The Sequestration went into effect today. Is this a made-up word? It must be because it feels like we’re living in some grim(m) fairy tale. I have vowed to keep this blog apolitical, but this is crazy and there’s plenty of blame to go around on both sides. The $85 billion in cuts wasn't supposed to actually happen. It’s a little like setting some kind of draconian measure for yourself that you never intend to keep, like saying “If I don’t move by April 1, I’m going to burn my house down,” in order to force you into action because the alternative is too crazy to contemplate. And then you just sit in your house and shrug your shoulders while it goes up in flames. 

Anyway, I kid about it being a fake word. I know it primarily from sequestering a jury. Maybe that’s how we should have handled Congress...sequestered them and piped in really horrible music, like “Feelings” or “Afternoon Delight” on a loop, and give them nothing but bread and water until they come to a resolution.  Trust me, my disgust is bi-partisan. 

The press has used Meals on Wheels as an example of a program that could be severely hurt if the Sequestration runs on and on with no resolution, but the number the Administration is citing and that Meals on Wheels cites are radically far apart.  Ellie Hollander, head of Meals on Wheels Assn. of America, told NPR that up to 19 million meals could be lost, though she doesn’t stipulate any kind of time frame. 

Should feeding the hungry really be up for debate? 

March 1: Meals On Wheels

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