FOXNews.com: Republicans accuse Obama of using military as 'prop,' crying wolf over budget 'chaos'

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Republicans accuse Obama of using military as 'prop,' crying wolf over budget 'chaos' Feb 26th 2013, 16:10 As President Obama prepared to highlight the impact of looming spending cuts with a trip to a Virginia military community, Republicans accused the president Tuesday of using America's servicemembers as a campaign "prop."  Republicans in the House and Senate had tough words for Obama, as the White House sought once again to pressure Congress to avert the cuts by agreeing to new tax increases. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell claimed the president was trying to sow a sense of chaos, but he and other GOP leaders were increasingly agreeing on one thing -- the sky is not falling.  "Personally, I don't believe the world will end if the president's sequester takes effect," McConnell said. "But our country would be much better served if the Democrats who run Washington would get off the campaign trail and work with us to trim the budget in a more rational way."  McConnell suggested that despite Obama's warnings of "utter chaos," the government should be able to cut 2 percent of its budget "without inviting disaster."  Republicans on Tuesday again called Obama's visit a "roadshow." House Speaker John Boehner claimed the president was using military members as a "prop." Frustration showing through, Boehner also used salty language as he urged the Senate to act, arguing the House has passed two bills already to deal with the so-called sequester.  "We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass," he said.  On the other side, Senate Democratic Harry Reid said his party wants to work with Republicans on a "balanced" plan.  "But my Republican colleagues are standing in the way of a solution. They only want cuts and more cuts. They are willing to sacrifice three quarters of a million jobs rather than ask multi-millionaires to pay a penny more," Reid said.  The Senate is expected to hold votes on a Democratic and a Republican plan later in the week. But with the $85 billion in cuts set to start taking effect Friday, hope is diminishing that any compromise could be reached before then.  Amid the gridlock, Obama was traveling to a Virginia shipyard on Tuesday to press his argument that looming government-wide spending cuts could hurt military readiness.  Obama planned to appear at Virginia's largest industrial employer, Newport News Shipbuilding, to stress that the spending cuts will idle military resources like naval aircraft carriers. The president warned Monday that if cuts to naval spending take effect, the company's "workers will sit idle when they should be repairing ships, and a carrier sits idle when it should be deploying to the Persian Gulf."  The White House has warned that the cuts could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms to meat inspections. The cuts would slash domestic and defense spending, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of workers.  Despite the grim outlook, both sides seem more focused on blaming each other than coming up with a deal. Obama urged Congress to compromise, but the last known conversation between Obama and Republican leaders was last week and there have been no in-person meetings between the parties this year.  Some congressional leaders have recently indicated their willingness to let the cuts take effect and stay in place for weeks, if not longer. There is some breathing room for political settlement even after Friday's deadline comes and goes: Provisions are in place to preserve the most crucial services and furloughs of federal workers are at least a month away.  McConnell claimed the president has presented the country with two options: "Armageddon or a tax hike."  Echoing comments made by House Republicans a day earlier, he said this is a "false choice."  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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