U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said in Chattanooga today that he expects looming federal spending cuts will kick in on March 1.
The Tennessee Republican said the round of automatic, across the board cuts, called sequestering, are "ham-handed."
"But as a nation we're better off, as ham-handed as it is, having the sequester take place than to continue to not address the spending issue we have in this nation," he said after speaking to a group of business people in the city.
He also said that President Obama ought to be given flexibility to manage the spending cuts through August. That could make the estimated $1.2 trillion in reductions "manageable," the senator said.
"The wise thing is just to agree to $1.2 trillion in spending reductions, and I've got a bill that does that," Corker said.
See full story in Saturday's Times Free Press.