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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The White House hosts a debt ceiling meeting to try to avert1 financial default
Democrats3 and Republicans remain far apart going into Tuesday afternoon's debt ceiling meeting at the White House. Congressional leaders from both parties will meet with President Biden.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Will President Biden really negotiate with Republicans over paying the nation's bills?
A MART?NEZ, HOST:
The president meets today with congressional leaders, and that includes House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. House Republicans have yet to agree to extend federal borrowing authority. Biden has said he won't negotiate over paying the bills that Congress has passed in the first place, but the analyst4 Julian Zelizer of Princeton told us the other day that his options are limited.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JULIAN ZELIZER: The problem is, if Republicans are willing to go through with this, that means there's a potential for a default unless the president takes extraordinary measures, like using the 14th Amendment5 to pay for the government's bills. If he's not willing to do that, he doesn't have as much leverage6, I think, as some Democrats hope.
INSKEEP: NPR's Claudia Grisales is covering the story. Claudia, good morning.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE7: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: Who all is attending this meeting?
GRISALES: So Biden and McCarthy will join Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries for this 4 p.m. Eastern meeting, and it's going to be the first conversation for this group, the first joint8 conversation, since this fight over the debt limit got underway. It's also the first since House Republicans passed a bill that they dubbed9 the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which would raise the debt ceiling by 1.5 trillion or until March of next year, whichever happens first. And that legislation includes significant cuts in government spending over the next several years. It claws back Biden initiatives and unspent funds from bills such as the pandemic relief aid.
And to illustrate10 how far apart these two sides are, Democrats have dubbed this bill the Default on America Act, calling it a ransom11 note to the American people. So going into this, we are not expecting a major breakthrough today on a permanent deal.
INSKEEP: OK, Default on America, DOA - kind of hard to miss the joke there.
GRISALES: Exactly. Exactly.
INSKEEP: But they're in the room. They're facing each other. They're talking. What challenges would they face in reaching some accommodation?
GRISALES: So House Republicans and their debt limit bill, that marked one of their biggest tests yet for McCarthy as speaker. It cleared the chamber12 by a vote of 217 to 215 - so a reminder13 of the tight margins14 there even on a partisan15 wish list bill. So their opening bid here in these talks marks leverage for Republicans to start these conversations. They only control one chamber in this divided government scenario16. And while Biden has said the debt limit is not negotiable, he will have to see what spending cuts or other concessions17 his party may have an appetite for. But both face major political consequences here with Biden and McCarthy in each of their roles for the first time and Biden running for reelection for the presidency18.
INSKEEP: Yeah, Biden running for reelection and McCarthy trying to keep his job with a fractious caucus19 that's just barely behind him.
GRISALES: Right.
INSKEEP: How does this compare to the last time this became a crisis, which was 2011?
GRISALES: Two figures from today's meeting, Biden as then vice20 president and McConnell in the Senate at the time, helped broker21 a deal as they worked with other negotiators, but they came within days of the breach22, and the U.S. credit rating was downgraded for the first time. But this time it's a much more partisan scenario. McConnell and other key Senate Republicans say they're behind McCarthy on this and say Biden needs to negotiate. And McCarthy is a much less familiar opponent for negotiations23 for Biden on this.
INSKEEP: Yeah. I guess we should note Biden, of course, was vice president in 2011...
GRISALES: Right.
INSKEEP: ...But effectively president of the Senate and had been a longtime senator.
GRISALES: Yeah.
INSKEEP: So he's one of them. Claudia, thanks so much.
GRISALES: Thank you much.
INSKEEP: NPR's Claudia Grisales.
1 avert | |
v.防止,避免;转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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2 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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3 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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4 analyst | |
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家 | |
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5 amendment | |
n.改正,修正,改善,修正案 | |
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6 leverage | |
n.力量,影响;杠杆作用,杠杆的力量 | |
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7 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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8 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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9 dubbed | |
v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 );把…称为;配音;复制 | |
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10 illustrate | |
v.举例说明,阐明;图解,加插图 | |
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11 ransom | |
n.赎金,赎身;v.赎回,解救 | |
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12 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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13 reminder | |
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示 | |
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14 margins | |
边( margin的名词复数 ); 利润; 页边空白; 差数 | |
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15 partisan | |
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒 | |
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16 scenario | |
n.剧本,脚本;概要 | |
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17 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 | |
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18 presidency | |
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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19 caucus | |
n.秘密会议;干部会议;v.(参加)干部开会议 | |
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20 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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21 broker | |
n.中间人,经纪人;v.作为中间人来安排 | |
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22 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
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23 negotiations | |
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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