在1961年对美国公众的告别演说中，德怀特. Eisenhower warned Americans about the growing influence of what he termed the “military-industrial complex.” In his view the spending priorities of the nation could be profoundly affected by placing too much emphasis on 军费开支 at the expense of other public policy needs. 正如艾森豪威尔在讲话中所说:
“维持和平的一个关键因素是我们的军事机构. 我们的武器必须强大, 准备好立即行动, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction… But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportion…This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new to the American experience…Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications…we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, 无论是军事工业综合体寻求还是不寻求. 错位的权力带来灾难性崛起的可能性存在并将持续下去.”
在2023财政年度，国防部的预算为876美元.90亿年. Defense spending accounts for 12 percent of all federal spending and nearly half of what is termed discretionary spending-money that must be appropriated by Congress every year. The Defense budget pays for a workforce of nearly three million people and all the various support services such as providing for the families of service men and women and maintaining military bases both here and abroad (the United States currently has 750 military bases in 85 countries). But a good portion of the Defense budget and one area that Eisenhower was concerned about was the expenditures on new equipment, 特别是对于飞机, 船只, 潜艇, 坦克, 核弹头, 导弹系统以及数量不断增长的高科技卫星和网络安全设备. This is where private corporations work closely with the Defense Department to provide these weapons of war and national security.
像雷神这样的公司, 洛克希德·马丁公司, 通用动力公司, 贝蒂·格, Boeing and Textron to name just a few are the corporate leaders in providing the Defense Department with the latest in military equipment. 洛克希德·马丁公司 is the world’s largest arms producing and military services company with sales in 2021 of over $ 60 billion. 例如, 洛克希德·马丁公司是F-35闪电战斗机的主要承包商, 这比原计划晚了10年，比最初的成本估计高出1830亿美元. F-35并不是唯一一个军费开支的项目. 最新的尼米兹级航空母舰杰拉尔德·福特号的售价为12美元.80亿美元，并声称是历史上最昂贵的战舰.
The United States working with arms manufactures is in a race to keep up with its adversaries like China and Russia who are also modernizing their military and spending huge sums of money to ensure that they do not fall behind our country. But this arms race is what Eisenhower was concerned about as the military-industrial complex remains largely unchecked and reaps enormous profits. 此外, 没有什么政治意愿来阻止这种支出, overspending and relentless modernization of equipment as Congress working hand in hand with corporate lobbyists tout the benefits of defense spending. Members of Congress often support the spending on the military as beneficial to their state and congressional districts as bases and manufacturing plants bring important dollars to local businesses and constituents. 军事 spending is not only big business but vote generators as politicians boast about “bringing home the bacon” in terms of government contracts and employment opportunities.
数以十亿计的美国.S. 纳税人的钱被花在国防拨款上, 对承包商哄抬价格的担忧与日俱增. 国防部在监控费用支出方面一直松懈，结果令人震惊. In 2015, 五角大楼的一个监督小组下令对爱国者PaC-3导弹的相关成本进行审查, 关键的防御导弹系统之一. The study found that 洛克希德·马丁公司 and Boeing were overcharging the Defense Department by hundreds of millions of dollars with some cases profits reaching over 40 percent. There have been some recent attempts at reform in the procurement policies of the Defense Department but when nearly a trillion dollars is spent on defense the prospects for fraud and gouging increase substantially.
The Preamble to our Constitution says that one of the key responsibilities of the government is to “provide for the common defense.“毫无疑问，军费开支对我们国家的安全至关重要, 尤其是现在，这个国家在世界各地面临着许多挑战. 然而，正如艾森豪威尔总统所说, the influence and indeed the power of the military industrial complex is so great and at the top of our public policy priorities it can overwhelm all other priorities. Critics of 军费开支 point to the need for greater balance in our fiscal appropriations as there are also important needs in healthcare, 教育, 住房, 运输, 食物, 退伍军人和救灾. All of these would be categorized under another responsibility of the government in the Preamble — to “promote the general welfare.”
军事, 军费开支, corporate lobbying and the impact of the arms industry on the national and local economies is so imbedded in our governing system that there is little chance for a reordering of national priorities. Public opinion polls continue to show that Americans view the military and defense spending as essential to national security and the protection of American life. But it is important to point out that the cost of protecting our nation and the enormous influence and power of the arms industry raises the question of whether our policy priorities are in balance and whether we as taxpayers are getting our money’s worth from a military industrial complex that is so dominant in our government.