February 21, 2013 4:30PM # Why the Areas Affected by Sequestration Should be Cut By [Tad DeHaven](https://www.cato.org/people/tad-dehaven) --- SHARE The scheduled implementation of the sequestration spending cuts is a little more than a week away, which has Republicans, Democrats, bureaucrats, special interests, and the media warning that [the apocalypse is nigh](https://www.cato.org/blog/sequestration-cuts-will-lead-floods-plagues-pestilence). Sequestration isn’t the ideal way to cut spending, but it would be a start. And despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, the areas of federal spending targeted by sequestration should be cut. Many of these areas have been covered by Cato’s [Downsizing Government website](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/). The following is a “guide” for those who are interested in alternative points of view (and who haven’t already sought refuge in a bunker): - Why the [Department of Defense](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/defense) should be downsized. - Why unemployment benefits should be cut and the [unemployment insurance](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/labor/failures-of-unemployment-insurance) system reformed. - Why [Head Start](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hhs/subsidies) and other Department of Health and Human Services subsidy programs should be cut. - Why subsidized loans from the [Small Business Administration](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/sba) should be cut. - Why [federal subsidies to firefighters](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/extinguish-federal-grants-firefighters) should be cut. - Why [community development programs](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hud/community-development) at the Department of Housing and Urban Development should be cut. - Why HUD [public housing and rental subsidies](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hud/public-housing-rental-subsidies) should be cut. - Why [federal employee pay](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/overpaid-federal-workers) should be cut. - Why the [Army Corps of Engineers](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/usace) should be cut. - Why [federal subsidies to state and local government](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/fiscal-federalism) should be cut. Downsizing discusses other agencies and programs that would be cut (and more), but those are some of the more prominent areas that are being discussed. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).