Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 176 Planned Economy

The Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House was as noisy as a market.

People in suits and ties completely abandoned their usual gentle facades and started arguing heatedly.

"I fucking said it a long time ago!"

The Secretary of Homeland Security slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "This is a blatant execution! They are publicly executing the federal government!"

Upon hearing this, the Deputy Finance Minister sighed, his expression one of utter exhaustion.
"Excuse me for speaking frankly, something really happened in New York, and a lot of people were killed or injured."

"But the fiscal coordination is not completely paralyzed—"

However, before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the White House National Security Advisor.

What nonsense are you spouting?

"Samuel was tied upstairs like a kite, and the whole world saw it."

"Are you planning to see the RMB become an international reserve currency tomorrow?"

"Let those damn Asians decide how much our money is worth?"

"Wake up, the time to play dumb has passed."

I'm not forcing anyone to pretend nothing happened.

The White House legal advisor awkwardly raised his hand, offering a self-justification:

"It's just that your proposal is too absurd."

"This is forcing the president to sign the Insurrection Act, not some little girl's game."

The Secretary of Homeland Security sneered repeatedly:

“Militia occupied Seattle City Hall this morning, and National Guard troops in several counties in South Carolina refused to accept federal command.”

"Tell me, how can this not be considered a rebellion?"

"Dan is talking about war, a state of war in the real sense."

The National Security Advisor said, nodding to the legal counsel, "And right now, although the situation is critical, it certainly doesn't qualify as war."

"Stop trying to fob me off."

The Secretary of Homeland Security jumped up abruptly, pointed his finger at him, and yelled:

"Samuel is the Federal Reserve Chairman appointed by the President!"

"How dare you say 'this isn't a sovereignty crisis'?"

The legal advisor maintained his stance: "To be fair, sovereignty still exists."

"The president is not out of contact, there is no interruption of constitutional order, and the armed forces are strong."

Upon hearing this term, the chief economic advisor couldn't hold back any longer:
"Strong my ass! The dollar is practically dead, what use is an army?"

"This morning alone, the CME triggered circuit breakers twice, and nobody on the NYSE dared to place orders!"

"I don't even dare to think about what the future holds. Blackstone, Bridgewater, Vanguard... they're all dead."

"Dead beyond dead, the body smashed to pieces."

"If you still don't understand what this means, then you shouldn't be here."

The National Security Advisor coughed twice and spoke again:
"Excuse my bluntness, but these things, though serious, have absolutely nothing to do with sovereignty."

"Indeed, market crashes, runs on reserves, and foreign capital flight are all happening—"

"But this is not a constitutional collapse."

"Rushing into a state of war will only hasten our destruction."

After he finished speaking, there was a brief silence.

Then, a hoarse voice rang out from the far end of the conference table, carrying a heavy southern accent:
"Ha, you should all be fucking hanged."

"???"

"What did you say?!"

The chief of staff immediately frowned and looked up.

"I said--"

The retired army intelligence major general chuckled and slowly repeated:

"You should all be hanged there too."

"That way, they won't be hiding in the White House making sarcastic remarks."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent for a few seconds in surprise.

Then--

The National Security Advisor blushed and jumped to his feet.

The chair crashed against the wall with a loud bang.

"If you're still wearing your military uniform, I'll fucking have you arrested right now!"

"If you dare say that at the hearing, let's see if the House of Representatives dares to approve you as an advisor?"

"A hearing?"

The retired major general remained seated calmly, shrugged, and replied, "You think there will still be a Congress by then?"

Upon hearing this, the National Security Advisor pointed at the man, about to unleash a torrent of abuse.

Unexpectedly, there was a sudden, urgent knocking at the door.

McCann turned his head expressionlessly, gesturing for the newcomer to enter. The man was dressed in civilian clothes and worked for CISA, a subsidiary of DHS.

Despite his young age, his gait was inexplicably stiff.

"Mr. President, I'm sorry to interrupt the meeting."

He licked his dry lips: "But this briefing was marked as the highest level of urgency and it concerns the legitimacy of the election system."

McCann squinted and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"explain."

“North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Matthew Norton, a Republican, died tragically this morning from a shooting.”

"The perpetrators were a couple, the man was 26 years old and the woman was 24 years old, and both were under the severe influence of drugs at the time of the incident."

He looked up and scanned the crowd.

"The suspect made no attempt to conceal himself, approached the vehicle, and immediately drew his gun, striking Matthew Norton in the head, killing him instantly."

The chief of staff frowned: "Their motives? Do they have an organizational background?"

"The initial assessment is that this was an isolated targeted attack, but it is pending further review by the FBI."

He paused, then lowered his voice:
"But we do not rule out other possibilities, especially in the current context."

"Get to the point," McCann commanded coldly.

"Yes."

The man nodded, opened the document, and handed it over:

"Simply put, because all of the state's approved candidates are dead or unable to perform their duties, the system marks the North Carolina ballots as invalid."

"At the federal level, its statistical process will be temporarily frozen and submitted to the Constitutional Affairs Panel for a legality review."

“And this mechanism,” the man took a deep breath, “has never been triggered in the past.”

“In other words, this is a constitutional crisis,” the legal advisor murmured.

The room fell into dead silence.

McCann's eyes changed completely.

It was as if something dangerous was about to emerge.

But it was only for a moment.

The next second, he had regained his composure.

When he noticed that everyone's eyes were on him, he spoke gently:

"I still remember the last presidential debate four years ago."

"A student stood up and asked me, 'What do you think America fears most?'"

“I said, it’s not China, it’s not ****, and it’s not nuclear war.”

"It is not a loss of faith in democratic systems."

"Like a rusted bridge, broken beneath your feet."

"Today, we stand on the edge of a crisis."

"If we hesitate any longer, we will fall and be shattered."

McCann looked around and said, word by word:
"Therefore, I will sign the Insurrection Act[1]."

"Starting tonight, the entire country will enter a temporary state of security."

"The federal government will mobilize active duty and National Guard forces to support the restoration of order in North Carolina, California, Illinois, and other regions."

"The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve will jointly activate the Financial Stability Emergency Mechanism to control large interstate payments and sensitive industry clearing flows to prevent capital flight."

"The Securities and Exchange Commission is authorized to issue a 24-hour market technical halt order to assess the impact of high-frequency trading and structured speculation."

"At the same time, by invoking Chapter 1 of the Defense Production Act, priority production and supply orders are issued for infrastructure such as communications, power, and network nodes to ensure that the redundancy chain of the federal system is not weakened."

As he spoke, he turned to look at the man who had just given the report:

"Regarding the North Carolina vote crisis—"

"The White House Office of Legal Affairs will formally submit an emergency constitutional compliance review request to the Supreme Court."

The legal advisor swallowed hard.

"Sir, please allow me to remind you, however, you must arrive in seventy days—"

I understand your concerns.

McCann interrupted him.

Then, after a brief pause, his tone softened again.

"When the next president is sworn in, I will, in accordance with the provisions of the Twentieth Amendment, hand over all power without reservation."

"I am unwilling to respond to the country's vulnerability in an unconventional way."

"But at this time, to stand idly by is to be complicit in the collapse."

"After today, the United States of America may no longer be perfect, but it will certainly continue to exist."

　[1] In 1807, the U.S. President was authorized to deploy U.S. troops and federal National Guard troops within the United States under certain circumstances; in 1806, a new chapter was added that allowed the federal government to use the National Guard and armed forces against the will of state governments in the event of a “rebellion against the authority of the United States government.”

　　[2] The planned economy, which began in 1950, supervised industrial production and prioritized and allocated all the necessary materials.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)