The Sequester.

The sequester is a program that requires a reduction of spending across all areas in the United States. This is to help eliminate the national debt that we are in right now. In an article on CNN, it is said that the debt has reached $16 trillion. It was also stated that it would be pushed to March 1st, 2013 instead of the originally planned date of January 1st. This is because of a deal made that interfered with the fiscal cliff. At last, they had to implement the sequester otherwise there wouldn't be any progress. 

ABC says that the amount cut will be roughly $85 billion over the next 10 months. Originally it was supposed to be $109 billion, but they were able to find other ways to save so the price wouldn't be as high. They also said that many government programs would be cut, these include defense and non-defense programs. Luckily though, many "domestic entitlements" will be spared, these being: Medicare, Social Security, food stamps, etc. There is a possibility of government furloughs, which are temporary unpaid leaves. This will lead to longer wait times or overcrowding because of lack of staff. 

Washington Post answers many important questions in an easy-to-read format. They are sure that no programs will get fully cut, they just want to reduce spending. It is highly controversial because some programs and states will get cut more than others. The discretionary spending affects some programs more, for example, the national parks will lose a lot of money from an already small budget. The sequester isn't fun for anyone, and so Democrats vote to increase taxes on the wealthy and have more spending cuts. Republicans, on the other hand, want less taxes, no defense cuts, and cuts in domestic spending, like food stamps.