White House Defends Obama Budget

 　　As President Barack Obama prepares to unveil his blueprint¹ for U.S. government spending, White House officials are already defending the document from Republican attack. The Obama budget, to be released later Monday, is expected to call for a mix of spending restraint and tax hikes to shrink the runaway² U.S. deficit³ during the next decade.

　　President Obama has long urged what he calls a “balanced approach” of higher taxes and lower spending to fix America’s fiscal⁴ woes⁵. He has urged immediate⁶ measures to stimulate⁷ the economy combined with long-term budgetary restraint.

　　White House Chief of Staff Jacob Lew says the president’s new budget reflects those priorities.

　　“The president’s budget is a plan for 10 years. In the short term we need to keep the economy growing, and in the long term we need to get the deficit under control in a way that builds an economy that can last for the future, where we build a manufacturing base, we have Americans with the skills to do the work of the future.”

　　Lew, who until recently served as Obama’s top budget official, made the remarks in a U.S. television interview.

　　Early reports say the president’s budget would raise taxes on top earners and force investors⁸ to pay similar tax rates on stock market profits as ordinary Americans pay on their wages and salaries. At the same time, the Obama budget would reportedly boost funding for U.S. infrastructure⁹, unemployment benefits, and federal assistance to revenue-strapped states.

　　Addressing a Washington gathering¹⁰ of conservative political leaders and activists¹¹ last week, the Budget Committee chairman in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, dismissed the White House budget blueprint as a continuation of failed and counter-productive Democratic policies.

　　“His proposals have three things in common: they load massive tax increases on small businesses and hardworking families, they require bureaucratic¹² rationing¹³ in government health care programs, and they hollow out our national security.”

　　Not so, according to Jacob Lew.

　　“If you look at our budget, for every dollar of [new] revenue, there are two-and-a-half dollars of spending reductions.  So I think it is clearly not the case that this is a budget based on just raising taxes. But we [currently] have tax cuts that go to people who do not need them. We have tax cuts going to the wealthiest people in America, who are going to have to pay their fair share.”

　　In the first year of his administration, President Obama pledged to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term.  The deficit exceeded $1 trillion in 2009 and, according to White House projections¹⁴, is expected to do so again this year.

1 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。

2 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

3 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。

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 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

8 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

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

13 rationing   

n.定量供应

参考例句：

• Wartime austerities included food rationing and shortage of fuel. 战时的艰苦包括食物配给和燃料短缺。
• Food rationing was abolished in that country long ago. 那个国家早就取消了粮食配给制。

14 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。