Perspective is good, so consider: The federal government spends $3.6 trillion a year. A cut of $85 billion, as called for in the looming sequester, represents 2.3 percent of that total, from a government that is having to borrow more than 25 percent of everything it spends. It doesn't touch entitlement spending at all, so we're talking about 7 percent of the Pentagon budget and 5 percent of discretionary domestic spending.
