US Deficit Reduction Deal Remains Elusive

 WASHINGTON — 

President Barack Obama met with the U.S. Congress’ top Republican, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Sunday in search of a deficit¹-reduction package that would prevent substantial spending cuts and tax increases from going into effect on January 1.

Sunday’s meeting at the White House marked the first face-to-face debt discussions between President Obama and Speaker Boehner in nearly a month.  After their first encounter, the White House and Mr. Boehner made opening bids on a debt-reduction package that would avert² the so-called fiscal³ cliff.  Each side rejected the other’s offer as unacceptable, a stance that lawmakers voiced on U.S. television only hours before the Obama-Boehner meeting.

“Unfortunately, what we see out of the president is ‘my way or the highway’," said Republican Congressman⁴ Jeb Hensarling. Appearing on ABC’s This Week program, Hensarling said the stumbling block to a deal is Obama’s insistence⁵ on higher tax rates.

“No Republican wants to vote for a tax-rate increase," he said.

But some Republicans say they would accept higher taxes on the wealthy in return for reforms to programs that provide health care and income for retirees.  Senator Tom Coburn also appeared on This Week. “Will I accept a tax increase as part of a deal to actually solve our problems?  Yes," he said.

Coburn insists tax hikes alone will not solve America’s trillion-dollar annual federal deficit. But just as many Republicans dislike tax hikes, many Democrats⁶ are reluctant to reform programs relied on by retirees, as well as the poor and vulnerable.

Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva said it is unjust to ask middle and lower-income Americans to bear the burden of deficit reduction, after a decade of rising income inequality between the wealthy and everyone else. “And now we are being asked to go back to the same people who have endured this crisis, and ask them to pay up again.  No," he said.

President Obama has urged Congress to extend existing tax breaks for all income under $250,000 a year, an idea that has the backing of Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow.

“At the end of this year, if the House of Representatives does not pass the middle-class tax cut, we are going to see middle-class families across this country paying at least $2,200 more in taxes they cannot afford," he said.

If lawmakers do not reach a debt agreement, federal taxes will rise for all income groups, and domestic and military spending will be cut across the board beginning January 1.  Economists believe an austerity jolt⁷ of that magnitude could send the U.S. economy back into recession.

1 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。

2 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。

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 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

5 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

6 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》

7 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。