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As deadline looms, governors join White House to condemn automatic cuts
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the deadline for action less than a week away, exasperated governors are joining a White House push to intensify pressure on Congress to prevent a looming budget crisis.
• Both Democrat and Republican chief executives, gathered in Washington for the National Governors Association annual meeting, warned of widespread economic fallout should Washington lawmakers fail to reach an 11th-hour compromise.
• "It's senseless and it doesn't need to happen," Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, said Saturday. "And it's a damn shame, because we've actually had the fastest rate of jobs recovery of any state in our region. And this really threatens to hurt a lot of families in our state and kind of flat line our job growth for the next several months."
• Indeed, some governors expressed pessimism that both sides could find a way to avoid the automatic spending cuts set to begin March 1, pointing to the impasse as another crisis between the White House and Congress that spooks businesses from hiring and hampers their ability to construct state spending plans.
• "I've not given up hope, but we're going to be prepared for whatever comes," said Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican. "There will be consequences for our state."
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Kerry embarks on first official trip, bringing ideas on Syria to Europe and Mideast
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State John Kerry is embarking on his first official overseas voyage, bringing new ideas to capitals in Europe and the Middle East on how to end nearly two years of brutal violence in Syria.
• Kerry leaves Washington on Sunday on a grueling nine-nation, 10-day trip that will bring him to America's traditional western European allies of Britain, Germany, France and Italy along with Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In addition to Syria, he will focus on conflicts in Mali and Afghanistan and Iran's nuclear program.
• Kerry has said he is eager to discuss new ways of convincing Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and usher in a democratic transition in the country that (Continued on page 22)
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