密歇根新闻广播 密歇根坑坑洼洼的马路问题何时解决

Late Saturday afternoon I was in Lansing, driving to an awards ceremony at the state Library of Michigan, when I started hitting a whole bunch of potholes¹ near the Capitol.

"Don't the legislators drive on these roads?" my sweetheart asked. My flip² answer was that I didn't think most of them went to the library very often.

But sure enough, when I got home, I found a bubble the size of an egg in my driver's-side tire. That's the second time that's happened to me this year. I drive more than most people do, but somehow I'd bet that I am far from alone.

Now, you may be under the impression that the Legislature finally passed bills to fix the roads last year. Unfortunately, that would be wrong. They did raise our taxes by $600 million dollars, but any serious new money for the roads won't start trickling³ in before next January.

The plan eventually is supposed to produce $1.2 billion a year in new money for the roads, but it will take years to get there, and by that time, that amount will be hopelessly inadequate⁴ to fix our daily worsening highways.

Even worse, the plan also calls for $600 million to be taken out of the already strapped⁵ general fund every year, meaning there is bound to be less money for things like education.

Democrats⁶ are certainly capable of crass⁷ and politically self-serving things. But what Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich said last November is absolutely true: "This plan won't fix our roads. It will however, create new problems that will need to be fixed⁸ later."

But let's say for a moment that I could turn the clock back exactly two years to April 4, 2014, and some candidate could make voters believe this: "Elect me, and two years from today I will have in place a plan that will completely fix the roads, and you will be paying $2.29 cents a gallon for gas."

That candidate would have been elected in a landslide⁹.

Why? Because two years ago today, we were paying $3.67 a gallon. I filled up my trusty station wagon¹⁰ yesterday for $2.09, and there were some cheaper places.

Tack¹¹ on 20 cents to the price of a gallon of gas—and that would generate more than enough to fix the roads. Wouldn't it make sense for the Legislature to pass a law doing that, effective immediately, and repeal¹² the earlier clunky legislation?

Of course it would. But there is no way they'd do it, because they live in terror of being accused of raising taxes, especially in an election year. The average driver is paying far more in the cost of wear and tear on his or her car than even a far larger tax increase would mean.

But the combination of gerrymandering, the tyranny of Tea Party fanatics¹³ over the GOP, and the effect of term limits have all worked against common sense and good government.

Our system is clearly broken, and this is only one example. There's a reason that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump¹⁴ are doing so well——they are the candidates most loudly proclaiming that government in this country no longer works.

You can see the proof in our tires.

Jack¹⁵ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's senior news analyst¹⁶. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management, or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 potholes   

n.壶穴( pothole的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Potholes are also home to tiny desert animals. 洞穴也是弱小动物的家。 来自互联网
• If you're going to enjoy the good times, you've certainly got to deal with some potholes. 如果要享受甜美的胜利果实，当然要应付这些战绩不佳的指责压力。 来自互联网

2 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

3 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

5 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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》

7 crass   

adj.愚钝的，粗糙的；彻底的

参考例句：

• The government has behaved with crass insensitivity.该政府行事愚蠢而且麻木不仁。
• I didn't want any part of this silly reception,It was all so crass.我完全不想参加这个无聊的欢迎会，它实在太糟糕了。

8 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。

9 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

10 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

11 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

12 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

13 fanatics   

狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The heathen temple was torn down by a crowd of religions fanatics. 异教徒的神殿被一群宗教狂热分子拆除了。
• Placing nukes in the hands of baby-faced fanatics? 把核弹交给一些宗教狂热者手里？

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

15 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

16 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。