Obama blames Republicans for $85bn of automatic cuts

A combative US president Barack Obama has blamed Republican lawmakers for failing to stop automatic spending cuts of $85bn (€65bn) that were due to begin kicking in last night, calling the cuts “dumb, arbitrary”.

Republicans said the fault was his for insisting that increased taxes be part of the resolution.

The president said the impact of the cuts will not immediately be felt, but middle class families will begin to “have their lives disrupted in significant ways”. He said that, as long as the cuts stay in effect, Americans will know that the economy could have been better had they been averted.