Obama Will Not Block Debt Limit Bill

 　　WHITE HOUSE — The Obama administration is welcoming Republican lawmakers’ decision not to withhold¹ an extension of the nation’s borrowing limit.  Republicans had threatened to allow the United States to default on its obligations if government spending were not sharply cut.

　　White House officials say the decision by Republicans in the House of Representatives to defuse the situation was significant.  Press secretary Jay Carney Tuesday praised the move.

　　“The House Republicans made a decision to back away from the kind of brinksmanship that was very concerning to the markets, very concerning to business, very concerning to the American people," said Carney.

　　Instead of tying the debt ceiling to spending cuts, House leaders plan a vote Wednesday to raise the government’s spending limit through May 18.

　　While the bill’s passage is not assured, Carney said that if it reaches President Barack Obama’s desk, he “would not stand in the way of the bill becoming law.”

　　The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement Tuesday, saying the bill “introduces unnecessary complications, needlessly perpetuating² uncertainty³ in the nation’s fiscal⁴ system.”

　　But it said the administration is encouraged that the proposal lifts the immediate⁵ threat of default.

　　The Speaker of the House, John Boehner, said Republicans will remain focused on reducing the nation’s debt.

　　“The biggest issue is the debt that is crushing the future for our kids and our grandkids, " said Boehner. "Listen, hard-working taxpayers⁶ understand that you cannot keep spending money that you do not have.  So we are going to continue to focus, especially here over this next 90, 120-day period, on bringing some fiscal responsibility to Washington.”

　　The top Senate Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said Tuesday the Senate should pass the legislation and quickly resolve any differences with the House.

　　“Later this week the House plans to send the Senate a bill to address the debt limit in a timely manner," said McConnell. "Once we get it, the Senate should quickly respond.  If the Senate version is different than the one the House sends over, send it to conference.  That is how things are supposed to work around here.  We used to call it ‘legislating.’”

　　The Republican bill would postpone⁷ the first of three potential fiscal crises facing the U.S.  On March 1, deep automatic spending cuts in defense⁸ and domestic spending are set to take effect.  And on March 27, the authority to keep the government operating expires.

　　Jay Carney said that while Obama welcomes the Republican legislation to push back the debt ceiling deadline, he wants the issue resolved and not revisited every few months.

　　“The president has always been clear that it is not good for the economy to raise the debt ceiling in increments⁹ or short-term periods, that what we support is a long-term raising of the debt ceiling, so that we do not have any doubt or uncertainty for businesses or the global economy about the simple proposition that the United States always pays its bills," he said.

　　Obama has refused to negotiate with Congress over the debt ceiling, saying lawmakers have an obligation to pay for the spending they have approved.

　　The previous standoff over the debt ceiling, in 2011, led several credit rating agencies to downgrade the status of U.S. debt for the first time.

1 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

2 perpetuating   

perpetuate的现在进行式

参考例句：

• Revenge leads to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. 怨怨相报会导致永不休止的暴力。
• It'set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. 它的目的只是要根除异端邪说，结果却巩固了异端邪说。 来自英汉文学

3 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

4 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。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 increments   

n.增长( increment的名词复数 )；增量；增额；定期的加薪

参考例句：

• These increments were mixed and looked into the 5.56mm catridge case. 将各种药粒进行混和，装在5．56毫米的弹壳中。 来自辞典例句
• The Rankine scale has scale increments equal to the FahrenheIt'scale. 兰氏温标的温度间距与华氏温标的相同。 来自辞典例句