奥巴马总统每周电台演讲:竭尽所能,帮助还房债的人

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been traveling around the country and talking with folks about my blueprint¹ for an economy built to last. It’s a blueprint that focuses on restoring the things we’ve always done best.  Our strengths.  American manufacturing.  American energy. The skills and education of American workers. And most importantly, American values like fairness and responsibility.

We know what happened when we strayed from those values over the past decade – especially when it comes to our housing market.Lenders sold loans to families who couldn’t afford them.  Banks packaged those mortgages up and traded them for phony profits.  It drove up prices and created an unsustainable bubble that burst – and left millions of families who did everything right in a world of hurt.

It was wrong.  The housing crisis has been the single biggest drag on our recovery from the recession.  It has kept millions of families in debt and unable to spend, and it has left hundreds of thousands of construction workers out of a job.But there’s something even more important at stake. I’ve been saying this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class.  And the housing crisis struck right at the heart of what it means to be middle-class in this country:

owning a home.  Raising our kids.  Building our dreams.Right now, there are more than 10 million homeowners in this country who,because of a decline in home prices that is no fault of their own, owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.  Now, it is wrong for anyone to suggest that the only option for struggling, responsible homeowners is to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom.  I don’t accept that.  None of us should.

That’s why we launched a plan a couple years ago that’s helped nearly one million responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages and save an average of $300 on their payments each month.  Now, I’ll be the first to admit it didn’t help as many folks as we’d hoped.  But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying.

That’s why I’m sending Congress a plan that will give every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgages by refinancing at historically low rates.  No more red tape.  No more endless forms.  And a small fee on the largest financial institutions will make sure it doesn’t add a dime² to the deficit³.

I want to be clear: this plan will not help folks who bought a house they couldn’t afford and then walked away from it.  It won’t help folks who bought multiple houses just to turn around and sell them. What this plan will do is help millions of responsible homeowners who make their payments every month, but who, until now, couldn’t refinance because their home values kept dropping or they got wrapped up in too much red tape.But here’s the catch.  In order to lower mortgage payments for millions of Americans, we need Congress to act.  They’re the ones who have to pass this plan.  And as anyone who has followed the news in the last six months can tell you, getting Congress to do anything these days is not an easy job.

That’s why I’m going to keep up the pressure on Congress to do the right thing.  But I also need your help.  I need your voice.  I need everyone who agrees with this plan to get on the phone, send an email, tweet, pay a visit, and remind your representatives in Washington who they work for.  Tell them to pass this plan.

Tell them to help more families keep their homes, and more neighborhoods stay vibrant⁴ and whole. The truth is, it will take time for our housing market to recover.  It will take time for our economy to fully⁵ bounce back.  But there are steps we can take, right now, to move this country forward.  That’s what I promise to do as your President, and I hope Members of Congress will join me.

Thank you, and have a great weekend.

过去几周，我一直在全国各地旅行，并和民众谈论构建可持续发展经济的蓝图。这个蓝图，重点要恢复我们一直做得最好的事情:我们的强项,美国制造业,美国能源,美国工人的技能和教育。最重要的是，美国的价值观，比如公平和责任。

过去十年当我们偏离了这些价值观时，我们知道发生了什么事——特别是当它涉及到房产交易时。借贷者将钱借给那些无法偿还欠款的人们。银行将这些抵押进行交易来获得泡沫利润。它推动了价格上涨，并创造了不稳定的泡沫，最终泡沫爆裂——使数百万无辜的家庭遭受到损失。

这是不对的。经济衰退以来房产危机一直是经济复苏的最大阻力。它使百万计的家庭背负债务，无力偿还，并导致成千上万的建筑工人事业。但还有更重要的事情处于危险中。我一直在说，对于中产阶级这是一个破冰时刻。房产危机恰恰其中了这个国家中产阶级的心脏。

拥有一个家，养育我们的孩子，建造我们的梦想。现在，在这个国家有超过10万名房主，因为房屋价格的下降，这不是他们自身的过错，所欠的抵押贷款远超过他们的房屋价值。现在，对于这些苦苦挣扎并负责任的房主们，任何建议他们坐下来等待房产市场触底的建议都是错误的。我不接受这样的建议。任何人都不应接受。

这就是为什么几年前我们推出一项计划，这帮助了近百万负责任的房主，为他们的抵押贷款提供资金，使他们每月平均节省300元。现在，我将是第一个承认这项计划没有像预期那样尽可能多的房主，但是这并不意味着我们不应该继续努力。

这就是为什么我向国会递交一项计划，通过降低抵押利率，这将使每一个负责任的房主每年还款减少3千美元。没有更多的繁文缛节。没有更多的无尽的表格。最大金融机构的少量费用将确保它不会增加一毛钱的赤字。

我要明确的是：这项计划将不是帮助那些承担不起房子，然后撒手不管的人。它不会帮助买了几所房子然后进行倒卖的人。这个计划将帮助数以百万计的负责任的房主，他们每月都还款，但是到现在为止，无法再筹到钱，因为他们的房屋价值不断下降，或他们得到的限制太多。大家要听清。为了降低数百万美国人抵押还款，我们需要国会采取行动。他们是那些必须通过这项计划的人。过去六个月关注新闻的任何人都可以告诉你，让国会做任何事情都不是一件容易的工作。

这就是为什么我要给国会施压来让它做正确的事的原因。但我也需要你的帮助。我需要你的声音。我需要同意这个计划的每个人通过手机，发送电子邮件，在tweet上发帖，拜访，并提醒你在华盛顿的代表。让他们通过这个计划。

告诉他们要帮助更多的家庭保住自己的房子，让更多的社区保持活力和完整。事实是，我们的房产市场恢复需要一段时间。我们的经济全面反弹也需要时间。但我们现在能做的就是，推动这个国家前进。这是我作为总统的许诺，我希望美国国会议员支持我。

谢谢大家，周末愉快。

1 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

2 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

3 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

4 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。