Free Republic

Rand PaulIn the midst of allegations of police brutality and police aggression at the OWS protests, the U.S. Senate approved a bill that is said to “explicitly create a police state”: the National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA, passed by a vote of 93 to 7, virtually stated that all of the United States may be considered a battlefield, and therefore the American military is permitted to indefinitely detain any American perceived to be a threat. Several amendments were proposed by both Democrats and Republican Senators, which would have deleted the dangerous provisions that would allow the indefinite detention of...

Up to 25,000 Defense Department civilians may be eligible for thousands of dollars in separation pay through an early-buyout program. The program is part of the 2004 National Defense Authorization Act. On Dec. 30, Ginger Groeber, deputy undersecretary of defense for civilian personnel policy, allocated 25,000 buyouts to defense components to pay eligible departing employees up to $25,000 if they choose to leave their jobs early. She said the program is available for permanent hires, which includes workers not on time-limited appointments such as temporary appointments or those with a specified end date to their employment, and is available to...