VOA慢速英语2015 奥巴马是否传达出2016竞选信号?

 

Has Obama Set the Message for the 2016 Campaign? 奥巴马是否传达出2016竞选信号?

 In his State of the Union speech this week, President Obama told U.S. lawmakers something they already know:

“I have no more campaigns to run … I know because I won both of them.” 

Mr. Obama cannot run for president again – U.S. presidents may serve only two terms. But some observers say his most recent State of the Union message sounded like a campaign speech.

Larry Sabato directs the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

“There was a direct connection between what President Obama said in the State of the Union address and what’s going to happen in 2016.”

Mr. Obama smiled and winked¹ during his speech, even though he was talking before a Congress completely run by the opposition² party. Republicans won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in last fall’s election.

But Mr. Sabato of the University of Virginia says the president did not try to compromise with the Republicans. Instead, the president chose to give a speech that appealed to members of his own party, the Democrats³.

“I think he has accepted the fact that he will get very little of his agenda passed by Congress in the next two years.  So instead his proposals, which he knows the Republican Congress will reject, can become some of the Democratic platform for the nominee⁴ in 2016.”

It’s the middle class

One of the key ideas in the speech was about improving the position of the middle class. The Pew Research Center says a family of four is middle class if it earns between about $38,000 and $114,000 a year. Most Americans are part of that category.

Ramesh Ponnuru is a political observer at the American Enterprise Institute. He says the State of the Union speech is a clear sign that the politics of 2016 will be about which party better represents middle class economic hopes.

“Certainly the Democratic Party has an advantage on the question of which party better represents middle class economic interests. That is a very powerful advantage to have. But if the Republicans begin to compete on that question, which they have shown greater interest in doing recently, then I think it becomes an open question.”

In his State of the Union speech, Mr. Obama said he wants everyone to get a “fair shot” at what he called "middle class economics." He called for higher taxes on wealthy Americans. That tax revenue, estimated to be about $320 billion, would finance tax breaks for the middle class. It would also fund other proposals such as free tuition for community college students.

In addition, Mr. Obama called for a higher minimum wage for workers, equal pay for women, and paid sick and maternity⁵ leave.

Democratic Presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton tweeted about Mr. Obama’s proposals. She said they pointed⁶ a way to an economy “that works for all. Now all we need (is) to step up & deliver for the middle class.”

Republicans are talking about the middle class, too

Republican politicians are also talking about how to help the middle class. Newly-elected Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa gave the official Republican response to the State of the Union.

Ms. Ernst said Republicans will “propose ideas that aim to cut wasteful⁷ spending.”  They want meaningful reforms, she said, “but not higher taxes like the President has proposed.”

Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, responded on Facebook. “We need to create economic opportunity for every American,” he said,  “especially middle class families and those trying to rise out of poverty.” Mr. Bush is considering running for the Republican presidential nomination⁸ in 2016.

And even former Republican candidate Mitt⁹ Romney has been speaking about the middle class. Experts say Mr. Romney lost the last presidential election because voters saw him as a rich supporter of business. Mr. Romney spoke¹⁰ to Republicans in California earlier in January.  “It’s a tragedy, a human tragedy,” he said, “ that the middle class in this country by and large doesn’t believe that the future will be better than the past.”

Republican House Speaker John Boehner spoke at a meeting with other House Republicans in mid-January. He talked about his priorities for this Congress. He said lawmakers need to pass, “common-sense solutions that will help expand opportunities for middle-class families and small businesses.”

Americans will not pick the next president for almost two years. But political observer Ramesh Ponnuru says both parties will spend the time talking about how more people can achieve the American Dream.

"I would say that the party that best convinces Americans that they’re on the side of middle class aspirations¹¹, and that they will help middle class people live out their dreams is the party that’s going to win."

America is not the only place talking about the middle class and inequality. At the World Economic Forum¹² in Davos, Switzerland, the anti-poverty group Oxfam presented their income inequality report.  The report says that by next year the top one percent of the world’s population could own more wealth than the other 99%.

Words in This Story

winked-v. closed and opened one eye quickly

compromise-v. give up on something you want to reach an agreement

revenue-n. money

maternity leave-n. time off to take care of a newborn child

nomination-n. choosing someone as a candidate

priorities-n. things someone cares about and things are important.

1 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 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。

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 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。

5 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

12 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。