VOA标准英语2011--Stakes High in US Battle Over Debt Limit

Stakes High in US Battle Over Debt Limit

The political wrangling¹ in Washington about federal budgets is likely to get more intense as the stakes rise from billions of dollars to trillions. Some of the focus is changing from a squabble over government spending for one year, to a bigger battle over the soaring debt accumulated over many years. Some of the bickering² is over the "debt limit," an issue that is generally not well understood.
U.S. Treasury³ Secretary Timothy Geithner says the stakes in the fight over the debt limit are very high.
"The consequences would be catastrophic to the United States. Default by the United States would precipitate⁴ a crisis worse than the one we just went through," said Geithner. "I think it would make the crisis we just went through look modest in comparison."
Geithner's point is that if Congress does not take action to raise the debt limit, current spending commitments and the need to refinance the government's earlier loans might force Washington to miss payments on existing U.S. debt. That could cause major economic problems because investors⁶ might drastically raise interest rates which would raise costs and compound the problem.
"[Default] would be a reckless and irresponsible act of this country. I find it inconceivable that Congress would not act to increase the limit," added Geithner.
For many years, Washington has been spending more than it takes in from taxes and other sources of revenue. That leaves a deficit⁷ in the annual budget. The government has to borrow money to cover the shortfall. All these annual deficits⁸ add up to the total debt.
Under U.S. law, the Treasury Department cannot borrow more money by issuing bonds unless Congress gives its approval by increasing the legal limit on borrowing. The current debt limit is more than $14 trillion, a sum nearly equivalent to all the goods and services produced in the United States in a year.
The government is expected to hit its debt limit next month.
There has been a debt limit law of some kind in the United States for nearly a century. During that time, the limit has been lowered on a few occasions, and raised more than 60 times.
As the limit approaches Republicans are pressuring President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party allies in Congress to cut spending on social programs and keep taxes low.  The Democrats⁹ want to deal with the debt by raising taxes on wealthy Americans and cutting military programs.
A former high-ranking Treasury Department official, Timothy Bitsberger, says the two sides will eventually make a deal to avoid default, but only after a flood of rhetoric¹⁰.
"There's a lot of political theater involved... I expect the Republicans will try to extract as much blood as they can as the debt negotiations¹¹ go forward," said Bitsberger.
Bitsberger spoke¹² in an interview on the Bloomberg financial news service. He worked on debt limit issues at the Treasury Department during a previous Republican administration, and says deficits and debt have grown under both Republicans and Democrats.
While there are deep divisions between the two political parties, the global credit-rating agency Fitch says the likelihood of a default is "extremely low."
The top analyst¹³ on U.S. government debt at Moody's Investor⁵ Service, Steve Hess, says only an "astonishing miscalculation" by the government would lead to default.  He says bickering over spending cuts may continue until the very last moment, and might force officials to take "Draconian¹⁴" actions to manage short-term financial problems.
Hess says if political squabbling really worried lenders, they would raise interest rates they charge on loans to Washington.
"If you look at the market, it does not seem that the wrangling so far has had a big effect on the government's cost of borrowing," noted¹⁵ Hess.
Continuing annual deficits have made the total debt double in the past few years, and many members of Congress believe continuing that course will eventually raise the debt so high it would cause a severe economic crisis.

1 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

2 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 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。

4 precipitate   

adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物

参考例句：

• I don't think we should make precipitate decisions.我认为我们不应该贸然作出决定。
• The king was too precipitate in declaring war.国王在宣战一事上过于轻率。

5 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 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。

8 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

9 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》

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 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

12 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。

13 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

14 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

15 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。