美国国家公共电台 NPR--When is the deadline for Congress to come up with a solution on the debt limit?

When is the deadline for Congress to come up with a solution on the debt limit?

Transcript¹

Experts are calculating when the deadline is for Congress to come up with a debt limit solution in order to keep the U.S. solvent² and paying its bills.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

We know the U.S. is running out of money to pay its bills. What we don't know is when that will happen or, in other words, what the deadline is for Congress to come up with a solution on the debt limit. Nick Fountain from our Planet Money podcast hung out with some policy experts who are trying to figure out that exact detail.

NICK FOUNTAIN, BYLINE³: The wonks are at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and they're led by Shai Akabas, who doesn't really like to brag⁴ about his expertise⁵.

SHAI AKABAS: Being the world expert on the debt limit is a little like being the world's expert on termites⁶. Nobody really wants to...

(LAUGHTER)

AKABAS: ...See you around or hear from you.

FOUNTAIN: He's been at it for a while - since 2011, a debt ceiling fight with many parallels to today's. Back then, now-chair of the Federal Reserve, Jay Powell, was working with Akabas, and Akabas says Powell realized that Republicans didn't trust the information that the Treasury⁷ Department was giving out about the debt ceiling, especially this detail - when Treasury could run out of money.

AKABAS: So right or wrong, they were viewed as potentially not an objective source as to the fundamentals of the debt limit and what they were asking Congress to do.

FOUNTAIN: Akabas and Powell thought, maybe we could be the objective source. It's worth a shot. The first piece of information they needed to audit⁸ was the date the U.S. could run out of money to pay its obligations, what they called the X Date. Akabas and Powell pored over months of Treasury statements to try to figure out the cash flows of the U.S. government. And they calculated that the U.S. could be out of money as soon as August 2 - 35 days away. Then they headed to Capitol Hill to try to answer any questions lawmakers had, questions like...

AKABAS: Why do we have to act? Couldn't we do this? Or couldn't we do that? Or couldn't we just, you know, go over the cliff and see what happens?

FOUNTAIN: And they would tell lawmakers, the truth is nobody knows exactly what's going to happen when we go off that cliff.

AKABAS: Beyond the X Date is a grave unknown. We've never been there before in the modern history of our country, and we just don't know what some of the reactions to that action would be.

FOUNTAIN: But they'd say the consequences could be dire⁹. The market for U.S. debt is the foundation for basically all other financial markets. If a debt ceiling impasse¹⁰ lasted for more than a few days, think drops in financial markets, increases to borrowing costs, downgrades to the U.S. credit rating. And all for what? An extra few days of negotiation¹¹? Not worth it. The peak of their lobbying efforts came just two weeks before that year's X Date. Powell was invited to a closed-door meeting of the entire Republican caucus¹². Akabas wasn't, but he heard some stories.

AKABAS: I was told there was some yelling. I was told there may have been some expletives (laughter).

FOUNTAIN: He says it was in that room that Republicans got on board with a deal they'd eventually negotiate with the White House.

When was the deal struck? Do you remember how close to the - that August 2 X Date?

AKABAS: I believe the deal passed on August 2. So it was a last-minute deal.

(LAUGHTER)

AKABAS: Congress really only tends to act when they have their backs up against a wall.

FOUNTAIN: Seriously. I thought journalists liked deadlines, but wow.

AKABAS: Congress really likes deadlines.

FOUNTAIN: It was true in 2011, and it'll likely be true this year. Akabas and his team will come out with their forecast of this year's X Date later this week.

Nick Fountain, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 brag   

v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的

参考例句：

• He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。
• His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

5 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

6 termites   

n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Termites are principally tropical in distribution. 白蚁主要分布在热带地区。 来自辞典例句
• This spray will exterminate the termites. 这种喷剂能消灭白蚁。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

11 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

12 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。