The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Band-Aid Budgeting: How the Annual Defense Budget Misses the Mark on Needed Reforms
English Summary
The CATO analysis argues that simply increasing the annual defense budget constitutes 'Band-Aid Budgeting,' failing to address deep structural flaws within the defense industrial base, such as supply chain bottlenecks and cost overruns in major programs. The report contends that massive spending is fiscally irresponsible, risking inflation and diverting funds from domestic sectors with higher economic returns, while also lacking alignment with America's core strategic priorities. For effective national security policy, Congress must abandon reliance on large spending packages and instead focus on achieving bipartisan consensus to implement tough structural reforms and right-size commitments globally.
中文摘要
CATO 分析指出，單純增加年度國防預算僅構成「權宜之計式撥款」（Band-Aid Budgeting），無法解決國防工業基礎內深層的結構性缺陷，例如供應鏈瓶頸和大型計畫中的成本超支。該報告主張，大規模開支在財政上是不負責任的，不僅有引發通貨膨脹、分散資金流向高經濟回報國內產業的風險，也缺乏與美國核心戰略優先順序的一致性。為實現有效的國家安全政策，國會必須放棄依賴大型預算包，轉而專注於達成兩黨共識，以實施嚴格的結構性改革並在全球範圍內合理化（right-size）相關承諾。
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