Story highlights Approximately $16.5 trillion - The United States national debt

$1.2 trillion - Total amount of the potential cuts, over 10 years

$85 billion - Deficit reduction needed to postpone cuts through September 2013

2% - Cuts to Medicare if "sequestration" takes effect

While a growing chorus in Washington, including President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner, multiple Cabinet secretaries, and some political pundits, criticize deep, automatic spending cuts set to take effect on March 1, the White House and Congress have yet to come up with an alternative to avoid them.

With the imposition of at least some of them appearing more and more likely, here's a look, by the numbers, at Washington's self-imposed budget austerity (aka "sequestration" or the "sequester"):

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$1.2 trillion - Total amount of the potential sequestration cuts, over 10 years . This is based on the amount not cut from the deficit by the congressional "super committee" created by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

Approximately $16.5 trillion - The United States - The United States national debt

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10 - Number of days after the end of a session of Congress during which the Congressional Budget Office - Number of days after the end of a session of Congress during which the Congressional Budget Office must submit a sequestration report on the current fiscal year

About $130 million - Amount of lost funding if sequestration takes effect - Amount of lost funding if sequestration takes effect from the Department of the Interior to Native American tribes

About 1,200 - Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace inspections that would be cut

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