'Widespread Pain' of the Sequester Not So Draconian

"Recently, The New York Times ran an alarmist editorial about the “widespread pain” that would be inflicted on the American government and people by the budget “sequester.” If no legislative action is taken, the sequester will make across the board budget cuts (some exceptions exist, such as Social Security and pay for enlisted military personnel) of $85 billion during the last seven months of this fiscal year. Some have called such cuts “draconian,” but they are hardly so—for example, defense programs would be cut by only 8 percent."