There are just two days left before the federal government is forced to make sizable cuts through sequestration, part of the debt limit negotiations from 2011.
Democrats and Republicans are jockeying for position to see who gets blamed if the country goes through sequestration.
The conventional wisdom says that the $44 billion dollars in defense and discretionary spending cuts this year, and $85 billion total, will harm some of the nation's most vulnerable people, as well as the economy.
But Congressman Tim Walz says it's not so much the size of the cut that matters, but the fact that the cuts will be applied to all programs, rather than prioritizing the spending.
Representative Tim Walz says, "We need to do it in a manner that elected officials are sent ere to do it. It's never made any sense to me that we would have an across the board 9% cut for a program that should be zeroed out, and [at the same time] cut 9% from a program that actually grows the economy and adds to the base."
Republicans in the House did pass two bills last session that would allow President Obama to prioritize, but they never made it past the Senate.
Now the president wants to eliminate tax deductions for the rich to ease some of the cuts, though Republicans argue they've already ceded tax hikes during the fiscal cliff negotiations.
With that apparent stalemate in mind, the two sides are stuck waiting to see how the ordeal plays out politically.
Rep. Walz says, "There are substantial problems that will cause harm to people that could be avoided. Overall, when you're trying to make all the cuts from a small portion of the budget, instead of dealing with the long-term problems, this is what you're going to get."
Republican Congressman John Kline argues in a press release that the sequester was President Obama's idea, and that the Republican-controlled House has voted twice to replace it what targeted spending cuts.
If no alternative develops in Washington, the sequester will go into effect on Friday.
