WASHINGTON: As the reality began to set in under the first few days of the automatic budget cuts (commonly referred to as the "sequester"), many members of congress are beginning to realize that the cuts were not in fact a part of a joke played by the White House and leaders of both parties.
"We thought they were kidding!" said an aide to Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa). "Most members and their aides thought it was a plot to get us to compromise on the deficit debate."
The lower-ranked members of both parties began to suspect a hoax over the last month, as the party leaders increasingly pointed fingers and decreasingly tried to get proposals onto the table.
"No, we didn't accomplish much this past week." said one California representative, "We didn't think that there was anything to fight about. If this was a joke, why should we hurry?"
Their mistake has left many on Capitol Hill scrambling to piece together legislation that would move the cuts to less vital areas of government spending, as well as proposing ways to fix both Medicare and Medicaid, two big black holes in the US budget.
Representatives are also taking a look at the defense cuts, while working with Pentagon officials to have smaller programs shoulder the effects.
"Right now we have a ship sitting in a dock with her crew, not doing anything." said Jim Bluffin, a senior Pentagon official, "That's one thing that needs to be fixed."
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