Walker downplays impact of federal cuts on Wis.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker is downplaying the potential harm to Wisconsin’s economy from the federal spending cuts set to take effect Friday, calling the across-the-board cuts bad policy but not economically crippling.

Walker tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he might be afraid if he was the governor of Virginia because of that state’s large defense presence. But he says Wisconsin doesn’t have big military bases, and that Wisconsin’s military contractors have already started to prepare.

The White House says Wisconsin stands to lose millions of dollars. It’s trying to persuade Republicans in Congress to accept a deal that would include spending cuts and higher tax revenue.

But Walker says Republicans are right to insist that any 11th-hour deal comprise spending reductions only and not tax increases.

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