Congress playing Jenga with America's economic future

OutFront tonight: Capitol Hill's dangerous game of Jenga.

Let us explain.  Bloomberg reported today that Congress might try and delay the automatic spending cuts set to kick in next year. Not resolve, not compromise – delay.

In other words, Congress is trying to get out from under its own deadline of January 1st. That's when our leaders in Washington either have to find ways to cut the deficit by $1.2 trillion or face automatic across-the-board spending cuts equal to that amount.

Those automatic cuts are designed to hit in the worst places – places that you wouldn't make quick cuts to solve the spending problem. Poorly designed, unpalatable to both parties on purpose. Bipartisan reports say the cuts could cost over a million jobs.

But instead of that forcing Congress to find better, smarter cuts, it appears that they're only motivated to keep putting off the hard choices.

Republican sources confirmed to OutFront that these talks are indeed going on.

The problem is, they don't add up to a solution! All it does is delay making the cuts this country needs. And if Congress delays them, that it only makes dealing with taxes and finding a path to a solid economic recovery that much more complicated.

Dealing with these issues piecemeal is a lot like taking pieces out of a Jenga puzzle. It's all connected, and one bad move could destroy it all.

The truth is, our country is already on shaky ground. If you delay action on the automatic cuts, saving the hard work for another day, our entire country could come tumbling down.