President Obama and Republicans are playing the blame game when it comes to automatic spending cuts that are due to kick in later in the day.
Obama met with lawmakers at the White House this morning and afterward told reporters, "Let's be clear: None of this is necessary. It's happening because of a choice that Republicans in Congress have made. We shouldn't be making a series of dumb, arbitrary cuts to things."
Republicans countered by saying the fault was Obama's, for insisting that increased taxes be part of the resolution.
Obama says the impact of the cuts won't be felt immediately, but middle class families will begin to "have their lives disrupted in significant ways." He says as long as the cuts stay in effect, Americans will know that the economy could have been better had they been averted.
