With severe spending cuts now etched into law, US President Barack Obama urged Congress Saturday to find a deficit-trimming alternative that avoids what he has likened to using a meat cleaver. Obama advocated what he called a balanced approach to replace across the board cuts of $85 billion in federal spending this year, blending "smart" cuts with reforms, AFP reported. The so-called sequester mandated cuts were never actually meant to go into effect when it was fashioned in a deal with Congress in 2011.