US Congress Shows No Urgency on 'Fiscal Cliff'

 CAPITOL HILL — Four days before Americans face massive automatic tax increases and deep federal spending cuts, Washington is showing no signs of forging a deficit¹ reduction agreement to avert² the so-called “fiscal³ cliff.”  Many lawmakers are absent from Washington altogether, and the rest are pointing fingers and casting blame. 

Watching official Washington, one might not know the nation is teetering on the edge of the fiscal cliff. President Barack Obama returned from a Hawaiian vacation Thursday with no events on his schedule.  

The House of Representatives is adjourned⁴ until Sunday.  The Senate is in session, but debating a bill governing U.S. intelligence gathering⁵, not the fiscal cliff.

That the House is closed for business at a critical time was noted⁶ by Senate Majority Leader Harry⁷ Reid.

“I cannot imagine their consciences. They [House members] are out wherever they are around the country, and we are here trying to get something done," he said. 

The House adjourned last week after Republican Speaker John Boehner failed to muster⁸ enough votes to pass an extension of federal tax rates for all income up to $1 million a year, far above the $250,000 cut-off sought by Democrats⁹.

A clearly frustrated¹⁰ Reid accused Boehner of employing heavy-handed tactics to block legislation and cast America off the fiscal cliff.

“The House of Representatives is operating without the House of Representatives.  It is being operated with a dictatorship of the Speaker," he said. 

A spokesman for Speaker Boehner said, “Senator Reid should talk less and legislate¹¹ more.”

In fact, both chambers¹² are accusing the other of stymieing¹³ bills to avert the fiscal cliff.  A House-passed bill that would extend all tax cuts for all income groups has not been taken up in the Senate, while a Senate bill extending tax cuts for income up to $250,000 a year has not been considered in the House.

The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, recounted a recent telephone conversation he had with President Obama.

“Last night I told the president we would be happy to look at whatever he proposes.  But the truth is, we are coming up against a hard deadline here.  This is a conversation we should have had months ago," he said. 

Political analyst¹⁴ Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia is doubtful a bipartisan deal can be forged by New Year’s Eve.

“It will take a miracle to keep us from going off the fiscal cliff.  The most likely scenario¹⁵ is that we do go off the cliff, and then Congress acts," he said. 

Sabato points out that Republicans who are loathe¹⁶ to vote for tax hikes now will not have to do so once taxes go up on all income groups on January 1.

“By then taxes will automatically have risen, dramatically, for most Americans.  Then, instead of having to vote on a tax increase, they can vote to decrease taxes, at least in some categories for some Americans," he said. 

Sabato says that however the fiscal cliff drama plays out, Washington has given itself another black eye, saying, “Congress has proven to be best at finger-pointing rather than legislating¹⁷.”

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 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。

3 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。

4 adjourned   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
• The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后，审讯就宣告暂停。

5 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。

6 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。

7 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

8 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

9 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》

10 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。

12 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

13 stymieing   

v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的现在分词 )

参考例句：

14 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。

15 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

16 loathe   

v.厌恶，嫌恶

参考例句：

• I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

17 legislating   

v.立法，制定法律( legislate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Why are the senators sitting there without legislating? 为什么那些议员们做在那里不立法？ 来自互联网
• From legislating and protecting peasant's interests organizationally. " 从立法和组织上保护农民利益。 来自互联网