Republicans, Democrats brace for impact of March 1 US cuts

With five days left before $85 billion is slashed from US government budgets, governors and lawmakers from both parties said the White House and Congress should pull out the stops to avert indiscriminate cuts.

Republicans, who are seeking spending cuts, urged President Barack Obama to apply what's known as the "sequester" in a more careful way, rather than slashing budgets across the board.

The White House has issued dire warnings about the impact the cuts will have, including mass temporary layoffs or "furloughs" in the military, a slowdown in air traffic, and shutdowns for daycare programs and meat-processing plants.

"They've rolled out this great political theater about how cutting less than 3 percent of the federal budget is going to cause all these awful consequences," said Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican, on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Here's his chance to say, 'Here's how we can do it better,'" Jindal said, suggesting Congress and the White House give departments the ability to cut spending on less essential services.

Congress returns on Monday after a week-long recess and unless lawmakers reach a deal with the White House to postpone the sequester cuts, they will take effect on March 1.

Obama has urged Congress to buy more time for a broad budget deal with a short-term measure that boosts revenues by ending some tax breaks for the wealthy.

Senate Democrats have put forward a plan that focuses on those tax loopholes. This week, Republicans are expected to propose alternatives.

"I think this notion of giving the President the discretion to make the spending cuts - I think that's a cop-out. So I will be urging my colleagues to have an alternative and for us to present one," said Senator Kelly Ayotte, a Republican from New Hampshire, on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Governors, in Washington this week for an annual meeting, are concerned about the impact of the cuts on jobs and the economy at the state level.

On average, government programs subject to the cuts provide 6.6 percent of states' revenues, according to Pew Center on the States.

Obama is slated to speak to the group at 7:10 pm EST (0010 GMT Monday) at a White House dinner on Sunday night.

An analysis by Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group last week found that under sequestration, states close to the nation's capital and in the South will be hardest hit.

White House officials have said the sequester law does not allow the administration to be flexible in applying the cuts.

"We don't have any ability with dumb cuts like this to figure out what the right thing to do is," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said on "Face the Nation."

"There are literally teachers now who are given pink slips, who are given notices that they can't come back this fall," Duncan said.