The Bush administration is urging U.S. lawmakers to quickly pass its sweeping $700-billion bailout plan for financial institutions that are holding large amounts of bad mortgage debt. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in television interviews Sunday that failure to take action to resolve the financial crisis will result in economic catastrophe.
布什政府敦促国会迅速通过一项金额高达7千亿美元的计划，以使美国私营金融机构免遭因持续恶化的房贷和信贷危机所导致的巨额损失。
Tax-payer funded bailouts of private firms are never popular in the United States, particularly when the cost being discussed amounts to more than $2,000 in revenue for every man, woman and child in the country. But Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson appeared repeatedly on U.S. television Sunday with a simple message: failure to act will bring economic catastrophe.
在美国，用纳税人的钱救助私人公司历来不得人心，特别是在所说的数字显示，美国每个男女老少要平均分摊2千多美元财政收入。但是财政部长保尔森星期天在美国电视台多次露面，说的主题就是：不采取行动将导致整个经济陷入灾难。
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Paulson said the plan's ultimate cost will likely be less than the initial outlay of funds.
保尔森在福克斯电视台星期天新闻节目上说，这个计划的最终成本可能会比初期支付的经费要少。
"This is a program where the government would buy illiquid [non-cash] assets, hold those assets, and sell those assets," Paulson said. "And the funds would come back into the Treasury. The cost will be determined by how quickly the economy recovers, and how quickly housing prices stabilize. I do not like the fact that we have to do this. I hate the fact that we have to do it. But it is better than the alternative."
他说：“根据这个计划，政府将购买非流通(非现金)资产，持有这些资产，然后再把它们卖出去。销售资产的资金将归财政部。这项计划的成本将取决于经济复苏的速度，以及房价稳定的速度。我们不得不这样做，但是我不喜欢这样作，我讨厌我们必须这样做。可是这样做要比其它选择好。”
In recent weeks, Americans have watched with dismay as many of the country's largest, best-known financial firms have failed, been bought out, or been taken over by the U.S. government.
最近几个星期以来，美国人无不惊讶地目睹了很多美国的大公司、知名的公司破产，被收购，和被政府接管。
The crisis stems from millions of mortgages given in recent years to home-buyers with poor credit or unstable finances. The result has been a tidal wave of foreclosures that have incurred massive losses on financial institutions and some insurance firms.
这次危机的起因是由于最近几年向信用不佳或收入不稳定的房屋购买者提供数以百万计的房贷。其结果引发了许许多多人丧失了房屋赎回权，让金融机构和一些保险公司蒙上巨大损失。
Economists fear the current situation will effectively shut down the availability of credit in the country, strangle economic growth, and put at risk the finances of people across the nation. Last week, President Bush proposed a solution that is without precedent in America's financial history: the creation of a massive government fund to purchase bad debt and eventually sell off the assets involved.
经济学家担心，目前的这种局势必然会使美国缺乏信贷供应，窒息经济发展，使整个美国人民的财务陷入危险的处境。上星期，布什总统提出了一项美国金融史上前所未有的解决方案，那就是组建一个巨大的政府基金，购买坏帐，并最终将它们出售。
The question now is: what will Congress do weeks before a general election?
目前的问题是，在过几个星期就要举行大选之前，国会将如何行事？
Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who heads the Senate Banking Committee, spoke on ABC's This Week program.
美国参议院银行委员会主席、民主党参议员多德在美国广播公司的“本星期”电视节目上说：
"People [legislators] have a lot of ideas on what they think should be in or not in this package," Dodd said. "We need to give the [Treasury] Secretary the authority to work. These are complex issues. I do not think we ought to micro-manage that part of it. I happen to believe very strongly that the cause of this issue is still the bad lending practices. The foreclosure issue still lurks."
“在这个计划中应包括什么，不包括什么的问题上，议员们有很多主意。我们应授权财政部长展开工作。这些问题错综复杂，我认为我们不应管得过于具体。不过，我强烈认为，这个问题的原因仍然是不良的借贷做法。丧失房屋赎回权的问题仍然挥之不去。”
Some Democrats have suggested expanding the package to include benefits for homeowners and others facing economic struggles.
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer expressed strong support for broader initiatives, but said they may be addressed in legislation that is separate from the Bush administration's proposed financial bail-out.
"Many of us believe we need a stimulus package. But it does not necessarily have to be part of the bail-out," Schumer said.
But some Republicans in Congress are warning against trying to do too much for too many, rather than focusing on the immediate crisis at hand. Representative John Boehner spoke on "This Week".
但是，国会中的一些共和党议员警告说，不要想救太多的公司，我们应该把重点放在解决眼前的危机上。美国众议员博纳在“本星期”电视节目上说：
"It is about protecting our economy, protecting American jobs. This is not a time for ideological purity," Boehner said. "We face a crisis. And if we do not act quickly, we are going to jeopardize our economy."
“这事关保护我们的经济，保护美国的就业机会。目前不是思想净化的时候。我们面临着一场危机。如果我们不迅速采取行动，我们就会破坏我们的经济。”
After several days of steep losses, the U.S. stock market rallied sharply Thursday and Friday as initial reports of the bail-out package surfaced.
美国股市历经了几天的狂跌，但是在政府的挽救计划传出之后，星期四和星期五两天股票价格暴涨。 |