WEEKLY ADDRESS: “It’s Time Washington Acted as Responsibly as Our Families Do”
每周电视讲话：“现在，华盛顿应该像我们的家庭一样承担起责任”
WASHINGTON – President Obama used his weekly address to preview his budget saying that it will help the government live within its means, while still investing in the future. In addition to stripping out waste, his budget includes a freeze on annual domestic spending over the next five years—even for programs he cares deeply about—which will reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade. And, it will make investments in the future, by supporting what will do the most to grow the economy in the years to come. This means investing in things like infrastructure, research, and education.
华盛顿：奥巴马总体通过每周讲话前瞻了他提议的财政预算，他称该计划将帮助政府量入为出，并为未来进行投资。在消除浪费的基础上，他的预算计划包含了一份冻结未来五年的年度国内支出的计划——其中甚至包括他本人深切关注的一些项目——这将在未来十年减少4000多亿美元的赤字。同时预算将为未来进行投资，即对影响未来经济增长最重要的方面进行支持。其中就包括对基础设施，科研以及教育方面的投资。
A few months ago, I received a letter from a woman named Brenda Breece. I wanted to share her story because it speaks to what a lot of families are going through – and it offers a good example of the kind of responsibility that’s needed in Washington right now.
几个月前，我收到了一封来自布伦达·布蕾丝女士的信。我想与大家分享她的故事，因为很多家庭正在经历与她一样的境遇——而且她也为我们树立了一个负责任的榜样，而这正是华盛顿当前所应具备的。
Brenda is a mom and a special-ed teacher from Missouri. Her husband, David, was employed at the local Chrysler plant for nearly four decades. They’ve worked hard their whole lives. But like a lot of folks, they’ve taken some hits over the past few years. When the Chrysler plant closed, David had to take early retirement. His pension helps, but it’s half of what he earned before. Meanwhile, because of budget cuts, Brenda has had to buy school supplies for her students out of her own pocket – because it’s her job and she cares about those kids.
布伦达来自密苏里州，是一位母亲，同时也是一位特殊教育老师。她的丈夫，戴维，就职于当地的克莱斯勒工厂将近40年了。他们一辈子都努力工作。但就像很多人一样，过去几年他们受到了一些打击。由于克莱斯勒工厂倒闭，戴维不得不提前退休。虽然有养老金，但却不到以前工资的一半。同时，由于预算削减，布伦达不得不为她的学生自掏腰包购买学校用品——因为她认为这是她的工作，而她非常关爱这些孩子们。
Money has been tight, but they are doing the best they can. And like so many families, they are sacrificing what they don’t need so they can afford what really matters. This is what Brenda told me. “I feel my family is frugal,” she said. “We go to the movies…once a month, but usually we just wait for them to come out on TV… I watch the food budget… We combine trips into town [and] use coupons … and we trim each other’s hair when we need a haircut.”
钱相当紧张，但他们却竭尽所能维持着。像他们一样的众多家庭，并不是必须要为此做出牺牲，但他们这么做，是为了担负起那些真正重要的东西。布伦达就是这么告诉我的。她说：“我觉得我家非常节俭了，以前我们一个月去看场电影，但现在我们经常等待它们在电视上播出……我时刻关注食物预算……我们拼车进城，用优惠券买东西……甚至当我们需要理发的时候我们都相互修剪一下了事。”
So Brenda and her husband know what they can do without. But they also know what investments are too important to sacrifice. Their daughter, Rachel, is a sophomore in college with a 4.0 grade point average. The tuition is a big expense. But it’s worth it, because it will give her the chance to achieve her dreams. In fact, Brenda is looking for a second job to ensure, as she told me, “the money is there to help Rachel with her future.”
布伦达和她丈夫很清楚不这样他们就做不到。但他们也知道什么样的投入是重要到不得不做出牺牲的。他们的女儿，瑞秋，是大二学生，平均成绩4.0。学费是一份很大的开支。但这是值得的，因为这将给她实现她梦想的机会。其实，布伦达正在寻求一份兼职来确保收入，就像她告诉我的：“这些钱将帮助瑞秋实现未来。”
Families across this country understand what it takes to manage a budget. They understand what it takes to make ends meet without forgoing important investments like education. Well, it’s time Washington acted as responsibly as our families do. And on Monday, I’m proposing a new budget that will help us live within our means while investing in our future.
全国各地的家庭都能理解如何管理家庭预算。他们都知道如何在不放弃对教育之类的重要投入基础上实现收支平衡。因此，现在，华盛顿也应该像我们的家庭一样负起责任来了。下周一，我将提议一份新的预算计划，这将帮助我们量入为出，同时也为我们的未来进行投资。
My budget freezes annual domestic spending for the next five years – even on programs I care deeply about – which will reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade. This freeze will bring this type of spending to its lowest level as a share of the economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president. We’ve stripped down the budget by getting rid of waste. For example, we’re getting rid of thousands of government-owned buildings that sit empty because they aren’t needed. I’ve also proposed freezing salaries for hardworking government employees, because everyone has to do their part. And I’m going to make sure politics doesn’t add to our deficit, by vetoing any bill that contains earmarks.
我的预算计划冻结了未来五年的年度国内支出——其中还包括一些我深切关注的项目——这将在未来十年削减4000多亿美元的赤字。这项冻结计划将该项支出在经济中所占比例降低到自德怀特·艾森豪威尔任总统以来的最低水平。我们已经通过减少浪费降低了预算。例如，我们处理掉了数千栋政府所有的空置房，因为他们不需要这么多。我还提议冻结勤劳的政府雇员的薪水，因为每个人都应该做出自己的贡献。同时我还将确保不因政治因素增加我们的赤字，即否决任何含有专项拨款的法案。
And yet, just as the Breece family is making difficult sacrifices while still investing in the future – by helping their daughter pay her tuition – my budget does the same. I’m proposing that we invest in what will do the most to grow the economy in the years to come. This means job-creating investments in roads, high-speed speed trains, and broadband. This means cutting-edge research that holds the promise of creating countless jobs and whole new industries, like clean energy and biotechnology. And it means improving our schools and making college more affordable – to give every young person the chance to fulfill his or her potential, and receive the job training they need to succeed. Because it would be a mistake to balance the budget by sacrificing our children’s education.
然而，就像布蕾丝她家做着艰难的牺牲也要为未来投资一样——给他们的女儿支付学费——我的预算计划也是这样。我提议对在将来影响经济增长最重要的方面进行投资。这就意味着对公路，高速铁路以及宽带等创造就业的投资。意味着对前沿科研的投资，这些拥有在未来创造无数就业岗位乃至全新产业的希望，例如清洁能源和生物科技。这也意味着改进学校，并让大学学费更承受的起——给每一个年轻人发挥他或她的潜力的机会，一个获得职业教育实现成功的机会。因为为了平衡预算却牺牲孩子们的教育是错误的。
So, after a decade of rising deficits, this budget asks Washington to live within its means, while at the same time investing in our future. It cuts what we can’t afford to pay for what we cannot do without. That’s what families do in hard times. And that’s what our country has to do too.
因此，在十多年赤字不断增长之后，这份预算计划要求华盛顿量入为出，同时还要为我们的未来投资。这份计划削减了那些我们不堪承受的支出来投入到我们不能不投入的方面。这是一个家庭在困难时期所做的。同样这也是我们国家需要做的。
Thank you.
谢谢大家。 |