BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. President Barack Obama has blamed Republican lawmakers for failing to stop automatic spending cuts that were to begin kicking in later in the day. Republicans said the fault was his, for insisting that increased taxes be part of the resolution.

Speaking to the White House press corps following an hour long meeting with Congressional leaders, Obama said now is not the time to let spending cuts negatively affect a recovering economy.

Obama said, "At a time when our businesses have finally begun to get some traction, hiring new workers, bringing jobs back to America, we shouldn’t be making a series of dumb, arbitrary cuts to things that businesses depend on and workers depend on, like education and research and infrastructure and defense."

(Source: CNTV.cn)