WASHINGTON -
The FBI and dozens of
other federal agencies are preparing for harsh automatic spending cuts to kick
in tomorrow.
Lawmakers are not
working on a compromise to avoid them. And Democrats and Republicans are
continuing playing the blame game.
In a last ditch effort, both parties are
offering up their own Senate bills today that would replace $85 billion in cuts
with gentler alternatives. But Democrats want tax hikes on the wealthy, Republicans
don't, and neither bill is expected to pass.
Lawmakers had a year and a half to reach
a budget deal. There's still one day to go, but members of Congress are
scheduled to leave Washington tonight for a long weekend.
The White House says the cuts will lead
to hundreds of thousands of government layoffs.
The
president will sit down with Republican leaders tomorrow at the White House. But
no one expects the meeting to stop the cuts.
The automatic spending cuts isn't the
only crisis facing Washington. There is another fiscal deadline at the end of
March that threatens to shutdown the government unless lawmakers reach a
solution.
