《美国会赤字削减委员会准备工作一托福阅读机经背景》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《美国会赤字削减委员会准备工作一托福阅读机经背景（7页珍藏版）》请在金锄头文库上搜索。
1、智课网TOEFL备考资料美国会赤字削减委员会准备工作一托福阅读机经背景As President Barack Obama prepares to unveil proposals to spur U.S. economic growth and job creation, a bipartisan committee of lawmakers tasked with slashing the federal deficit prepares to convene for the first time. The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reductio
2、n will have less than three months to craft a formula to cut the projected growth of Americas national debt by more than $1 trillion over 10 years.正当奥巴马总统准备披露刺激美国经济增长和创造就业的计划时，由国会议员组成的一个负责大幅削减联邦赤字的跨党派委员会准备召开首次会议。这个 国会参众两院赤字削减特别联合委员会只有不到3个月的时间来起草一个方案，在今后10年内把预测的美国国债增长削减1万亿美元以上。If President Obama hope
3、s to convince Congress of the need to spend more money in the short term to invigorate a languishing U.S. economy, the so-called deficit super committee has an opposite goal - cutting expenses in the long term to put the United States on a better fiscal path.如果说奥巴马总统希望使国会确信美国在短期内需要花更多的钱来刺激国内疲软的经济，那么
4、，赤字削减超级委员会的目标则是相反的，从长远来看，它要削减开支，使美国的财政走上正轨。The committee of six Democrats and six Republicans arose from last months debt-ceiling agreement.由6个民主党议员和6个共和党议员组成的这个委员会是根据上月达成的债务上限协议而成立的。The committee gets to work during a period of low economic growth and job creation. Under such conditions, some Democ
5、ratic committee members are questioning the wisdom of fiscal austerity.这个委员会是在经济和就业机会增长缓慢的时期开始工作的。在这种形势下，委员会中一些民主党成员对财政紧缩的措施是否明智提出质疑。Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina says his constituents have more pressing concerns than the federal deficit. “These people do not want to hear me talking
6、 about spending cuts. They do not want to hear anything but creating new jobs,” Clyburn said.来自南卡罗来纳州的联邦众议员詹姆斯.克莱伯恩说，选民们所关注的有比联邦赤字更为紧迫的问题。克莱伯恩说：“这些人不想听我谈削减开支，除了创造就业以外他们不想听到其他问题。”His words are echoed by another Democratic committee member, Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois. “We are fixed on the them
7、e of our nations deficit and debt, and we should be. But I might remind my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, it is virtually impossible to balance the budget of the United States with 14 million people out of work. You need to put Americans back to work, earning a good paycheck, paying their ta
8、xes,” Durban said.该委员会中另一位民主党成员、来自伊利诺伊州的联邦参议员理查德.德宾发出了同样的声音。德宾说：“我们就是要集中精力解决我们国家的赤字和债 务问题，我们也应当完成这项任务。可是，我必须提醒两党的同事，在1400万人失业的情况下要想平衡美国的预算几乎是不可能的。我们需要让失业的美国人重 新工作，挣到可观的薪水，然后向国家纳税。”Republicans counter that reining in a spendthrift federal government is necessary for a sound economy, and failing to do
9、 so will choke off a fragile economic recovery and lead to fiscal ruin.共和党人则反驳说，控制联邦政府浪费性的开支对维持一个良好的经济是必要的。做不到这一点就会使脆弱的经济复苏被窒息，从而导致财政崩溃。Although not a member of the deficit committee, Senator Jeff Sessions is the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.尽管参议员杰夫.塞申斯不是赤字削减超级委员会的成员，但他却是参院预算委员会
10、地位很高的共和党议员。“At some point, this country gets to a position where you cannot continue to borrow without damaging the economy. It is just that simple. Americans understand it. As one man told me, You cannot borrow your way out of debt,” Sessions said.塞申斯说：“到某个时候，美国就会到了如果再借钱就会损害经济的地步，事情就是这么简单。美国人懂得这一点。
11、正如某人对我说过的那样，不能靠借钱来还清债务。”The deficit committees recommendations are to be presented by late-November. They will come to a vote by late-December. Failure to identify at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings will trigger automatic spending cuts over a broad range of federal agencies.11月下旬，赤字削减超级委员会将提出他
12、们的建议。他们将在12月下旬投票。如果他们在预算节省方面， 不能具体列出削减1万2千亿美元的项目，就会自动启用在许多联邦机构削减开支的方案。It is hoped that the threat of such cuts will force members of the bipartisan committee to compromise and hammer out a deficit reduction package.人们希望看到，这种削减开支的威胁将迫使这个跨党派委员会进行妥协，从而敲定一项节省预算的一揽子方案。Economist Alice Rivlin, who served o
13、n a debt commission advising President Obama, says there is a more pressing reason to act.向奥巴马总统提供咨询的一个债务委员会的成员、经济学家爱丽丝.瑞福林说，有更紧迫的理由来采取行动。“The real scary thing is what happens if we do not fix this debt problem. I think the committee has got to be telling itself every morning at nine oclock, If we d
14、o not solve this problem, we could have a financial meltdown. The markets will turn against us; the economy could be wrecked for generations,” Rivlin said.瑞福林说：“真正可怕的事情是，如果我们解决不了债务问题将会发生什么。我认为，这个委员会每天早上9点必须对自己说：如果我们不能解决这个问题，我们就可能发生金融危机。市场将与我们作对。美国经济将遭到长期破坏。”After a long, bruising, partisan budget ba
15、ttle earlier this year, public opinion surveys show Americans more skeptical than ever about Washingtons ability to fix urgent national problems.在今年早些时候华盛顿围绕联邦预算问题发生了一场激烈的党派争斗。民意调查显示，美国人对华盛顿解决紧急国家问题的能力比以往任何时候都更加怀疑。Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office chief, says if the debt comm
16、ittee fails to agree on budget savings, it would reinforce the publics negative perception.道格拉斯.霍尔茨.埃金是前国会预算办公室主任。他说，如果这个债务委员会在削减赤字问题上不能达成共识，就会加强公众的负面看法。“The debt ceiling fight was a turning point in the American electorates feelings about Washington. And the pressure will be on this committee from a political point of view to prove that Washington still has some value to this country, and that the legislative process still works to some extent,” Holtz-Eakin said.霍尔茨.埃金说：“在债务上
