Taiwan's ruling and opposition parties are trading blame after budget cuts forced the presidential office to cancel Mid-Autumn gift orders from sheltered workshops that employ disabled workers — bad news for those workshops, and a fresh political headache heading into local elections.

• The presidential office had to drop its gift-box orders after lawmakers cut its discretionary spending, leaving charity workshops with cancelled sales.
• Taichung mayor Lu Shiu-yen and other KMT figures now say they will buy the gift boxes themselves, with public or personal money.
• The DPP calls that a drop in the bucket and says it proves the spending was needed in the first place.
• DPP caucus leader Tsai Chi-chang accused Lu of smearing the government, since KMT lawmakers pushed the cuts through.
• With elections coming, the DPP warned candidates that gift-giving of this kind runs into campaign spending rules.

Outlook: Expect the fight over the cut budget to keep running as a campaign issue, with more local politicians stepping in to buy the workshops' products.