Agonizing Choice?

The Sacred Cow of American Defense Spending seemed like an essay right up my alley.

But I couldn't make it through the first paragraph...

2012 headlines were full of horrible depressing news: cuts on the federal, state, county and the city level.  The nation was subjected to a full time diet of descriptions of cities agonizing over whether to cut libraries or sewage treatment...

My goodness. I understand why the necessity of budget-cutting would seem agonizing for those tasked for the job. They're essentially firing people, and no matter how you feel about "government" as it currently operates, it isn't easy to do that.

But once the necessity of budget-cutting is there, does one really agonize "over whether to cut libraries or sewage treatment?"

I mean, what's more important, free books or clean water?