Pretty much the first rule of any bureaucracy when faced with a reduction in the rate of budget increase (egad!!!) or an actual budget cut (OH MY FUCKING GOD !!!) is to immediately propose cutting the big, highly visible and presumably, key functional issue of the bureaucracy.
The classic case is pruning a fire department. They aren't going to propose putting off blacktopping the driveways to the stations or not updating the division chiefs annual SUV purchases, nope, they are going to slash the number of fire trucks as an opening salvo in budget negotiations.
And it's an automatic response. No one actually looked at any actual budgeting or costing numbers, nope, any talk of trimming the fire department budget is instantly met with a proposal to slash the number of firetrucks.
The classic case is pruning a fire department. They aren't going to propose putting off blacktopping the driveways to the stations or not updating the division chiefs annual SUV purchases, nope, they are going to slash the number of fire trucks as an opening salvo in budget negotiations.
And it's an automatic response. No one actually looked at any actual budgeting or costing numbers, nope, any talk of trimming the fire department budget is instantly met with a proposal to slash the number of firetrucks.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
