经济学人:削减预算 十便士的规划(2)

 　　These kicked in automatically after Congress failed to pass a more palatable¹ plan to bring down deficits². 这些自动踢回的问题未能在国会之后通过一个更好的计划来降低赤字。

　　The sequester³ was supposed to be so severe that lawmakers would have to strike a deal to avoid it. 这种缩减如此严重以至于立法者不得不立刻达成协议来避免它。

　　Cutting budgets by a further 10% would be painful. 进一步削减预算的百分之十将是痛苦的。

　　The White House wants the State Department and foreign-aid budgets to bear much of the burden. 白宫希望国务院和对外援助的预算能够承担起大部分负担。

　　But these make up only a small proportion of the federal budget: about $57bn in total. 但是这些只占联邦预算的一小部分：约570亿美元。

　　The sequester also cut defence spending deeply, which is why hawks⁴ like Senator John McCain have been questioning America's military preparedness. 这项自动减支也会更深的缩减国防支出，这也是Senator John McCain 等鹰派人对军队准备提出质疑的原因所在。

　　Barack Obama's last budget proposed a boost to defence spending about two-thirds as big as Mr Trump⁵'s. 巴拉克·奥巴马的最终预算计划加大国防支出，其数额大约有川普的三分之二。

　　Congress can usually write budgets with a simple majority in both houses. 国会通常会用两院的一种简单的多数同意方式来撰写预算。

　　But amending⁶ the sequester may require 60 votes in the Senate, and hence bipartisan co-operation. (This happened in 2013 and 2015. ) 但修订自动预算削减方案可能需要参议院60票绝对多数，进而可能需要两党合作。（这类事件在2013年和2015年发生过。）

　　Democrats⁷ will never support cuts on the scale Mr Trump seems to want. 民主党永远不会支持特朗普先生想要的那种规模的开支缩减。

　　Plenty of Republicans, too, worry about cuts to the State Department. 许多共和党人也担心政府部门的开支削减。

　　Mick Mulvaney, Mr Trump's budget chief, says that he is under no illusions about the budget's prospects⁸ in Congress, recalling that Republicans paid little attention to Mr Obama's proposals. 特朗普先生的预算办公室主任Mick Mulvaney回想起共和党人不在意奥巴马先生的建议，于是他说对国会预算的前景没抱有任何幻想。

　　The budget, he says, was not written for Congress, but for the people. 他说预算不是为国会撰写的，而是为人民撰写的。

1 palatable   

adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的

参考例句：

• The truth is not always very palatable.事实真相并非尽如人意。
• This wine is palatable and not very expensive.这种酒味道不错，价钱也不算贵。

2 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

3 sequester   

vt.使退隐，使隔绝

参考例句：

• Everything he owned was sequestered.他的所有财产都被扣押了。
• This jury is expected to be sequestered for at least two months.预计这个陪审团将至少被隔离两个月。

4 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 amending   

改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Amending acts in 1933,1934, and 1935 attempted to help honest debtors rehabilitate themselves. 一九三三年，一九三四年和一九三五年通过的修正案是为了帮助诚实的债务人恢复自己的地位。
• Two ways were used about the error-amending of contour curve. 采用两种方法对凸轮轮廓曲线进行了修正。

7 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》

8 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。