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ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - To get a sense of just how much federal government spending influences the Washington metropolitan area, all you have to do is listen to the ads on an all-news radio station there.

Instead of promoting happy hours and nightclubs, WTOP's commercials are replete with buzzwords about cloud computing and fulfilling mission statements - pitches by IT consultants and contractors trying to land business with federal agencies.

And the storm that was heading for the Mid-Atlantic on Tuesday? It's been dubbed "snowquester," a play on the D.C. wonk jargon that is used to describe the $85 billion that must be cut from federal budgets.

Communities on the Capital Beltway have disproportionately benefited from the federal government's growth for decades - and there's no doubt they'll now take a disproportionate hit from the budget cuts.