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　　U.S. President Barack Obama is urging the Senate to follow the House of Representatives in passing his $800 billion plan to stimulate¹ the economy. The president is calling the proposal "good news," after the bad economic news of the past week.
美国总统奥巴马敦促国会参议院追随众议院的做法，批准他提出的8000亿美元刺激经济的计划。奥巴马表示，他的计划是继本周经济传出坏消息之后的“好消息”。
President Obama says the United States is struggling through "unprecedented² economic turmoil³." In his weekly address, he acknowledges recent announcements that the nation's economy shrank by almost four percent from October through December, and that tens of thousands of jobs were lost in January. Mr. Obama says senators need to approve his recovery plan quickly.
美国总统奥巴马说，美国正在“前所未有的经济旋涡”中挣扎。他在每周例行广播讲话中承认，从去年10月到12月份，美国经济缩水将近4%。1月份，美国失去了数万个工作机会。奥巴马说，参议员必须尽快批准他的复苏计划。
"With the stakes so high we simply cannot afford the same old gridlock and partisan⁴ posturing⁵ in Washington," he said. "It's time to move in a new direction."
他说：“利害攸关，我们再也玩不起华盛顿过去常常出现的政治僵持和党派立场等老把戏了。我们必须朝新的方向迈进。”
The president's massive economic proposal passed the House of Representatives earlier in the week, but received no votes from Republicans.
这个星期早些时候，总统的大规模经济计划在国会众议院得到通过，但是共和党议员却没有人投票赞同。
In Saturday's response, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Republican lawmakers are willing to work with Democrats⁶ to tackle the country's economic problems. But he says the Democratic proposal is so loaded with unnecessary spending, it resembles a shopping list for Christmas gifts.
参议院少数党领袖麦康奈尔星期六在对总统讲话作出回应时说，共和党议员愿意与民主党人携手，共同解决国家面临的经济问题。但是他说，民主党的计划中有很多不必要的开支，整个计划看起来就像圣诞节的礼品购物单。
"The task for Democrats in the House was to draft a stimulus⁷ plan that was timely, targeted and temporary," he said. Apparently⁸, they did not get the memo⁹. The bill they presented, and which House Democrats approved this week along a party-line vote, looks more like $1 trillion Christmas list."
他说：“民主党的任务是起草一项及时的、目标明确的、暂时性的刺激计划。很显然，他们没有领会这个精神。他们递交的议案，也是民主党本周按照党派立场投票已经通过的议案，看起来更像一个价值一万亿美元的圣诞节礼品单。”
In the president's Saturday address, he also says Treasury¹⁰ Secretary Tim Geithner will soon lay out a new strategy to get credit flowing to businesses and families.
奥巴马总统在星期六的广播讲话中还说，财政部长盖特纳很快将制定新战略，促进信贷活动，让企业和家庭获得贷款。
"We'll help lower mortgage costs and extend loans to small businesses so they can create jobs," said Mr. Obama. "We'll ensure that CEO's are not draining funds that should be advancing our recovery. And we will insist on unprecedented transparency, rigorous oversight¹¹, and clear accountability, so taxpayers¹³ know how their money is being spent and whether it is achieving results."
他说：“我们将帮助降低房贷成本，并向小企业贷款，以便他们可以创造工作机会。我们将确保那些首席执行官不会耗空应该用来促进经济复苏的资金。我们将坚定不移地采取前所未有的透明方式、严格监督、明确问责，让纳税人知道他们的钱是如何使用的，是否达到效果。”
For the second time in a week, Mr. Obama lashes¹⁴ out at the leaders of troubled investment firms who took government bailout money and paid bonuses to themselves and other executives.
奥巴马一周内第二次严厉谴责华尔街困难重重的投资公司领导人。这些人从政府那里领取援助款，却给自己和其他管理人员发放奖金。
"We learned this week that even as they petitioned for taxpayer¹² assistance, Wall Street firms shamefully¹⁵ paid out nearly $20 billion in bonuses for 2008," he said. "While I'm committed to doing what it takes to maintain the flow of credit, the American people will not excuse or tolerate such arrogance¹⁶ and greed."
他说：“我们本周得知，华尔街的公司甚至在恳求纳税人援助的同时，毫无羞耻地发放高达200亿美元的奖金。我决心采取一切可能的办法来维持信贷的流通，但是，美国人民不能原谅和容忍如此的傲慢和贪婪。”
Meanwhile, AP and ABC reports quote an Obama administration official as saying Republican Senator Judd Gregg is the leading choice to become commerce secretary, and that the decision could be made as soon as Monday.
与此同时，美国媒体援引奥巴马政府官员的话说，共和党参议员、来自新罕布什尔州的葛瑞格是商务部长人选的首选。相关决定最早在下个星期一作出。
If Gregg leaves the Senate, his replacement¹⁷ would be appointed by the Democratic governor of the Northeastern state of New Hampshire. That would give the Democrats 60 seats in the Senate, enough to prevent Republicans from a filibuster¹⁸, a tactic¹⁹ used to prevent legislation from coming up for a vote.
如果葛瑞格离开参议院，他的替代人选将由新罕布什尔州民主党州长任命。民主党人也将因此在参议院占据60个席位，这样一来，他们就拥有足够的票数制止共和党通过冗长辩论的方式来阻止对某项议案进行投票的做法。