Photo courtesy State Department, November 2011

Less than two weeks before a devastating set of across-the-board spending cuts is slated to go into effect, on Tuesday President Obama again entreated Republicans to work with him on a deal to stave off the so-called sequestration, reiterating that his "door is open" to negotiate a "balanced" package, but warning that he will "not sign a plan that harms the middle class."

Mr. Obama, who was flanked by first responders during his remarks, warned of dire consequences for letting the $1.2 trillion worth of cuts, which are spread equally over defense and domestic non-defense spending over the course of 10 years, to go into effect on March 1 as scheduled.

He said he found it "troubling" that Congress was not working harder to stave off the cuts, given that "these cuts are not smart; they are not fair; they will hurt our economy; they will add hundreds of thousands of Americans to the unemployment roll." He also pointed out that many first responders -- such as those standing behind him -- would lose their jobs.

"Our top priority must be to do everything we can to grow the economy and create good middle-class jobs," Mr. Obama said, echoing remarks he made last week in his State of the Union address. "It has to drive every decision that Congress and everyone in Washington makes over the next several years. That's why its so troubling that just 10 days from now Congress might allow a series of automatic, severe budget cuts to take place that will do the exact opposite."

Late last year, in down-to-the-wire negotiations that extended into the wee hours of New Year's Eve, Congress passed a short-term, three-month deal to stave off the cuts, which were not intended to go into effect but rather prove so potentially devastating as to force Republicans and Democrats to compromise on an alternate solution. But as the clock ticks toward the latest deadline, little progress appears to have been made, and last week Congress left town for a week-long recess.

"This was all designed to say we can't do these bad cuts, let's do something smarter -- that was the whole point of this so-called sequestration," Mr. Obama said today. "If Congress allows this meat-cleaver approach to take place it will jeopardize our military readiness; it will eviscerate job creating investments in education and energy and medical research; it won't consider whether we're cutting some bloated program that has outlived its usefulness or a vital service that Americans depend on every single day. It doesn't make those distinctions."

Mr. Obama argued, as he has done repeatedly for years now, that he is willing to eliminate inefficiencies and dysfunctional federal programs, reform the nation's entitlement programs, and enact comprehensive tax reform in what he calls a "balanced" approach to deficit reduction. But he argued that Republicans, in refusing to work with him on such an approach, are demonstrating "a preference where they'd rather have these cuts go into effect than close a single tax loophole for the wealthiest Americans."