NPR 2010-02-03

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Barbara Klein.

President Obama is in New Hampshire to push his economic agenda. Speaking in Nashua last hour, he unveiled his plan to create jobs. "And we're gonna start where most new jobs start with small businesses. These are companies that begin in basements and garages when an entrepreneur takes a chance on his dream, or a worker decides it's time she becomes her own boss." The president plans to transfer some of the money returned from the bank bailout to small and community banks to encourage them to lend to small businesses. He also proposed eliminating capital gains taxes on small business investment.

A conservative backlash against Democrats¹ has been slow to affect party fundraising. 2009 financial report showed Democratic Party organizations ended the year with 50% more money available than their Republican counterparts. NPR's Peter Overby has details.

It was hardly a good year for Democrats to raise money. President Obama's poll numbers fell, his founded donor² base seemed to go away, the party lost in elections. But despite that, the Democrats managed to outrace the Republicans. Only the Republican National Committee surpassed its Democratic opposite number. The RNC raised 91 million dollars. That's seven million more than the DNC. It's on Capitol Hill, the prize in this fall's mid-term elections where Democratic committee stands strong. Their House and Senate Campaign Committees carry significant debt, but in available cash, they are reported to combine the 25 million dollars versus³ 10 million for the GOP. Democratic lawmakers transferred nearly 15 million dollars from their own campaigns to their party committees. Republican lawmakers: 3.4 million. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

Defense⁴ Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate today he’s called for a year-long study on the effects of lifting the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military. The Chairman of the Joint⁵ Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, told Senators he personally believes the policy should be revoked⁶. "No matter how I look at this issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens." Mullen also told the Senate panel US security will be imperiled if the US doesn't win the war in Afghanistan. He said the Taliban now has increasing influence in most Afghan provinces and that must be reversed.

Toyota estimates its worldwide recall of more than four million vehicles because of sticky gas pedals will cost the company about 900 million dollars. On top of that, the automaker says it's losing about 155 million dollars a week in lost sales.

On Wall Street, an hour before the close, the Dow was up 93, the NASDAQ is up 14.

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Sony Pictures Entertainment is laying off some 450 people, which amounts to more than 6% of its workforce⁷. Sony says it's taking the step because of declining DVD sales. It's the company's second cutback in a year. Most of the cuts will be in the home entertainment and information-technology units.

One in eight Americans received emergency help from a food pantry or soup kitchen last year. That's according to Feeding America, the nation's largest emergency food provider. It's a huge jump from the last time the group conducted a survey four years ago. NPR's Pam Fessler has more.

It's no surprise that more people are relying on emergency food aid. Ever since the economic downturn, food banks and pantries have reported longer lines. But the numbers in the Feeding America survey are striking. The group, which used to be known as Second Harvest, says its network of food banks is now feeding an estimated 5.7 million people every week. That's a million more a week than the group served four years ago. Of the 37 million people who relied on emergency food aid last year, 14 million were children. Feeding America says its survey of tens of thousands of recipients⁸ also found that almost half had to choose last year between buying food or paying for heat and utilities. It says millions of clients are families seeking help for the first time. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

This year's Oscar nominations⁹ are out. Avatar and The Hurt Locker¹⁰ lead the pack with nine nominations each, including Best Picture. Morgan Freeman, Jeff Bridges and George Clooney are among those up for Best Actor. Among nominees¹¹ for Best Actress is Sandra Bullock, Gabourey Sidibe and Meryl Streep.

I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

 

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 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

3 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 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。

6 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句

7 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

8 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

10 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

11 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网