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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Over the last few months, I’ve been talking about a choice we face as a country. We can either settle for an economy where a few people do really well and everyone else struggles to get by, or we can build an economy where hard work pays off again – where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. That’s up to us. Today, I want to talk to you about the idea that everyone in this country should do their fair share. Now, if this were a perfect world, we’d have unlimited1 resources. No one would ever have to pay any taxes, and we could spend as much as we wanted. But we live in the real world. We don’t have unlimited resources. We have a deficit2 that needs to be paid down. And we also have to pay for investments that will help our economy grow and keep our country safe: education, research and technology, a strong military, and retirement3 programs like Medicare and Social Security. That means we have to make choices. When it comes to paying down the deficit and investing in our future, should we ask middle-class Americans to pay even more at a time when their budgets are already stretched to the breaking point? Or should we ask some of the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share? That’s the choice. Over the last decade, we’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars on what was supposed to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest two percent of Americans. Now we’re scheduled to spend almost a trillion more. Today, the wealthiest Americans are paying taxes at one of the lowest rates in 50 years. Warren Buffett is paying a lower rate than his secretary. Meanwhile, over the last 30 years, the tax rates for middle class families have barely4 budged5. That’s not fair. It doesn’t make any sense. Do we want to keep giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans like me, or Warren Buffett, or Bill Gates – people who don’t need them and never asked for them? Or do we want to keep investing in things that will grow our economy and keep us secure? Because we can’t afford to do both. Now, some people call this class warfare6. But I think asking a billionaire to pay at least the same tax rate as his secretary is just common sense. We don’t envy success in this country. We aspire7 to it. But we also believe that anyone who does well for themselves should do their fair share in return, so that more people have the opportunity to get ahead – not just a few. That’s the America I believe in. And in the next few weeks, Members of Congress will get a chance to show you where they stand. Congress is going to vote on what’s called the Buffett Rule: If you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year – like 98 percent of American families do – your taxes shouldn’t go up. You’re the ones struggling with the rising cost of everything from college tuition8 to groceries. You’re the ones who deserve a break. So every Member of Congress is going to go on record. And if they vote to keep giving tax breaks to people like me – tax breaks our country can’t afford – then they’re going to have to explain to you where that money comes from. Either it’s going to add to our deficit, or it’s going to come out of your pocket. Seniors will have to pay more for their Medicare benefits. Students will see their interest rates go up at a time when they can ’t afford it. Families who are scraping by will have to do more because the richest Americans are doing less. That’s not right. That’s not who we are. In America, our story has never been about what we can do by ourselves – it’s about what we can do together. It’s about believing in our future and the future of this country. So tell your Members of Congress to do the right thing. Call them up, write them a letter, pay them a visit, and tell them to stop giving tax breaks to people who don’t need them and start investing in the things that will help our economy grow and put people back to work. That’s how we’ll make this country a little fairer, a little more just, and a whole lot stronger. Thank you.
过去几个月里，我一直在谈论我们国家所面临的抉择。我们要么建设一个只有极少数非常成功的人士而其他人却要努力奋斗才能勉强维持生存的经济体，要么我们就建设一个辛勤工作能再次得到回报，每 个人都公平付出，人人都公平承担自己应该承担的义务，人人都遵守相同的规则的经济体。现在这些取决于我们自己。 今天，我就要与大家谈论一下我关于我们国家的每个人如何承担自己的义务的想法。 如果我们生活在一个完美的世界里，有取之不竭的资源。那么任何人都不需要纳税，我们还可以按我们的需求随便花销。但是我们生活在现实的世界里。我们没有取之不竭的资源。我们还有赤字需要平衡 。而且我们还要在帮助我们实现未来经济增长和保证国家安全的领域进行投资，这包括教育、科学研究和技术研发，强大的军力以及医保和社保这些退休保障计划。 这就意味着我们要做出选择。当我们面临平衡赤字的同时还要投资于未来的时候，我们是让处在收支都很难平衡的临界点上的中产阶级缴纳更多赋税呢，还是让最富有的美国人承担他们应该承担的纳税义 务呢？ 我们需要选择。过去的十年里，我们已经为原本是一项针对2%最富有美国人的临时减税计划花掉了数千亿美元。而现在我们还在进一步计划为他们减税近1万亿。今天，最富有的美国人承担的税率处在50 年来的最低水平。沃伦·巴菲特的税率比他的秘书的还要低。与此同时，过去30年来，中产阶级的税率问题几乎从没有被人提及调整过。 这不公平，也没道理。我们是希望继续给像我、或者沃伦·巴菲特抑或是比尔·盖茨这些本身就不需要这些而且从来没有要求享有这种政策的人士继续提供税收减免呢？还是在保证我们未来经济增长和国家 安全的领域进行投资呢？原因就在于我们不能同时担负这两项任务。 现在，有些人称这是阶级斗争。但我认为让亿万富豪至少跟他们的秘书一样承担相同的税率很正常。在这个国家，我们并不嫉妒成功。我们追求成功。但同时我们也认为任何取得成就的人也应该承担责任 回馈社会，这样才能有更多的而不是极少数人能获得成功的机会。 这才是我所信赖的美国。在未来几个星期，国会议员们将获得一个表现自己立场的机会。国会将就巴菲特条例进行投票：如果你每年收入超过100万，那么你就应该至少承担与中产家庭一样的收入所得税 税率。另一方面，如果你与98%美国家庭一样年收入低于25万，你们的税率将不会提高。因为你们一直在从大学学费到日常用品的所有东西价格持续上涨的情况下挣扎。你们本来就应该得到缓解。 因此，每个国会议员都将表达自己的观点。如果他们在继续保持对像我这样的人提供税收优惠上投赞成票，由于我们国家不堪承受这样的减税政策，他们就需要向大家解释这些钱要从哪里来。要么就是继 续增加我们的赤字要么是来自大家的腰包。这样老人将为医疗保险缴纳更多保险费。学生也将眼看贷款利率升高而无法承担。普通家庭将由于最富有的美国人承担更低的税率而不得不面对被更高税率搜刮 的现实。 这不合理，我们也不应该是这样的。在美国，我们的历史从来就不是我们如何依靠自己单打独斗的历史，而是关于我们团结共进的历史。是关于我们信任我们自己和国家的未来的历史。所以请告诉你们的 议员代表们把正当的事情做好。打电话呼吁他们，给他们写信，拜访他们，要告诉他们停止为不需要税收优惠的人继续减税，告诉他们开始为在未来帮助我们经济增长和让人民重返工作岗位的领域进行投 资。 这是我们让国家更加公平，更加公正、更加强大的正途。谢谢大家。
收听单词发音 |
1
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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2
deficit
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| n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差 | |
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3
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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4
barely
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| adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不 | |
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5
budged
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| v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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tuition
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| n.（某一学科的）教学，讲授，指导，学费 | |
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