THE RESET: March 1 spending cuts now seem likely

A month has passed since Congress and President Barack Obama narrowly averted a New Year's "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts. Another fiscal crisis is less than a month away. But while the earlier cliff drew mounting levels of fear and panic, the massive spending cuts due March 1 are being viewed with resignation by many lawmakers.

There no longer seems much doubt that the spending cuts, known in the nation's capital as "the sequester," will occur in some form.