英闻天下——270 Obama Pledges to Reignite Economy

 　　In his fourth State of the Union address, President Barack Obama says his generation's task is to reignite the true engine of America's economic growth, a rising and thriving middle class.

 

　　He urged Congress to tie the minimum wage to the cost of living.

 

　　But the President insists that nothing he proposes will raise the country's deficit¹.

 

　　"Let me repeat - nothing I'm proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime². It's not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth."

 

　　President Obama does admit that rising medicare costs are driving the country's long term debt.

 

　　"We can't ask senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden of deficit reduction while asking nothing more from the wealthiest and the most powerful."

 

　　Obama proposed reducing taxpayers³' subsidies⁴ to prescription⁵ drug companies while asking wealthier seniors to pay more.

 

　　The President also called for efforts to reduce gun violence and urged bipartisan immigration reform.

 

　　Republicans are calling Obama's proposals at the State of the Union address as being overly reliant on government.

 

　　Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

 

　　"His solution to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more. This idea - that our problems were caused by a government that was too small - it's just not true. In fact, a major cause of our recent downturn was a housing crisis created by reckless government policies."

 

　　In a separate tea party response, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said both parties are to blame for the rise of the deficit.

 

　　"Both parties have been guilty of spending too much, of protecting their sacred cows, of back room deals, in which everyone up here wins but every tax payer loses."

 

　　Foreign policy wise, President Obama announced that 34-thousand troops, which is about half of the U.S. force in Afghanistan - will withdraw by early 2014.

 

　　Afghan troops will fill the "vacuum" caused by the withdrawal⁶ of U.S. troops over the next 12 months.

 

　　However, Zahir Sadat, Afghan parliament member, said as long as the country's military has the logistical and technical support he felt confident that the military could take control of the country's security.

 

　　But he warned the US administration that they should avoid repeating mistakes of the past.

 

　　"If they leave Afghanistan like they left in 1990s then it will be a very serious issue and I think Afghanistan will again face major problems strategically and it will be out of control for any administration."

 

　　Obama's speech on Tuesday also comes less than a day after North Korea carried out its third underground nuclear test.

 

　　To that end, Obama said the U.S. would strengthen its missile defense⁷ and help the world respond to the threat posed by North Korea.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Shen Chengcheng.

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

3 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。

4 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

6 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。