Obama rejects GOP fiscal plan, saying it "out of balance"

 WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (Xinhua)-- U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday rejected a Republican proposal to avert¹ the looming² fiscal³ cliff and insisted that any deal must include a rise in income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television Tuesday, Obama said the Republicans' proposal to raise 800 billion dollars in tax revenue without letting the tax rates go up for the top earners does not add up.

"We have the potential of getting a deal done. But it's going to require what I talked about during the campaign, which is the balanced, responsible approach to deficit⁴ reduction," Obama said in the interview.

The GOP proposal right now is "still out of balance," he said, adding that the math just doesn't work for the plan to raise tax revenue only through capping tax deductions⁶ and closing loopholes.

The Obama administration presented to Capitol Hill its opening bid on debt reduction last week, which would raise 1.6 trillion dollars in new tax revenue over the next decade and cut 400 billion dollars on spending of entitlement programs. The plan was dismissed by the Republicans as "not serious."

The top Republicans on Monday presented their counteroffer to Obama in fiscal cliff negotiations⁷, proposing 800 billion dollars increase in tax revenue and about 1.4 trillion dollars in spending cuts. The White House immediately rejected the proposal.

As political pressure mounts, the Democrats⁸ and Republicans are still far apart. Obama continued to insist on higher tax rates for top earners while Republicans press for spending cuts in entitlement programs. With two offers on the table, the parameters⁹ for future talks on fiscal cliff are becoming clearer.

Obama also said in the interview that they are not going to be able to come up with comprehensive tax reform and entitlement reform package in next two weeks. He preferred to make a "down payment" in the fiscal negotiations by letting the top earners tax rates go up.

"And then let's set up a process with a time certain, at the end of 2013 or the fall of 2013, where we work on tax reform, we look at what loopholes and deduction⁵ both Democrats and Republicans are willing to close, and it's possible that we may be able to lower rates by broadening the base at that point," he added.

1 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

3 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。

4 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。

5 deduction   

n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎

参考例句：

• No deduction in pay is made for absence due to illness.因病请假不扣工资。
• His deduction led him to the correct conclusion.他的推断使他得出正确的结论。

6 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 parameters   

因素，特征； 界限； （限定性的）因素( parameter的名词复数 )； 参量； 参项； 决定因素

参考例句：

• We have to work within the parameters of time. 我们的工作受时间所限。
• See parameters.cpp for a compilable example. This is part of the Spirit distribution. 可编译例子见parameters.cpp.这是Spirit分发包的组成部分。