Obama Goes After GOP For Allowing Sequester's 'Dumb, Arbitrary' Cuts To Take Effect

On Friday morning, President Obama held a press conference to address the automatic spending cuts, known as the sequester, that will be taking effect given that no deal has yet been reached. Underlining that the 'pain' of these cuts is unnecessary, the president again faulted Republicans for allowing us this situation to happen.

Americans are 'resilient' and will make it through this patch, Obama said, but Washington isn't making matters easy. We should be making 'a series of dumb, arbitrary cuts' to things like education, research, and defense. The cuts' pain 'will be real,' even though not everyone will feel it right away.

Further elaborating on the effects, Obama stressed the 'ripple effect' on the economy, which will entail slow growth and cost 750,000. It's 'a slow grind that will intensify with each passing day,' he said.

But 'none of this is necessary,' Obama added. 'It's happening because of a choice Republicans in Congress have made.'

He urged 'Republicans in Congress to catch up to their own party and their country' in order to make progress on the issue. 'There is a caucus of common sense on Capitol Hill,' the president noted. But it's a 'silent group' right now.

Hammering home the notion that Republicans are largely at fault, Obama, prior to taking questions from the press, asserted that 'the greatest nation on earth doesn't conduct its business month to month or careening from crisis to crisis.'

Watch the remarks below, via CNN: