Roadblocks to US Budget Deal Persist

     The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Boehner, says he stands ready to cut a budget deal with President Barack Obama - so long as no taxes are raised, leaving deep spending cuts as the sole vehicle to trim America’s massive $1.5-trillion federal deficit¹. Meanwhile, budget negotiations²(谈判) continue as the nation nears a congressionally-imposed limit on federal borrowing and the specter of default on a $14-trillion national debt looms³.

    Boehner says he is eager to reach a budget agreement with Democrats⁴ and the White House immediately.

    “I am ready to cut the deal today.  We do not have to wait until the eleventh hour.”

    But, appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation program, Boehner held firm to a bedrock Republican principle: the path to fiscal⁵ health lies in federal spending cuts, not tax hikes.

    “Everything should be on the table except raising taxes, because raising taxes will hurt our economy and hurt our ability to create jobs in our country.”

    And so the partisan⁶ budget standoff continues. Democrats agree on the need to rein⁷ in spending, but insist that a combination of budget cuts and higher taxes on top earners would provide the greatest deficit (赤字,亏空)reduction without decimating federal programs that benefit the poor and vulnerable.

    Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois spoke⁸ on Fox News Sunday.

    “I think we do have to cut spending. But we also have to take a look at revenue and the entitlement programs.”

    So-called entitlement programs provide access to health care and income for retirees, and are seen as the main culprit for America’s long-term fiscal imbalance.

    Republicans have proposed ending a direct federal role in some of those programs, transferring responsibility to individual states with reduced federal backing. Democrats have agreed to entitlement reform in principle, but have yet to put forward a detailed⁹ plan for doing so.

    Meanwhile, the United States will soon bump up against a limit on federal borrowing.  Unless Congress agrees to raise the debt ceiling, America could default on its mammoth¹⁰ national debt, much of which is owed to foreign governments.

    Appearing at a CBS-News-sponsored town-hall meeting last week, President Barack Obama explained what is at stake.

    “The way the federal government finances itself is we sell debt to investors¹¹, other countries, et cetera, through Treasury¹² bills. And if at any point somebody thought, if investors around the world thought the full faith and credit of the United States was not being backed up, if they thought we might renege on our IOUs (Treasury bills), it could unravel¹³ the financial system. We could have a worse recession than we already had, a worse financial crisis than we already had.”

    The president wants the debt ceiling raised regardless of how budget negotiations proceed. Republicans, as Boener pointed¹⁴ out, are insisting on major spending cuts as a condition of voting to increase the borrowing limit.

    “Our obligation is to raise the debt ceiling, but to raise the debt ceiling without dealing¹⁵ with the underlying¹⁶ [fiscal] problems is totally irresponsible.”

    Congress has never failed to raise the debt ceiling in the past, usually after weeks of partisan rhetoric¹⁷ and finger-pointing.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 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。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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》

5 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。

6 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

7 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

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 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

10 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

11 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

12 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。

13 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

17 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。