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Many programs affecting low-income Americans — like food stamps, Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families — are exempt from across-the-board spending cuts set to go into effect March 1.

But many other programs are not, and that has service providers scrambling to figure out how the budget stalemate in Washington might affect those who rely on government aid.

Kathy Yowell is sitting in a wheelchair in the middle of her living room, waiting for her daily delivery from Meals on Wheels of Takoma Park, Md. Today she's getting fish, green beans and spinach, along with a chicken sandwich, fruit, salad, juice and a bagel.

Yowell, 82, says the service is a lifeline, especially after she had spinal surgery last August. Without the help, she says, "I wouldn't be back in my house. I'd be in assisted living, and I don't think I would last very long in a place like that."

That's the case for many of the millions of seniors who are served by Meals on Wheels nationwide. Jill Feasley, who runs the Takoma Park program, says most of her clients are homebound and alone. They need both food and someone to check in on them.

But if automatic spending cuts go into effect this Friday, the Obama administration warns, seniors could get 4 million fewer meals this year alone.

Still, Feasley says her program "wouldn't feel the cuts immediately." Federal funds cover only about one-quarter of her costs, she says, so she has a little flexibility.

"I can dance a lot of dances," Feasley says. "I can try and raise more money from private donations. I can try and serve more hamburger." Anything, she says, to avoid cutting actual meals.

Feasley does worry what the budget impasse will mean for her ability to raise funds in this Washington, D.C., suburb. Many of her donors are government workers and are facing potential furloughs if the sequester kicks in.

Shots - Health News

How The Sequester Could Affect Health Care

For centuries, Germany has been synonymous with beer. Tourists flock from around the world to take part in the country's many beer festivals, including the famous Oktoberfest.

But officials say the German beer tradition is waning. A recent government report found Germans drink less beer now than they did a generation ago. To find out why, I visited some pubs and brew experts in Berlin — and heard a range of explanations.

At the Max and Moritz tavern, in a former working-class neighborhood of the German capital, beer once flowed as freely as the nearby Spree River. The pub is named after the characters of a beloved children's tale whose images adorn the walls and shelves, but it's the beer that this tavern is famous for.

Like most traditional German pubs, local brews are served here from taps or in bottles. On the night I visited, most customers were drinking wine or soda pop.

One of those drinking a soda was my husband's friend, Jan Katzmarczyk, a German lawyer who's sworn off alcohol for Lent. Even when he does drink, the 41-year-old says he rarely orders a beer anymore — maybe two a week, but not more.

He took us to several well-known pubs in Berlin to see what his country's statistics agency is reporting: that Germans — despite consuming two and a half billion gallons of beer last year — are drinking less beer now than at any time since 1990.

"People might drink less because it has lots of calories," Katzmarczyk says. "People are thinking much about their bellies, and beer is not helping."

At a nearby tavern called Zur Kleinen Markthalle, or "small market hall," there were more beer drinker. But bartender Andreas Varrelman confirmed what the government is reporting: Fewer patrons order beer these days.

He blamed the decrease on Germany's economic crisis, saying he believes people are more reluctant to go out and spend money, including on beer.

Marc-Oliver Huhnholz, spokesman for the German Brewers Association, says the waning interest in beer is more about changes to German society.

"We have a shift of the population, the people become older and less younger are following," he says. That means there are fewer Germans in younger age groups, which are more typically associated with beer drinking.

“ Germans are drinking less beer now than at any time since 1990.

"I was surprised to hear from the former CEO of Philip Morris, who is no friend of government, no friend of government regulation," says Moss, "to tell me that, 'Look, Michael, in the case of the processed food industry, what you're looking at is a total inability on their part to collectively decide to do the right thing by consumers on the health profile of their products. In this case, I can see how you might need government regulation if [for] nothing else [than] to give the companies cover from the pressure of Wall Street.' "

"Let me be honest with you," Risser says. "I was born with a political spoon in my mouth. When I was born I think my dad was district attorney. He was state senator for 12 years. As a kid, I used to help him campaign. I had great love for my dad. I knew I was going to follow in his footsteps."

Risser was first elected in 1956. He says he remembers when the Legislature was made up entirely of white men.

"There were no females, there were no minorities or diversity. In fact, they didn't even have a woman's john on the legislative floor," he says. "Now it's much more diversified, which is good."

Other changes, he finds, are not so good.

"The Legislature is more polarized than I've ever seen it. There are more straight party-line votes than there have ever been. I can remember when the rurals would fight the urbans or the eastern part of the state would fight the western part or the north would fight south. But now it isn't that way," he says. "Now it's Democrats versus Republicans."

Nevertheless, he has no inclination to call it quits. "It's the most frustrating job in the world, but it keeps the adrenalin going and it gets you up in the morning. You learn something new every day," he says. "You see different people every day."

And that seems to keep him feeling younger than 85 — whatever 85 means. Risser says it's just a number, that there are many different kinds of ages: your mental age, your physical age — though most 85-year-olds are not riding 2,000 miles a year on their bikes as he does. And he's kept the confidence of his fellow Senate Democrats to the point that they've elected him Senate president when they've had the majority.

But Risser acknowledges there is one respect in which he's an old-timer.

"I don't have Facebook pages, I don't tweet, I don't know how to text. I'm learning to use my iPhone a little bit, but I don't feel confident even to use email," he says. "I'm from the old school, and I still write things down."

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