White House predicts cuts will have a ripple effect

Now that we're living in the age of the sequester, the White House is predicting the automatic cuts will have a ripple effect throughout our economy and people will be adversely affected.

The White House, citing a report from the Congressional Budget Office gave a list of negative effects of the sequester; 750,000 jobs will be lost, wages will be cut or jobs reduced, the military has begun curtailing maintenance and training, and some employees will be furloughed.  

At his first cabinet meeting, President Obama was looking for ways to minimize the damage.

"We're going to do our best to make sure that our agencies have the support they need to try to make some very difficult decisions, understanding that there are going to be families and communities that are hurt," he said.

In the days leading up to the sequestration, the Obama Administration made dire predictions.  It was criticized and accused of scaring the American people.

"They told us we were losing teachers in Virginia and slower lines in the airport --  I breezed through LAX and it was supposed to be longer lines? They over sold this," said former President George H.W. Bush adviser Karl Rove on "On the Record."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says, "Look I don't mean to scare, I mean to inform.  If you're traveling, get to the airport earlier than you otherwise would -- there's only so much we can do with personnel.  Please don't yell at the customs officers or the TSA officers, they are not responsible for sequester."

Republicans are concerned about the sequester. One senator says every American has cut back on their spending except the federal government continues to grow.

"The federal government acts like we haven't been there at all because we're 89 percent bigger than what we were in 2001. So, we continue to grow and every American family out there is making tough choices," said Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn.

Coburn adds that even Americans with good incomes are making tough choices now.  And this, he says, is only the beginning if things don't change in Washington.