Obama decries spending cuts, offers no long-term plan

 　　WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Back from his weekend Florida golf getaway, U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday sounded an alarm on harms to be caused by the looming¹ government spending cuts, but offered no concrete and long-term plan to put U.S. fiscal² house in order.

　　MEAT CLEAVER³

　　At a White House press conference, Obama decried⁴ the automatic government spending cuts slated⁵ to take effect next month as a " meat cleaver" approach to reducing the nation's mounting debt, saying it is not helpful to U.S. economic recovery and job creation.

　　"Our top priority must be to do everything we can to grow the economy and create good, middle-class jobs. That's our top priority. That's our North Star," he reiterated⁶ the message unveiled in his State of the Union address earlier this month.

　　Roughly 85 billion U.S. dollars of spending cuts were set to hit various governmental departments this year starting on March 1, as agreed by Democrats⁷ and Republicans in January to resolve the so-called "fiscal cliff."

　　"That's why it's so troubling that just 10 days from now, Congress might allow a series of automatic, severe budget cuts to take place that will do the exact opposite," said Obama, who was flanked by a group of first responders, adding that emergency responders' ability to help communities recover from disasters will be degraded.

　　The across-the-board automatic government spending cuts, the so- called "sequester⁸" or "sequestration" in U.S. government budget language, were included in the August 2011 debt-ceiling package to force lawmakers to come up with a long-term deficit⁹ reduction plan.

　　The package also created a 12-member debt reduction super- committee of top lawmakers who were tasked to come up with a plan to replace the sequestration. The committee failed in November 2011, and a total of more than 1 trillion dollars cuts over the next decade were set to begin in January, or about 109 billion dollars per year.

　　A short-term "fiscal cliff" deal shifted about 24 billion dollars of the first two months of spending cuts into future government appropriations¹⁰ bills, but the last-minute plan still left 85 billion dollars in government outlays¹¹ cuts to begin in March.

　　NO LONG-TERM PLAN

　　Obama used the press conference to slam Republicans for refusing more government revenue to solve the nation's debt problem, urging a balanced plan that pairs spending cuts with tax reform to close special interest loopholes and make sure billionaires can not pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries.

　　Obama threw his support behind a recent proposal by Democratic lawmakers to replace the sequester with less drastic spending cuts and more government revenue.

　　Senate Democratic leaders last week proposed the 110-billion- dollar sequester replacement¹² bill to replace 85 billion dollars in spending cuts set to hit on March 1. The new package is split evenly between spending cuts and new tax revenues.

　　However, after accepting an income tax rate hike for households making more than 450,000 dollars a year to resolve the "fiscal cliff" challenge in January, the first time in two decades that GOP lawmakers gave the green light to an income tax increase, GOP lawmakers seemed unlikely to compromise on a new round of tax hike.

　　Despite a 15-minute talk of a responsible fiscal policy, Obama did not specify¹³ on how to reform U.S. entitlement programs in the long run, the major driver of U.S. public debt surpassing 16.4 trillion dollars.

　　Combined U.S. healthcare spending including Medicare, a federal insurance program mainly for the senior Americans, and Medicaid, a state-federal program for low-income families, topped 2.6 trillion dollars, or 17.9 percent of U.S. economic output in 2010, highest among all developed countries globally, governmental data showed.

　　Between 1985 and 2009, spending for Medicare program alone, which covers around 48 million people, grew almost 9 percent annually¹⁴, compared with a 5-percent annual economic growth during those years, according to figures from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

　　NEW BOWLES-SIMPSON BLUEPRINT¹⁵

　　As Republicans and Democrats remained at an impasse¹⁶ on how to cope with the 85 billion dollars spending cuts, Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, two U.S. budget veterans, on Tuesday announced their new framework to cut 2.4 trillion dollars debt over the next decade. But the grand plan has slim chance to be passed by the divisive Congress.

　　In February 2010, Obama created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, dubbed¹⁷ as Bowles-Simpson commission after the two co-chairs' names, to find ways to improve the long-term fiscal outlook. Bowles, former President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff, was chosen to serve as a co- chairman with former Republican senator Simpson.

　　The 4-trillion-dollar debt reduction plan put forward by the panel in December 2010 failed to become law due to Democratic and GOP lawmakers' inability to bridge their significant differences on taxes and entitlement program reforms.

　　The scaled-down Bowles-Simpson plan released on Tuesday calls for 1.2 trillion dollars government spending reduction, 600 billion dollars healthcare savings¹⁸ and 600 billion dollars new tax revenue over the next 10 years.

　　In Washington, Bowles-Simpson plans have become a nickname for a "grand bargain" to resolve U.S. government debt problem, but GOP leaders and Obama did not conduct any meeting to ink such a deal this year.

　　Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, Bowles struck a cautious tone on the next "grand bargain" negotiation¹⁹, saying "the idea of a grand bargain is at best on life support."

　　Obama will have a "failed presidency²⁰" if he fails to deal with Social Security and other entitlement program reforms in an earnest way, Simpson cautioned at another event hosted here on Tuesday by POLITICO, an American political journalism²¹ organization based in Arlington, Virginia.

1 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

2 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。

3 cleaver   

n.切肉刀

参考例句：

• In fact,a cleaver is a class of ax.实际上，切肉刀也是斧子的一种。
• The cleaver is ground to a very sharp edge.刀磨得飞快。

4 decried   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The measures were decried as useless. 这些措施受到指责，说是不起作用。
• The old poet decried the mediocrity of today's writing. 老诗人抨击了现代文体的平庸无奇。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

6 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

7 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》

8 sequester   

vt.使退隐，使隔绝

参考例句：

• Everything he owned was sequestered.他的所有财产都被扣押了。
• This jury is expected to be sequestered for at least two months.预计这个陪审团将至少被隔离两个月。

9 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。

10 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

11 outlays   

v.支出，费用( outlay的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They report substantial slashes in this year's defense outlays. 他们报道今年度国防经费的大量削减。 来自辞典例句
• For MU, there were no upfront risks or cash outlays. 对摩托罗拉大学而言，没有风险或现金费用。 来自互联网

12 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

13 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

14 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

15 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

16 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

17 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

19 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

20 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

21 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。