Obama blames Republicans for 'dumb' cuts US President Barack Obama has blamed Republican refusal to compromise on deficit cutting for "dumb" and "unnecessary" spending cuts about to slam into the fragile US economy. The arbitrary and automatic $US85 billion cuts, known as the "sequester," will begin later on Friday, in a self-inflicted wound brought about by deep ideological polarisation between the president and his foes in Congress. I am not a dictator. I'm the president," Obama said, warning he could not force his Republican foes to "do the right thing," which he sees as raising revenues to combine with targeted spending cuts in a deal to cut the deficit. "These cuts will hurt our economy, will cost us jobs and to set it right, both sides need to be able to compromise," Obama said. Appearing irritated after meeting top congressional leaders, including Republican House speaker John Boehner and top Republican Mitch McConnell, Obama denied blame in the showdown. "If Mitch McConnell or John Boehner say we need to go to catch a plane, I can't have Secret Service block the doorway, right?" he said, when asked why talks on averting sequestration had broken up. I'm presenting a fair deal. The fact that they don't take it means that I should somehow, you know, do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what's right? Boehner emerged from the talks with the president to tersely signal to reporters that Republicans would not budge on Obama's key demand for a deal which would be partly based on raising extra tax revenues. Let's make it clear that the president got his tax hikes on January 1. This discussion about revenue in my view is over," Boehner said, alluding to the outcome of the so-called 'fiscal cliff' showdown late last year. It is about taking on the spending problem in Washington. Obama was bound by law to initiate the automatic, indiscriminate cuts, which could wound the already fragile economy, cost a million jobs and harm military readiness, by 11.59pm in the absence of an deficit cutting agreement. The hit to military and domestic spending was never supposed to happen, but was rather a device seen as so punishing that rival lawmakers would be forced to find a better compromise to cut the deficit. But such is the dysfunction in gridlocked Washington that neither side tried very hard to get a deal.