VOA常速英语2013--美国小企业欢迎两党预算达成协议（在线收听）

US Small Businesses Applaud Bipartisan Budget Deal 美国小企业欢迎两党预算达成协议

WASHINGTON — An advocacy group representing small businesses in the United States has applauded the bipartisan budget agreement crafted by congressional leaders and  announced late Tuesday. The deal does not address all the challenges facing small businesses, but, if approved, the two-year agreement could reduce the acrimony and  political brinksmanship that have damaged business and consumer confidence.

一家倡导美国小企业权益的组织欢迎国会领袖达成由两党参与的预算协议。预计，众议院星期四将就这项协议进行表决。协议并没有解决小企业面临的所有难题，不过，如果这项为期两年的 协议如果获得通过，将会减少那种形同水火的激烈党政和不惜打到边缘的政治角斗。这些内斗损害了工商界利益和消费者信心。

It’s been hailed as a bipartisan breakthrough - an 11th hour [last minute] deal that Democratic Senator Patty Murray said removes the threat of another fiscal crisis  - like the one that partially shut down the federal government for 16 days in October, and cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars in lost wages and revenue.

这项在最后时刻达成的协议被称赞为两党合作实现的突破。民主党谈判主力帕蒂?默里参议员说，这项协议化解了爆发又一次财政危机的危险。上一次的危机致使美国联邦政府在10月部分关闭 了16天，并使美国经济蒙受了数十亿美元的工资和收入损失。

“Because of this deal, the budget process can now stop lurching from crisis to crisis,” said Murray.

她说：“由于这项协议，预算程序现在可以不再跌跌撞撞地从危机走向危机了。”

It's far from a done deal. The Senate and the House of Representatives still have to approve the agreement, said Republican Congressman Paul Ryan. “I see this  agreement as a step in the right direction. In divided government, you don’t always get what you want,” he said.

现在还不能说协议已经板上钉钉。协议仍有待参众两院的批准。共和党谈判主力保罗?瑞恩众议员说：“我认为这项协议是朝正确方向迈出的一步。在一个两党分治的政府，你不可能总是得到 你想要的。”

What it does is raise domestic and defense spending, eliminating more than $60 billion in across the board spending cuts - known as the sequester - without raising  taxes.

协议提高了国内和国防开支，取消了超过600亿美元的一刀切式的自动减支，同时又没有提高税收。

Reaction from the business community has been mostly positive.

工商界对此的反应多数是积极的。

John Arensmeyer, CEO of the Small Business Majority, said the deal could help reduce some of the uncertainty created by a dysfunctional Congress. “And quite frankly,  the mood changed dramatically in the last 24 hours with the news that there is a budget deal that’s going to hold us for the next two years.”

代表美国小公司利益的“小企业大多数”组织（Small Business Majority）的首席执行官约翰?阿伦斯迈耶说，这项协议有可能帮助减少国会空转造成的一些不确定性。他说：“坦率地说， 达成能够让我们再维持两年的预算协议的消息传来后的24小时里，人们的情绪有了极大的改变。”

Not everyone likes it. Some Democrats say the deal does not extend long-term unemployment benefits, set to expire at the end of December. And Republicans say it does  not do enough to reduce the nation's growing deficit.

不过，并不是每个人都支持协议。一些民主党人说，协议没有包括延长长期性的失业救济，这项福利将在12月底到期。共和党人说，协议在削减美国越滚越大的赤字方面做得不够。

Arensmeyer said lawmakers need to do more. "I mean, it’s great that we have this budget deal. Now we want to see Congress step up and focus on tax reform, focus on  immigration, focus on some other issues."阿伦斯迈耶说，议员们还需要进一步努力。他说：“我的意思是说，有了这项预算协议很不错。现在我们希望看到国会采取行动，把精力集中在 税收改革、移民和其它问题上。”

Back from his recent visit to South Africa, President Barack Obama admits the deal is far from perfect - but he called it “a good first step.”

刚刚访问南非归来的奥巴马总统承认，协议远远不够完美，不过他说，这是“良好的第一步”。

The deal trims only about $23 billion from the annual deficit and does not address the separate issue of the debt ceiling. Unless Congress raises the nearly $17  trillion debt limit, the U.S. Treasury says the government could run out of money to pay its obligations by the middle of February.

这项协议只削减了大约230亿美元的年度赤字，而且没有解决另外的债务上限问题。美国财政部说，国会必须把将近17万亿美元的债务上限再次提高， 否则，政府可能在2月中旬就没钱还债了 。