美国国家公共电台 NPR--Kevin McCarthy's proposal for the looming debt limit would slash federal spending

Kevin McCarthy's proposal for the looming¹ debt limit would slash² federal spending

Transcript³

House Speaker McCarthy released a plan to raise the U.S. debt limit for a year, while scaling back federal spending. President Biden insists raising the debt ceiling should come without conditions.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

You may have been hearing a lot recently about the debt ceiling.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Yeah, that's the limit on the total amount of government borrowing. The U.S. hit its limit in January. The Treasury⁴ Department is using extraordinary measures to avoid the first ever U.S. debt default, but those are on track to run out this summer. There's growing anxiety on Capitol Hill with the looming deadline, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden have been at an impasse⁵ on the issue for several months.

MARTIN: Yesterday, McCarthy laid out the House Republicans' legislative⁶ demands to stop a default from happening. NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt is with us now to tell us more about it. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE⁷: Good morning.

MARTIN: All right. So let's start with the bill itself. What's in it?

SPRUNT: The bill does what McCarthy has long signaled he wants to see happen, increasing the debt limit done in tandem⁸ with federal spending cuts. The bill would increase the country's borrowing limit by 1.5 trillion or through March of next year, whichever comes first. It would roll back federal spending levels to those from two years ago, limit the growth of spending going forward to 1% annually⁹, and it would try to unwind some of Democrats¹⁰' signature legislative accomplishments¹¹ repealing¹² parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, which funded energy and climate change programs, and prevent the administration from enacting¹³ its student loan forgiveness plan, which I should note is still tied up in the courts. And another thing that's getting a lot of attention about this bill are work requirements for adults without dependents who are enrolled¹⁴ in federal assistance programs.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEVIN MCCARTHY: By restoring these commonsense¹⁵ measures, we can help more Americans earn a paycheck, learn new skills, reduce childhood poverty and rebuild the workforce¹⁶.

SPRUNT: The bill would also target the $80 billion aimed at improving the Internal Revenue Service, which Democrats approved last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. And that's aimed at easing up the agency's backlog¹⁷. And it's worth noting that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that that 80 billion allocated¹⁸ over 10 years for the IRS would increase revenues and that repealing the measure would actually contribute to the deficit¹⁹.

MARTIN: Now, Barbara, you know, Democrats have been calling on McCarthy to release the details of this proposal that he's been promising²⁰ for some time now. What are they saying now that he's finally done it?

SPRUNT: Democrats say a lot of these ideas, particularly the work requirement provision we just discussed, are nonstarters. Yesterday, Biden cast McCarthy's plan as something that benefits Wall Street and the wealthy. He said the threat of defaulting on the nation's debt would destroy the economy.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Instead of making threats of default if I don't go along with what they want, which should be catastrophic to the country - if we don't do what they say, they're going to let default take place - take default off the table, and let's have a real serious, detailed²¹ conversation about how to grow the economy, lower costs and reduce the deficit.

MARTIN: Barbara, before we let you go, it doesn't sound like the president is eager to engage with McCarthy on this. So can you just tell us what's the thinking from the speaker's side? It doesn't seem like this bill is going to go very far in the Democratic-controlled Senate. So what's the logic²² of this here?

SPRUNT: That's exactly right. The first hurdle²³ for McCarthy is making sure he has the votes in his own conference. He has a very narrow majority in the House. He can only afford to lose a few Republican members and still pass this thing without any Democratic support. Yesterday, as he was leaving the floor after the speech, he told our colleague Deirdre Walsh he feels confident he does have the votes he needs. But as you said, yes, this would be dead on arrival in the Senate. But the thinking is that if Republicans can pass this in the House, it could put some political pressure on Biden to come back to the negotiating table.

MARTIN: That's NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt. Barbara, thank you.

SPRUNT: Thank you.

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 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

5 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。

6 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

9 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。

10 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》

11 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 repealing   

撤销，废除( repeal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In addition, repealing the alternative minimum tax would also help. 此外，废除替代性最低税也会有所帮助。
• Repealing the investment tax credit. 取消投资税款扣除。

13 enacting   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Generally these statutes apply only to wastes from reactors outside the enacting state. 总之，这些法令只适宜用在对付那些来自外州的核废料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• In addition, the complexion of enacting standards for live working is described. 另外，介绍了带电作业标准的制订情况。

14 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 commonsense   

adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的

参考例句：

• It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.这种天气带把伞是很自然的。
• These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.这些结果只不过是按常理分析得出的事实。

16 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

17 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

18 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

19 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。

20 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

21 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

22 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

23 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。