Obama: Congress Must Face Deficit

 　　President Barack Obama will meet Sunday with top lawmakers, in hopes of making progress toward an agreement to prevent a government default.  Both the White House and top Republicans are playing down the prospects¹ for a deal in Sunday’s talks.

　　The ongoing² negotiations³ between the Obama administration and Republican leaders have two goals.  One is to reduce the government’s $14.3 trillion debt, which is the current legal borrowing limit.  The other is to raise that limit before August 2, when the U.S. could default on some of its loans, which would damage its credit rating.

　　President Obama met with top lawmakers from both parties on Thursday to discuss the problem.  He said the meeting was constructive⁴, but that the parties were still far apart.

　　The president scheduled another meeting for Sunday, and said Thursday that White House and congressional staffs would work through the weekend, to enable negotiators to make progress. “I will reconvene congressional leaders here on Sunday, with the expectation that at that point the parties will at least know where each other’s bottom lines are, and will, hopefully, be in a position to then start engaging in the hard bargaining that is necessary to get a deal done," he said.

　　Some lawmakers from both parties were expressing optimism on Thursday that a deal could be concluded soon.  But on Friday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney cautioned that an agreement should not be expected immediately. “I am not prepared to say that we will produce something Sunday.  I think I would not anticipate that, necessarily, in terms of the final product at all.  I would simply say that we do expect progress to be made, as it is being made in between these two meetings," he said.

　　The Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, also warned Friday against expectations of a quick deal. "There is no agreement in private or in public.  And as the president said yesterday, we are "this far apart."  It is not like there is some imminent⁵ deal about to happen," he said.

　　Mr. Obama indicated early in the week that he believed conditions are right for a major deal to reduce the deficit⁶.  Such an agreement could cut the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over at least ten years.

　　To do so, the president will need to overcome opposition⁷ from Republicans and some Democrats⁸.

　　The White House said a big debt reduction plan could involve savings⁹ in social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.  Many Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, reject any reduction in the benefits Americans receive from these programs.

　　Republicans, meanwhile, are strongly opposed to raising taxes or eliminating tax breaks that benefit wealthier Americans.

　　The number-two House Republican, Eric Cantor, said Friday he and Speaker Boehner will not allow taxes to be increased. "Now it just does not make sense for Americans to suffer under higher taxes in an economy like this.  And as the Speaker said, there is no way that the House of Representatives will support a tax increase," he said.

　　The president’s spokesman, Jay Carney, said no single plan will ultimately be approved.  The final deal will likely be a compromise including some of Mr. Obama’s proposals, those from Democrats and Republicans, and the findings of two bipartisan independent commissions.

　　Adding to the urgency of the talks was Friday’s report from the Labor¹⁰ Department, showing that the U.S. economy’s recovery from recession continues to slow.

　　The figures showed that only 18,000 jobs were created in June, and that the nation’s unemployment rate increased slightly, to 9.2 percent.

　　The president said Friday a deal on the debt would reassure¹¹ U.S. and global financial markets, and would give American businesses confidence to resume hiring.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 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。

4 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

5 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

6 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。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 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》

9 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。