Economic aides to President Barack Obama are offering varying assessments of where the U.S. economy stands two months into the new administration. Leaders of Mr. Obama's economic team took to the airwaves Sunday.
奥巴马总统的经济助手们对新政府上台两个月以来，美国经济的表现作出了不同的评估。总统的经济团队星期天接受了各大电视台的采访。
Last week saw U.S. financial markets rally amid upbeat news from the nation's beleaguered banking sector that outshone another dose of discouraging numbers on employment, business inventories, and other economic indicators.
美国股市市场上星期出现上涨，这是因为举步维艰的银行系统传出了令人乐观的消息，从而冲淡了就业市场、商业库存以及其他经济指标带来的一连串令人沮丧的数据。
But if the economy and financial markets are giving mixed signals, key members of the Obama administration also appear less than uniform in their economic pronouncements.
如果说经济和金融市场发出了不一致的信号，那么，奥巴马政府团队看上去在经济评估上也没有取得统一的看法。
Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press program, the head of the president's Council of Economic Advisors, Christina Romer, was asked if the U.S. economy is fundamentally sound.
总统经济顾问委员会主席罗默在接受全国广播公司“与媒体见面”节目的采访时被问到美国经济的基础是否还健康，她说：
"Well, of course the fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound," said Christina Romer. "We have a good capital stock. We have good technology. We know that, temporarily, we are in a mess."
“当然，经济基础还健康，从美国工人的角度来看，他们很健康，我们的资本市场良好，我们有技术优势。但是，我们知道，我们当前处境糟糕，但这只是暂时的。”
Far more somber was the director of Mr. Obama's National Economic Council, Larry Summers, who spoke on Fox News Sunday.
奥巴马的国家经济委员会主任萨默斯的看法则显得没有那么乐观。他在接受福克斯星期天新闻采访时说：
"We have an economy that is losing 600,000 jobs a month," said Larry Summers. "That [job loss] is probably not going to stop imminently. And so while there are signs that some of the things that the president is doing are starting to have effect, these problems did not get made overnight. They did not get made in a year. And they are not going to get fixed very rapidly, either."
“我们的经济每一个月失去60万个工作机会，这可能不会马上停止。虽然有迹象显示，总统所采取的部分措施开始显现效果，但是，这些问题不是一天造成的， 也不是一年造成的，因此，它们也不会迅速得到解决。”
All administration officials stress the key to recovery is the implementation of the president's full economic agenda. Mr. Obama has already made significant strides to that end, according to economic advisor Austan Gooslbee.
所有行政官员都强调，经济复苏的关键是全面实施总统的经济计划。奥巴马的经济顾问古尔斯比说，在这一点上来看，奥巴马总统已经取得了很大的进展。
"In the first 51 days of this president, the administration has passed a series of really dramatic moves: the biggest financial rescue package that we have seen in decades, the largest stimulus in the history of the country, the biggest home foreclosure prevention and mortgage assistance program since the [Great] Depression." said Austan Gooslbee.
“在总统上任51天内，政府通过了一系列重大举措：通过了几十年来最大的金融援助计划，美国历史上最大的经济刺激计划，大萧条以来最大的防止房屋丧失抵押赎回权计划，以及住房贷款援助计划等。”
Goolsbee also appeared on Fox News Sunday.
古尔斯比也是在接受福克斯星期天新闻的采访时说这番话的。
Republicans are showing no inclination to support President Obama's proposed federal budget for the next fiscal year, which would dramatically boost government spending.
不过，共和党人没有显示他们打算支持奥巴马提出的下一财政年度的联邦预算计划，这个计划将大幅度增加政府的开支。
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke on ABC's This Week program.
参议院少数党领袖麦康奈尔在接受美国广播公司“本周”节目的采访时说：
"Let us take a look at the budget the president is offering," said Mitch McConnell. "It will double the national debt in five years and triple the national debt in 10 years. It taxes too much, it spends too much, it borrows too much. What we really ought to be doing here is concentrating on fixing the financial system and the housing problem. Not using this crisis as an excuse to go on an explosion of spending."
“我们来看看总统提议的预算计划。五年内，全国债务将加倍，10年内将增加3倍。征税太多、开支太多，借贷太多。我们真正应该做的是集中精力整顿金融系统和房屋市场问题，而不是利用这场危机去使开支暴涨。”
President Obama says he inherited massive government debt and a sinking economy from his predecessor, President Bush, and that only drastic action will correct the situation while investing in the nation's needs pertaining to health care, energy independence, and education. Republicans accuse the president of taking advantage of the economic crisis to push an overly ambitious and ill-advised domestic agenda. They say they hope to rein in Mr. Obama's budget through legislative amendments.
Mr. Obama's budget numbers and deficit projections assume a return to moderate economic growth next year, with robust expansion in the years that follow.
奥巴马的预算数字和赤字预测估计会使经济在明年恢复到温和的增长，几年后出现强劲增长。 |