[h=3]By PETER NICHOLAS[/h] NEWPORT NEWS, Va.—Rejecting a Republican plan meant to blunt the effect of budget cuts set to start Friday, President Barack Obama said Tuesday the reductions are so deep and far-reaching there is no way to spare the country serious economic damage.
Mr. Obama came to a shipbuilding firm here hoping to pressure Republicans to come to the bargaining table and strike a deal averting the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts.
The president wants to cancel the cuts in favor of what he calls a balanced deficit-reduction plan that would combine more thoughtful reductions with tax revenue increases. Republican leaders insist on cuts alone, creating a standoff that is unlikely to be resolved before the reductions—known in Washington-speak as the "sequester"—kick in.
"The sequester will weaken America's economic recovery," Mr. Obama said at Newport News Shipbuilding. The White House chose the site to dramatize the real-world impact of cuts in military spending. The firm, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, builds naval aircraft carriers and submarines and describes itself as the largest industrial employer in Virginia.
If the cuts come to pass, the Pentagon might need to delay or cancel shipbuilding plans, Mr. Obama said.
A total of 90,000 civilian Defense Department employees in Virginia would be furloughed—a blow that would reverberate throughout the economy, the White House said.
The White House staged the event to highlight Virginia's dependence on defense dollars and showcase possible cracks in the Republican coalition. In flying to the shipyard, the president brought along an area congressman, Republican Scott Rigell, whose district has a heavy military presence.
Aboard Air Force One, Mr. Rigell told reporters that he disagrees with those in his party who say a deficit-reduction package shouldn't include revenue increases.
In his speech, the president praised Mr. Rigell, a rare instance of cross-party agreement.
"He knows it's important to you," Mr. Obama said, speaking with an aircraft-carrier propeller as a backdrop. "And he's asked his colleagues in the House to consider closing tax loopholes instead of letting these automatic cuts go through."
With the cuts set to take effect in just a few days, Republicans have been devising plans that would give the Obama administration more flexibility to minimize the damage.
But the president dismissed such efforts as futile. Cutting $85 billion before the fiscal year ends in seven months will create inescapable harm, the president said.
"There's no smart way to do that," he said. "You don't want to have to choose between, 'Do I close funding for the disabled kid or the poor kid? Do I close this Navy shipyard or some other one?' When you're doing things in a way that's not smart, you can't gloss over the pain and the impact it's going to have."
The president's appearance is the latest in a campaign-style effort to shape public opinion behind his plan for averting the sequester. In recent days, Obama administration officials have publicly warned that the spending cuts would trigger layoffs, jeopardize national security, slow the economic recovery and create long waits at airports.
With years of experience now in mounting such campaigns, the White House is using its full reach to sway voters and drown out the Republican counterargument.
Over the weekend, the White House released state-by-state reports detailing what it said are hardships Americans will endure if the sequester goes into effect.
Speaking to reporters this week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the spending cuts would make it more difficult to prevent terrorist attacks. "We're going to do everything we can to minimize that risk, but the sequester makes it awfully, awfully tough," she said.
White House aides are spreading the president's message through blog posts and Twitter feeds. And an outside arm of the White House—a new nonprofit group called Organizing for Action—is planning events in various communities that would be hit by the spending cuts.
All this has prompted eye-rolling from some Republicans who predict the consequences wouldn't be so calamitous.
GOP lawmakers also say the president is taking part in time-wasting campaign tactics. In a news conference Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) chided the president for his visit to the Virginia shipyard.
"I don't think the president's focused on trying to find a solution to the sequester," Mr. Boehner said. "The president has been traveling all over the country and today going down to Newport News in order to use our military men and women as a prop in yet another campaign rally to support his tax hikes."
Antsy about the approaching deadline for the cuts, some Democrats are also saying they want to see negotiations resume.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) said in an interview that the president and congressional leaders need to gather around a table, "eyeball each other" and "get to a solution."
Write to Peter Nicholas at [email protected]
Mr. Obama came to a shipbuilding firm here hoping to pressure Republicans to come to the bargaining table and strike a deal averting the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts.
The president wants to cancel the cuts in favor of what he calls a balanced deficit-reduction plan that would combine more thoughtful reductions with tax revenue increases. Republican leaders insist on cuts alone, creating a standoff that is unlikely to be resolved before the reductions—known in Washington-speak as the "sequester"—kick in.
"The sequester will weaken America's economic recovery," Mr. Obama said at Newport News Shipbuilding. The White House chose the site to dramatize the real-world impact of cuts in military spending. The firm, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, builds naval aircraft carriers and submarines and describes itself as the largest industrial employer in Virginia.
If the cuts come to pass, the Pentagon might need to delay or cancel shipbuilding plans, Mr. Obama said.
A total of 90,000 civilian Defense Department employees in Virginia would be furloughed—a blow that would reverberate throughout the economy, the White House said.
The White House staged the event to highlight Virginia's dependence on defense dollars and showcase possible cracks in the Republican coalition. In flying to the shipyard, the president brought along an area congressman, Republican Scott Rigell, whose district has a heavy military presence.
Aboard Air Force One, Mr. Rigell told reporters that he disagrees with those in his party who say a deficit-reduction package shouldn't include revenue increases.
In his speech, the president praised Mr. Rigell, a rare instance of cross-party agreement.
"He knows it's important to you," Mr. Obama said, speaking with an aircraft-carrier propeller as a backdrop. "And he's asked his colleagues in the House to consider closing tax loopholes instead of letting these automatic cuts go through."
With the cuts set to take effect in just a few days, Republicans have been devising plans that would give the Obama administration more flexibility to minimize the damage.
But the president dismissed such efforts as futile. Cutting $85 billion before the fiscal year ends in seven months will create inescapable harm, the president said.
"There's no smart way to do that," he said. "You don't want to have to choose between, 'Do I close funding for the disabled kid or the poor kid? Do I close this Navy shipyard or some other one?' When you're doing things in a way that's not smart, you can't gloss over the pain and the impact it's going to have."
The president's appearance is the latest in a campaign-style effort to shape public opinion behind his plan for averting the sequester. In recent days, Obama administration officials have publicly warned that the spending cuts would trigger layoffs, jeopardize national security, slow the economic recovery and create long waits at airports.
With years of experience now in mounting such campaigns, the White House is using its full reach to sway voters and drown out the Republican counterargument.
Over the weekend, the White House released state-by-state reports detailing what it said are hardships Americans will endure if the sequester goes into effect.
Speaking to reporters this week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the spending cuts would make it more difficult to prevent terrorist attacks. "We're going to do everything we can to minimize that risk, but the sequester makes it awfully, awfully tough," she said.
White House aides are spreading the president's message through blog posts and Twitter feeds. And an outside arm of the White House—a new nonprofit group called Organizing for Action—is planning events in various communities that would be hit by the spending cuts.
All this has prompted eye-rolling from some Republicans who predict the consequences wouldn't be so calamitous.
GOP lawmakers also say the president is taking part in time-wasting campaign tactics. In a news conference Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) chided the president for his visit to the Virginia shipyard.
"I don't think the president's focused on trying to find a solution to the sequester," Mr. Boehner said. "The president has been traveling all over the country and today going down to Newport News in order to use our military men and women as a prop in yet another campaign rally to support his tax hikes."
Antsy about the approaching deadline for the cuts, some Democrats are also saying they want to see negotiations resume.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) said in an interview that the president and congressional leaders need to gather around a table, "eyeball each other" and "get to a solution."
Write to Peter Nicholas at [email protected]