美国国家公共电台 NPR--The White House hosts a debt ceiling meeting to try to avert financial default

The White House hosts a debt ceiling meeting to try to avert¹ financial default

Transcript²

Democrats³ and Republicans remain far apart going into Tuesday afternoon's debt ceiling meeting at the White House. Congressional leaders from both parties will meet with President Biden.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Will President Biden really negotiate with Republicans over paying the nation's bills?

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The president meets today with congressional leaders, and that includes House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. House Republicans have yet to agree to extend federal borrowing authority. Biden has said he won't negotiate over paying the bills that Congress has passed in the first place, but the analyst⁴ Julian Zelizer of Princeton told us the other day that his options are limited.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JULIAN ZELIZER: The problem is, if Republicans are willing to go through with this, that means there's a potential for a default unless the president takes extraordinary measures, like using the 14th Amendment⁵ to pay for the government's bills. If he's not willing to do that, he doesn't have as much leverage⁶, I think, as some Democrats hope.

INSKEEP: NPR's Claudia Grisales is covering the story. Claudia, good morning.

CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE⁷: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: Who all is attending this meeting?

GRISALES: So Biden and McCarthy will join Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries for this 4 p.m. Eastern meeting, and it's going to be the first conversation for this group, the first joint⁸ conversation, since this fight over the debt limit got underway. It's also the first since House Republicans passed a bill that they dubbed⁹ the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which would raise the debt ceiling by 1.5 trillion or until March of next year, whichever happens first. And that legislation includes significant cuts in government spending over the next several years. It claws back Biden initiatives and unspent funds from bills such as the pandemic relief aid.

And to illustrate¹⁰ how far apart these two sides are, Democrats have dubbed this bill the Default on America Act, calling it a ransom¹¹ note to the American people. So going into this, we are not expecting a major breakthrough today on a permanent deal.

INSKEEP: OK, Default on America, DOA - kind of hard to miss the joke there.

GRISALES: Exactly. Exactly.

INSKEEP: But they're in the room. They're facing each other. They're talking. What challenges would they face in reaching some accommodation?

GRISALES: So House Republicans and their debt limit bill, that marked one of their biggest tests yet for McCarthy as speaker. It cleared the chamber¹² by a vote of 217 to 215 - so a reminder¹³ of the tight margins¹⁴ there even on a partisan¹⁵ wish list bill. So their opening bid here in these talks marks leverage for Republicans to start these conversations. They only control one chamber in this divided government scenario¹⁶. And while Biden has said the debt limit is not negotiable, he will have to see what spending cuts or other concessions¹⁷ his party may have an appetite for. But both face major political consequences here with Biden and McCarthy in each of their roles for the first time and Biden running for reelection for the presidency¹⁸.

INSKEEP: Yeah, Biden running for reelection and McCarthy trying to keep his job with a fractious caucus¹⁹ that's just barely behind him.

GRISALES: Right.

INSKEEP: How does this compare to the last time this became a crisis, which was 2011?

GRISALES: Two figures from today's meeting, Biden as then vice²⁰ president and McConnell in the Senate at the time, helped broker²¹ a deal as they worked with other negotiators, but they came within days of the breach²², and the U.S. credit rating was downgraded for the first time. But this time it's a much more partisan scenario. McConnell and other key Senate Republicans say they're behind McCarthy on this and say Biden needs to negotiate. And McCarthy is a much less familiar opponent for negotiations²³ for Biden on this.

INSKEEP: Yeah. I guess we should note Biden, of course, was vice president in 2011...

GRISALES: Right.

INSKEEP: ...But effectively president of the Senate and had been a longtime senator.

GRISALES: Yeah.

INSKEEP: So he's one of them. Claudia, thanks so much.

GRISALES: Thank you much.

INSKEEP: NPR's Claudia Grisales.

1 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

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 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》

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 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。

6 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

7 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。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

11 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

12 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

13 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

14 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

15 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

16 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

17 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

18 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

19 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。

20 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

21 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

22 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

23 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。