Top GOP senator opposes tax hikes to replace spending cuts

 　　WASHINGTON, March 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday said that he opposed raising taxes to solve U.S. government's spending problem and replace the ongoing¹ government's spending cuts.

　　"We have a spending addiction² in Washington," the top GOP lawmaker said in an interview with CNN.

　　U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday signed an order to officially start the 85 billion U.S. dollars across-the-board government spending cuts this fiscal³ year ending on Sept. 30. Obama placed blame squarely on Republicans over the failure to reach a plan to stop the spending cuts from beginning to take effect.

　　"We now have a 16 trillion U.S. dollars national debt. Our debt is as big as our economy. That alone makes us look a lot like a Western European country," McConnell noted⁴.

　　The across-the-board automatic government spending cuts, or " sequester⁵" 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 deficit⁶ reduction plan. Roughly 85 billion dollars of spending cuts were set to hit various governmental departments this fiscal year, as agreed by Democrats⁷ and Republicans in January to resolve the so-called "fiscal cliff."

　　A year and a half later after both parties made the commitment to reduce the government's debt, Obama was trying to "walk away from the commitment we made to the American people," McConnell charged.

　　Democrats and Republicans have starkly⁸ different views on how to replace this fiscal year's sequester. Democrats proposed to replace the sequester with evenly split new revenues and outlays⁹ cuts. GOP lawmakers proposed to transfer the authority over how to implement¹⁰ the 85 billion dollars cuts to the White House. Both proposals on Thursday failed to advance in U.S. Senate.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

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 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 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。

6 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。

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 starkly   

adj. 变硬了的,完全的 adv. 完全,实在,简直

参考例句：

• The city of Befast remains starkly divided between Catholics and Protestants. 贝尔法斯特市完全被处在天主教徒和新教徒的纷争之中。
• The black rocks stood out starkly against the sky. 那些黑色的岩石在天空衬托下十分显眼。

9 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

10 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。