Due to a stalemate between Congress and the Obama administration, automatic spending cuts went into effect to the tune of $85 billion. This so-called “sequester” of funds was predicted to have dire effects, curbing important government services such as air traffic control and devastating our military. Actually, hardly any of those dire predictions came to pass. The Washington Post has an interesting story about how agencies moved money around and cut nonessential spending to keep the worst from happening. The story includes a specific list of the 46 predictions and what happened with them.
From David A. Fahrenthold and Lisa Rein, They said the sequester would be scary. Mostly, they were wrong. – The Washington Post:
Before “sequestration” took effect, the Obama administration issued specific — and alarming — predictions about what it would bring. There would be one-hour waits at airport security. Four-hour waits at border crossings. Prison guards would be furloughed for 12 days. FBI agents, up to 14.
At the Pentagon, the military health program would be unable to pay its bills for service members. The mayhem would extend even into the pantries of the neediest Americans: Around the country, 600,000 low-income women and children would be denied federal food aid.
But none of those things happened.
Sequestration did hit, on March 1. And since then, the $85 billion budget cut has caused real reductions in many federal programs that people depend on. But it has not produced what the Obama administration predicted: widespread breakdowns in crucial government services. . . .
In some cases, agencies dug into their budgets and found millions they could spare. In other cases, Congress passed a law that allocated new funds or shifted money around. In others, lawmakers signed off on an agency’s proposal to “reprogram” its money.
In the process, the “meat cleaver” of sequestration often became a scalpel. It spared crucial programs but cut second-tier priorities such as maintenance, information technology, employee travel and scientific conferences.
For the specific predictions go here.
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