military should be a last resort, not a first responder." In addition to shifting authority away from local officials, the change contemplated by Bush would take power away from the much-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA was established in 1979 by President Carter after the National Governors Association asked for an entity that would streamline the state-federal links during emergencies. At the time several agencies were folded into FEMA, including the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration activities of HUD. FEMA itself was folded into the Department of Homeland Security when that agency was created in March 2003. Bush's comments came as he wrapped up a two-day swing ostensibly planned to watch response to Hurricane Rita but largely orchestrated to help Bush make his case about increased military authority over disaster response. In Baton Rouge on Sunday, Bush visited the FEMA Joint Field Office for an update on Rita-related damage in Louisiana, including the new round of flooding in New Orleans.