VOA标准英语2015--奥巴马宣布联邦预算的提案

 

Obama to Unveil Proposed Federal Budget 奥巴马宣布联邦预算的提案

WASHINGTON—

On Monday, President Obama unveils his blueprint¹ for future U.S. government spending, a proposed 2016 federal budget. The weighty document constitutes an opening bid in a lengthy² debate about America’s finances that will expose sharp divides between a Democratic president and a Republican-controlled Congress.

First, some good news: the federal deficit³ has fallen by more than 50 percent in recent years.  America’s improved finances allow for a renewed focus on domestic needs that have gone unmet in recent years, according to President Obama.

“First, middle-class economics means helping⁴ working families feel more secure in a world of constant change.  That means helping folks afford childcare, college, health care, a home, retirement⁵, and my budget will address each of these issues, lowering the taxes of working families and putting thousands of dollars back into their pockets each year,” said Obama.

The president’s budget is expected to cancel automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that have impacted everything from U.S. military preparedness to the response to health crises like Ebola.

But the fiscal⁶ outlook is not all rosy⁷.  Any deficit, no matter how small, causes the accumulated $18 trillion national debt to rise further, a fact pointed⁸ out by Republican lawmakers, who say Obama’s budget is “dead on arrival.”  Senator John Cornyn is among those troubled with the country’s rising debt.

“I am concerned that the budget will be loaded with more taxes, more spending, and more debt.  And that certainly is not a sustainable path forward for the country.  We are still spending money we do not have,” said Cornyn.

Congressional committees will craft spending proposals that reflect Republican priorities: constraining⁹ domestic spending while providing tax incentives¹⁰ to further spur economic activity.

But their professed¹¹ concern about fiscal imbalances ignores recent history, when deficits¹² and debt exploded under Republican rule, according to Independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

“I am delighted that some of my Republican friends have expressed great concern about our deficit and our national debt.  I would ask them where they were several years ago when we went to war in Iraq and forgot to pay for that war,” said Sanders.

The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse: to pass laws on taxes and spending.  But the president can sign or veto budget bills, meaning that an agreement between the two branches of government will have to be hammered out if the U.S. government is to remain open beyond September, when the current budget expires.

1 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

2 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。

3 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。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

6 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

7 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 constraining   

强迫( constrain的现在分词 )； 强使； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• He was constraining his mind not to wander from the task. 他克制着不让思想在工作时开小差。
• The most constraining resource in all of these cases is venture capital. 在所有这些情况下最受限制的资源便是投入资本。

10 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

11 professed   

公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的

参考例句：

• These, at least, were their professed reasons for pulling out of the deal. 至少这些是他们自称退出这宗交易的理由。
• Her manner professed a gaiety that she did not feel. 她的神态显出一种她并未实际感受到的快乐。

12 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句