Sequester Questions, or why hasn't anyone yet published Sequester for Dummies?

[matt819]

Okay, maybe I don't read much past the first paragraph in sequester stories, so these questions might already have been addressed here and in the press, but here goes.

1. If the sequester happens (if that's the right phraseology), are impacts immediate? In other words, will air traffic controllers, for example, be reduced in number, or hours, or locations, resulting in an immediate affect on air travel? Will federal employees be furloughed immediately, on March 1, or next Monday? Are federal payments to states stopped right away? You get the gist of this question.

2. Let's say the sequester hits on March 1 and the Republicans collectively say, "whoops, my bad" (with the exception of Cruz, Ohmert, et al). How difficult is it to reverse whatever happens on March 1? Battleships don't turn on a dime. Is there a prescribed sequester reverse dance step?

[Scuba]

1. Here ya go...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/opinion/collins-sequester-for-dummies.html?_r=0

[matt819]

2. I did see that

And I love Gail Collins' columns. But I was looking for more reality-based impacts.

I do share the concern over the piping plover and any impact on the lives of kittens, puppies, and ponies.

But, seeing Obama on the front page of the Times speaking at a shipyard building an aircraft carrier, I wonder whether those workers will be out of work starting at 5:00 pm on Friday. There's all this talk about across the board, almost indiscriminate, cuts, so I think that's a legitimate question. What about Medicare and Medicaid? Do reimbursements cease immediately? Again, you get the idea. What is particularly galling about this is that I think no one really has the answer. The ball is in the republican court, and unfortunately they're off trying to identify communists in the state department and making sure women have to have 2 - no 3, maybe 4 - transvaginal ultrasounds. Could anyone have envisioned this idiocy even 15 years ago?