Washington Post: Leaders meet but fail to reach deal to avert cuts
President Obama spoke at the White House after a meeting with congressional leaders on sweeping budget cuts taking effect today. In a statement and in taking questions from reporters, he criticized Republicans for refusing to consider a deficit-cutting solution that includes tax increases on the very wealthy. (Republican House Speaker John Boehner’s take, in a brief statement to reporters outside the White House, was a little different.) The president also talked about his administration’s decision to ask the Supreme Court to strike down California’s Proposition 8.