VOA标准英语2011--US Congressional 'Supercommittee' Faces Deadline on Budget Deal

US Congressional 'Supercommittee' Faces Deadline on Budget Deal

The battle over how to reduce the United States' $15 trillion debt is now being debated by a bipartisan congressional "supercommittee". With a deadline for agreement just days away, the same ideological¹ differences over taxes and social programs that have long divided Republicans and Democrats² still appear to keep them apart.

The politically-divided U.S. Congress remains³ stuck over how to reign⁴ in the country's growing deficit⁵ and debt.

And so far, even a powerful, bipartisan supercommittee has failed in its mission to find $1.2 trillion in cuts ahead of a pre-set deadline. No deal by November 23 and automatic spending cuts to domestic programs and national defense⁶ kick in in 2013.

Political analyst⁷ Stuart Rothenberg says there's good reason for the deadline.

"There had to be something that really forced them to make a deal and so they set up this procedure of across the board cuts including defense cuts that they thought would be such a horrendous⁸ alternative that they would have to find agreement,"

The supercommittee appears to be in trouble for the same reason agreement has eluded⁹ the full Congress in the past. Progressive Democrats fear the panel will slash¹⁰ social welfare programs they cherish.

"I will be damned if we will balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the sick, the children and the poor," said Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. "That’s wrong.”

And conservative Republicans fear the super committee will raise taxes - something many of them oppose.

"The joint¹¹ select committee has only one option: spending cuts and entitlement reform," Republican House Speaker John Boehner said.

Some Republicans now indicate they might be willing to include some tax increases, but wary¹² Democrats say the ratio of spending cuts to tax hikes remains an obstacle.

That's prompting some lawmakers from both parties to call on the supercommittee to "go big" and hammer out a bold deal of $4 trillion in cuts and tax increases.

"Failure can't be an option," said Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia. "The whole rest of the world is watching."

Some lawmakers say that if the supercommittee fails to find a solution to the impasse¹³ that will further shake the confidence of global markets and of many Americans that Congress can resolve the nation's fiscal¹⁴ challenges.

1 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

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 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 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

9 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

13 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

14 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。