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奥巴马就美国经济发表演讲

President Barack Obama has made the first in a series of speeches intended to focus attention on his efforts to accelerate the  economic recovery.

美国总统奥巴马星期三发表讲话，并将继续发表一系列讲话，目的是让人们把注意力放在他加快经济复苏的努力上。

At a college in the small town of Galesburg, Illinois, President Obama reminded Americans that he is committed to extending the economic recovery to the poor and the middle class.

奥巴马总统在伊利诺伊州小城盖尔斯堡的一所大学发表讲话时提醒美国人说，他致力于让经济复苏惠及穷人和中产阶级：

“The only thing I care about is how to use every minute of the remaining 1,276 days of my term to make this country work for working Americans again," he said.

“我关心的唯一一件事就是如何利用我1,276天剩余任期的每一分钟，让这个国家再次服务于工作着的美国人。”

The speech was the first of three the president will give on the economy this week, with more expected in the coming months.  It was the latest of numerous White House re-starts on the economy.

奥巴马总统计划这个星期就经济问题发表三次演讲，这是第一次。今后他还会发表更多演讲。这也是白宫让民众重新注重经济的诸多努力中的最新一次。

Obama accused opposition¹ Republicans in Congress of blocking his economic plans for political reasons.

奥巴马总统批评国会共和党人出于政治原因阻碍他的经济计划。

“But with this endless parade of distractions² and political posturing³ and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball.  And I am here to say this needs to stop. This needs to stop," he said.

他说：“由于这些没完没了的让人分心的游行、政治姿态和流言蜚语，华盛顿分散了自己的注意力。我要说，这些事情应当停止了。”

As in the past, he called for improvements to infrastructure⁴, the tax code, the home mortgage system, education and the minimum wage, as well as implementing⁵ his health care reform plan - which House Republicans have voted to repeal⁶.

和过去一样，奥巴马要求改善基础设施、税法、房屋抵押贷款制度、教育、最低工资，以及落实他被众议院共和党人否决的健保改革计划。

Polls show Americans are worried about the sluggish⁷ economy.

民调显示，美国人对低迷的经济感到担心。

Steve Bell heads economic studies at Washington’s Bipartisan Policy Center.

华盛顿两党政策中心的经济研究室主任贝尔说：

“By about a two-to-one margin⁸, Americans think the country is going in the wrong direction, it has gotten off track.  It has been that way now for about six or seven years," he said.

“每三个美国人里，就有两个人认为国家正朝着错误的方向走，偏离了正确轨道。这种情况已经有大概六、七年了。”

Bell says Americans can see that the slow economic recovery is not reaching the working class.

贝尔说，美国人都能看到，缓慢的经济复苏没有给工薪阶层带来好处：

“Bit by bit, Americans feel in their, you know, feel in their bones when things in their community are not going right," he said.

“一点一点地，美国人从骨子里感觉到，他们周围的情况不好。”

But, he says, the president’s economic proposals face as much Republican opposition as ever.

然而，贝尔指出，奥巴马总统的经济建议面临着共和党人一如既往的反对。

Before Obama delivered his speech, the top Senate Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, dismissed it.

在奥巴马总统发表演讲之前，国会参议院少数党领袖麦康奈尔就已经放话反驳了。

“It’s just such a colossal⁹ waste of time and energy - resources that would be better spent actually working with both parties in Congress to grow the economy and create jobs," he said.

麦康奈尔说：“这纯粹是浪费时间和精力，我们完全可以把这些时间和精力放在国会两党共同努力推动经济和创造就业机会上。”

Despite the opposition, the president hopes to increase public pressure on Congress to avoid showdowns over taxes and spending in the coming months.

尽管遭到反对，但奥巴马总统仍旧希望增加公众对国会的压力，避免今后几个月里就税收和开支问题摊牌。