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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Daunting1 hurdles2 remain for two legislative3 plans to cut U.S. government spending, raise the federal borrowing limit and avert4 a national debt crisis experts warn that could stall America’s fragile economic recovery and send financial shock waves around the world.
With a deadline to raise the federal debt ceiling less than a week away, the two latest plans, one Republican, the other Democratic, face almost-certain defeat in one or both chambers5 of a politically-divided Congress.
Senior Republican lawmakers scrambled6 Wednesday to rework a plan put forth7 by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner after nonpartisan congressional analysts8 said it would fall short on promised spending cuts. And some members of the conservative and libertarian Tea Party faction9 of the Republican caucus10 vowed11 to vote against the plan or any proposal that would raise the nation's debt ceiling.
“I pledge to you that I will not vote for any bill that raises the debt ceiling,” said Republican Representative Paul Brown of Georgia.
House Republican leaders are pleading for party unity12, without which the Boehner plan might be doomed13 in the House and leave a Democratic proposal as the only viable14 alternative. Both plans call for spending cuts, but the Boehner proposal would raise the debt ceiling in two stages. The Democratic plan would provide one large-scale increase, preserving federal borrowing authority through next year’s national elections.
In the Senate, one of the Republican Party’s senior statesmen, John McCain of Arizona, chided first-term House Republicans who dismiss the consequences of a possible U.S. debt default.
“The idea seems to be that if the House GOP [Republicans] refuses to raise the debt ceiling, a default crisis or gradual government shutdown will ensue, and the public will turn en masse against [President] Barack Obama, that the Republican House that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all the blame. The reality is that the debt limit will be raised one way or another. And the only issue now is, with how much fiscal15 reform and with what political fallout?,” McCain said.
“The speaker’s plan is on life support, and it is time for him to pull the plug. The bill remains18 a nonstarter in the Senate, and the president will never sign it,” said Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York.
Senate Majority Leader Harry19 Reid, who crafted the Democratic proposal, said his plan abides20 by Republican demands for no tax increases and deep spending cuts, and is therefore a compromise that deserves bipartisan support.
“We have compromised. The Senate bill was written to take care of the problems Democrats said they had and Republicans said they had,” Reid said.
The Reid plan leaves untouched expensive entitlement programs that provide income and health care for retirees, programs many Democrats are reluctant to alter.
Republicans say that the Reid plan’s promised spending cuts are an illusion. They note, for example, that it counts projected savings21 from U.S. military withdrawals22 in Afghanistan and Iraq, savings that are already included in current budget projections23.
“I remain as committed as ever to resolving this crisis in a way that will allow us to avoid default, without raising taxes, and to cut spending, without budget gimmicks,” said Senate Minority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell.
Even if the federal borrowing limit is extended, it is unclear whether either plan adequately addresses America’s long-term fiscal imbalances. The U.S. national debt stands at $14.3 trillion.
Analysts say that without aggressive measures to slow the growth of that debt, credit ratings agencies will assign a higher risk rating to U.S. Treasury24 bonds, which the federal government sells to investors25 and foreign governments to finance deficit26 spending. Such a downgrade, they warn, might lead to higher interest rates that could stall America’s fragile economic recovery.
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1 daunting | |
adj.使人畏缩的 | |
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2 hurdles | |
n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 );跳栏;(供人或马跳跃的)栏架;跨栏赛 | |
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3 legislative | |
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
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4 avert | |
v.防止,避免;转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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5 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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6 scrambled | |
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞 | |
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7 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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8 analysts | |
分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 ) | |
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9 faction | |
n.宗派,小集团;派别;派系斗争 | |
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10 caucus | |
n.秘密会议;干部会议;v.(参加)干部开会议 | |
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11 vowed | |
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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12 unity | |
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调 | |
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13 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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14 viable | |
adj.可行的,切实可行的,能活下去的 | |
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15 fiscal | |
adj.财政的,会计的,国库的,国库岁入的 | |
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16 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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17 pounced | |
v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 );猛扑;一眼看出;抓住机会(进行抨击) | |
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18 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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19 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
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20 abides | |
容忍( abide的第三人称单数 ); 等候; 逗留; 停留 | |
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21 savings | |
n.存款,储蓄 | |
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22 withdrawals | |
n.收回,取回,撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 );撤退,撤走;收回[取回,撤回,撤退,撤走]的实例;推出(组织),提走(存款),戒除毒瘾,对说过的话收回,孤僻 | |
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23 projections | |
预测( projection的名词复数 ); 投影; 投掷; 突起物 | |
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24 treasury | |
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库 | |
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25 investors | |
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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26 deficit | |
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差 | |
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