美国有线新闻 CNN 美国政府再次面临债务上限困扰

 

STEVE MNUCHIN, TREASURY¹ SECRETARY: I would like us to raise the debt ceiling sooner rather than later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's fair enough for me.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), CALIFORNIA: On the subject of the debt ceiling, this shouldn't even be a question.

DONALD TRUMP², PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I happen to think that debt ceiling is a good thing. A lot of people don't think we should have a debt ceiling.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: oh, the debt ceiling, the eternal Washington food fight. So, what is it? And why is it so contentious³?

The debt ceiling is the legal limit set by Congress on how much money American can borrow.

Because the U.S. spends more money than it takes in, it must borrow to make up the difference. The debt ceiling caps how much. The problem is, it's not enough. So, every once in a while, the country needs to raise it. If it doesn't, the Treasury Department won't be able to pay all of its bills in full and on time.

Now, the Treasury does have a little wiggle room before it gets to that point, something it calls "extraordinary measures" to move money around.

But eventually, the accounting⁴ tricks run out and there's no more avoiding the debt ceiling. That's usually when the fireworks break out.

AZUZ: Those extraordinary measures she mentioned are being utilized⁵ right now. The debt ceiling or limit is currently set at $19.81 trillion. The U.S. national debt is now $19.88 trillion and counting. In fact, since you saw come back on your screen, it's increased by about $215,000.

It's up to Congress to decide whether to raise the debt ceiling and allow the government to keep borrowing money. Experts say the extraordinary measures in place will allow the Treasury Department to essentially⁶ move money around until this fall when actual consequences would hit if the limit isn't raise.

1 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。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

4 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

5 utilized   

v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。