美国国家公共电台 NPR--Democrats urge Biden to reject GOP demands for new work requirements for aid programs

Democrats¹ urge Biden to reject GOP demands for new work requirements for aid programs

Transcript²

As debt ceiling talks continue, Republicans are demanding tougher work requirements for federal aid programs. NPR's A Martinez talks to Rebecca Vallas of the think tank The Century Foundation.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

With no deal on raising the federal debt ceiling and on the edge of a possible default, Democrats are pursuing other options. Among them, a long-shot procedural move to force a vote to raise the debt ceiling. Meanwhile, Democrats are urging President Biden to reject Republican demands for tougher work requirements for federal aid programs. GOP lawmakers argue the requirements would lift people out of poverty. I spoke³ with Rebecca Vallas about that proposal. She's a senior fellow at the left-leaning Century Foundation.

REBECCA VALLAS: They call them work requirements, but the dirty little secret about these proposals is they have nothing to do with actually helping⁴ anyone work. Research shows that having health insurance and adequate food is associated not only with better health but also with increased work capacity. And that ends up translating into higher wages and earnings⁵. What they're actually about is using bureaucracy to strip basic assistance from struggling workers and families by wrapping them up in red tape. I'm a former legal aid lawyer. I often refer to these kinds of proposals as death by a thousand paper cuts.

So what these proposals do is they strip away basic assistance, like food and housing or health care, away from people who aren't able to supply proof of their work hours or proof that they're exempt⁶ from the requirements. So take, for example, the state of Arkansas. Back in 2018, under then-President Trump's effort to strip Medicaid away from people who couldn't find work as part of his larger effort to dismantle⁷ the Affordable⁸ Care Act, some 18,000 people lost health coverage⁹ in Arkansas within just months of the state implementing¹⁰ that policy in 2018. Political scientists have a term for this. It's called bureaucratic¹¹ disentitlement, taking basic assistance away from people by heaping ridiculous amounts of bureaucracy on them.

MART?NEZ: President Biden has supported work requirements for federal benefits in the past. 1996 - he was in the U.S. Senate. That's when Congress passed legislation that reshaped the American welfare system. Here he is on the Senate floor at the time talking about an amendment¹² that ultimately did not pass.

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JOE BIDEN: The Biden-Specter bill says that anyone who wants to receive welfare must sign an individual responsibility contract so that they are forced to agree up front to the conditions placed on receiving the benefit, and so that they will have a plan from day one on how to get themselves off of welfare.

MART?NEZ: Now, Rebecca, I know that was a long time ago. It was 1996. But he did make those comments. He did hold those beliefs back then. Does that signal to you at all that President Biden could once again support them in order to make a deal with Republicans?

VALLAS: Yeah, I have to say, I really appreciate that the White House appears to be holding strong on behalf of struggling workers and families in the context of this debt ceiling hostage situation. President Biden has made very clear he would reject any deal that increases poverty in the United States. And it's also been incredibly heartening to hear how Speaker Jeffries similarly made clear that these types of proposals are a nonstarter with Democrats. Let's be clear about what is actually happening in Washington right now. House Republicans are calling to bankrupt the country if Democrats in Congress and in the White House don't agree to take food and health care away from hundreds of thousands of struggling people. That is the political football that's being tossed around in Washington right now.

MART?NEZ: Rebecca Vallas is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation. Rebecca, thanks.

VALLAS: Thanks so much.

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1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

7 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

8 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

11 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

12 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。