President Barack Obama says he will be held accountable for turning around the nation's ailing economy, and making sure that federal funds used to rescue financial institutions and spur growth are well spent.
美国总统奥巴马说，他将为扭转美国萧条的经济状况承担责任，并保证救助金融机构和刺激经济增长的联邦拨款能得到恰当使用。
Less than two weeks in office, President Obama inherited a deepening recession that began more than a year ago. But if blame for the current economic pain and dislocation cannot be pinned on him, the president says he is fully aware that responsibility for reviving the economy falls on his shoulders.
上台还不到两个星期的奥巴马接手了一年多以前已经开始、并且在不断恶化的经济衰退局面。虽说目前的经济痛苦和混乱状况不能怪他，但奥巴马表示，他完全明白，振兴美国经济的重任落在他的肩上。
Mr. Obama spoke in a pre-recorded interview that aired on the NBC television network.
奥巴马在美国全国广播公司电视台播出的采访录像中说：
"I will be held accountable. I have got four years [first term in office]," the president said. "I think a year from now people are going to see that we are starting to make some progress, but there is still going to be some pain out there. If I do not have this [economic recovery] done in three years, then there is going to be a one-term proposition [will not be re-elected]."
“我将为此负责。我有四年的当政时间。我认为，一年后，人们将看到我们开始取得一些进展，不过大家还是会感到一些经济痛苦。如果我不能在三年内完成经济复苏，那么我这个总统也就别想连任了。”
The president is pushing an $800 billion package of tax cuts and new government spending to stimulate an economy that contracted at a 3.8 percent annual rate in the final three months of 2008. The bill is before the U.S. Senate, after being approved by the House of Representatives on a party-line vote last week.
奥巴马正在推行一个耗资8000亿美元的经济刺激计划，该计划包含减税和增加政府支出的内容。2008年的最后三个月中，美国经济紧缩了3.8%。美国众议院议员们上周按党派立场投票，通过了这一经济刺激计划，目前正在参议院讨论。
Republicans blast stimulus package
Republicans have blasted the measure, saying it is laden with wasteful spending that will increase the deficit without spurring growth. Democrats say the bill will boost the economy immediately and make investments in energy and infrastructure that will promote long-term economic expansion.
Mr. Obama says U.S. banks and other financial institutions continue to be at risk of failure, despite receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in federal bailout money in recent months. The president says additional funds will be required to prop up those institutions, as well as regulations to ensure the money is not wasted and there is no repeat of the debacle.
奥巴马说，美国的银行和其它金融机构虽然在最近几个月中得到了几千亿美元的联邦救助款，但依然面临倒闭的危险。他说，政府需要进一步拨款支持这些机构，此外还要制订规章制度，以确保这笔钱不被浪费，并保证这种金融崩溃不再重演。
"It is my job as president, and Congress' job, to make sure that there are some rules of the road that people are going to abide by, and that we have got transparency and accountability," the president said.
他说：“总统和国会有责任制定人们必须遵守的规章制度，还要保证整个过程的透明性和问责制。”
'It will take time' to correct situation
Mr. Obama added that it will take time to correct the situation, which began more than a year ago with a rash of home-mortgage defaults and foreclosures, prompting a credit squeeze that spread around the globe.
奥巴马还说，扭转目前的局势需要时间。美国目前的经济衰退是一年多以前开始的，最初的表现是大量房贷断供和住房抵押权被银行收回，这引发了蔓延全球的信贷紧缩。
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reports Americans continue to cut back on purchases. U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for more than half of the nation's economic activity, fell for a sixth consecutive month in December. While the nation's collective savings rate rose, incomes dipped. Analysts say falling consumer spending is an indication that Americans are increasingly worried about their economic security.
与此同时，美国商务部的报告说，美国人继续减少消费支出。占美国总体经济活动一半以上的消费者支出去年12月出现连续第6个月的递减。虽然美国整体储蓄率升高，但是人们的收入却减少了。分析人士说，消费者支出的减少表明，美国人对经济安全越来越感到担心。
U.S. unemployment has surged more than two percentage points during the past year. A private economic research firm (the Conference Board) is reporting that job vacancies advertised on the Internet have fallen by more than 20 percent in the past two months. |