Zerg, we've had this discussion before. If you follow that way of thinking then there's no point in Taiwan having armed forces and it might as well surrender now.
The submarines are effectively on hold until the US finds a builder, with only a bit of money being provided to keep the project going - so that's not a real concern. In regards to the other major deals, PAC-3 and P-3C Orions are not second-rate - you know that, so don't repeat the nonsense being put about by those who oppose the deal.
As to cost, that's what happens by Taiwan wanting to have its cake and eat it (rule itself without pissing off China by making a UDI or changing the Constitution). If Taiwanese want to pay market rates for their arms, they will have to push the Taiwan problem to a conclusion.
Besides we are talking about Sea RAM, something which is not actually that expensive, but would be quite useful. The KMT are not opposed to expensive arms purchases - they've blocked spending in the past because they can't get a bribe as part of the deal. It's also down to politics, squabbling with the DPP because they want to control everything (like redraw the constituency boundaries to suit themselves, not give up their stolen State assets, etc). However, they have (so they say) agreed to the budget being increased this year with the Orions, PAC-2 upgrades to PAC-3 standard and some R&D funds for the submarines.
Perhaps I did not make my stance clear enough previously, sorry about that. The reasoning that I used in the above post was the reasoning used by the pan-blue alliance in Taiwan used to stop the arms budget, as you correctly noted. I think the Orion and PAC-2 upgrades are very good purchases, the submarines not so much. The problem I have with the deal personally is that it is all tied together. I would be pleased to see the first two items in service as soon as possible, because they are force equalizers that could at the very least deter an invasion for a while longer. (The submarines are too, but logistics make them not a factor here)
I do not have objections to Taiwan buying military equipment on a whole, however I believe that some discretion is needed when determining what is needed, or what is economically feasible. For example, getting an aircraft carrier certainly sounds cool, but it would be economic suicide, and probably wouldn't be all that military useful anyway.
Taiwan's options are very limited - either it continues down the status quo path which will eventually lead to unification - or it will take a strong reform stance taking it in a new direction, like changing the Constitution as you pointed out - despite possible political costs.
When talking about costs, I was not referring to the Sea RAM itself, which I also agree is a useful purchase. And indeed, the KMT is not opposed to arms spending as a rule, they in fact bought almost all of Taiwan's current military equipment when they were in power - but as they are out of power they cannot get kickbacks from purchases, and will therefore stall as long as possible. That is not to say that every pan-blue lawmaker only has an interest group perspective, or to say that the pan-green side only believes in the noble goal of national prosperity.
Some encouraging news (from a Taiwanese perspective) is that indeed, it seems that they have agreed to increase the annual military budget, perhaps negating the need for a separate special budget that caused much debate.
