U.S. Congressman Fred Upton

St. Joseph, MI, Mar 2 - By Scott Aiken

Despite controversy over $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts that kicked in Friday, U.S. Rep. Fred Upton said it would be a mistake to take the focus off deficit reduction.

The St. Joseph Republican said failure to stay serious about cutting deficits could damage the government's credit rating "and put us on even more treacherous footing."

"My sense is if we change on this, folks would just laugh us off the street," Upton said in a telephone interview.

The mandatory spending cuts, called sequestration, were triggered after President Obama and Republican leaders failed to reach a compromise by the deadline. The across-the-board cuts are expected to affect a spectrum of government functions, ranging from defense to air traffic control, education and health services.

Upton, who represents Michigan's 6th District, said people realize that they must cut personal spending from time to time when trouble occurs, and government must do the same.

"Any business person will tell you in times of trouble they have to tighten their belts," Upton said. "That's what we're doing. Most Americans think we have a spending problem."

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