Spending cuts are, in practice, expected to run closer to 40% for local government and other public services already subject to cuts.
And the military, itself subject to cuts, can hardly be expected to step in each time a private firm falls short.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program "would face cumulative cuts of $1.5 trillion through 2022 if Medicare is subject to cuts and $1.9 trillion if Medicare is exempt".
Labor was also keeping its cards close to its chest on specific commitments on foreign aid, an area that has been subject to cuts of about $11bn compared with previously earmarked amounts since the Coalition came to office.
Congressional auditors estimated that the national missile defense programs could have cost overruns of $2 billion to $3 billion, reinforcing widespread expectations that they will be subject to cuts by the Obama administration.
But it was a message that the former lord chief justice of England and Wales, Lord Judge, was reluctant to put his name to — not least because he perceived that the public would have no sympathy for relatively highly paid professionals seeking to maintain their pay levels at a time when others were subject to cuts.
I want assistance to live now; I want decent social care, left alone by government and not subject to cuts; and I want palliative care from doctors doing what the best of them do to the highest degree – helping me to live well.
One proposal that has come to pass is a ban on film profanity, meaning releases are subject to cuts – including Leviathan, the Golden Globe-winning drama that Russia is nevertheless trying to muffle, given its biting portrayal of local Russian politics and bureaucracy.
It has meant that many western films have been subject to cuts in order to be released.
Dividends at today's rates will be subject to cuts if oil prices drop back to $35 or lower.
However, other areas within the department's responsibilities, such as the fire service, would be subject to cuts.
