PBS高端访谈:美国未来两年的预算协议

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, it is often easier to spend money than it is to save it. And that seems to be at the heart of a new two-year budget deal crafted by the White House and top congressional Democrats¹. In a nutshell, spending on both domestic and military programs will go up, and debt ceiling limits are suspended until after the 2020 election. Our own Lisa Desjardins, as always, is here to break it all down for us. Lisa, there's a lot in here.

LISA DESJARDINS: A lot.

AMNA NAWAZ: Break it down for us. What's in the deal? What's not?

LISA DESJARDINS: OK. Let's start with the big numbers. First of all, Amna, this does raise the debt ceiling for two years. That's one fiscal² crisis averred³ for now. That's good. Also, right now, in the law, there were out 10 percent budget cuts that were going to hit most of government, the military and non-military alike. This deal removes those budget cuts altogether. Let me show you what it does instead. Let's look at current spending right now broken down by defense⁴ and non-defense, defense, a little bit more spending now. Here is what this budget deal does. It increases both of those just a little bit. But that matters, Amna, because right now we are in a time of deficits⁵. So, what this is a deal, so that Republicans get more money for defense, Democrats get more money for non-defense. But it does add a lot of red ink to the picture for everyone. It does mean a shutdown in September is less likely, but it is still possible.

AMNA NAWAZ: So not totally averted⁶.

LISA DESJARDINS: Not totally averted.

AMNA NAWAZ: But less likely. OK. There's a lot of numbers in there.

LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Remind us, why does all of this matter?

LISA DESJARDINS: I'm so excited to talk about this. Because spending, everyone thinks it's so nerdy, but this is one of the main ways that government touches people and affects the contours of this nation. Just a few example here, for example, the military needs these two-year budget guidelines to have stability and plans, the same for most agencies. This could likely mean perhaps a pay raise for military and other members of the government staff. This is also one of the largest spending bills in the history of our country. And, Amna, on the other side, it could add about $1.7 trillion with a T dollars to the debt, which is now at a record $22 trillion. So, basically, Congress is sort of making a very easy short-term decision, adding to a long-term problem.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, you reported on these before. It's worth noting the budget battles have previously⁷ brought the government to a standstill.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

AMNA NAWAZ: That didn't happen. So, is this a sign of like a new era of bipartisanship in Washington?

LISA DESJARDINS: I would love to say yes. There is some hope, and I will get to that. But, in one sense, I don't think this was any compromise, because both parties just gave each other more money. You get $100 billion, you get $100 billion. It was more collaboration⁸ than compromise. There is some hope, however, Amna, in the fact that Secretary of the Treasury⁹ Mnuchin and Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker, somehow quietly found a way, without drama, to steer¹⁰ a major deal not just through Congress, but to get the president on board without wavering. And that has been elusive¹¹ for everyone, including the White House.

That's a big deal, that Mnuchin figured out how to get the president on this deal with no questions. That is hope for the future.

AMNA NAWAZ: And we will take that as a sign of hope. That is the one big takeaway. Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much.

LISA DESJARDINS: My pleasure.

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：大家都知道，花钱比攒钱容易。这个道理似乎已经成了一项2年预算协议的核心所在，该协议是美国政府和多位高级国会民主党议员一起起草的。简言之，国内项目和军事项目的支出会提高，而债务上限会搁置到2020年大选之后。我台记者丽莎·德雅尔丹像往常一样，会为我们解析这件事情。丽莎，这里有很多内容吧？

丽莎·德雅尔丹：有很多内容。

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：请为我们具体解析一下。协议的内容有什么？没有包括哪方面的内容？

丽莎·德雅尔丹：没问题。咱们先从一些大数字说起。首先，阿姆纳，协议提高了2年的债务上限。这是目前已经确认的一项财政危机。这是好事。此外，现在，在美国法律中做了10%的预算缩减，这是政府大多数机关都要面临的，无论是军事机关还是非军事机关。该协议把这些预算缩减一起去掉了，我来给大家分享一下协议的主要内容。我们来看一下目前的开支情况，可以分为国防开支和非国防开支，而且国防的开支略微增多。该预算协议的主要内容是把这两项开支都增加了一点。阿姆纳，这点很重要，因为目前我们处于财政赤字阶段。那么，通过这项协议，共和党可以获得给更多的经费用于国防事务，而民主党则可以获得更多的经费用于非国防事务。但此举对所有人来说意味着赤字幅度更大了。也同时意味着9月的政府再次出现政府停摆的可能性虽然不是特别高，但依然有停摆的风险。

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：所以，风险还是没能完全移除的。

丽莎·德雅尔丹：没错。

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：但只是风险没那么高，好的，明白。协议还涉及到了很多数字吧？

丽莎·德雅尔丹：没错。

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：这也提醒了我们，为什么这些数字很重要呢？

丽莎·德雅尔丹：这正是我所兴奋的点。因为开支方面，所有人都认为太过书呆子话了，但这正是政府触动人心的一种主要途径，而且也会影响这个国家的走向。比如，这里有几个例子，军方需要这份为期2年的预算指导方案来获得稳定和一些规划，这对大部分政府机关而言也是如此。这很有可能意味着部队和其他政府公务员会提高工资。这也是美国历史上手笔最大的开支法案之一。此外，阿姆纳，我还想说，从另一方面来看，会增加近1.7万亿美元的债务，而目前的债务已达到史上最高纪录——22万亿美元。所以，基本上，国会是在做一个非常简单的短期决策，但却加剧了长期的问题。

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：丽莎，你之前也报道过类似的问题。值得注意的是，关于预算的争论之前就曾导致政府停摆。

丽莎·德雅尔丹：是这样的。

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：那没有并没有发生。所以这是一个征兆，表明美国政府的两党之间进入了新时期吗？

丽莎·德雅尔丹：我希望是这样。还是有一些希望的，我也会关注这方面的进展。但从某种程度来说，我认为这并不是一种和解，因为两党只是做了两全其美的事情。你得到1000亿美元，我也得到1000亿美元。这更像是合作，而不像是和解。不过，阿姆纳，还是有一些希望的，因为财政部部长穆钦和民主党议长南希·佩洛西找到了一种方法，不需要像演电视剧一样走下去，让重大协议既能通过国会的审批，也能让总统毫不犹豫地审批通过。这对每个人来说都是难以想象的，包括美国政府自己。这件事意义重大，穆钦找到了方法，让总统能毫不犹豫地审批通过。这就是未来的希望所在。

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：我们会将这件事看做希望。以上就是今天的要点。丽莎·德雅尔丹，非常感谢。

丽莎·德雅尔丹：很乐于为大家报道。

1 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》

2 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。

3 averred   

v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出

参考例句：

• She averred that she had never seen the man before. 她斩钉截铁地说以前从未见过这个男人。
• The prosecutor averred that the prisoner killed Lois. 检察官称被拘犯杀害洛伊丝属实。 来自互联网

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 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

6 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

9 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。

10 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

11 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。