Obama calls for debt reduction in balanced manner

Obama calls for debt reduction in balanced manner

 WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The United States should cut its mounting public debt in a balanced manner with a plan including both government spending cuts and revenue increases, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday.

"We can't just cut our way to prosperity," Obama said at a press conference held on Friday in the White House.

The nation's wealthiest had to pay more taxes to help solve the government's fiscal¹ challenge, and the debt reduction efforts should not hinder U.S. economic growth pace, he noted².

"I am open to compromise," stressed Obama, adding that he would oppose any debt reduction plan to avert³ the "fiscal cliff" that did not ask the wealthy to pay more taxes.

Obama's remarks came prior to the looming⁴ fiscal challenge facing the world's largest economy. Unless U.S. Congress acts by the end of this year, a combination of tax hikes and sweeping⁵ spending cuts, dubbed⁶ as the "fiscal cliff" and with the combined amount of about 600 billion U. S. dollars, was set to kick in.

Obama on Friday did not provide enough specifics on tax increase and government spending cut proposals.

In a dueling⁷ press conference held earlier Friday, John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said that he opposed higher tax rates to solve the nation's fiscal challenge, citing a study from Ernst & Young that raising the income tax rates for the wealthy would destroy nearly 700,000 jobs in the country.

1 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。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

4 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

5 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？

6 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 dueling   

n. 决斗, 抗争(=duelling) 动词duel的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• More light-hearted But somewhat puzzled, Vladimir prepared to meet Eugene on the dueling ground. 弗拉基米尔心里轻松了一些，但仍感到有些困惑，在这种心情下，他准备去决斗场地迎战叶甫盖尼。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• They had been dueling for hours and finally called a draw. 他们一直决斗了数小时，最后打成平局。