VOA常速英语2013--本周华盛顿关注美国立法者们预测的2014年议程

 

Washington Week: US Lawmakers Preview 2014 Agendas 本周华盛顿关注美国立法者们预测的2014年议程

The U.S. Congress has concluded work for the year.  Before leaving Washington, lawmakers drew political battle lines for 2014, an election year in which all House  seats and one-third of Senate seats will be contested.

One of Congress'last acts of 2013 was to pass a two-year bipartisan federal budget.

国会2013年最后采取的措施之一是通过一项为期2年的两党联邦预算。

Will Democrats² and Republicans continue to work hand-in-hand in the year to come?

在新的一年里民主党和共和党会继续携手并进吗?

Not if lawmakers' parting comments were any indication.

双方议员们的评论还没有透露任何消息。

Democrats, said Senator Richard Durbin, want to focus on the widening income gap between America's rich and working-class citizens.

民主党参议员理查德·德宾表示要关注不断扩大的美国富人和工薪阶层之间的收入差距。

“When we return next year, we need to make working families our highest priority,” said he.

“我们明年回来的时候需要将工薪家庭摆在最优先的位置,”他说道。

Fellow Democrat¹ Charles Schumer concurred³.

民主党同僚查尔斯·舒默对此表示认同。

“The tectonic plates of our politics are changing.

“我们政治构造的板块正在发生改变。

The decline of middle class incomes and the difficulty for average people getting good paying jobs has overtaken the deficit⁴ as the number one problem facing our  political economy today,” said Schumer.

中产阶级收入的下降和普通人找到优厚待遇工作的困难是现今我们的政治经济赤字面临的首要问题,”舒默说。

Republicans disagree.

而共和党对此则并不认同。

If Democrats are eager to ride a populist economic message into the 2014 elections, Senator Tom Coburn remains⁵ focused on U.S. fiscal⁶ woes⁷.

民主党或许是急于发送2014年的选举中的民粹主义经济信息,参议员汤姆·柯伯恩仍关心美国的财政危机。

“If you look at 700 billion in deficits⁸ and an almost 18 trillion debt,“如果你看看7000亿美元的赤字和几乎18万亿美元的国家债务,some grown-up in the room has to  question whether or not we are spending money wisely and effectively,” said Coburn.

实际上一些议员正在质疑我们是否明智地花钱,”科伯恩说。

And Republicans will remind voters of the shortcomings of President Barack Obama's health care law.

而共和党将提醒选民们巴拉克·奥巴马总统的医疗保健缺点。

Senator John Thune spoke⁹ of broken promises.

参议员约翰·图恩谈到打破承诺。

“Democrats and the president made the American people a promise.

“民主党和总统对美国人民做出了承诺。

They said, ‘We will make health care more affordable¹⁰'.

他们曾说过:“我们将使医疗保健更负担得起”。

As long as Obamacare is in place, that promise will continue to be broken,” said Thune.

只要奥巴马医改还在,承诺就将继续是空谈,”图恩说道。

Democrat, like Senator Schumer, are betting the law's early implementation¹¹ problems will be solved, allowing Americans to focus on pocketbook issues.

像舒默一样的民主党参议员认为这项法律的早期实现问题将会解决,让美国人民关注钱袋问题。

“Issues like job creation, the minimum wage, and unemployment insurance are going to weigh on the minds of voters far more than Obamacare by the time the 2014  elections roll around,” said Schumer.

“创造就业、最低工资和失业保险等问题将会远远超过奥巴马医改影响2014年选举中选民的想法。”舒默说道。

Whether the U.S. economy continues to improve, and whether the Affordable Care Act's early problems fade next year, could determine which party's message resonates  better with the American people.

美国经济是否持续改善,可支付医疗法案的早期问题是否消失,可能会决定明年哪一个政党更能很好的与美国人民产生共鸣。

In the meantime, bipartisanship, which made a brief appearance in the budget deal, could be a rare commodity in 2014.

与此同时,预算协议中短暂出现的两党合作在2014年可能会变得极为罕见。

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

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 concurred   

同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。
• So many things concurred to give rise to the problem. 许多事情同时发生而导致了这一问题。

4 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。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

7 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

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 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。

10 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

11 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。