Now that we’ve established that sequestration will prevent some fireworks displays at military bases this week, let’s take a look at what other impacts have or have not transpired due to across-the-board federal cuts.
Thanks to the Washington Post, the work has already been done.ย The Post recently checked up on 48 of the dire predictions made by the Obama administration and found that just 11 have come true, 24 have not come to pass, and for 13, it is too soon to know.
Their analysis concludes that many predictions fell short because agencies were able to find “cuts” that don’t cause much real-world pain by digging into budgets to find millions that could be spared. Congress also helped, signing off on agency proposals to “reprogram” funds. ย ย In other words, the sky didn’t fall, though certainly programs and employees have been hit.
Many of the administration’s predictions were specific and alarming, such as hour-long waits at airport security, four-hour waits at border crossings, a Pentagon unable to pay health bills for service members, and 600,000 low-income women and children denied federal food aid.ย None of those things happened. Administration officials say the President didn’t intentionally exaggerate sequestration’s effects, but rather believed it would be that bad. ย
To better portray which sequester predictions panned out, and which didn’t, the Post produced a handy and graphical guide that lists out predictions by federal agency and describes the outcome of cuts, to date.ย
So there may not be fireworks at some military bases this 4th of July — but we can rest assured that our nation’s service members and veterans are receiving their health care benefits, uninterrupted. ย
