VOA标准英语2009年-Senators Debate Merits of Earmarks in Spending

On Friday, the U.S. Senate shelved a final vote on the $410 billion spending bill that would fund the federal government through the current fiscal¹ year. Senators from both parties have expressed reservations over the more than 8,000 localized spending projects, called earmarks, which total more than $7 billion.

Congress will continue debate Monday over the federal spending bill, which a handful of Republicans and Democrats² are criticizing for being loaded down with earmarks, or special projects legislators use to funnel³ money to their constituents⁴.

Congress did not pass the legislation last year under threat of a veto from then-President George Bush. Now some question whether President Barack Obama is breaking his campaign pledge to scour⁵ the budget line by line for wasteful⁶ spending.
　
Senator John McCain, 25 Feb 2009

Republican Senator John McCain, who is well known for deriding⁷ earmarks as "pork barrel spending," told Fox News the president should scrap⁸ the bill entirely⁹.

"But the fact is, they are unneeded, unwanted, unnecessary and it is not last year's business," said John McCain. "It is money that is going to be spent as soon as the president signs the bill, and he should not sign it, he should veto it and send it right back."

McCain acknowledges that earmark spending is a bipartisan problem; about 40 percent of the earmarks came from fellow Republicans. One such Republican is Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama who says the inclusion of earmarks should not impede¹⁰ funding the government.
　
Sen. Richard Shelby, center, accompanied by, from left, Sen. Tom Coburn, Sen. Jon Ensign, Sen. David Vitter, and Sen. Jim DeMint, 10 Dec. 2008

"A lot of people voted for a stimulus¹¹ bill, a TARP [Troubled Assets Relief Program], that is $1.5 trillion," said Richard Shelby. "Now they say, 'Oh, we better not vote for a $400-billion bill to fund the government.' I think we ought to fund the government and move on."

Another Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham, who inserted 37 earmarks for South Carolina, defended the process for funneling¹² revenue to his home state.

"I think I should have the ability as a United States Senator to direct money back to my state as long it is transparent¹³ and it makes sense," said Lindsey Graham.

In total, earmarks represent less than two percent of the federal spending bill. Graham and other senators say they expect the bill to pass later this week.

1 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

2 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》

3 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

4 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

6 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

7 deriding   

v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls are deriding that boy's foolishness. 姑娘们在嘲笑那个男孩的愚笨。 来自互联网

8 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 impede   

v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止

参考例句：

• One shouldn't impede other's progress.一个人不应该妨碍他人进步。
• The muddy roads impede our journey.我们的旅游被泥泞的道路阻挠了。

11 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

12 funneling   

[医]成漏斗形：描述膀胱底及膀胱尿道交接区

参考例句：

13 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。