美国国家公共电台 NPR--Sen. Manchin has reversed course and agreed to a climate and taxes bill

Sen. Manchin has reversed course and agreed to a climate and taxes bill

Transcript¹

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin have revived a deal for climate measures and changes to the tax code, in addition to measures aimed at reducing health care costs.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

A breakthrough - after over a year of talks, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have finally reached a deal on an energy and health care bill that's also aimed at addressing inflation.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

The Democrats²' plan is to vote on the entire package next week, ahead of an annual month-long break in August. President Biden says he supports the plan. But in order for the bill to pass, it needs unanimous support among Senate Democrats.

FADEL: NPR congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell has been following this legislation, and she joins me now. Hi, Kelsey.

KELSEY SNELL, BYLINE³: Hi there.

FADEL: OK, so what exactly is in this bill?

SNELL: So the biggest items include nearly $370 billion for energy security and climate change programs over the next 10 years. There's also $65 billion to extend elements of the Affordable⁴ Care Act through 2025. They're pairing all of that with more than $300 billion in deficit⁵ reduction. Now, that deficit reduction is really critical here because it is the key to getting Manchin on board after he blocked many other proposals over what he said were fears that more federal spending could stoke already-record-breaking inflation in the country.

FADEL: So how do they plan to cut the deficit?

SNELL: Well, primarily, it's through a 15% corporate⁶ minimum tax that they say would raise about $313 billion. Plus, there's expanded IRS enforcement and tax changes for carried interest. That's all in addition to already-announced plans to allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription⁷ drugs. Now, all of this is a really big shift for Democrats. They were forced to dramatically scale back their ambitions to focus on only the Affordable Care Act and lowering prescription drug prices after they spent all of that time trying to get a more ambitious deal.

FADEL: Yeah.

SNELL: You know, this is really a far cry from that trillions of dollars they once hoped to spend, and that included child care and education. But what they did end up with here is much more than most Democrats expected.

FADEL: And these talks - they started. They fell apart. They restarted so many times. What made things different this time?

SNELL: Well, there are a lot of competing pressures on Manchin and Schumer. Yeah, there are pressures from Democrats, but there are also pressures from Republicans who tried to derail any last-ditch moves like this. The agreement was made public just a few hours after the Senate passed a critical semiconductor⁸ bill yesterday. And Republicans had promised to block that bill as long as Democrats were still trying to pass a different, broader partisan⁹ bill, like this one on climate and taxes. Well, the semiconductor bill is done in the Senate, and Republicans just don't have as much leverage¹⁰ over Democrats to kind of force them in a direction, so they decided¹¹ to move forward. And Democrats are also entering a really critical period for themselves in terms of midterm politics.

FADEL: Right.

SNELL: The upcoming August recess¹² is all about campaigning and making the pitch to voters that Democrats not only need to stay in power; they need to gain seats. So fresh achievements are sometimes kind of the easiest ways to sell voters on those kinds of, you know, progress. That's why they want to vote on this next week. They want to be able to show that they got this done and then promise to voters that this bill is just a down payment on bigger plans.

FADEL: How realistic is it, though, that this might pass?

SNELL: Well, it's certainly their goal. The next step is to go through the vetting¹³ process to make sure that this fits strict budget reconciliation¹⁴ rules so they can pass this without a Republican filibuster¹⁵. Then, there's a lengthy¹⁶ voting process and making sure that they don't have other delays, like members testing positive for COVID, and then it has to pass the House. But President Biden is already on board, and that puts a lot of pressure on Democrats to get in line.

FADEL: So Kelsey, we mentioned this bill needs unanimous support among Democrats in the Senate. Are there any signs of trouble among Democrats right now?

SNELL: Well, I'm kind of watching a couple of separate political dynamics¹⁷ at play. Over in the Senate, the one thing to watch is Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. She hasn't said yet if she supports this bill, and she has, in the past, been skeptical¹⁸ of some of the changes they're talking about here on the tax side. Now, if it can get past the Senate, then we start to pay attention to what's happening in the House, where progressives who wanted a far bigger deal are a big question mark here. So are House Democrats who wanted bigger deductions¹⁹ for state and local taxes. I will say, though, that the progressives put out a statement yesterday saying that they're still evaluating the bill, but they did call it promising²⁰. And the others - the ones who want those state and local tax deductions - have left themselves room to get on board. They kind of need to when all of the leadership of their party is pushing them to do so.

FADEL: NPR's Kelsey Snell. Thank you.

SNELL: Thanks for having me.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

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 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

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 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。

7 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

8 semiconductor   

n.半导体

参考例句：

• In the beginning,engineers hoped to use semiconductor lasers.在开始时，工程师们希望能够利用半导体激光器。
• The main agent of the company brand semiconductor sales.本公司主要代理各品牌半导体销售。

9 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

10 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

13 vetting   

n.数据检查[核对，核实]v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的现在分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• Scripts had to be submitted to Ministry of Information officials for vetting. 必须把脚本提交给信息部官员审查。 来自互联网
• Their purpose in clicking deeper into a site is one of vetting. 他们深入点击网站的目的是一种诊疗。 来自互联网

14 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

15 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

16 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

17 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

18 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

19 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

20 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。