2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Says He Will Veto 'Excessive Spending'

By Scott Stearns
Whtie House
16 June 2007

President Bush says opposition¹ legislators want to raise taxes on Americans, undermining what he says is his pro-growth economic policy. Democrats² say they want to help boost economic growth by lowering energy costs. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.

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President Bush speaks to the Associated Builders and Contractors meeting in Washington, 14 Jun 2007

President Bush says his record tax cuts have produced record tax revenues by putting more Americans to work and thereby⁴ reducing the nation's budget deficit⁵. But in his weekly radio address, the president warned that proposed spending by opposition Democrats threatens his plans to balance the budget by 2012.

"The Democrats in Congress are trying to take us in a different direction," said Mr. Bush. "They've passed a budget that would mean higher taxes for American families and job creators, ignore the need for entitlement reform, and pile on hundreds of billions of dollars in new government spending over the next five years. This tax-and-spend approach puts our economic growth and deficit reduction at risk."

The president said he will veto excessive spending. The opposition-led House of Representatives Friday passed a $37 billion budget for the Department of Homeland Security, exceeding the president's request by more than $2 billion.

If President Bush carries out his threat to veto the measure, it is unlikely the Democrats would be able to get the two-thirds majority needed to override⁶ the veto, because enough Republicans voted against it to sustain the veto. 

But Mr. Bush is not vetoing all spending that is above his budget. He accepted $17 billion more in the Iraq war funding bill than he requested. Democrats have added $4 billion to his request for veterans programs, and Republicans are not likely to support challenging that spending at a time of war.

In the Democratic radio address, Senator Maria Cantwell called on President Bush to lobby members of his own party to back an energy bill aimed at reducing America's dependence⁷ on foreign oil and lowering gas prices.

"By improving energy efficiency, our bill can save Americans billions of dollars every year," she said. "Democrats also plan to eliminate billions of dollars in tax breaks to big oil interests and invest them instead in clean, renewable energy. Combined with our goal to produce at least 15 percent of our energy from alternative sources, we can make huge strides in reducing our dependence on fossil fuel."

President Bush backs greater investments in alternative fuels and says he wants to cut U.S. petroleum⁸ use 20 percent in the next 10 years. America currently imports about 60 percent of its oil.

1 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。

2 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》

3 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

7 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

8 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。