The likeliest outcome is therefore neither a sudden, history-altering reduction in defence spending, nor a quick fixthatlets Congress wriggle out of its trap, but a drawn-out and perhaps salutary election-year debate about how much defence to buy at a time of distress.
When you find out that your Kryptonite bike lock can be opened with a Bic pen or that a bug in Java lets malicious websites take over your computer, the fix is in your hands: You send in your lock for a replacement or disable Java in your browser.