美国国家公共电台 NPR Democrats Rally In Dozens Of Cities To Oppose Obamacare Repeal

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

Republicans in Congress have already taken the initial steps to start repealing² the Affordable³ Care Act. Democrats⁵ are hoping to at the very least slow that process down by rallying public support for the health care law. Those rallies happened around the country over the weekend, and NPR's Scott Detrow went to one of the biggest in Warren, Mich.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE⁶: For the past eight years, Obamacare has mostly been defined by its Republican critics. They've railed against its costs, its scope and its mandates⁷. On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tried to reframe the debate. Before the landmark⁹ health care law was passed, he said, coverage¹⁰ was out of reach for too many people.

(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)

CHUCK SCHUMER: But average, middle-class people, the people of Macomb County, couldn't afford health care. Now they can.

DETROW: Macomb County, Mich., is an interesting place to make that argument. The county tells the story of Democrats' 2016 woes¹¹. It went narrowly for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but gave Donald Trump¹² a 10-point win over Hillary Clinton. That more than accounted for Trump's razor-thin margin¹³ in the traditionally Democratic state. Schumer may soon be the most powerful Democrat⁴ in Washington. But on Sunday, he was the warm-up act.

(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)

SCHUMER: And let me say this. Here's Bernie.

(CHEERING)

DETROW: The minority leader had to pause for all the Bernie cheers when the Vermont senator arrived in the middle of Schumer's speech. In Warren, Sanders delivered the message Democrats made at rallies all across the country. Obamacare may have taken a political beating over the years, they said, and it may need changes, but the law has become entrenched¹⁴ enough that an outright¹⁵ repeal¹ would disrupt millions of Americans' lives.

(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)

BERNIE SANDERS: If you want to improve the Affordable Care Act, let's work together. But if you think you're simply going to throw millions off of health insurance, you got another guess coming.

DETROW: Democrats are pleased with the amount of people who showed up at the rallies. Thousands came to San Francisco's City Hall, where House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke¹⁶. A large crowd also showed up in Boston to hear Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)

ELIZABETH WARREN: We will make our voices heard.

DETROW: In Michigan, people stood outside in the cold for a variety of reasons. Connie Tucker said her family needs Obamacare.

CONNIE TUCKER: I'm on Medicare, but I have a grand-niece who is dependent on the Affordable Care Act. She has a pre-existing condition. She was born with a genetic¹⁷ anomaly.

DETROW: Terry Fields showed up more out of the general dread¹⁸ that so many liberals are feeling on the eve of Trump's inauguration¹⁹.

TERRY FIELDS: I just believe that all of our rights and privileges are going to be taken away from us by Trump and the Republicans.

DETROW: Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow conceded to the crowd that the GOP has the votes it needs to ram⁸ through an Obamacare repeal if the party votes as a block. But she said the crowds that showed up across the country can slow a repeal down.

(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)

DEBBIE STABENOW: If we aren't emailing and phone-calling and going to offices and speaking out and telling our stories, they're going to proceed.

DETROW: Emails, calls and public pressure on lawmakers from conservatives made Obamacare a political liability for many Democrats after it was passed. The party is hoping to use that same playbook against Republicans this time around. Sunday's rallies were a first step in putting the plan into action.

Scott Detrow, NPR News, Warren, Mich.

1 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

2 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。

3 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 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》

6 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。

7 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

8 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

9 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

10 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

11 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

12 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

13 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

14 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

15 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

16 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。

17 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

18 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

19 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。