美国国家公共电台 NPR--Debt ceiling negotiations to resume after breaking down over the last few days

Debt ceiling negotiations² to resume after breaking down over the last few days

Transcript³

President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are preparing for another face-to-face meeting Monday afternoon to try to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling and avoid default.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The debt ceiling negotiations throw light on the man whose party provoked them - House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The House Republican leader spoke⁴ by phone with President Biden on Sunday. The two are meeting face-to-face this afternoon, and their talks may shape the effort to pay the country's bills. The U.S. is a little more than a week away from default according to the Treasury⁵ Department. House Republicans have said they won't allow the government to pay its obligations unless they get concessions⁶ on future spending cuts.

INSKEEP: So how did McCarthy place himself in the center of this? NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt is here. Good morning.

BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE⁷: Good morning.

INSKEEP: What position is McCarthy in today?

SPRUNT: McCarthy's in a strong position. He told reporters yesterday he was encouraged that he and Biden had at least agreed to meet again today in person after talks among their staff sort of broke down at different points over the last few days. While Biden was in Japan, he said he was frustrated⁸ that Republicans in negotiations were demanding more and more. Previously⁹, both sides had suggested that there could be room for compromise on certain issues - clawing back billions in unused COVID money, permitting reform, and of course, the sticking point continues to be on spending. Here's Speaker McCarthy yesterday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEVIN MCCARTHY: I've been very clear to him from the very beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year.

SPRUNT: But look, this is a negotiation¹. Both sides have to prove to their bases that they're not just going to fold on issues that matter to their constituents¹⁰. So some of this back-and-forth is not unheard of.

INSKEEP: Barbara, how did McCarthy get in a position to negotiate face-to-face with the president today - the president who said he would not negotiate over raising the debt limit?

SPRUNT: McCarthy has done something that I believe a lot of Democrats¹¹ weren't sure he'd be able to do, which was pass a partisan¹² bill on raising the debt limit that also tackled spending cuts. He has a very narrow majority in the House. It took him 15 rounds of voting to get elected as speaker. And I think because of that, some Democrats questioned whether he'd be able to unite the conference in this way. You might recall that months ago, President Biden and other top Democratic congressional leaders kept saying, show us your plan. Show us your plan - to House Republicans saying, you know, you want these spending cuts, but where's your actual plan? And then, of course, House Republicans did pass a plan. And that sort of forced Biden to engage in a way that he said he wouldn't before.

INSKEEP: OK. The two leaders said they had a productive talk yesterday. Are they getting closer, then, to an actual agreement?

SPRUNT: It sounds cliche¹³, but the clock is ticking here. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been very explicit¹⁴ that the U.S. could run out of money to pay its bills as soon as June 1, and that's less than two weeks away, as you said. Another note on the timeline that makes it tricky¹⁵ - both chambers¹⁶ would have to pass a bill in a very short amount of time. McCarthy has said the House needs 72 hours to read the bill and vote on it, and then it would go to the Senate. So it really is crunch¹⁷ time.

INSKEEP: Well, here's a vital question, though. To avoid default, as you noted¹⁸, it would seem to be necessary for the two sides to compromise. And the most extreme members of McCarthy's caucus¹⁹ aren't interested in compromise. They're pretty explicit about that. Is McCarthy willing to defy them to pass something a little bit less than the extreme?

SPRUNT: You know, the hard-liners on both sides of the aisle²⁰ are not likely to support whatever compromise comes out of this. I think that's fair to say at this point in the negotiations. Each side is going to have to give something that, in all likelihood, the far right and the far left of these conferences are not going to like. But the numbers being what they are, even if those factions²¹ don't support a bill, there is still a path for passage.

INSKEEP: NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt. Thanks so much.

SPRUNT: Thanks, Steve.

1 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。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

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 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 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。

6 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

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 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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》

12 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

13 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

14 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

15 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

16 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

17 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

18 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。

19 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

20 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

21 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别