VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Seeks Tighter Regulation of Financial Ind

President Barack Obama is calling for legislation to more tightly regulate the U.S. financial industry. The president said Wednesday that he wants to prevent more situations like that at the giant insurance company, American International Group, or AIG, where top executives were paid huge bonuses while taxpayers¹' money keeps the company afloat.
　
President Barack Obama makes a statement on AIG, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, 18 Mar² 2009

President Obama called the AIG bonuses "outrageous³," and said they are a symptom of an "outrageous" corporate⁴ culture.

"A situation where excess greed, excess compensation, excess risk-taking have all made us vulnerable and left us 'holding the bag' [left to suffer the consequences]," he said.

As he prepared to board a helicopter to start his trip to California, Mr. Obama acknowledged the public anger at corporate executives who accept large salaries and bonuses despite their companies' financial troubles.

"I do not want to quell⁵ anger," he said. "I think people are right to be angry. I am angry. What I want us to do, though, is channel our anger in a constructive⁶ way."

The president said he and his economic advisers⁷ are talking with top lawmakers about creating a new regulatory agency that would give the government more oversight⁸ over companies like AIG.

"And it is appropriate for us to have some regulatory mechanisms⁹ in place to ensure that we never have a situation where the government has to step in or you have got taxpayers who are having to foot the bill for other people's mistakes," said Mr. Obama.

Mr. Obama called for legislation from Capitol Hill that would set up an authority that would protect creditors¹⁰, depositors and consumers.

While the president says no one in his administration approved the AIG bonuses, he said it is his responsibility to see that the problem is fixed¹¹.

"The buck¹² stops with me," he said. "My goal is to make sure that we never put ourselves in this kind of position again."

The president also defended his Treasury¹³ Secretary, Timothy Geithner, who is being sharply criticized in Congress and elsewhere for his handling of the situation at AIG.

"There has never been a Secretary of the Treasury, except maybe Alexander Hamilton, right after the Revolutionary War, who has had to deal with the multiplicity of issues that Secretary Geithner is having to deal with, all at the same time. He is doing so with intelligence and diligence," he said. "Nobody is working harder than this guy."

As Mr. Obama spoke¹⁴ outside the White House, AIG's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Edward Liddy, was testifying before a House of Representatives financial services subcommittee.

1 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。

2 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

3 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

4 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

5 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

6 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

7 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

8 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

9 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

13 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。