Opponents of cutting defense spending often frame proposed cuts as a binary choice: either cut military spending, or keep the country safe. This is a false dichotomy—by encouraging the Department of Defense to make reforms that use tax dollars more efficiently, taxpayers can have their cake and eat it too. Limiting unnecessary spending would actually be beneficial to national security.
In a recently released report, the Institute for Spending Reform identified 84 reforms aimed at improving the efficiency of taxpayer money going to defense spending. The reforms totaled at least $143 billion in savings, and many more of the proposals did not have a definitive savings calculation—in other words, enacting all 84 proposals would likely save even more.
