U.S. President Barack Obama is stepping up his campaign for passage of the massive economic stimulus plan now making its way through Congress. Mr. Obama is taking to the road and the airwaves.
美国总统奥巴马正在加速推动他大规模刺激经济的一揽子计划，目前这个计划已经到达国会让议员们审议。奥巴马开始通过到各地演说和广播的形式进行推广宣传。
The president is taking the case for the stimulus plan directly to the American people.
奥巴马开始直接向美国民众宣扬他的经济刺激方案。
He has scheduled his first White House news conference for Monday night. Before and after the meeting with reporters, he is traveling to states hard hit by the economic recession, to take questions from the public.
他计划星期一晚上在白宫召开第一次新闻发布会。在这次记者会前后的时间里，奥巴马要访问受经济衰退打击最严重的各州，并从民众中听取意见。
Those states are Indiana, which he will visit early Monday, and Florida, where he will attend a town meeting on Tuesday.
这些州包括印第安纳，奥巴马将于星期一稍早时访问此地。星期二他要前往佛罗里达参加一个市政厅会议。
Both are experiencing high levels of unemployment and, in the case of Florida, one of the highest home foreclosure rates in the nation.
这两个州都出现了高失业率。在佛罗里达，因房屋贷款无法按期偿还而被银行没收房屋的案例是全国最高的州之一。
They provide the perfect backdrop to underscore the message President Obama put forward in his Saturday radio address:
这两个州的现实处境都为奥巴马总统星期六广播讲话提供了可以强调他的观点的背景资料。
"The time for action is now," said President Obama. "Because if we don't move swiftly to put this plan in motion, our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe."
奥巴马说：“现在就是采取行动的时候，因为如果我们不立即行动来实施这项计划，我们的经济危机就可能变成美国的灾难。”
Mr. Obama has been calling for a bipartisan approach to the problem. But, in recent days, his tone has gotten sharper. Faced with scant Republican support for the legislation now before Congress, the president is pointing to what he considers to be the failed policies of the past.
奥巴马一直在呼吁两党共同解决面临的困境。但是最近几天，他的语调变得更加尖锐。由于共和党在国会对这个立法缺乏支持，奥巴马将强调他所说的过去政策的失败。
"We can't expect relief from the tired old theories that, in eight short years, doubled the national debt, threw our economy into a tailspin, and led us into this mess in the first place," said Mr. Obama.
“我们不能期待从过去理论上得到解脱，过去短短8年，我国的债务增加了一倍，我们的经济急速下滑，让我们一开始就陷入这样的混乱之中。”
The Senate could vote on its $827-billion version of the stimulus package by Tuesday. Then starts the difficult task of reconciling that bill with the earlier version passed by the House of Representatives.
参议院星期二可以就这一高达8270亿美元的经济刺激计划进行表决，然后开始艰巨的任务，将参议院通过的版本同众议院前不久通过的那个议案版本进行协调。
Republicans refused to back the original House bill and indicate they are not about to change their minds.
共和党人拒绝支持众议院通过的原有议案，并表示他们不会改变主意。
Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana told NBC's Meet the Press Sunday that the $819-billion House package includes too much government spending and will explode the national debt.
来自印第安纳的国会众议员麦克.朋斯在全国广播公司星期天“和媒体见面”的节目中说，众议院通过的8190亿美元的计划，包括了太多的政府开支，并将会让全国的债务爆炸性地增加。
"With all due respect to the President of the United States, the ideas, the worn out ideas that the American people are tired of is runaway government spending," said Mike Pence.
“恕我冒昧，美国总统，您这个想法，这个全国人民厌烦了的老掉牙的主意，将导致政府开支失控。”
Pence was joined on NBC by Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts - the Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services. He said the American people voted for Democrats in Congress and the White House because they want change, and a new approach to the economy.
和朋斯一起参加电视节目的还有来自麻萨诸塞州的众议员巴尔尼.弗兰克，这位民主党人在众议院财政委员会担任主席。他说美国人民选民主党人领导国会、入主白宫，说明美国人民希望改变，希望用新的方法来应付经济问题。
"We had an election last year, which had pretty decisive results in the White House, the Senate and the House," said Barney Frank. "And it did say that public spending for improved infrastructure, to keep bridges from crumbling, to keep cops [police] and firefighters working, that that is a good thing."
“我们去年举行了大选，对白宫，对参议院和众议院都作出了决定性的结果。这的确说明用公共开支来改进基础设施，保证桥梁不再龟裂，保证警察和消防员正常工作，这都是好事呀。”
President Obama has said he would like to see a bill clear Congress before next weekend, when lawmakers are scheduled to leave Washington for a holiday recess.
奥巴马总统已经说过，他将希望看到下个星期结束前，国会顺利通过这个方案，到时国会议员们都将按计划离开华盛顿放假休会。 |