Democrats are calling for speedy passage of an economic stimulus bill as the U.S. economy continues to shrink and shed jobs. Yet many Republicans say they will not support the legislation, despite efforts by a few moderate Republicans to hammer out some common ground on the roughly $800-billion plan.
正当美国经济持续萎缩而就业机会持续减少之际，民主党国会议员呼吁尽快通过振兴经济法案。但是，尽管一些温和派共和党议员主张就这项大约8千亿美元的计划达成共识，许多共和党议员仍然表示不会支持这项立法。
The Senate is expected to approve this week its version of the stimulus package aimed at creating or saving three to four million jobs. U.S. President Barack Obama has made it his priority this week to build momentum for the plan by arranging a series of campaign-style events in Indiana and Florida.
预料参议院本星期将会通过旨在创造或挽救300万到400万个就业机会的参院版振兴经济计划。奥巴马总统也将这件事列为他本周的优先项目，并且计划在印第安纳州和佛罗里达州举行一连串的竞选式的活动，希望为通过这项法案累积动力。
One of the president's chief economic advisers, Lawrence Summers, appearing on the Fox News Sunday program, painted a bleak picture of the state of the economy.
奥巴马总统的主要经济顾问之一萨默斯星期天在福斯电视新闻上，为美国经济的状况描绘出一幅黯淡的前景。
"We've got to give this economy some help," said Lawrence Summers. "The Senate bill, the House bill, the overlap is 90-plus percent. We've got to work through the differences, find the best bill we possibly can, and get it in place as quickly as possible to contain what is a very damaging and potentially deflationary spiral."
他说：“我们必须给这个经济一点协助。参院版的法案和众院版的法案，有百分之九十以上是一样的。所以我们必须解决这少许的不同之处，尽可能制定最好的法案，尽快付诸实施，以遏止已经非常严重而且可能造成严重伤害的通货紧缩的势头。”
The biggest differences between the two bills concern tax cuts - the Senate bill has allotted about $100 billion more for them - and aid to state governments.
参、众两院版本的最大不同之处是在减税和资助州政府方面。参院版的法案希望将一千多亿美元用于减税。
But Republican support for either version remains scant. Republicans are advocating a much smaller stimulus package that focuses mostly on tax cuts and spending on infrastructure.
但是支持这两种版本的共和党议员仍然寥寥无几。共和党参议员支持一个规模小得多的振兴经济计划，而且主要重点放在减税和基础建设支出上。
Republican Senator John McCain, a former presidential candidate, told CBS' Face the Nation he will not support the bill.
前总统候选人、共和党参议员麦凯恩在CBS电视“面对全国”节目上说，他将不会支持这项法案。
"I think this can only be described as generational theft." said John McCain. "We're going to have, already, $1.2 - trillion deficits, by estimates, and it's just begun. We're going to amass the largest debt in the history of this country by any measurement, and we're going to ask our kids and grandkids to pay for it."
“我想我只能形容这是一场巨大的盗窃。我们已经有1万2千亿美元的赤字，而这还只是开始。按照任何计算方式，这都会造成我们国家历史上最大的债务，这将需要我们的子孙去支付。”
McCain says the measures being taken are much larger than those taken during the Great Depression. But Summers, in another appearance on ABC's This Week, sharply disputed these historical comparisons.
麦凯恩说，所用的计算已经比大萧条时期的大得多。但是萨默斯在ABC“本星期”电视节目上，尖锐反驳这种历史上的比较。
"Those who presided over the last eight years, the eight years that brought us to the point where we inherited trillions [of] dollars of deficit, an economy that is collapsing more rapidly than in any time in the last 50 years, don't seem to be in a strong position to lecture about the lessons of history," he said. "We need an approach that is very different than the approach we had that brought us to this point."
他说：“那些在过去8年里执政，在过去8年里带给我们万亿赤字，带给我们经济比过去50年里都更快崩溃的人，他们实在没有什么资格来上历史课。我们现在需要的是一个和那些造成我们今天这步田地，非常不一样的政策。”
Summers says that is precisely what the president's stimulus package is providing. He says the Department of Labor's report Friday that 600,000 jobs were lost in January alone is proof that fast action is needed.
萨默斯说，这就是奥巴马总统振兴经济方案的内容。他表示，劳工部星期五的报告表示，今年1月有60万个工作机会丧失，就这一点，就可以证明需要尽快采取行动。 |