Rapid Fire Jan. 10, 2013: Marching Towards March Madness | UK Major Projects

• Todd Harrison from the CSBA think tank explains [PDF] how the way the recent American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) tinkered with sequestration affects defense. His estimate is $42.7B in cuts spread over the last 7 months of the current fiscal year, a couple billion dollars below Bob Dale’s number. But the revised base number for FY14 would be lower at $475.2B vs. $479B in the original sequester, and $533.6B in the FYDP.

• “March Madness” is the new “Fiscal Cliff”, as the US Congress is hooked to lousy sequels. Debt ceiling vs. sequestration are the bargaining chips that Democrats and Republicans say are off the table, but they will still have to use in the end.