英语杂谈：96 Financial reform legislation

President Barack Obama on Tuesday said he has enough votes in the U.S. Senate to pass financial reform legislation.  The president said several opposition¹ Republicans and conservative Democrats³ have agreed to support the bill.

President Obama said Senate Democrats now have the 60 votes they need to force big U.S. financial firms to change the way they do business.

"Three Republican senators have put politics and partisanship⁴ aside to support this reform," he said. "And I am grateful for their decision as well as all the Democrats who have worked so hard to make this reform a reality."

Mr. Obama said the legislation will prevent another financial crisis by strengthening Wall Street regulations.  Weak regulations have been blamed for the 2008 financial crisis that led to the current global economic recession.

Republican Senators Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Scott Brown announced their support for the bill, as did conservative Democrat² Ben Nelson, who earlier had expressed concerns about it.

At the White House, President Obama also introduced reporters to his nominee⁵ for budget director, Jacob Lew.

The Deputy Secretary of State had been budget director under former President Bill Clinton. "If there was a hall of fame for budget directors, then Jack⁶ Lew surely would have earned a place for his service in that role under President Clinton, when he helped balance the federal budget after years of deficits⁸," said the president.

If he is confirmed by the Senate to the Cabinet-level post, Lew would inherit a deficit⁷ of more than $1 trillion for the first three-quarters of this fiscal⁹ year, with more deficits to come.

Mr. Obama said shrinking that shortfall would be the top priority for his new budget director. "Jack's challenge over the next few years is to use his extraordinary skill and experience to cut down that deficit and put our nation back on a fiscally¹⁰ responsible path.  And I have the utmost faith in his ability to achieve this goal as a central member of our economic team," he said.

Lew would replace Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, who is stepping down this month.

The president made the announcements as a new opinion poll shows public confidence in him has sunk to a new low.  The survey, conducted by The Washington Post newspaper and ABC News, shows that almost 60 percent of U.S. voters say they lack faith in Mr. Obama's ability to lead the nation.  It also says that only 43 percent of voters approve of the president's handling of the nation's economy.

 

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 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。

3 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》

4 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

5 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

6 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

7 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。

8 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

9 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

10 fiscally   

在国库方面，财政上，在国库岁入方面

参考例句：

• Nor will fiscally stretched governments pump more money into the political equivalent of a leper colony. 财政吃紧的政府也不愿将更多的钱投入这个避之唯恐不及的政治瘟疫区。
• We are more fiscally constrained, which forces us to work smarter and more efficiently. 与F-15相比我们资金上的限制更大了，美女类小游戏，这迫使我们更为精心和有效地工作。