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.
A Health Economist Regrets Supporting the ACA
English Summary
Health economist Dana Goldman expresses deep regret for supporting the Affordable Care Act (ACA), arguing that the legislation failed to bend the cost curve of American healthcare. He asserts that the ACA's original cost-control and financing provisions were systematically stripped out or watered down by Congress due to political lobbying and partisan maneuvering. Goldman argues that the political process is inherently biased toward expanding entitlement spending, making genuine deficit reduction virtually impossible, a point corroborated by the CBO and IMF. The implication is that major legislative reforms are highly vulnerable to political capture, suggesting that structural spending increases will consistently outweigh revenue-raising measures.
中文摘要
衛生經濟學家Dana Goldman對支持《平價醫療法案》（ACA）表達了深切的遺憾，他認為該法案未能有效遏制美國醫療保健的成本增長。他主張，由於政治遊說和黨派角力，ACA最初的成本控制和融資條款被國會系統性地移除或稀釋。Goldman指出，政治過程本身天生傾向於擴大福利支出，使得真正的赤字削減幾乎不可能實現，這一觀點已得到國會預算辦公室（CBO）和國際貨幣基金組織（IMF）的佐證。其潛在涵義是，重大的立法改革極易遭受政治操縱，暗示著結構性的支出增加將持續超過任何增加收入的措施。
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