Weekly Address: President Obama Castigates GOP Leadership for Blocking Fixes for the Citizens United Decision
每周电视讲话:奥巴马总统斥责共和党领导层阻挠修正“公民联合裁决”
WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Obama called out the Republican leadership in Congress for defending the entrenched special interests and the status quo. After the Supreme Court overturned decades of law and precedent in the Citizens United decision, the administration tried to fix the new loopholes in the campaign finance system with a common sense law. This law would require public disclosure of who funds political ads and it would restrict foreign controlled corporations from spending to influence elections. But, the GOP leadership has blocked a vote on the law in the Senate in hopes that the special interests will reward them by funding attack ads against their opponents.
华盛顿:在本周的讲话中,奥巴马总统称国会共和党领导层固守既得利益集团和保守派利益。在最高法院颠覆了几十年的法律条令，开启了“公民联合裁决”这个先例之后，政府就尝试采用常规的法律修补这个竞选金融系统的漏洞。该法律规定公众有权知道谁为政治广告出资，并严格限制外资团体为影响选举结果投入资金。但是，共和党领导层阻止该法案参与参议院投票表决，寄希望于特殊利益团体会通过出资支持攻击对手的广告来回馈他们。
Back in January, in my State of the Union Address, I warned of the danger posed by a Supreme Court ruling called Citizens United. This decision overturned decades of law and precedent. It gave the special interests the power to spend without limit – and without public disclosure – to run ads in order to influence elections.
今年一月，在我的国情咨文中，我就对最高法院对公民联合团体作出的裁决结果做出警告。该决议颠覆了几十年来的法律和先例。给特殊利益集团不受限制投入资金的权力——不受公众监督的——运营竞选广告来影响选举结果。
Now, as an election approaches, it’s not just a theory. We can see for ourselves how destructive to our democracy this can become. We see it in the flood of deceptive attack ads sponsored by special interests using front groups with misleading names. We don’t know who’s behind these ads or who’s paying for them. Even foreign-controlled corporations seeking to influence our democracy are able to spend freely in order to swing an election toward a candidate they prefer.
现在，随着选举的临近，这一切都不再是纸上谈兵了。我们可以看见我们的民主正在遭受着摧残。我们可以看到起着误导性名称的特殊利益集团支持的攻击对手的欺骗性广告铺天盖地。我们不知道谁在这些广告后面支持它们，或者谁为这些广告出资。甚至连寻求影响我们民主的外资团体也在不受限制的投资来使得选举偏向他们中意的候选人。
We’ve tried to fix this with a new law – one that would simply require that you say who you are and who’s paying for your ad. This way, voters are able to make an informed judgment about a group’s motivations. Anyone running these ads would have to stand by their claims. And foreign-controlled corporations would be restricted from spending money to influence elections, just as they were before the Supreme Court opened up this loophole.
我们尝试着用新的法律来修补这个漏洞——只是简单的要求你说出你是谁，以及谁为这些广告出资。通过这种途径，选民就可以获得充分的信息，根据该团体的意图做出自己的决定。任何运营这些广告的人都需要为他们的声明负责。而且外资团体也被严格限制为影响选举结果进行投资，就像在最高法院打开这个漏洞之前一样。
This is common sense. In fact, this is the kind of proposal that Democrats and Republicans have agreed on for decades. Yet, the Republican leaders in Congress have so far said “no.” They’ve blocked this bill from even coming up for a vote in the Senate. It’s politics at its worst. But it’s not hard to understand why.
这是个常识。实际上，这也是民主党和共和党几十年来共同一致的提议。然而，现在国会的共和党领导层却说“不”。他们阻挠这项法案参加参议院的投票表决。真是个政治灾难。但并不难理解这是为什么。
Over the past two years, we have fought back against the entrenched special interests – weakening their hold on the levers of power in Washington. We have taken a stand against the worst abuses of the financial industry and health insurance companies. We’ve rolled back tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. And we’ve restored enforcement of common sense rules to protect clean air and clean water. We have refused to go along with business as usual.
过去两年里，我们一直在与顽固的特殊利益集团进行斗争——削弱了他们在华盛顿的权力杠杆。我们对金融系统和医疗保险公司严重的权力滥用表明了我们坚决反对的严正立场。我们收回了对将就业机会输出到海外的公司的税收优惠。而且我们恢复实施了保护清洁空气和水的常规性规定。我们不会像以前一样陪他们玩儿了。
Now, the special interests want to take Congress back, and return to the days when lobbyists wrote the laws. And a partisan minority in Congress is hoping their defense of these special interests and the status quo will be rewarded with a flood of negative ads against their opponents. It’s a power grab, pure and simple. They’re hoping they can ride this wave of unchecked influence all the way to victory.
现在，特殊利益集团想拽住国会，回到游说团体撰写法律的时代。而某些党派在国会的少数人寄希望他们为特殊利益集团和保守派的防卫能获得他们铺天盖地的反对竞争对手的负面广告的回馈。这简直是纯粹的赤裸裸的夺权。他们希望他们能够一路驾驭这些不确定的趋势走向胜利。
What is clear is that Congress has a responsibility to act. But the truth is, any law will come too late to prevent the damage that has already been done this election season. That is why, any time you see an attack ad by one of these shadowy groups, you should ask yourself, who is paying for this ad? Is it the health insurance lobby? The oil industry? The credit card companies?
清楚的是国会有保留行动的责任。但事实是，在选举来临之际，任何法律对于防止这些损害来讲都来不及了。这也是为什么，在任何时候你看到这些影子团体运行的攻击性广告，你就可以问问你自己，谁为这些广告出资？是医疗保险游说团体？石油工业团体？还是信用卡公司？
But more than that, you can make sure that the tens of millions of dollars spent on misleading ads do not drown out your voice. Because no matter how many ads they run – no matter how many elections they try to buy – the power to determine the fate of this country doesn’t lie in their hands. It lies in yours. It’s up to all of us to defend that most basic American principle of a government of, by, and for the people. What’s at stake is not just an election. It’s our democracy itself.
但更重要的是，你们可以确定这些花费金钱无数的误导性广告并不能淹没你们的声音。因为无论他们发布多少广告——无论他们准备收买多少人心——决定这个国家命运的力量并不掌握在他们的手中。而是掌握在你们的手中。是我们大家团结起来保卫“民选、民享、民治”这一最基本的美国政府原则的时候了。关键的不仅仅是一次选举，而是我们的民主自身。
Thank you.
谢谢大家！
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