Obama rallies sequester support in warning to Republican governors.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

Barack Obama delivered a grim warning to the nation's governors at the White House on Monday about the impact of across-the-board spending cuts if Congress fails to find a deal by Friday's deadline.

Obama urged the governors, many of them Republicans, to put pressure on their congressional colleagues this week. But a deal by Friday appears increasingly unlikely, with no negotiations even underway between the two sides.

With no deal in place, $85bn in spending cuts will begin to kick in, about half from the Pentagon and the rest from domestic spending. These will have knock-on effects on teaching jobs, health programmes, air travel and hundreds of other areas funded by the federal government. Obama, addressing the governors in Washington for their annual …