Bush, Democrats Continue Election-Year Battle over US Econom

Scott Stearns

President Bush and his Democratic opponents continue their election-year battle over the economy. Mr. Bush says Democrats¹ want to raise taxes. Democrats say there is a growing "credibility gap" between what the Bush administration says and what it does.
President Bush says his record tax cuts are helping² strengthen the U.S. economy and create more jobs. In his weekly radio address, he says that recovery is threatened by Democrats who want to raise taxes.
"Some politicians in Washington see this new challenge, and they want to respond in old, ineffective ways," he said. "They want to increase federal taxes - yet punishing families and small businesses is not a job-creation strategy."
The president did not mention by name his likely Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. But Mr. Bush did respond to one of Senator Kerry's accusations⁴ that the White House is letting too many American jobs go overseas.
The president said restricting trade would threaten millions of U.S. jobs that depend on exports.
"These tired, old policies of tax-and-spend, and economic isolationism, are a recipe for economic disaster. There's a better way to help our workers and help our economy," the president said.
The president wants Congress to make his tax cuts permanent, and open more free trade agreements with other countries. He is calling on Congress to reduce regulations on small businesses and enact⁵ legal reforms to cut down on frivolous⁶ lawsuits⁸.
Mr. Bush says his so-called No Child Left Behind education reforms are bringing higher standards to every public school in America to better prepare for higher-skilled jobs.
In the Democratic radio address, Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy said there is "a widening credibility gap" between what the Bush administration says and what it does.
"Facts don't lie. The Bush administration and the Republican Congress are giving schools only two-thirds of the funds they were promised," senator Kennedy said.
Senator Kennedy, who is actively⁹ involved in Senator Kerry's presidential bid, has been one of the administrations' harshest critics over the war in Iraq and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction.
"On no issue has the truth been a greater casualty than the war in Iraq. . . . No president who takes our country to war like that deserves to be re-elected," he said.
Senator Kennedy also criticized the president's economic plan for failing to create the one-point-seven million new jobs projected for last year. The U.S. economy lost 400,000 jobs in 2003.
The increasingly sharp rhetoric¹⁰ of the president's weekly radio address and the Democratic response reflects a presidential campaign that has turned highly partisan¹¹ eight months before Election Day.

注释：
credibility [7kredi5biliti] n. 可靠性
federal [5fedErEl] adj. 联邦的
punishing [5pQniFiN] adj.辛苦的
accusation³ [Akju(:)5zeiFEn] n. 责备
isolationism [aisE5leiFEniz(E)m] n.（国际事务中的）孤立主义
enact [i5nAkt] vt. 颁布
frivolous [5frivElEs] adj. 无关紧要的
lawsuit⁷ [5lC:su:t] n. 诉讼
harsh [hB:F] adj. 苛刻的
destruction [dis5trQkFEn] n. 摧毁
rhetoric [5retErik] n. 修辞法有效并有说服力地使用语言方面的技巧

1 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》

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

4 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

5 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

6 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

7 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

8 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

9 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

11 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。