Both the White House and congressional Republicans have warned of the dangers of more than $85 billion in "sequester" cuts set to begin to take effect on Friday and blamed each other for not being able to strike a deal. But neither side is serious about preventing them from taking effect, while each is laying the groundwork to assign more blame on March 1, NBC’s First Read team writes. Complicating matters, according to First Read, is that the GOP message has been muddled between those who argue the automatic cuts will really hurt the economy and others who’ve accused Obama of fearmongering over their potential impact.
