(Newser)
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Much ink has been given to the Pentagon cuts set to hit on Jan. 2, thanks to the failure of last year's deficit supercommittee. But with less than five months til D-Day, the AP takes the opportunity to dish out a cheery recommendation: Don't fear those $55 billion in cuts, because the matching $55 billion in domestic spending cuts will hit you much harder. Here's a look at the potential consequences of the latter should the sequester come to pass (negotiations are expected to heat up up post-election, notes the AP, which does add that few believe the sequester would last longer than a few weeks):
- Fewer air traffic controllers, which some say could lead to the closure of smaller airports
- Fewer border guards and FBI agents
- Cuts to park rangers at national parks could mean closed campgrounds and less access for visitors
- Less meat might get inspected, and some meat plants could even be temporarily shuttered
- Fewer people would get winter heating subsidies, and the National Weather Service would see cuts, too
- Some 700,000 fewer low-income women and children would receive food aid
- 100,000 preschool kids would lose places in Head Start
- More than 12,000 HIV-positive people would lose access to their antiviral drugs
