VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Caps Executive Pay for Bailout Recipients

imposed pay limits on executives of banks and other companies that receive government bailout money to avoid collapse¹.
　
President Barack Obama listens to Treasury² Secretary Timothy Geithner as he delivers remarks about executive compensation, 04 Feb 2009

It is a topic that has sparked fury across the nation: financial executives receiving multi-million dollar salaries and lavish³ bonuses while taxpayers⁴ keep their ailing⁵ companies afloat.

President Obama says the practice is shameful⁶ and irresponsible.

"For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis is not only in bad taste, it is a bad strategy, and I will not tolerate it as President," he said.

The president announced a $500,000 yearly limit on compensation for executives of companies receiving emergency federal assistance. Additionally, he said companies will be required to disclose all benefits provided to their top managers, and that severance⁷ packages will be limited.

Not an assault on wealthy Americans

Mr. Obama said the measures should not be viewed as an assault on the wealthy or those who have achieved success. Rather, he said, he wants to ensure that executives are not rewarded for failure while being subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. Last year, Congress approved a $700 billion rescue package for financial firms, the biggest bailout fund in U.S. history.

The president was preceded by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who suggested that public outrage⁸ over executive compensation contributed to the financial meltdown.

"This economic crisis was caused, in part, by a loss of confidence in our financial institutions," Geithner said. "And it was made worse by a loss of faith in the quality of judgments⁹ made by some executives and some boards of directors. Those failures have caused great damage."

During the past year, dozens of business executives have been called to testify at congressional hearings, and been questioned intensely on pay issues. Many top managers have expressed a willingness to trim their salaries and forgo¹⁰ bonuses. Some, however, have defended the compensation they receive, noting that the terms were stipulated¹¹ in contracts that were signed before the financial crisis struck.

Should bonuses be eliminated?

No one is suggesting that limiting executive pay will, by itself, return struggling firms to profitability. But for many Americans, the issue appears to be one of basic fairness: how can business executives justify¹² multi-million dollar salaries at a time when millions of workers have lost their jobs and many firms are surviving thanks to a taxpayer-funded bailout?

"I think there is a time for sacrifice from everyone," one man said.

"I really do not think it [hefty executive salaries] is a very wise use of money at this point," a woman said.

"People are losing their houses left and right, people are losing their jobs left and right. I do not think it is right," said another woman.

Last week, President Obama expressed dismay and outrage over a report that bonuses for U.S. financial executives topped $18 billion last year. The report noted¹³ that the total was down more than 40 percent from the previous year.

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

6 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

7 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

8 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

9 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

10 forgo   

v.放弃，抛弃

参考例句：

• Time to prepare was a luxuary he would have to forgo.因为时间不够，他不得不放弃做准备工作。
• She would willingly forgo a birthday treat if only her warring parents would declare a truce.只要她的父母停止争吵，她愿意放弃生日宴请。

11 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

12 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。