VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Tries to Regain Momentum in Health C

The battle over reforming the U.S. health care system has intensified¹ in recent weeks, and the political stakes are growing for President Barack Obama as well as for Democrats³ and Republicans in Congress.
　
Pres. Barack Obama listens to a question at town hall meeting about health car in Portsmouth, N.H., 11 Aug 2009

Grass roots democracy can be chaotic⁴ at times, and members of Congress are getting a first-hand glimpse of the anger and fear that is dominating many of their town hall forums⁵ across the country to discuss health care.

"This is not health reform, this is control! Control over our lives!" shouted one man at a recent meeting in Iowa. But raucous⁶ crowds are showing up at town halls all across the country.

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, a Democrat², had his hands full trying to calm down a man in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, who was angry about being denied a chance to ask a question.

SPECTER: "Now wait a minute. Now wait a minute! Wait a minute. You want to leave?"

MAN: "Well, I got news for you. You and your cronies in the government do this kind of stuff all the time. One day God is going to stand before you and he is going to judge you and the rest of your damn cronies up on the [Capitol] Hill, and then you will get your just desserts!"

Passions are running high because reforming the U.S. health care system is an enormous undertaking⁷ that affects virtually all Americans, and because many of the proposals are politically polarizing.

President Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress want to expand health-insurance coverage⁸ to 46 million Americans who currently do not have it. In addition, the administration wants to bring down the soaring cost of health care for consumers, businesses and the government.

In an attempt to regain⁹ political momentum¹⁰ in the health-care debate, Mr. Obama told a town hall in New Hampshire that Republicans are hoping to kill the reform effort this year like they did in 1993 and 1994 under former President Bill Clinton.

"Every time we come close to passing health insurance reform, the special interests fight back with everything they have got. They use their influence and their political allies to scare and mislead the American people. They start running ads. This is what they always do. We cannot let them do it again. Not this time. Not now," he said,

Republicans oppose the Obama health care approach as too costly¹¹ and warn the administration plan could affect the quality of care for those who already have health insurance coverage.

"We would like to make a deal, but we would like to make the right kind of deal. I mean, this is not about embarrassing anybody politically. This is about getting it right. This is one-sixth of our economy. Health care is an enormous issue. It affects every single one of us and we want to get it right," said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who leads Republicans in the U.S. Senate. He appeared on Fox News Sunday.

Polls show public support for Mr. Obama's push for health-care reform has weakened in recent weeks, and the constant drumbeat of criticism at the town hall meetings has fed the perception that the political momentum for reform has slowed.

"Republicans have been able to get some traction¹² with this idea that the government is expanding in all kinds of ways that are going to have unintended consequences and unforeseen effects on your lives," said Matt Dallek, a political expert at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.

Democrats say some of the town hall displays are organized disruptions encouraged by Republicans and conservative groups intent on demonizing government involvement in health care.

They take issue with opponents, some of whom invoke¹³ images of Nazi¹⁴ Germany and accuse the Obama administration of wanting to trample¹⁵ the Constitution and individual rights.

Some liberal groups that support the Obama plan are starting to fight back, fearful that reform critics have effectively slowed down the efforts of the White House and congressional Democrats.

"There are people in the country who want to stop an honest, fair, civil and moral conversation about health care. They are organized and they really want to shut down democracy, and we can not let that happen," said the Reverend Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a Christian¹⁶ group that supports progressive causes.

Political analyst¹⁷ John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute believes the critics of the reform effort will continue to batter¹⁸ the Obama plan throughout August when members of Congress are on recess¹⁹ and hosting town-hall meetings.

Fortier says that might force Democratic congressional leaders to pull back a bit on their reform plans when they come back to work next month.

"I think there is still a reasonable chance they could pass something, but they are going to have to come back, I think, and regroup in September and we may see that things are a little bit different than they are today, even perhaps a little more precarious²⁰ for the passage of health care in September," he said.

President Obama and congressional Democrats want a health-care package approved before next year's midterm congressional elections. Republicans believe that blocking the Obama effort could help their political fortunes in next year's election and in the 2012 presidential election as well.

1 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 democrat   

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   

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 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

5 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

6 raucous   

adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的

参考例句：

• I heard sounds of raucous laughter upstairs.我听见楼上传来沙哑的笑声。
• They heard a bottle being smashed,then more raucous laughter.他们听见酒瓶摔碎的声音，然后是一阵更喧闹的笑声。

7 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

8 coverage   

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。

9 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

10 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

11 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

12 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

13 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

14 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

15 trample   

vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯

参考例句：

• Don't trample on the grass. 勿踏草地。
• Don't trample on the flowers when you play in the garden. 在花园里玩耍时,不要踩坏花。

16 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

17 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

18 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

19 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

20 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。