经济学人300:纽约州长安德鲁•科莫

 　　FOR four years New York was adrift. When Eliot Spitzer, a crusading lawyer, became governor in 2007, his uncompromising ways caused political gridlock in Albany, the state capital. Just over a year later, he was caught frolicking with a prostitute and resigned. His successor, David Paterson, was affable enough, but too weak to push the state legislature to balance the books. When Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat¹ like his predecessors², handily won the 2010 governor’s race on a promise to “rebuild the government, restore competence³, restore trust, [and] get the people of this state believing once again”, New Yorkers gave a cynical⁴ snort.

　　近四年来，纽约的政局并不稳定。2007年，时任州长艾略特?斯皮策，他律师出身，作风凌厉，毫不妥协。这种做法曾让纽约州首府奥尔巴尼一度陷入政治僵局。且任职仅一年多，斯皮策就陷入招妓门事件，辞去了州长职务。民主党人大卫?帕特森继任，他亲和有余，力度不足，无力推动纽约州立法机构平衡财政收支。同为民主党人的安德鲁?科莫，于2010年参加州长竞选，并轻松取胜。他承诺要“重建政府，重塑能力，重拾信任，让州民能够再次相信政府”。纽约民众曾对此不以为然。

　　But Mr Cuomo has had an extraordinary year. In the first six months of his term he could point to three historic achievements. First, he balanced the budget: not only bringing spending under control—filling a $10 billion hole and nudging the public-sector unions to make concessions⁵ worth $450m—but putting mechanisms⁶ in place to control spending in future. He even got the cantankerous⁷ legislature to agree. In June Mr Cuomo brought in a cap on property taxes, in a state which the Tax Foundation ranks as the sixth-most-taxed in the country. Robert Ward⁸ of the Rockefeller Institute called it “the biggest change in New York’s fiscal⁹ policy since the creation of Medicaid”, almost 50 years ago.

　　但科莫继任一年来，政绩斐然，任期前半年便取得三大有历史意义的成就。首先，他平衡了纽约的财政收支，填补了100亿美元的财政漏洞，并促使公共机构的工会做出了4.5亿美元的让步。此举不仅使当前的财政花销得到控制，而且使相关部门机构各司其职，以控制今后的花销。更为难得的是，他甚至征得了一向刁钻苛刻的立法机构的同意。六月，科莫引入财产税上限政策，此前按税务基金会的统计，纽约州的税收排名全国第六。洛克菲勒政府研究所副所长罗伯特?沃德称此项政策为继50年前“创立‘医疗补助计划’后，纽约财政政策的巨变”。

　　Then, also in June, Mr Cuomo signed a bill legalising same-sex marriage, having worked hard to drive the bill through the Republican-controlled state Senate. In December he got bipartisan backing to change the income-tax code, which he says will generate $1.9 billion in additional revenue for the state. It sets in place the lowest tax rate for the middle class in 58 years, while—according to Mr Cuomo’s opponents and the Manhattan Institute—leaving the tax burden on the richest at its highest level since 1986.

　　其次，科莫还于六月签署法案，将同性婚姻合法化，并全力推动该法案通过由共和党掌控的州参议院。十二月份，他获得两党支持，修改个税法条款。科莫称此举将会为纽约州带来19亿美元的附加收入。新条款将中产阶级的税率降至58年以来的最低点。曼哈顿研究所和科莫的竞争对手们称，如此一来，课税负担便落在了富人肩上，富人的纳税金额将升至自1986年以来的最高水平。

　　Still, most New Yorkers are not upset with him. Indeed, they rate him very highly. He learnt much about Albany politics at the knee of his father, Mario, a former governor. He is clever and determined¹⁰. His most noticeable flaw is his arrogance¹¹, which he has tried to keep in check, but which slipped out in November when he remarked: “I am the government.”

　　但是大多数的纽约民众并没有因此对科莫不满，反而对他给予很高的评价。科莫的父亲马里奥?科莫是前纽约州长，科莫从小受父亲熏陶，谙熟奥尔巴尼政事。因此他更加机敏，更加坚定。他最明显的缺点是其傲慢的态度，虽然他竭力控制但还是在十一月的一次演讲中说漏了嘴，一句“我就是政府”令众人哗然。

　　In that case, his cockiness was accurate. There is not much transparency in how he is getting the results, notes Gerald Benjamin of the State University of New York at New Paltz. Disappointingly, it is still three men (Mr Cuomo, the assembly Speaker and the Senate president) in a room making all the decisions.

　　科莫的傲慢由此可见一斑。新帕尔茨纽约州立大学院长杰拉尔德?本杰明指出，科莫制定政策的透明度并不高。令人失望的是，做决定的仍然是州长、州众议员院长和州参议院议长三个人。

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

4 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

5 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。

6 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 cantankerous   

adj.爱争吵的，脾气不好的

参考例句：

• He met a crabbed,cantankerous director.他碰上了一位坏脾气、爱争吵的主管。
• The cantankerous bus driver rouse on the children for singing.那个坏脾气的公共汽车司机因为孩子们唱歌而骂他们。

8 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

9 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。

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。