Obama Appears to Have Exaggerated Effects of Sequester on 'Head Start'

In the days leading up to sequestration, President Obama and other administration officials often singled out Head Start as one of the vital programs that would be severely impacted by the automatic spending cuts. Phrases like “70,000 kids get thrown off of Head Start” and “70,000 young children would be kicked off Head Start” were common refrains. On Friday, as the sequester went into effect, President Obama himself said:

[F]olks who suddenly — might have been working all their lives to get an education, just so that they can get that job and get out of welfare and they’ve got their kid in Head Start, and now, suddenly, that Head Start slot is gone and they’re trying to figure out how am I going to keep my job, because I can’t afford child care for my kid…