At Third Way, a leading moderate/centrist website, they have put together a simple list of what to expect from the across-the-board sequestration cuts, now that the supercommittee has apparently failed. What would it look like to cut $110 billion a year for the next decade look like?
· There would be $54 billion in annual defense budget cuts, roughly the cost of about half-a-year in Afghanistan.
· Federal law enforcement could lose 3,700 agents and almost 1,000 U.S. attorneys, which Third Way analysts say could result in 26,000 fewer arrests and 12,000 fewer convictions.
· Federal prisons could lose almost 7,000 corrections officers and the Border Patrol might lose one out of every four agents.
· Gun background checks on weekends might be reduced, potentially slowing sales.
· With 600 fewer food safety inspectors, Third Way estimates almost 50,000 more food poisoning cases like the recent listeria outbreak.
· Air traffic controller layoffs could mean a thousand more flight cancellations and 20,000 more delays — making more than a million people late each year.
· In addition, 2,300 fewer IRS agents could cost the US $4.5 billion in lost tax revenue.
