< p>MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut U.S. Rep. John Larson will meet constituents in Manchester to discuss the chilling impact of $85 billion in budget-wide cuts that automatically start taking effect March 1 if lawmakers fail to agree on a compromise.

The across-the-board budget cuts, known as the sequester, would trigger reductions of 13 percent for defense programs and 9 percent for other programs.

The cuts, plus nearly $1 trillion more over the coming decade, were concocted two years ago. Administration and congressional bargainers purposely made them so painful that everyone would be forced to reach a grand deficit-cutting compromise to avoid them.

That hasn't happened.

Larson will host a community forum on the sequester at Manchester Community College on Tuesday evening. He will share the latest information from Washington before taking questions from the audience.