Whoah, this sounds like it’s the equivalent of the Patriot Act for the Pentagon :

Brace yourself. The Defense Secretary is pushing a 205-page bill through Congress that would — take a deep breath:

* Strip Defense Department employees of their unions, whistleblower protections, annual pay raises, and rights to appeal disciplinary actions;

* Let the Defense Secretary dole out no-bid, no-oversight, no-accountability contracts worth billions (one observer calls it “the Halliburton Bill of Rights”);

* Exempt the military from environmental and wildlife protection rules on more than 23 million acres of American lands;

* Free the Pentagon from dozens of requirements it report to Congress.

Dissing Congress seems only fair. As long as the Pentagon is offering contempt to taxpayers, the environment and its own workers, why should it pretend it respects our elected representatives? Especially since Congress doesn’t respect itself: Rumsfeld’s bill is moving up Capitol Hill with a bullet. It was being discussed this morning at a House subcommittee hearing, and soon could make its way into the front pages.

The American Federation of Government Employees has more about Rumsfeld’s plan here. They’ve got sample faxes to send to your Representative or Senator as well as a flyer. If you’d like to email your representatives in Congress, click on the links to the left under “Complain”.