A budget cut by opposition lawmakers in Taiwan wiped out mooncake orders from 37 sheltered workshops that employ disabled workers, and Taichung's mayor is now using city money to cover part of the gap.

• KMT and TPP legislators froze and cut the presidential office fund that pays for the annual mooncake purchase, arguing the president should not buy goodwill with public money.
• The cut hit 15,000 boxes nationwide, threatening the income of workshops that employ people with disabilities.
• Public anger forced the same lawmakers to scramble — one Yunlin legislator running for county chief pledged a month's salary to buy the mooncakes.
• Taichung Mayor Lu Shiu-yen is buying 1,500 boxes with city taxpayer money, framing it as the presidential office abandoning the order.
• That leaves 13,500 boxes unaccounted for, and Taichung residents are paying to clean up a mess made by their own legislators.

Outlook: With Lu's term ending in four months and a presidential run rumored, pressure will grow on the lawmakers who made the cut to restore the funding rather than let cities patch it.