Cutting Government, Blindfolded - NYTimes.com Mitt Romney has been rousing military-minded voters with warnings of giant defense cuts in January, but he's only telling half the story. An alarming White House report issued Friday shows that the full impact of next year's ham-handed budget cuts would affect virtually every government function, not just the Pentagon. From the Secret Service to food inspection to air traffic control, a broad range of programs would be cut by at least 7.6 percent, whether they are essential or frivolous. A few categories are exempt, including Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, Social Security, veterans affairs and military personnel. Everything else would be run through a Procrustean band saw, a mindless way to govern. These cuts, known as the sequester, were the result of the debt-limit crisis created by House Republicans last year, when they threatened to throw the government into default if the deficit were not reduced. President Obama and the Democrats tried to respond with a balanced package of spending reductions and tax increases on the rich. But when Republicans refused the deal, the two sides agreed on a different incentive: $100 billion a year in indiscriminate cuts to programs that each side holds dear. So far, though, it hasn't produced any serious negotiation on the deficit. The House, as recently as Thursday, has made several attempts to cancel only the defense sequester and double the size of the domestic cuts. That won't fly with the Senate or the White House. The release of the sequester details, however, might change the equation and transform the debate from abstract politics into a concrete and eye-opening reality. An across-the-board 9.4 percent slashing of the defense budget will mean $6.9 billion from the operation and maintenance of the Army, and $4.3 billion each from the Navy and the Air Force. There are huge cuts to equipment, as well as cuts to chemical and nuclear demilitarization. The cuts to domestic spending, mostly at 8.2 percent, are even broader. A few examples: $1 billion from special education funds; $2.3 billion from low-income rental assistance, likely affecting 277,000 households; $86 million from food safety and inspection; $735 million from the F.B.I.; and $136 million from the Secret Service. With American embassies now under siege, $129 million would be cut from embassy security, construction and maintenance. Medicare providers would be cut by 2 percent, or $11 billion. And there would be cuts to Congressional expenses (though the salaries of lawmakers would not be touched). There is still time before year's end for Congress to cancel this destructive sequester and negotiate a realistic plan to balance spending cuts with tax increases on the rich. One look at the details should persuade lawmakers that the task is urgent.