VOA标准英语2009年-Massive Obama Federal Budget Spurs Debate

A battle is brewing¹ in Washington over President Barack Obama's proposed federal spending blueprint², widely viewed as the most sweeping³ plan to boost the U.S. government's role in society in more than a generation. The budget the president unveiled last week would raise spending and fiscal⁴ deficits⁶ to record levels.
　
President Barack Obama, accompanied by Budget Director Peter Orszag (R), and Treasury⁷ Secretary Tim Geithner, speaks about 2010 federal budget, 26 Feb 2009

President Obama says the American people elected him to tackle urgent needs, from promoting energy independence to reforming health care to boosting educational opportunities, and his three-point-five trillion dollar budget for 2010 makes a down payment on those goals.

The White House projects a record-high deficit⁵ of $1.75 trillion for the next fiscal year, more than 12 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, the biggest proportion since the end of World War II.

Republicans are aghast.
　
Senate Finance Committee member Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington (File)

"It is terrifying in the policy implications as well as mind-boggling [astounding] in the numbers," said Senator Jon Kyl.

Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona spoke⁸ on the Fox News Sunday television program.

"This budget adds more debt to our country's future than all of the debt from 1789, when George Washington was president, through Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush," he said.

While defending massive short-term deficits as necessary during a severe economic recession, President Obama says his budget will shrink the revenue gap in subsequent years by eliminating unnecessary spending and raising income taxes on the wealthy.

But Republicans note the president also plans a new tax regime on energy consumption that will affect Americans of every income level. They say there should be no tax increases at all while the economy is in free fall. Once again, Senator Kyl:

"Tax policy should provide what the government needs without harming the economy and American families," he said. "Today, the $250,000 [earners] and above pay 60 percent of the income taxes in the United States. So how much more do you want this top two percent to pay?"

But White House officials point out that President Obama inherited a substantial federal deficit from the previous administration, and his budget includes a tax cut for all but the wealthiest of workers.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel spoke on CBS' Face the Nation program.

"Ninety-five percent of Americans will have a tax cut," said Rahm Emanuel. "Nobody will see a tax increase for two years."

Emanuel added that the tax rate paid by top earners will return to the level that existed during the Clinton administration in the 1990s, a decade that saw tens of millions of jobs created in the United States.

Other administration officials argue it is unfair to focus on future tax increases without taking into account components⁹ of the Obama plan that will benefit broad sectors¹⁰ of society. White House Budget Director Peter Orszag appeared on ABC's This Week program.

"Let us also count the benefits that families get through Pell [education] grants, the benefits that they will receive through constraining¹¹ health care costs, the benefits they get from weatherizing their homes, and so on," said Peter Orszag. "This budget makes the vast majority of American families much better off."

Last month, President Obama secured congressional approval of a massive economic-stimulus package. The backing of three Republican senators proved critical in winning passage. Whether the president can once again attract some level of bipartisan support for his proposed budget remains¹² to be seen.

1 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

2 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

3 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

4 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。

5 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。

6 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

7 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。

8 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。

9 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

10 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 constraining   

强迫( constrain的现在分词 )； 强使； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• He was constraining his mind not to wander from the task. 他克制着不让思想在工作时开小差。
• The most constraining resource in all of these cases is venture capital. 在所有这些情况下最受限制的资源便是投入资本。

12 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。