Imagine a government agency with only two tasks: (1) building statues of Benedict Arnold and (2) providing life-saving medications to children. If this agency's budget were cut, what would it do? The answer, of course, is that it would cut back on the medications for children. Why? Because that would be what was most likely to get the budget cuts restored.That explains exactly the behavior of President Obama and his Cabinet in the days leading up to the March 1 sequestration. They predicted awful things would happen.
Except the ploy didn't work; the public shrugged and called Obama's bluff. Now the administration tells us maybe outcomes won't be as dire as they predicted.
You'd hope they would be at least a little embarrassed. If so, they're concealing it well.
