we all know they are kicking this can further down the road sometime today or tomorrow right?

Otherwise, there will be more political bullshit applied until they do.

The fact checkers in the media manage to almost completely ignore all of the above, especially the 'cuts' part.

Come on. The MIC can tolerate this year's sequestration without a big problem. Their contracts protect them. The problem is the other $33 billion of the spending cuts that aren't anti-muslim rockets made by overpriced union factory workers. All of the effected domestic agencies must be cut evenly, regardless of how important they or their programs are and most of these agencies are already struggling with budgets and the pressure the retirement of the babyboomers is putting on them. It's also important to note that these cuts are repeated for several years until $1.2T is removed form the budget if the plan stands as is. So, no the sky will not fall at midnight tonight, but every American will see a slow degradation of federals services of the next two years and that will trickle down to problems when the states are forced to pick up that work or the citizens go without.

Very few in the DC area crowd doubt the need to cut spending, even on domestic programs, but the manner in which the sequester cuts are structured is mental and should have never been put into law. This needs to be done and it needs to be done smarter so that proper long term planning can go be worked.

Blog on the sequester's effect on research and science. Could be more care mongering, but we can't know at this point.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/02/27/there-should-be-grandeur-basic-science-in-the-shadow-of-the-sequester/

It would seem that they finally found a way to make the sequester hurt, but the pain it seems is easily avoidable. If a 2% cut makes the difference between normal service and substancial slowdown the feds are running far leaner than anyone gives them credit for.

Well, the first won't be so bad. It's the next few that we will really feel.