It has been expected that the deep federal spending cuts will begin on Friday. On Tuesday, Congress engaged in a new round of finger-pointing, intra-party bickering and frustration. It even prompted top party leaders to hurl vulgarities at each other.
Senate Republicans, who usually find it easy to unite against President Barack Obama, found themselves unable to forge a united front over how to deal with the impeding budget cuts, with some proposing to give more budget power to a White House that most Republicans say they mistrust.
A warning about the consequences of congressional paralysis for fiscal issues was issued by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Mr Bernanke called on Congress to avert looming across-the-board spending cuts that he said would damage a still-weak economy.
If Congress doesn’t act, the government will have to make $85 billion in across-the board defense and domestic cuts by September 30.
Mr Bernanke said Congress should replace the cuts with more gradual, long-term deficit-reduction measures. Not only would the cuts hurt hiring and incomes, they would slow the recovery, keeping deficits larger than otherwise, he said.
Mr Bernanke took his slap at the policies being pursued by Congress and Mr Obama on a day when both sides were digging in deeper than ever.