VOA常速英语--国会争论影响美国经济复苏（在线收听）

During the debt ceiling debate, a popular newspaper portrayed leading politicians from the two parties as whining brats in diapers.

Washington was nearly paralyzed by bickering as it tries to make tough political and financial decisions. This squabbling prompted Standard & Pools to make an unprecedented cut in the U.S credit rate.

Nikola Swann is a key S & P analyst:

“There has been significant deterioration recently in, on both the political and fiscal front -- On the fiscal front, in terms of the increase in government indebtedness as a share of the economy, and on the political side, in terms of the willingness to arrest that deterioration.”

Economists say the polarization in this year’s election campaigns could make Washington’s disfunctional politics even worse.

Last year’s congressional debate focused on efforts to raise the legal limit on what the U.S government can borrow to fund its deficit and debt.

The squabbling worried some investors even when it ended with a deal that put up some tough political and financial decisions. So congress has to deal with the debt ceiling again and also agree on what to do about the tax cut set to expire at the end of this year.

Without a deal, the government faces drastic spending cuts that would hit both military and popular social programs.

U.S Central Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke says that could push the nation back into recession.

“If the full range of tax increase and spending cuts were allowed to take effect, the scenario widely referred to as the fiscal cliff. The shallow recession would occur early next year and about one and a quarter million fewer jobs would be created in 2013.”

Brooking’s Institution Economic Scholar Philip Wallach says he expects that Democrats and Republicans in Congress will work something out eventually.

“The republican leadership ultimately measured that they compromised just enough to get the deal down at the last minute. And if you were the sort of the betting man, you probably say that’s what will happen again the next time around because they don’t want to be responsible for plunging the economy into chaos.”

So Congress and the President have just a few months to finish the difficult task of reaching an agreement on spending and taxes in ways that do not damage the economy.