Whose idea was it?

It was Obama’s idea, but Republicans agreed to it and provided key support.

The most detailed account on this point is in The Price of Politics, a book by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward about the 2011 debt ceiling standoff. His reporting shows the White House developed the idea and presented it to Democratic leadership on July 28 and to Boehner’s team on July 30.

Both sides saw it as a way to force further negotiations later, according to Woodward. The Obama team thought there was "no chance" Republicans would allow defense cuts to happen, while Boehner said Democrats would cave to save domestic programs. Woodward quotes Boehner predicting the sequester "is never going to happen."

Republicans have repeatedly said the sequester was Obama’s idea, but they supported it early on and provided the votes needed to put it into law.

Who wants it to happen?

The prevailing -- stated -- opinion in both parties is "Sequestration: bad."

"Part of the whole reason (lawmakers) thought that the sequester would work was it was so stupid and awful," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.

What we’re witnessing now is a game of brinksmanship: Obama has proposed a plan to avert the cuts that combines closing tax loopholes with cutting federal spending; Republicans have offered their version with only spending cuts.

"They are putting forward proposals … that they know the other side is going to reject," Ellis said. "It’s like they’re holding out for total victory."

That’s the the outward account, anyway. Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, says there’s a second, behind-the-scenes storyline:

"A sizable number of members of Congress want a sequester; the overwhelming majority of them are House Republicans who believe that this is the best way to get a down payment on spending cuts, and don't believe (or care) that national security might be at risk. They also are convinced that these cuts won't affect any real services, in part because they really believe that most government is wrongheaded, irrelevant or just waste and fraud. ...," Ornstein said. "Very few Democrats want a sequester; a few think it will backfire on Republicans, and so are secretly happy. But most would much prefer a deal to avoid it."

It’s the blunt, indiscriminate nature of sequestration that policymakers dislike. But at least among Republicans, there’s a strong appetite for belt-tightening.

"This year’s cuts are less than 1 percent of the $8.7 trillion in new debt that will be racked up over the next decade," said Alison Fraser, with the conservative Heritage Foundation. "So absolutely, sequester level cuts are necessary."