On Friday morning, President Obama held a press conference to address the automatic spending cuts, known as the sequester, that will be taking effect given that no deal has yet been reached. Underlining that the "pain" of these cuts is unnecessary, the president again faulted Republicans for allowing us this situation to happen.

Americans are "resilient" and will make it through this patch, Obama said, but Washington isn't making matters easy. We should be making "a series of dumb, arbitrary cuts" to things like education, research, and defense. The cuts' pain "will be real," even though not everyone will feel it right away.

Further elaborating on the effects, Obama stressed the "ripple effect" on the economy, which will entail slow growth and cost 750,000. It's "a slow grind that will intensify with each passing day," he said.

But "none of this is necessary," Obama added. "It's happening because of a choice Republicans in Congress have made."