VOA标准英语2009年-Obama's Leadership Style Put To Test

U.S. President Barack Obama has been in office two months now, and the ongoing¹ economic crisis is putting his leadership skills to the test.
　
President Barack Obama makes a statement on AIG, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, 18 Mar² 2009

It was a challenging week for a new president focused on restoring public confidence in an economy that remains³ uncertain.

Mr. Obama faced an unwelcome political distraction⁴ in the form of public outrage⁵ over millions of dollars in bonus payments to executives at the troubled insurance giant American International Group, which is getting bailed⁶ out by the U.S. government.

The issue of bonuses being paid to executives working at a company that has been rescued by U.S. taxpayer⁷ funds set off a firestorm on Capitol Hill. Members of Congress from both political parties quickly joined in the condemnation⁸, including Democratic Congressman⁹ Gary Ackerman of New York.

"Mr. Chairman, there is a tidal wave of rage throughout American right now," he said.

Acting¹⁰ on that anger, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a 90 percent tax on the bonus payments to AIG executives. A similar bill will now be taken up by the Senate, although legal experts question if the bill can withstand constitutional scrutiny¹¹.

But the AIG mess threatens to shift the president's focus away from trying to restore confidence both among the public and within the financial markets.

"There is an incredible amount of anger in this country and a sense that Wall Street has really enriched itself at the expense of the ordinary person who is suffering mightily¹² these days," said Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News.

Mr. Obama said he understands the public anger over the AIG situation, but he's also urging the public not to lose sight of the bigger goal of bringing the national economy out of recession.

The president took his case directly to the people at town hall meetings in California Thursday and to late night television as he appeared on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno, a top ranked entertainment program.

"I do think, though, that the American people are in a place where they understand it took us a while to get into this mess. It's going to take a while for us to get out of it," the president said.

Several Republicans criticized the president's appearance on a late night comedy show as undignified.

But American University expert Allan Lichtman says Mr. Obama is using all the public relations weapons at his disposal.

"These are sober times and our president has delivered a lot of stern and sober talks to the American people. But there is a lighter¹³ side to Barack Obama," he said.

Opposition¹⁴ Republicans see an opportunity in the public outrage over AIG.

House Republican leader John Boehner wants to know when the administration knew about the AIG bonuses and why it did not do more to stop them.

"And the American people have a right to ask, what are the Democrats¹⁵ doing here? And the right to demand from us better solutions, and they will get them," said Boehner.

President Obama's legislative¹⁶ agenda has slowed somewhat since last month's passage of the economic stimulus¹⁷ plan.

But Georgetown University scholar Stephen Wayne says the president needs to keep the pressure on Congress to tackle complicated issues like health care, education and energy.

"He has used the crisis as an action-forcing mechanism¹⁸ to get Congress to move, and to move quickly, which is something congresses don't do except in times of crisis," Wayne said.

Congress did move quickly to pass the president's economic stimulus plan. But most experts predict longer and more complicated congressional battles over issues like health care and energy independence.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

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 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 bailed   

保释，帮助脱离困境( bail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Fortunately the pilot bailed out before the plane crashed. 飞机坠毁之前，驾驶员幸运地跳伞了。
• Some water had been shipped and the cook bailed it out. 船里进了些水，厨师把水舀了出去。

7 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

8 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

11 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

12 mightily   

ad.强烈地；非常地

参考例句：

• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
• This seemed mightily to relieve him. 干完这件事后，他似乎轻松了许多。

13 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 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》

16 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

17 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。

18 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。