VOA常速英语2013--本周聚焦华盛顿 奥巴马继续关注经济问题（在线收听）

Washington Week: Obama Continues Economic Pitch 本周聚焦华盛顿 奥巴马继续关注经济问题

The president Obama has a message for the American people:Even in tough fiscal times, there are things the federal government must do for the common good.

奥巴马总统向美国人民做出了保证:即使是财政艰难时期,联邦政府也必须为公共利益做些事情。

“America has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity:Rebuilding our manufacturing base, educating our workforce.Upgrading our transportation and information networks.That is what we need to be talking about,” he said.

“美国必须投资于长期增长和共享繁荣:重建我们的制造业基地,教育我们的劳动力。提升我们的交通运输和信息网络。这就是我们需要谈论的问题。”他说道。

An active government role in the economy, however, is precisely what Republican lawmakers reject.House Speaker John Boehner offers a free market-oriented agenda.“Simplify our tax code, reduce harmful regulations , and fix a broken government,” said Boehner.

然而一个在经济中活跃的政府正是共和党议员们所拒绝的。众议院议长约翰·博纳提供了一个免费市场化的议程。“简化我们的免税代码,减少不利的规定并修补一个支离破碎的政府,”贝纳说道。

The clash in visions will intensify in the coming months as deadlines loom for authorizing next year's federal budget and increasing the U.S. government's debt limit.Republicans say budget cuts must accompany any hike of the federal borrowing cap.

对于设想的冲突将在接下来的几个月对于授权明年的联邦预算及增加美国政府的债务上限临近的最后期限上加强。共和党人称预算削减必须伴随任何联邦债务上限的提高。

“We have spent more than what we have brought in for 55 of the last 60 years.I hope somebody is willing to actually talk about it,” said Boehner.A similar stand-off two years ago triggered a downgrade of U.S. creditworthiness.

“我们的开销已经超过过去60年中55年我们所带来的。我希望有人真正愿意讨论这个问题,”贝纳说道。而2年前就是这样类似的对峙引发了美国信用评级的下降。

“We have seen a sizeable group of Republican lawmakers suggest they would not vote to pay the bills that Congress rang up,a fiasco that harmed a fragile economic recovery in 2011, and one we cannot afford to repeat,” said Obama.

“我们已经看到一大批共和党议员们建议他们不会投票支付国会提起的这些账单,而2011年的一次惨败已经伤害过脆弱的经济复苏,我们不能重蹈覆辙。”奥巴马说道。

The looming implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as it's commonly known, is further complicating the picture.The program compels Americans to purchase private health insurance, and provides subsidies for those of modest incomes.Some Republicans say they will not vote for any budget that contains funding for Obamacare.Obama will not sign any budget bill that does not.

即将实现的可支付医疗法案,或俗称的奥巴马医改将未来进一步复杂化。这一项目迫使美国人购买私人医疗保险并为适度收入阶层提供补贴。一些共和党人表示他们不会投票给包含奥巴马医改资金在内的任何预算。奥巴马将不会签署任何预算法案。