VOA标准英语2010年-Obama Sends 2011 Budget to Congress

（单词翻译）

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a $3.8 trillion budget request to Congress for the fiscal¹ year that begins on October first.  It is the first step in what is expected to be a long, contentious² budget process.

President Obama is walking a fine line in his 2011 budget.  He is seeking $100 billion to tackle unemployment, while moving to trim the federal budget deficit³.

"It is time to hold Washington to the same standard families and businesses hold themselves.  It is time to save what we can and what we must and live within our means once again," he said.

His budget forecasts a deficit of roughly $1.6 trillion.  President Obama says he plans to slash⁴ it in half by 2014 through a combination of tax increases on wealthy Americans, and cuts in domestic programs.

"We simply cannot continue to spend as if deficits⁵ do not have consequences, as if waste does not matter," he added.

The president says his staff has gone through every budget item looking for waste and inefficiencies.  Mr. Obama says he is standing⁶ by his pledge to freeze spending for three years in all areas except national security, and programs funded through special taxes that help the elderly and the poor.

But the president stresses that even the Pentagon will have to justify⁷ every dollar spent.

"Even though the Department of Defense⁸ is exempt⁹ from the budget freeze, it is not exempt from budget common sense," President Obama noted¹⁰.  "It is not exempt from looking for savings¹¹."

In brief remarks at the White House, the president urged Republicans and Democrats¹² to work together to come up with responsible fiscal policies.  Top Republicans responded by calling his budget proposal an example of irresponsibility.

In a written statement, John Boehner, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, said the president's budget spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much.