Feeling The Sequester
By: NBC News
Updated: February 22, 2013
There is no progress reported on a deal to avoid those drastic federal spending cuts called sequestration set to start March 1st.
Across America, hundreds of thousands of people are finding out they're the ones who will lose jobs, pay or business.
In Norfolk, Virginia, home of the Atlantic fleet, shipyard workers at BAE learned of possible layoffs in written notices.
Layoffs could hit Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio and hurt business nearby.
"To know that some of those people are uncertain about where their job is gonna be is very very scary," says Dayton bartender Wendy Koesters. "Scary for them and scary for us as well."
Terri Murray is worried about her restaurant near Georgia's Robins Air Force Base.
"How do I decrease this bill? How do I decrease that? How do I minimize and still maintain?" she asks.
At a Social Security office in Cleveland, David Sheagley might lose one day of pay per week.
"Increased stress for me. People I work with," he says.
Back in Virginia, there's stress for a local Congressman who voted for sequester in 2011, assuming it would force a balanced budget deal, not layoffs.
"I mean at the time, it was the right decision, agreed to by so many, Democrats and Republicans," says Representative Scott Rigell.
Now, workers are demanding Congress stop sequestration
"So many people's lives are in the hands of 300 some people, and them guys need to put their heads together and figure something out," says machinist Tyler Willis.
There's just one week left, and it could become a travel nightmare on top of everything else.
Cutbacks and slowdowns in air traffic control and at the TSA would be felt immediately with public anger and blame sure to intensify as a result.
President Obama telephoned top GOP leaders Thursday, but for now he's winning the public relations contest.
The USA Today/Pew polls find 31% would blame President Obama, while 49% would blame Congressional Republicans if there's no deal.
