Taiwan's opposition-controlled legislature finally passed this year's central government budget in mid-August after nearly a year of delay, and the across-the-board cuts are now causing real damage.

• Lawmakers slashed about NT$48 billion using blanket cuts rather than reviewing programs line by line.
• Special expense accounts were cut 60%, with 20 agencies losing theirs entirely — money normally used to reward frontline police, firefighters, and tax staff.
• Freezing the premier's salary is a first in Taiwan's constitutional history and raises questions about whether parliament can force officials to work unpaid.
• Cuts to the presidential office's operating fund wiped out orders placed with sheltered workshops that employ disabled people, triggering public anger.
• KMT caucus leader Fu Kun-chi apologized for the workshop damage but said nothing about the year-long delay or the blanket-cut method itself.

Outlook: The fight over whether blanket cuts violate Taiwan's budget law — and whether frozen salaries are constitutional — is likely to continue into next year's budget round.