Obama, Congress Face Budget Showdown

 Obama, Congress Face Budget Showdown

WASHINGTON — Newly re-elected President Barack Obama appears to be headed toward another clash over taxes and government spending with the House of Representatives, where Republicans held on to their majority after the election and Democrats¹ expanded their majority in the Senate.

In grueling negotiations² on the level of government spending, taxes and how to reduce the national deficit³, House Republicans have refused to consider any tax increases for anyone.  Democrats have insisted that if they agree to cuts in government programs they strongly support, Republicans need to give in and let taxes increase for the wealthiest Americans.

What is the U.S. Fiscal⁴ Cliff?

An agreement intended to force politicians to compromise and make deals.

Without a deal by January 1, 2013, sharp spending cuts would hit military and social programs.

Tax hikes also would go into effect.

The combination would reduce economic activity, and could boost unemployment and push the nation back into recession.

??With the elections over, President Obama has invited congressional leaders to the White House to start negotiating a deal to prevent sharp tax increases and spending cuts - often referred to as the "fiscal cliff" - and says that he is open to compromise on the stubborn fiscal issues that have paralyzed Washington.  But he also made clear that Republicans are going to have accept tax increases for top earners or expect a presidential veto.

"But, I refuse to accept any approach this is not balanced," he said.  "I am not going to ask students and seniors and middle class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me making over $250,000 are not asked to pay a dime⁵ [10 cents] more in taxes.  I am not going to do that."

Tax burden

For his part, Republican House Speaker John Boehner also said he hopes productive conversations begin soon with the White house, but again drew a line at the issue of higher taxes for Americans earning the highest incomes.

"The Number One issue in the election was about the economy and jobs," he said. "Everyone wants to get our economy moving again, everyone wants to get more Americans back to work again.  Raising tax rates will slow down our ability to create the jobs that everyone says they want."

On the tax issue, analysts⁷ point out that the cuts passed under former President George W. Bush are set to expire at the end of this year unless the president signs an extension, so the burden is on Republicans to seek a deal.  Ronald Brownstein, editorial director of the National Journal, says Speaker Boehner does not seem to realize that he can no longer refuse to cooperate.

"With all due respect, it is not really his choice anymore," he said. "What is different about this environment is that the Bush tax cuts will expire and will revert⁸ to the rates under [former president Bill] Clinton for everybody unless President Obama signs an extension, and after this campaign that would be pretty shocking."

Avoiding "fiscal cliff"

Former U.S. secretary of agriculture and former Democratic congressman⁹ Dan Glickman says he is optimistic that Congress and the president will take action over the next 45 days to avoid going over the "fiscal cliff."

"But since we have a reelected president, I am hopeful that they can work out some sort of a deal," he said. "I suspect that it will be a short-term deal rather than a long-term deal to get us over this imminent¹⁰ cliff or crisis, so that we can go into next year with a little more time to think through these things.  But that way, I think the markets will be fairly calm and there will not be people thinking the United States cannot get its act together at all."

David Wasserman, an analyst⁶ with the Cook Political Report, says the chances are better for the current Congress to tackle budget challenges than the newly-elected Congress, which he says is likely to be even more polarized, and with even fewer members who call themselves moderates.

"I have been warning people that it is going to be harder to get something big passed when Congress is sworn in in January than it is in these next 45 days, because we have so many people who do have an incentive¹¹ to reach across the aisle¹² who are leaving after January," he said.

Sequestration threat

Analysts point out that the president and Congress also agreed more than a year ago on a mechanism¹³ known as sequestration - severe across the board cuts on government programs, including defense¹⁴ spending.  They would automatically take effect in January 2013 unless the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House reach an agreement on taxes and spending.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans wants those dramatic spending cuts, so that may give them the incentive they need to try to find common ground with President Obama when they are meeting with him at the White House.

1 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》

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 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。

4 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。

5 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

6 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。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 revert   

v.恢复，复归，回到

参考例句：

• Let us revert to the earlier part of the chapter.让我们回到本章的前面部分。
• Shall we revert to the matter we talked about yesterday?我们接着昨天谈过的问题谈，好吗？

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 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

11 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

12 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

13 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。

14 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。