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.
Taxing artificial intelligence: What’s on the table, and what’s at stake
English Summary
The Brookings report argues that AI's potential to shift income from workers to capital profits threatens the core of the U.S. tax base, which relies heavily on payroll and income taxes. In response, lawmakers are debating various AI-specific taxes—such as those targeting training compute, data center electricity use, or model usage—each with unique administrative challenges and economic trade-offs. While these proposals aim to maintain federal revenue and fund social safety nets, the analysis cautions that broader reforms, like a VAT or corporate cash-flow tax, could also address the revenue gap. Ultimately, any policy solution must navigate complex tensions between maximizing tax revenue, ensuring efficient capital allocation, and considering national security implications.
中文摘要
布魯金斯智庫的報告指出，人工智慧（AI）有潛力將收入從勞工轉移至資本利潤，這威脅到高度依賴薪資稅和所得稅的美國稅基核心。為應對此趨勢，立法者正在辯論多種針對AI的特定稅種——例如針對訓練運算、數據中心用電，或模型使用量徵稅——每種稅種都伴隨著獨特的行政挑戰和經濟權衡。儘管這些提案旨在維持聯邦收入並資助社會安全網，但分析警告稱，更廣泛的改革，如增值稅（VAT）或企業現金流稅，也可能解決收入缺口。最終，任何政策方案都必須在最大化稅收、確保資本配置效率，以及考慮國家安全影響之間複雜的張力中尋求平衡。
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