美参院否决众院赤字债务提案一托福阅读机经背景.docx

智课网TOEFL备考资料美参院否决众院赤字债务提案一托福阅读机经背景 The Democratic Party-controlled U.S. Senate has blocked a plan passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to cut the countrys budget and raise its debt ceiling. The vote Friday puts the emphasis on talks between the White House and top lawmakers to find a deal to raise the debt ceiling before a deadline on August 2. 民主党控制的美国参议院否决了共和党控制的众议院通过的削减预算和提高债限的提案。 A simple majority was needed to table, or kill, further consideration of the bill. The vote was 51 to 46. 参议院需要简单多数来搁置、或否决众议院提出的这项法案。参议院的投票结果为51票对46票。 Just one hour of comments were allowed before the vote took place. 在投票开始前只进行了一个小时的讨论。 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who had called the House bill one of the worst he has ever seen, said it was now urgent to look for a feasible solution. 参议院多数党领袖哈里里德曾将众议院的这项法案称为他所见过的最差的法案之一。他说，现在迫切需要寻求一个可行的解决方案。 There is simply no more time to waste debating and voting on measures that have no hopes of becoming law. We have no more time to waste playing partisan games, said Reid. As the saying goes, indecision becomes decision with time. Our time is running out before this gridlock, this refusal by the other side to move even an inch toward compromise becomes a decision to default on our debt. 里德说：“实在是没有更多的时间来对那些没有希望成为法律的方案进行争论和表决。我们没有更多时间来浪费在玩党派游戏上。正如一句老话所讲的， 随着时间的推移未决定的终会决定。我们的时间就快没了，在这种僵局、在这一提案被另一方否决后我们向妥协方案迈进一英寸之前，债务违约或将成为现实。” In the short time they had to speak, Republicans on the Senate floor all backed the Cut, Cap and Balance Act. It would have raised the debt limit by $2.4 trillion on the condition that Congress send a constitutional balanced budget amendment to the states for ratification and approve trillions in long-term spending cuts. 由于不得不在短时间内作出决定，参议院的共和党人都支持这项“削减、限制与平衡法案。”该法案将联邦政府借债上限提高了2.4万亿美元，条件是国会批准一项预算平衡宪法修正案，以认可和批准长期内削减数万亿美元的支出。 The Senate minority leader, Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, accused Democrats of being in a state of denial. 参议院少数党领袖、肯塔基州共和党参议员米奇麦康奈尔指责民主党人否决了这项法案。 Too many Democrats refuse to admit that Washington has a spending problem. That is why Republicans have insisted that we focus on spending in this debate, McConnell said. The reason we have got a $14 trillion debt is because no matter how much money Washington has it always spends more. 麦康奈尔说：“太多民主党人拒绝承认华盛顿在支出方面存在问题。那就是为什么共和党人坚持我们在这场辩论中要专注于支出问题。我们之所以有14万亿美元的债务，是因为华盛顿不管有多少钱，它支出的总是更多。” The comments highlighted the sharp divisions between the two parties, as negotiations to find a deal stumble along. 麦康奈尔的评论突显了两党的尖锐分歧，有关协议的谈判步履蹒跚。 Democrats said the law proposed by the House would have turned a recession into a depression. They said it would cut, cap and kill social spending programs and defend tax havens. They accused former Republican President George W. Bush of creating the deficit problem by paying for the Iraq war with tax cuts. They also warned against any deal that would only favor wealthy Americans. 民主党人说，众议院的这项法案会使经济衰退恶化成萧条。他们表示，这项法案将削减、限制和枪毙社会支出项目，同时保护避税天堂。他们指责共和党籍前总统乔治沃克布什因为减税和支付伊拉克战争费用而造成赤字问题。他们还警告不要出台任何只有利于富人阶层的法案。 Republicans accused Democratic senators of lacking leadership since they said they have not proposed their own plan. They took offense that the act had been blocked with a dismissal vote, rather than a full debate and work on amendments. They accused Democratic President Barack Obama of pretending to be a fiscal moderate in recent days, but coming short of that ideal in his actions. 共和党人则指责民主党参议员缺乏领导能力，他们说，民主党人没有提出自己的方案。令共和党人感到气愤的是，众议院的这项法案直接被否决票阻止，而没有经过全面的讨论和作出修改。他们指责民主党籍总统奥马最近几天在财政问题上假装中间派，但他的实际行动却不是这样。 Senior aides to lawmakers said both sides are now searching for what they called a magic formula to avoid a debt default, with the White House at the center of efforts