How Did AP Determine that the Scheduled Cuts to the Military Budget Would be "Crippling?"

That is what readers of an AP article on the impact of budget cuts stemming from last year's agreement must be wondering. The first sentence of the piece told readers that:

"Moving to protect the military from a crippling wave of budget cuts next year, a key House committee voted Monday to cut instead food aid, health care and social services like Meals on Wheels."

The piece would have been more informative if it had avoided editorializing by including the word "crippling." That assessment is...