For months before the end of 2012, the “fiscal cliff” dominated news cycles. Now, we have the sequester.
The sequester is a series of automatic spending cuts to the federal budget to reduce spending by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. The sequester will take effect on Friday, March 1st, unless the White House and Congress take action.
The cuts will have a wide impact, as they will “be split 50-50 between defense and domestic discretionary spending.”1 There will be cuts to Medicare and consequently, to health care related jobs.2 Education programs will be hit and effects will be felt at airports, homeless shelters, and border crossings.3
It seems inevitable that the cuts will take place tomorrow, however, I’m not sure if we will immediately feel the direct impact. Unfortunately, this has become another “wait-and-see” game and that is just what we’ll have to do. For now, here is a list of how the budget cuts might impact government programs.
2By the Numbers: Automatic spending cuts
357 Terrible Consequences of the Sequester
