It is difficult to take government hysteria over the sequester seriously when federal agencies that are complaining over potential discretionary cuts to services are announcing new spending programs at virtually the same time.

The blog Screwy Puppy noticed a typical example at the bloated Department of Education, which has not had much success in improving American educational standards in the mere three decades it has existed. As the screen shot above shows, the department announced a new spending program on Monday--$15 million to fund volunteers in failing schools--and then warned about sequester cuts.

Though $15 million is a fraction of the cost of the sequester to the department, a serious approach to budget management would not be adding new programs in the midst of serious financial challenges. 

Unless, of course, the challenges are not that serious, and government departments are merely being enlisted in a partisan fight by the White House to block cuts that President Barack Obama himself proposed in 2011.

This post has been corrected to reflect the fact that both press releases were issued Monday.