Obama,Lawmakers Meet for Third Day on US Debt

 　　Negotiations¹ between President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers appear deadlocked², with Republican leaders sharply criticizing Mr. Obama's approach in talks about slashing³ U.S. budget deficits⁵ and raising the government's borrowing limit.

　　The president sat down with House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders Tuesday for the third time in as many days.

　　Just hours before, one of the eight congressional participants, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, delivered a blunt speech about the negotiations.

　　Saying that he questioned whether resolving the country's fiscal⁶ problems is possible with Mr. Obama is president, McConnell offered this assessment⁷ of where the talks stand:

　　"In my view, the president has presented us with three choices - smoke and mirrors, tax hikes or default [on the national debt]," said McConnell. "Republicans choose none of the above.  I had hoped to do good, but I refuse to do harm."

　　McConnell said Republicans would "do the responsible thing" and ensure that the federal government does not default on its debt obligations.  Later, he described what he called a "last choice" option, which would involve Congress passing legislation to authorize⁸ President Obama to formally request debt ceiling increases into 2012, but require him to list specific spending cuts.

　　The Treasury⁹ Department has set an August 2 deadline by which Congress must act to raise the federal debt ceiling.  Any compromise would need to occur well before then to allow for the necessary steps to enact¹⁰ the legislation.

　　White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Mr. Obama would continue pressing "until the very end" for the biggest possible deal, which at one point involved proposals for as much as $4 trillion in spending cuts and revenue sources.

　　Carney said the tone of the discussions has not been contentious¹¹, but "constructive¹² and respectful," adding that a compromise would not be achieved if all sides listen to their most ideological¹³ members.

　　"We will not get from here to there, either side, if we heed¹⁴ only the calls of our most ideological supporters," said Carney. "We have to acknowledge that maximalist positions will not prevail."

　　Earlier in the day, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said his fellow Republicans are still waiting for a specific plan from Mr. Obama.

　　"Where's the president's plan?  When's he going to lay his cards on the table?  This debt limit increase is his problem," said Boehner. "And I think it's time for him to lead by putting his plan on the table, something that the Congress can pass."

　　President Obama has said he will call congressional leaders back to the White House every day until a deficit⁴ and debt agreement is reached.

　　Meanwhile, the president again used the media to press Congress for a compromise.  In an interview with CBS News, Mr. Obama warned that failure to raise the $14.3 trillion national debt limit by August 2 could result in millions of Americans not receiving Social Security and other payments, saying the government would lack sufficient funds.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

3 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

4 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

5 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

6 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

7 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

8 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

9 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

10 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

11 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

12 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

13 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

14 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。