Americans spreading the blame around for the looming sequester

>>> those automatic spending cuts are all but inevitable now. americans appear ready to spread the blame around. congresswoman debby wasserman schultz , you are only a day or two away from the deadline. why isn't anybody meeting until march 1st . whey is the first time the president is going to get together the day the sequester hits.

>> what i'm wondering and my constituents are wondering, why is it the leaders of the republican party in congress are not sitting down with our leadership to avoid these dramatic cuts. it is entirely within congress' power to replace the sequester with a balanced approach to deficit reduction. we don't need the president. the president has a proposal. it's on white house .gov or we can sit down like grown ups and make sure we generate revenue closing loopholes that protect the wealthiest of americans and make targeted spending cuts. it's how the american people want us to reduce the deficit. your poll show that is today.

>> the nbc news/ wall street journal poll shows attacks on both houses while republicans are certainly held in less high regard, that people are frustrated with both political parties with the whole mess. it's affecting the president's rating. he's still at 50%. it's affecting consumer confidence , the wrong track/right track numbers are getting worse. i mean nobody is happy with what's going on in washington.

>> no, least of all the president and congressional democrats. i think the question in that poll is telling that when americans were asked do you support the republican approach to spending, 75% of respondents said no, they don't. what the american people have spoken on is they want to reduce the deficit. we want to continue the focus on turning the economy around and creating jobs and make sure the recovery can be more ro robust. they don't want us to take a slash and burn approach to cutting our way back to prosperity. it's not the answer. they don't want 70,000 kids to get kicked off head start in the name of protecting tax breaks for oil companies and people who own corporate jets.

>> is the friday meeting just a photo-op?

>> no. the friday meet sg the president's legitimate attempt to bring the two sides together. he's repeatedly said the congre congressional leadership should sit down together. we are waiting for the republicans to join us. it doesn't have to be this way, andrea. we have the opportunity to sit down and put away the my way or the highway politics. the democrats are willing to support spending cuts that don't cut the heart from our recovery. we are insistent on making sure we close tax loopholes that protect the wealthiest that they don't need to make sure we have a responsible approach. the republicans are actually going to allow the sequester to occur. they are suggesting giving our responsibility to the president which would mean nameless, faceless bureaucrats would decide on the spending cuts as opposed to members of congress like me who were elected by our constituents. you have to see the wizard and grow some courage.

>> thank you very much. congresswoman