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VOA慢速英语2012 THIS IS AMERICA - Election 2012: Economy, Immigration and the Role of Government

时间:2012-11-05 09:03:20

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THIS IS AMERICA - Election 2012: Economy, Immigration and the Role of Government

From VOA Learning English, welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

And I'm Christopher Cruise. This week our program is all about elections Tuesday in the United States.

The Republican Party is expected to keep its majority in the House of Representatives in the next Congress. Republicans would need to gain four seats to take the Senate from the Democrats3.

The presidential race is very close right now. Barack Obama says he needs a second and final term to rebuild an economy that was broken when he came to office. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt4 Romney says his business experience has given him the skills to get the job done. 

Whoever wins will govern the world's largest economy for the next four years. The value of all goods and services produced in the United States -- the gross domestic product -- is about one-fourth of the world total. Desmond Lachman is an economist6 at the American Enterprise Institute.

"We saw that clearly in the two thousand eight-two thousand nine great economic recession, events that occurred in the United States banking7 system reverberated8 right through the globe."

Republican Mitt Romney says his economic plan includes taking a stronger position toward China.

"On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator, which will allow me as president to be able to put in place, if necessary, tariffs9 where I believe that they are taking unfair advantage of our manufacturers."

President Obama says the key to a strong economy is to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States. He says Mr. Romney is the wrong person to do it.

"Keep in mind that Governor Romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to China. Governor, you're the last person who is going to get tough on China."

But China is not the only issue. The debt crisis in Europe has reduced demand for American goods. Desmond Lachman says deepening problems in the countries that use the euro could further slow growth worldwide.

"My expectation is that Europe, being the largest trading partner of the United States, is going to pose real challenges to the United States in the years ahead."

Ninety-five percent of black voters supported Barack Obama in the two thousand eight election. Public opinion surveys suggest that the nation's first black president can again expect strong support among African-Americans, like Angela Jenkins.

"As a person that was unemployed10 I was able to get health insurance for myself and my son because of his initiative."

But support for the president has weakened among some black voters because of the economic downturn. Andrew Marshall was out of work for two years.

"I just recently got back to work about eight months ago, so the progress is very slow at this point and with people its more of a frustration11 factor where people like figure it should have been done maybe two years ago."

Mitt Romney has appealed to black voters to support his campaign.

"If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community you are looking at him."

Some voters say President Obama has not done enough to deal with concerns in the black community. Olga Wright lives in North Carolina. It is one of the few politically unpredictable "swing" states that could decide the election.

"We have had an emphasis on the Latino population, we have had an emphasis on the gay population, but when it comes to African-Americans I don’t see an initiative that was put in place to propel our issues."

Next we turn to the issues of another group: small business owners. Larry Guinn owns a factory in North Carolina. He says he worries about the future.

"I am not going to hire many people. I just see more and more unemployment in the country, and that is not good for America."

Jeremy McKinney is an immigration lawyer in North Carolina. He thinks the country is headed in the right direction.

"From our vantage point we see no reason to change the captain of the ship now."

Mr. Guinn is a Republican who supports Mitt Romney.

"If we do not get someone in there who knows and understands how businesses operate and what is required of them to be profitable and stay in business, I am not sure how much longer small businesses are going to be able to hang on."

Mr. McKinney is a Democrat2. He says his law office suffered its worst financial year in two thousand eight. But he says times are better now, and he credits President Obama's policies.

"Each year we have been able to climb back. And this year has been our best year ever in the history of this law firm. We can see that the president and this administration and its policies; we’re seeing this economic recovery in action."

Mr. Guinn says Governor Romney's plan to cut business taxes will permit small business owners to hire more workers. But he worries that President Obama's health-care reform law will cost his company more. He currently does not provide health insurance for his workers.

"If I am at the point where I have to furnish insurance for all the employees that I would put on my solid payroll12, I would almost have to use more casual [part-time] workers because I just could’nt afford the insurance program and still stay in business and make a profit."

Mr. Romney wants to end the health care law. But Jeremy McKinney says the law will help his business by providing tax credits to reduce the costs of health coverage13 for his employees.

"With less than fifty employees we pay a lot more for our health insurance than large employers. That will hopefully change in twenty-fourteen as we get to combine with other small businesses to negotiate health-care contracts with insurance companies."

Both small business owners agree on at least one thing. They are both hoping for better economic times ahead.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both say the country’s immigration system must be reformed. But they disagree about how to do it. Immigration was one of the issues discussed last month during the second presidential debate.

Mr. Romney supports the idea of self-deportation -- illegal immigrants leaving the country voluntarily. But Katherine Vargas at the National Immigration Forum14, a private group, says he needs to explain his immigration proposals in more detail.

