美国国家公共电台 NPR The Issues: Hillary Clinton And Donald Trump On Social Security And Medicare

The Issues: Hillary Clinton And Donald Trump¹ On Social Security And Medicare 

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And in this week's vice³ presidential debate, candidates were asked what they would do to keep Social Security solvent⁴. Democrat⁵ Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence both promised to protect the retirement⁶ program, which consumes nearly 24 percent of the total federal budget.

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TIM KAINE: We're going to stand up against efforts to privatize Social Security and we'll look for ways to keep it solvent going forward, focusing primarily on the payroll⁷ tax cap.

ELAINE QUIJANO: Governor Pence, I'll give you an opportunity to respond.

MIKE PENCE: Well, thanks, Elaine. There they go again. OK - Donald - all Donald Trump...

KAINE: Go read the book.

PENCE: ...All Donald Trump and I have said about Social Security is we're going to meet our obligations to our seniors. That's it.

KAINE: Go read the book.

MONTAGNE: So that was Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, and Pence and his running mate Donald Trump have supported privatizing Social Security in the past. They're not following that route this year. We're going to spend the next few minutes exploring this as part of our election project What's the Issue. NPR's Scott Horsley is here to help with that. Good morning.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁸: Good morning, Renee.

MONTAGNE: Social Security of course is a program that tens of millions of Americans rely on, and many more will in the future. What kind of shape is it in?

HORSLEY: Well, it's not in crisis, Renee, but there are some cracks in the foundation. The basic challenge is demographic. Social Security is basically a transfer program where workers pay into the system through payroll taxes and retirees draw out through benefits. As more and more baby boomers retire, we're going to have more people drawing Social Security and fewer working-age people paying into the system.

We knew that was coming, so we built a cushion - that's the trust fund - and it helps to balance the gap. But the way things are going right now forecasters think the trust fund will run dry in about 20 years. Now, that doesn't mean Social Security checks would stop at that point. You'd still have enough money coming in from payroll taxes to cover about 75 percent of the benefits. But if you want to keep paying 100 percent, you're going to have to make some changes.

MONTAGNE: Which brings us to the candidates. Let's start with Hillary Clinton.

HORSLEY: OK, so there are two basic flavors of fixes you can have here. One is you can cut benefits for recipients⁹, or the other is you can raise taxes for people paying into the system. Hillary Clinton has basically ruled out cutting benefits. In fact, she wants to increase benefits for some people, including widows and those who dropped out of the workforce¹⁰ temporarily to care for family members. So she's putting her stock in raising revenue. Here's what Hillary Clinton said during a town hall meeting on MSNBC earlier this year.

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HILLARY CLINTON: We need to get more money into the Social Security trust fund to keep it solvent far into the future. There are a couple of different ways I'm looking at, and I'll have to talk with the Congress to try to figure out what's the best way forward.

HORSLEY: One of the ways that both Clinton and Kaine have emphasized is raising the cap on income that's taxed for Social Security. Right now, wealthy people only pay into Social Security on part of their income, up to about $118,000. Everything above that is exempt¹¹ from Social Security taxes. If you did away with that cap and left the benefits alone, that would solve about 90 percent of the problem.

MONTAGNE: So what about Donald Trump? What are his proposals?

HORSLEY: Like Hillary Clinton, Trump has sworn off any kind of benefits cut. Unlike Clinton though, he also seems to reject any kind of tax increase. Instead, Trump is counting on the power of economic growth. Here he is speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa late last year.

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DONALD TRUMP: We're going to save Social Security. You're going to get your pay - we're not going to raise the age and we're not going to do all the things that everyone else is talking about doing. They're all talking about doing it, and you don't have to. We're going to bring our jobs back. We're going to make our economy incredible again.

HORSLEY: Now, stronger economic growth would help because with more jobs and bigger paychecks you would have more payroll taxes coming into the system. However, most of the observers I talk to are skeptical¹² that the United States could realistically achieve the kind of growth rates that would be needed to solve this problem all by itself.

What's more, if Trump follows through on the idea of deporting¹³ millions of immigrants who are living in the country illegally, that could aggravate¹⁴ the problem because many of those immigrants do pay into the Social Security system and they don't take money out. So in effect, they are subsidizing U.S. citizens.

MONTAGNE: And, Scott, what about another big safety net program, which would be Medicare, what's going on there?

HORSLEY: Well, the good news is Medicare costs have been growing more slowly than they used to. The bad news, though, is they're still growing faster than the overall economy, and that's likely to continue as the population gets older. So taxpayers¹⁵ will be on the hook unless we can get a handle on those costs.

There is actually some common ground between Trump and Clinton on cost containment¹⁶ efforts. Both, for instance, want to rein¹⁷ in the price of prescription¹⁸ drugs. A big difference of course is that Trump wants to repeal¹⁹ Obamacare and all of its pilot programs that aim to promote more efficient health care delivery. There's a big debate over how much credit Obamacare deserves for slowing the growth in health care costs.

In years past, Democrats²⁰ have attacked Republicans for suggesting that the government gradually convert Medicare into a voucher²¹ system in which the government would help future retirees pay for private insurance. Both Clinton and Trump say they are against that idea, although I should say it's still part of the Republican party platform.

MONTAGNE: Scott, thanks very much.

HORSLEY: You're very welcome.

MONTAGNE: That's NPR's Scott Horsley.

1 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。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 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。

4 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。

5 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。

6 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

7 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

8 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。

9 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》

10 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。

11 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。

12 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

13 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

14 aggravate   

vt.加重(剧)，使恶化；激怒，使恼火

参考例句：

• Threats will only aggravate her.恐吓只能激怒她。
• He would only aggravate the injury by rubbing it.他揉擦伤口只会使伤势加重。

15 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

16 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

17 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

18 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

19 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

20 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》

21 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。