NPR 2009-03-09

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag says the US economy is fundamentally weak, but he says the stimulus¹ plan enacted² by Congress should be given time to kick in fully³ before any further stimulus measures are considered. "You are starting to see the money flow out to state governments, to unemployed⁴ workers in tax relief. Let's give it some time to work. We, we face a very deep economic hole. It's gonna take some time to work our way out of it." Orszag was on CBS's Face the Nation. He acknowledged that the administration may need to revise its economic projections⁵ by midyear.

Some key Congressional Republicans are balking⁶ at giving General Motors any more federal loans, at least not without a guarantee that such assistance would be repaid. GM sales last month plunged⁷ more than 50% compared to the previous February. More from NPR's David Welna at the Capitol.

Having gotten more than 13 billion dollars in federal loans to restructure, GM wants another 17 billion dollars. Asked about that on CBS's Face the Nation, House Minority Leader John Boehner demanded some tough conditions. "I don't think the government should put any more money there until General Motors shows that they can be a viable⁸ company for the long term, and that there is a reasonable chance that any loans that the government would make would be paid back to the taxpayers⁹. Anything short of that is just throwing good money after bad." On ABC's This Week, Alabama Republican Senator Richard Shelby said GM should file for bankruptcy¹⁰. "I've suggested they go into Chapter 11. That's where they belong. And they could reorganize. We could get, you know, money and place for them. We could do it if they did it and did it right." Many Democrats¹¹ fear a GM bankruptcy would drag its sales down further. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

Senator Shelby also called on the administration today to let some of the nation's biggest banks fail rather than pumping more federal money into them. Shelby did not say which banks to close, but he suggested the list might include Citigroup, which he said has always been a problem child. But Tom Donohue, head of the US Chamber¹² of Commerce, disagrees with Shelby. "It's not practical to talk about closing a bank that is integrated throughout the whole global economy. It is practical to talk about buying some of those assets away from those banks and holding them in an institution that would have both public and private money." Donohue was on ABC's This Week.

An Irish militant¹³ splinter group that calls itself the Real IRA is claiming responsibility for an attack last night that killed two British soldiers and wounded four other people. The BBC's Chris Buckler has more.

The police in Northern Ireland knew that the dissident Republicans posed a threat and they were concerned. There have been several gun and bomb attacks in recent months. Their aim was to kill a member of the security forces. The Real IRA said they did kill two soldiers. Detectives believed the gunmen were experienced. After the first shot was fired, they then stood over their victims and shot them again. 

This is NPR.

A suicide bomber¹⁴ rode a motorcycle into a crowd outside a police academy in Baghdad today. The blast he triggered killed 28 people and injured dozens of others.

The countdown begins in about an hour for this week's scheduled launch of the space shuttle Discovery. NASA managers cleared the shuttle for launch after resolving concerns about fuel valves inside the orbiter. Pat Duggins of member station WMFE reports from Orlando.

The astronauts will deliver the final set of solar electricity panels to the International Space Station. The 30,000-pound piece of hardware will snap onto the far end of the outpost's long outer framework. After that, the solar wings will unfurl to a length of 300 feet. The crew includes two former teachers, Joe Acaba and Richard Arnold. Acaba says the job of being an astronaut is about as tough as handling a classroom full of kids. "While the technical knowledge we had to learn has been substantial and it's been a lot of fun. I think we both came, came in with the kind of skills needed from learnt work and thinking on our feet in the classroom." Lift off is set for late Wednesday evening. One of Discovery's crew members, Koichi Wakata of Japan, will remain aboard the station for extended mission. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins in Orlando.

Gasoline prices have increased about 2 cents a gallon over the past two weeks. The average price nationally now for regular is $1.96 a gallon. Industry analyst¹⁵ Trilby Lundberg says she expects the upward trend in prices at the pump to continue over the coming weeks. "Slightly higher crude oil prices and slightly higher gasoline demand over last year have bumped up the price a little bit. They are about to do it even more as we enter the spring driving season." Lundberg says even with the recent increases though, gas prices are $1.23 a gallon lower than they were at this time last year.

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

2 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

5 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

6 balking   

n.慢行，阻行v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的现在分词 )；（指马）不肯跑

参考例句：

• He picked up a stone and let fly at the balking dog. 他捡起一块石头朝那狂吠的狗扔去。 来自互联网
• Democrats won't pass the plan without votes from rank-and-file Republicans andof-and-file Republicans were reportedly balking. 没有普通共和党议员的支持，民主党人无法通过这项方案——到周四晚间，据悉那些普通共和党人在阻挡（该计划）。 来自互联网

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

10 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

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 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

13 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

14 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

15 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。