"He says he's pro-immigration solutions but we don′t know what type of solutions. Self-deportation is not a solution, is simply make life as hard as possible for immigrants so they return to their countries. We know that he supports permanent residency for foreign students that graduate with science and technology degrees, but we don′t know what he′s going to do with the eleven million undocumented immigrants that are currently in the country."

President Obama has been criticized for not keeping his campaign promise to present a broad immigration reform bill during his first year in office. Doris Meissner, a senior fellow at the Migration1 Policy Institute, and Ms. Vargas explain what that means.

"What President Obama is saying is that he is four square in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, in other words, a generous package that combines enforcement measures with the possibility of legal status for the unauthorized population that's in the United States."

"But even so we haven′t seen details on how he's going to accomplish that because he also promised it during his first presidential campaign, the most important thing we need to know is how he will win the Republican support, because he needs those Republican votes to have a comprehensive immigration reform bill approved."

Americans will not just be choosing a leader for the next four years. They will also be deciding, in effect, what role they want the federal government to play in their lives. Steve Smith, a political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, explains.

"The two camps do represent very different views of the role of the federal government. The Democrats and the President Obama camp certainly believe that the federal government should have a strong, positive role in addressing the major challenges that face American society. The Romney-Republican camp believes that the federal government should stay out of many aspects of American life and that the overall role of the federal government should shrink. Along with that, taxes should shrink, in their view."

George Nation is a professor of finance and law at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He says the differences of the two candidates are deeply philosophical15.

GEORGE NATION: "On the one hand you have President Obama who believes strongly in the power of government to improve peoples' lives directly. And I think in Governor Romney you have someone who believes in the power of government to allow people to improve their lives."

Election Day is not until Tuesday, but many Americans have voted already. The National Conference of State Legislatures says two-thirds of states now let people vote early-- in some cases, as early as forty-five days before an election. President Obama broke with tradition and voted early, casting his ballot16 in Chicago on October twenty-fifth.

But no matter when Americans vote for president, the popular vote does not decide the winner. On December seventeenth members of a group called the Electoral College will meet in each state to select the president and vice5 president. Under the Constitution, each state has a number of electors equal to its number of senators and representatives. Each state has two senators; the number of representatives is based on a population count every ten years.

In forty-eight of the fifty states, the winner of the popular vote receives all of the state's electoral votes. In Nebraska and Maine the electors are divided among the candidates based on the popular vote in each congressional district.

The District of Columbia has three electors, for a current total of five hundred thirty-eight in the Electoral College.

The next president will need a simple majority of two hundred seventy electoral votes. If there is no majority, the Constitution calls for the House of Representatives to elect the president. This has not happened in more than two hundred years.


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1 migration mDpxj     
n.迁移,移居,(鸟类等的)迁徙
参考例句:
  • Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
  • He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。
2 democrat Xmkzf     
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。
3 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
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》
4 mitt Znszwo     
n.棒球手套,拳击手套,无指手套;vt.铐住,握手
参考例句:
  • I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日,我送给他一只棒球手套。
  • Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。
5 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
6 economist AuhzVs     
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人
参考例句:
  • He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
  • He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家,自以为什么都懂。
7 banking aySz20     
n.银行业,银行学,金融业
参考例句:
  • John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
  • He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。
8 reverberated 3a97b3efd3d8e644bcdffd01038c6cdb     
回响,回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 ); 使反响,使回荡,使反射
参考例句:
  • Her voice reverberated around the hall. 她的声音在大厅里回荡。
  • The roar of guns reverberated in the valley. 炮声响彻山谷。
9 tariffs a7eb9a3f31e3d6290c240675a80156ec     
关税制度; 关税( tariff的名词复数 ); 关税表; (旅馆或饭店等的)收费表; 量刑标准
参考例句:
  • British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
  • The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。
10 unemployed lfIz5Q     
adj.失业的,没有工作的;未动用的,闲置的
参考例句:
  • There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
  • The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。
11 frustration 4hTxj     
n.挫折,失败,失效,落空
参考例句:
  • He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
  • He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
12 payroll YmQzUB     
n.工资表,在职人员名单,工薪总额
参考例句:
  • His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
  • I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。
13 coverage nvwz7v     
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖
参考例句:
  • There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
  • This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。
14 forum cilx0     
n.论坛,讨论会
参考例句:
  • They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
  • The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。
15 philosophical rN5xh     
adj.哲学家的,哲学上的,达观的
参考例句:
  • The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
  • She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。
16 ballot jujzB     
n.(不记名)投票,投票总数,投票权;vi.投票
参考例句:
  • The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
  • The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

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